Latest / The Boy Scout Book of Campfire Stories / Chapter 5: The Weight of Obligation, part 1 by Rex Beach

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Chapter 5: The Weight of Obligation, part 1 by Rex Beach · The Boy Scout Book of Campfire Stories

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  Speaker 1: Chapter five, Part one of the Boy Scout's Book of
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  Speaker 1: Campfire Stories. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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  Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Kurt Trotweine, The
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  Speaker 1: Boy Scout's Book of Campfire Stories, Chapter five, The Weight
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  Speaker 1: of Obligation, Part one by Rex Beach. This is the
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  Speaker 1: story of a burden, the tale of a load that
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  Speaker 1: irked a strong man's shoulders. To those who do not
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  Speaker 1: know the North, it may seem strange. But to those
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  Speaker 1: who understand the humors of men in solitude and the
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  Speaker 1: extravagant vagaries that steal in upon their minds as fog
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  Speaker 1: dress with the Knight, it will not appear unusual. There
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  Speaker 1: are spirits in the wilderness, eerie forces which play pranks,
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  Speaker 1: some droll or whimsical, others Grim Johnny Cantwell and Mortimer
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  Speaker 1: Grant were partners, trailmates, brothers and soul. If not in blood,
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  Speaker 1: the ebb and flood of frontier life had brought them together.
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  Speaker 1: Its hardships had united them until they were as one.
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  Speaker 1: They were something of a mystery to each other, neither
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  Speaker 1: having surrendered all his confidence, and because of this they
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  Speaker 1: retained their mutual attraction. They had met by accident, but
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  Speaker 1: they remained together by desire. The spirit of adventure bubbled
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  Speaker 1: merrily within them, and it led them into curious byways.
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  Speaker 1: It was this which sent them northward from the States
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  Speaker 1: in the dead of winter, on the heels of the
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  Speaker 1: stony river strike. It was this which induced them to
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  Speaker 1: the land of Catmai instead of Iliamna, whither their land
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  Speaker 1: journeys should have commenced. There are two routes over the
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  Speaker 1: coast range, the captain of the Dora told them, and
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  Speaker 1: only two. Iliamna pass is low and easy, but the
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  Speaker 1: distance is longer than by way of Catmai. I can
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  Speaker 1: land you at either place. Catmai is pretty tough, isn't it,
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  Speaker 1: Grant inquired. We've understood. It's the worst place in a
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  Speaker 1: last Cantwell's eyes were eager. It's awful. Nobody travels it
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  Speaker 1: except natives, and they don't like it. Now, Iliamna, we'll
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  Speaker 1: try a cap myigh, aymort sure they don't come hard
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  Speaker 1: enough for us. Cap. We'll see if it's as bad
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  Speaker 1: as it's painted. So one gray January morning, they were
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  Speaker 1: landed on a frozen beach. Their outfit was flung ashore
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  Speaker 1: through the surf. The lifeboat pulled away, and the Dora
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  Speaker 1: disappeared after a farewell toot of her whistle. Their last
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  Speaker 1: glimpse of her showed the captain waving goodbye and the
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  Speaker 1: purser flapping a red tablecloth at them from the afterdeck.
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  Speaker 1: Cheerful place, this, Grant remarked, as he noted the desolate
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  Speaker 1: surroundings of dune and hillside. The beach itself was black
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  Speaker 1: and raw where the surf had washed it, but elsewhere
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  Speaker 1: all was white, save for the thickets of alder and willow,
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  Speaker 1: which protruded nakedly. The bay was a little more than
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  Speaker 1: a hollow scooped out of the Alaskan Range. Along the
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  Speaker 1: foothills behind there was a belt of spruce and cottonwood
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  Speaker 1: and birch. It was a lonely and apparently unpeopled wilderness
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  Speaker 1: in which they had been set down. Seems good to
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  Speaker 1: be back in the North again, doesn't it, said Catwell cheerily.
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  Speaker 1: I'm tired of the booze and the street cars, and
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  Speaker 1: the dames and all that civilized stuff. I'd rather be
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  Speaker 1: broken Alaska with you than a banker's son back home. Soon,
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  Speaker 1: a globular Russian half breed, the Catmi Trader, appeared among
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  Speaker 1: the dunes, and with him were some native villagers. That night,
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  Speaker 1: the partner slept in a snug log cabin, the roof
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  Speaker 1: of which was chained down with old ship's cables. Petellin,
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  Speaker 1: the fat little Trader explained that Ruse and Catmi had
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  Speaker 1: a way of sailing off to Seaward when the wind blew.
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  Speaker 1: He listened to their plan of crossing the divide and
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  Speaker 1: nodded it could be done. Of course, he agreed, but
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  Speaker 1: they were foolish to try it when the iliomno route
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  Speaker 1: was open. Still, now that they were here, he would
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  Speaker 1: find dogs for them and a guide. The village hunters
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  Speaker 1: were out after meat, however, and until they returned the
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  Speaker 1: white men would need to wait in patience. There followed
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  Speaker 1: several days of idleness, during which Cantwell and grant amuse
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  Speaker 1: themselves around the village, teasing the squalls, playing games with
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  Speaker 1: the boys, and flirting harmlessly with the girls, one of
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  Speaker 1: whom in particular was not unattractive. She was perhaps three
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  Speaker 1: quarters elute, the other quarter being playing coquette and Having
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  Speaker 1: been educated at the town of Kodiak, she knew the
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  Speaker 1: ways and the whiles of the white men. Cantwell approached her,
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  Speaker 1: and she met his extravagant advances. More than halfway. They
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  Speaker 1: were getting along nicely together when Grant, in a spirit
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  Speaker 1: of fun, entered the game and won her fickle smiles
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  Speaker 1: for himself. He joked his partner unmercifully, and Johnny accepted
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  Speaker 1: defeat gracefully, never giving the matter a second thought. When
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  Speaker 1: the hunters returned, dogs were bought, a guide was hired,
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  Speaker 1: and a week after landing, the friends were camped at Timberline,
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  Speaker 1: awaiting a favorable moment for their dash. Across the range
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  Speaker 1: Above them, white hillsides rose and irregular leaps to the
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  Speaker 1: gash in the saw tooth barrier which formed the pass.
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  Speaker 1: Below them, A short valley led down to Katmai and
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  Speaker 1: the sea. The day was bright, the air clear. Nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: after the guide had stared up at the peaks for
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  Speaker 1: a time, he shook his head, then re entered the
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  Speaker 1: tent and lay down. The mountains were smoking. From their
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  Speaker 1: top streamed a gossamer vale, which the travelers knew to
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  Speaker 1: be drifting snow clouds carried by the wind. It meant delay,
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  Speaker 1: but they were patient. They were up and going on
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  Speaker 1: the following morning, However, with the Indian in the lead,
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  Speaker 1: there was no trail. The hills were steep in places.
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  Speaker 1: They were forced to unload the sled and hoist their
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  Speaker 1: outfit by means of ropes, and as they mounted higher
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  Speaker 1: the snow deepened. It lay like loose sand, only lighter.
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  Speaker 1: It shoved ahead of the sled in a feathery mass.
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  Speaker 1: The dogs wallowed in it and were unable to pull.
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  Speaker 1: Hence the greater part of the work devolved upon the men.
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  Speaker 1: Once above the foothills and into their range proper, the
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  Speaker 1: going became more level, but the snow remained knee deep.
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  Speaker 1: The Indian broke trails stolidly, the partner strained at the sled,
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  Speaker 1: which hung back like a leaden thing. By afternoon, the
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  Speaker 1: dogs had become disheartened and refused to heed the whip.
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  Speaker 1: There was neither fuel nor running water, and therefore the
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  Speaker 1: party did not pause for luncheon. The men were sweating
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  Speaker 1: profusely from their exertions and had long since become parched
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  Speaker 1: with thirst. But the dry snow was like chalk and
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  Speaker 1: scoured their throats Cantwell was the first to show the
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  Speaker 1: effects of his unusual exertions, where not only had he
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  Speaker 1: assumed a lion's share of the work, but the last
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  Speaker 1: few months of easy living had softened his muscles, and
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  Speaker 1: in consequence, his vitality was quickly spent. His undergarments were drenched,
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  Speaker 1: he was fearfully dry inside. A terrible thirst seemed to
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  Speaker 1: penetrate his whole body. He was forced to rest frequently. Grant,
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  Speaker 1: eiding with some concern, finally inquiring feel bad Johnny Cantwell nodded.
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  Speaker 1: Their fatigue made both men economical of language. What's the matter, thirsty?
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  Speaker 1: The former could barely speak. There won't be any water
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  Speaker 1: till we get across. You'll have to stand it. They
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  Speaker 1: resumed their duties. The Indians swish swished ahead, as if
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  Speaker 1: wading through a sea of swans. Down. The dogs followed listlessly.
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  Speaker 1: The partners leaned against the stubborn load. A faint breath
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  Speaker 1: finally came out of the north, causing Grant and the
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  Speaker 1: guide to study the sky anxiously. Cantwell was too weary
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  Speaker 1: to heed the increasing cold. The snow and the slopes
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  Speaker 1: above began to move here and there on exposed ridges.
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  Speaker 1: It rose in clouds and puffs. The clean cut outlines
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  Speaker 1: of the hills became obscured as by a fog. The
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  Speaker 1: languid wind bit cruelly. After a time, Johnny fell back
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  Speaker 1: upon the sled and exclaimed, all in Mort don't seem
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  Speaker 1: to have the guts. He was pale, his eyes were tortured.
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  Speaker 1: He scooped a mitten full of snow and raised it
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  Speaker 1: to his lips, then sped it out, still dry. Here
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  Speaker 1: brace up in a panic of apprehension, and his collapse
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  Speaker 1: Grant shook him. He had never known Johnny to fail
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  Speaker 1: like this. Take a drink, it'll do you good. He
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  Speaker 1: drew a bottle from one of the dunnage bags, and
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  Speaker 1: Campbell seized it avidly. It was wet. He would quench
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  Speaker 1: his thirst, he thought. Before Mort could check him, he
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  Speaker 1: had drunk a third of the contents. The effect was
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  Speaker 1: almost instantaneous, for Cantwell's stomach was empty, and his tissues
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  Speaker 1: seemed to absorb the liquor like a dry sponge. His
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  Speaker 1: fatigue fell away. He became suddenly strong and vigorous again,
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  Speaker 1: But before he had gone one hundred yards. The reaction followed. First,
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  Speaker 1: his mind grew thick. Then his limbs became unmanageable and
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  Speaker 1: his muscles flabby. He was drunk, yet it was a
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  Speaker 1: strain engine, dangerous intoxication against which he struggled desperately. He
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  Speaker 1: fought it for perhaps a quarter of a mile before
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  Speaker 1: it mastered him. Then he gave up. Both men knew
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  Speaker 1: that stimulants were never taken on the trail, but they
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  Speaker 1: had never stopped to reason why, and even now they
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  Speaker 1: did not attribute Johnny's breakdown to the brandy. After a while,
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  Speaker 1: he stumbled and fell, then the cool snow, being grateful
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  Speaker 1: to his face. He sprawled there, motionless until mort dragged
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  Speaker 1: him to the sled. He stared at his partner in
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  Speaker 1: perplexity and laughed foolishly. The wind was increasing, darkness was near.
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  Speaker 1: They had not yet reached the bearing slope. Something in
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  Speaker 1: the drunken man's face frightened Grant, and, extracting his ship's
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  Speaker 1: biscuit from the grub box, he said, hurriedly, here, Johnny,
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  Speaker 1: get something under your belt quick. Candwell obediently munched the
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  Speaker 1: hard cracker, but there was no moisture on his tongue.
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  Speaker 1: His throat was paralyzed. The crumbs crowded themselves from the
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  Speaker 1: corners of his lips. He tried with limber fingers to
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  Speaker 1: stuff them down or to assist the muscular action of swallowing,
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  Speaker 1: but finally expelled them in a cloud. Mort drew a
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  Speaker 1: park a hood over his partner's head, for the wind
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  Speaker 1: cut like a scythe and the dogs were turning trail
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  Speaker 1: into it, digging holes in the snow for protection. The
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  Speaker 1: air about them was like yeast. The light was fading.
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  Speaker 1: The Indian snow shoot his way back, advising a quick
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  Speaker 1: camp until the storm abated. But to this suggestion, Grant
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  Speaker 1: refused to listen, knowing only too well the peril of
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  Speaker 1: such a course. Nor did he dare take Johnny on
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  Speaker 1: the sled, since the fellow was half asleep already, but
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  Speaker 1: instead whipped up the dogs and urged his companion to
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  Speaker 1: follow as best he could. When Cantwell fell for a
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  Speaker 1: second time, he returned, dragged him forward, and tied his
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  Speaker 1: wrist firmly yet loosely, to the load. The storm was
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  Speaker 1: pouring over them now like water out of a spout.
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  Speaker 1: It seared and blinded them. Its touch was like that
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  Speaker 1: of a flame. Less They struggled on into the smother,
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  Speaker 1: making what headway they could. The Indian lad pulling at
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  Speaker 1: the end of the rope. Grant strained at the sled
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  Speaker 1: and hoarsely encouraged the dogs. Cantwell stumbled and lurched in
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  Speaker 1: the rear like an unwilling prisoner. When he fell, his
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  Speaker 1: companion lifted him, then beat him, cursed him, tried in
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  Speaker 1: every way to rouse him from his lethargy. After an
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  Speaker 1: interminable time, they found they were descending, and this gave
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  Speaker 1: them heart to plunge ahead more rapidly. The dogs began
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  Speaker 1: to trot as the sled overran them. They rushed blindly
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  Speaker 1: into gullies, fetching up at the bottom in a tangle,
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  Speaker 1: and Johnny followed in a nevertheless stupefied condition. He was
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  Speaker 1: dragged like a sack of flower, for his legs were
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  Speaker 1: limp and he lacked muscular control. But every dash, every fall,
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  Speaker 1: every quick descent drove the sluggish blood through his veins
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  Speaker 1: and cleared his brain. Momentarily, such moments were fleeting. However,
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  Speaker 1: much of the time his mind was blank, and it
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  Speaker 1: was only by mechanical effort that he fought off unconsciousness.
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  Speaker 1: He had vague memories of many beatings at Mort's hands,
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  Speaker 1: of the slippery, clean, swept ice of a stream over
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  Speaker 1: which he limply skidded, Of being carried into a tent
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  Speaker 1: where a candle flickered and a stove roared. Grant was
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  Speaker 1: holding something hot to his lips, And then it was morning.
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  Speaker 1: He was weak and sick. He felt as if he
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  Speaker 1: had awakened from a hideous dream. I played out, didn't I,
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  Speaker 1: he queried, wonderingly. You sure did, Grant laughed. It was
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  Speaker 1: a tight, squeak, old boy. I never thought I'd get
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  Speaker 1: you through played out. I can't understand it, Can'twell prided
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  Speaker 1: himself on his strength and stamina. Therefore, the truth was unbelievable.
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  Speaker 1: I and Mord had long been partners. They had given
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  Speaker 1: and taken much at each other's hands. But this was
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  Speaker 1: something altogether different. Grant had saved his life at risk
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  Speaker 1: of his own. The older man's endurance had been the greater,
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  Speaker 1: and he had used it to good advantage. It embarrassed
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  Speaker 1: Johnny tremendously to realize that he had proved unequal to
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  Speaker 1: his share of the work, for he had never before
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  Speaker 1: experienced such an obligation. He apologized repeatedly during the few
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  Speaker 1: days he lay sick, and meanwhile Mort waited upon him
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  Speaker 1: like a mother. Campwell was relieved when at last they
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  Speaker 1: had abandoned camp changed guides at the next village, and
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  Speaker 1: were on their way along the coast. For somehow, he
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  Speaker 1: felt very sensitive about his collapse. He was in fact
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  Speaker 1: extremely ashamed of himself. Once he had fully recovered, he
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  Speaker 1: had no further trouble, but soon rounded into fit condition
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  Speaker 1: and showed no effects of his ordeal. Day after day
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  Speaker 1: he and Mort traveled through the solitudes, their isolation broken
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  Speaker 1: only by occasional glimpses of native villages, where they rested
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  Speaker 1: briefly and renewed their supply of dog feed. But although
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  Speaker 1: the younger man was now as well and strong as ever,
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  Speaker 1: he was uncomfort durably conscious that his trailmate regarded him
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  Speaker 1: as the weaker of the two and shielded him in
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  Speaker 1: many ways. Grant performed most of the unpleasant tasks and
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  Speaker 1: occasionally cautioned Johnny about overdoing. This protective attitude, At first amused,
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  Speaker 1: then offended, Cantwell, it gulled him up until he was
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  Speaker 1: upon the point of voicing his resentment, but reflected that
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  Speaker 1: he had no right to object for judging by past performances,
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  Speaker 1: he had proved his inferiority. This uncomfortable realization forever arose
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  Speaker 1: to prevent open rebellion, But he asserted himself secretly by
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  Speaker 1: robbing grant of his self appointed tasks. He rose first
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  Speaker 1: in the mornings, He did the cooking. He lengthened his
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  Speaker 1: turns ahead of the dogs. He mended harness after the
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  Speaker 1: day's hike had ended. Of course, the older man objected,
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  Speaker 1: and for a time they had a good natured rivalry
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  Speaker 1: as to who should work and who should rest. Only
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  Speaker 1: it was not quite so good natured on Cantwell's part,
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  Speaker 1: as he made it appear. Mort broke out in a
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  Speaker 1: friendly irritation one day. Don't try to do everything, Johnny.
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  Speaker 1: Remember I'm no cripple. Huh, you prove that. I guess
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  Speaker 1: it's up to me to do your work. Oh forget
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  Speaker 1: that day on the past, can't you? Johnny grunted a
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  Speaker 1: second time, and from his tone it was evident that
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  Speaker 1: he would never forget. Unpleasant, though the memory remained. Sensing
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  Speaker 1: his sullen resentment, the other tried to rally him, but
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  Speaker 1: made a bad job of it. The humor of men
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  Speaker 1: in the open is not delicate. Their wit and their
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  Speaker 1: words become coarsened in direct proportion as they revert to
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  Speaker 1: the primitive. It is one effect of the solitudes. Grant
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  Speaker 1: spoke extravagantly, mockingly of his own superiority, in a way
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  Speaker 1: which ordinarily would have brought a smile to Cantwell's lips,
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  Speaker 1: But the latter did not smile. He taunted Johnny humorously
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  Speaker 1: on his lack of physical prowess, his lack of good
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  Speaker 1: looks and manly qualities, something which had never failed to
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  Speaker 1: result in a friendly EXAs change of bad nage. He
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  Speaker 1: even teased him about his defeat with a cat my girl.
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  Speaker 1: Cantwell did respond finally, but afterward he found himself wondering
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  Speaker 1: if mort could have been in earnest. He dismissed the
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  Speaker 1: thought with some impatience. But men on the trail have
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  Speaker 1: too much time for the thoughts. There is nothing in
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  Speaker 1: the monotonous routine of the day's work to distract them.
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  Speaker 1: So the partner who had played out dwelt more and
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  Speaker 1: more upon his debt, and upon his friend's easy assumption
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  Speaker 1: of pre eminence. The weight of obligation began to shafe
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  Speaker 1: him lightly at first, but with ever increasing discomfort, he
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  Speaker 1: began to think Grant honestly considered himself the better man,
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  Speaker 1: merely because chance had played into his hands. It was silly,
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  Speaker 1: even childish, to dwell on the subject, he reflected, and
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  Speaker 1: yet he could not banish it from his mind. It
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: was always before him, in one form or another. He
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  Speaker 1: felt the strength in his lean muscles and sneered at
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  Speaker 1: the thought that mort should be deceived. If it came
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  Speaker 1: to a physical test, he felt sure he could break
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  Speaker 1: his slighter partner with his bare hands. And as for endurance, well,
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  Speaker 1: he was hungry for a chance to demonstrate it. They talked,
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  Speaker 1: little men seldom converse in the wastes, where there is
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  Speaker 1: something about the silence of the wilderness which discourages speech.
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  Speaker 1: And no land is so grimly silent, so hushed and soundless,
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  Speaker 1: as the frozen North. For days they marched through desolation,
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  Speaker 1: without glimpse of human habitation, without sight of track or trail,
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  Speaker 1: without sound of human voice to break the monotony. There
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  Speaker 1: was no game in the country, with the exception of
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  Speaker 1: an occasional bird or rabbit. Nothing but the white hills,
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  Speaker 1: the fringe of alder tops along the water courses and
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  Speaker 1: the thickets of gnarled unhealthy spruce in the smothered valleys.
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  Speaker 1: Their destination was a mysterious stream at the headwaters of
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  Speaker 1: the unmapped Couscoquim, where rumors said there was gold, and
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  Speaker 1: whither they feared other men were hastening from the mining
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  Speaker 1: country far to the north. Now it is a penalty
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  Speaker 1: of the White country that men shall think of women.
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  Speaker 1: Cantwell began to brood upon the cat my girl, where
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  Speaker 1: she was the last. Her eyes were haunting, and distance
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  Speaker 1: had worked its usual enchantment. He reflected that mort had
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  Speaker 1: shouldered him aside and won her favor, then boasted of it.
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  Speaker 1: Johnny awoke one night with a dream of her, and
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  Speaker 1: lay quivering. She was only a squaw, he said, half aloud,
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  Speaker 1: if I'd really tried. Grant La beside him, snoring. The
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  Speaker 1: heat of their bodies intermingled. The waking man tried to
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  Speaker 1: compose himself, but his partner's stertorous breathing irritated him beyond measure.
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  Speaker 1: For a long time, he remained motionless, staring into the
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  Speaker 1: gray blur of the tent top he had played out.
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  Speaker 1: He owed his life to the man who cheated him
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  Speaker 1: of the cat, my girl, and that man knew it.
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: He had become a weak, helpless thing dependent upon another strength,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: and that other now accepted his superiority. As a matter
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: of course, the obligation was insufferable. And it wasn't just
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: the North had played him a devilish trick. It had
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: betrayed him. It had bound him to his benefactor with
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: chains of gratitude, which were irksome. Had they been real chains,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: they could have gulled him no more than at this
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: moment end of Chapter five, Part one recording by Kurt Trotwine,