Latest / The Boy Scout Book of Campfire Stories / Chapter 5: The Weight of Obligation, part 2 by Rex Beach

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Chapter 5: The Weight of Obligation, part 2 by Rex Beach · The Boy Scout Book of Campfire Stories

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  Speaker 1: Chapter five, Part two 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 Trotwine, 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 two by Rex Speech. As time passed,
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  Speaker 1: the men spoke less frequently to each other, Grant Josh
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  Speaker 1: as mate roughly once or twice, masking beneath an assumption
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  Speaker 1: of jocularity, his own vague irritation at the change that
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  Speaker 1: had come over them. It was as if he had
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  Speaker 1: probed in an open wound with clumsy fingers. Cantwell had
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  Speaker 1: by this time assumed most of those petty camp tasks
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  Speaker 1: which provoked tired trailers, those humdrum duties which are so
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  Speaker 1: trying to exhausted nerves. And of course they wore upon
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  Speaker 1: him as they wear upon every man. But once he
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  Speaker 1: had taken them over, he began to re z grants
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  Speaker 1: easy relinquishment. It wrangled him to realize how willingly the
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  Speaker 1: other allowed him to do the cooking, the dishwashing, the
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  Speaker 1: fire building, the bed making. Little monotonies of this kind
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  Speaker 1: form the hardest part of winter travel. They are the
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  Speaker 1: rocks upon which friendship's founder and partnerships are wrecked out
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  Speaker 1: on the trail. Nature equalizes the work to a great extent,
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  Speaker 1: and no man can shirk unduly. But in camp, inside
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  Speaker 1: the cramped confines of a tent pitched on bows laid
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  Speaker 1: over the snow, it is very different. There. One must
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  Speaker 1: busy himself while the other rests and keeps his legs
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  Speaker 1: out of the way if possible. One man sits on
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  Speaker 1: the bedding at the rear of the shelter and shivers,
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  Speaker 1: while the other squats over a tantalizing fire of green wood,
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  Speaker 1: blistering his face and parboiling his limbs inside of his
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  Speaker 1: sweaty clothing. Dishes must be passed, food divided, and it
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  Speaker 1: is poor food, poorly prepared at best. Sometimes men criticize
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  Speaker 1: and voice longings for better grub and better cooking. Remarks
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  Speaker 1: of this kind have been known to result in tragedies,
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  Speaker 1: bitter words, and flaming curses than perhaps wild actions, memories
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  Speaker 1: of which the later years can never erase. It is
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  Speaker 1: but one prank of the wilderness, one grim manifestation of
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  Speaker 1: its silent forces. Had Grant been unable to do his part,
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  Speaker 1: Cantwell would have willingly accepted the added burden. But more
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  Speaker 1: it was able. He was nimble in handy, He was
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  Speaker 1: the better cook of the two. In fact, he was
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  Speaker 1: the better man in every way, or so he believed.
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  Speaker 1: Kitwell sneered at the last thought, and the memory of
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  Speaker 1: his debt was like bitter medicine. His resentment, in reality,
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  Speaker 1: nothing more than a phase of insanity, begot of isolation
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  Speaker 1: and silence, could not help but communicate itself to his companion,
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  Speaker 1: and there resulted a mutual antagonism, which grew into a dislike,
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  Speaker 1: then festered into something more, something strange, reasonless, yet terribly vivid,
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  Speaker 1: and amazingly potent for evil. Neither man ever mentioned it.
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  Speaker 1: Their tongues were clenched between their teeth, and they held
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  Speaker 1: themselves in check with harsh hands, but it was constantly
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  Speaker 1: in their minds. Nevertheless, no man who has not suffered
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  Speaker 1: the manifold irritations of such an intimate association can appreciate
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  Speaker 1: the gnawing canker of animosity like this. It was dangerous
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  Speaker 1: because there was no relief from it. The two were
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  Speaker 1: bound together as by jives. They shared each other's every
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  Speaker 1: action and every plan. They trod in each other's tracks,
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  Speaker 1: slept in the same bed, ate from the same plate.
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  Speaker 1: They were like prisoners ironed to the same staple. Each
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  Speaker 1: fought the obsession in his own way, but it is
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  Speaker 1: hard to fight the impalpable. Hence their sick fancies grew
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  Speaker 1: in spite of themselves. Their minds needed food to prey upon,
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  Speaker 1: but found none. Each began to criticize the others silently,
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  Speaker 1: to sneer at his weaknesses, to meditate derisively on his peculiarities.
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  Speaker 1: After a time, they no longer resisted the advances of
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  Speaker 1: these poisonous thoughts, but welcomed it. On more than one occasion,
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  Speaker 1: the embers of their wrath were upon the point of
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  Speaker 1: bursting into flame, but each realized the first ill considered
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  Speaker 1: word would serve to slip the leash from those demons
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  Speaker 1: that were straining to go free, and so managed to
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  Speaker 1: restrain himself. The crisis came one chris morning, when a
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  Speaker 1: dog team whirled around the bend in the river and
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  Speaker 1: a white man hailed them. He was a mail carrier
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  Speaker 1: on his way out from Nome and he brought news
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  Speaker 1: of the inside. Where are you boys bound for? He inquired,
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  Speaker 1: when the greetings were over and the gossip of the
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  Speaker 1: trail had passed. We're going to Sony River, strike, Grant
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  Speaker 1: told him. Stony River, up the cusco Quim. Yes, the
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  Speaker 1: man man laughed, Can you beat that? Ain't you heard
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  Speaker 1: about Sony River? No? Wow, it's a fake, No such place.
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  Speaker 1: There was a silence. The partners avoided each other's eyes. McDonald,
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  Speaker 1: the fellow that started it is on his way to Dawson.
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  Speaker 1: There's a gang after him too, and if he's caught,
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  Speaker 1: it'll go hard with him. He wrote the letters to
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  Speaker 1: himself and spread the news to raise the grubstak. He
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  Speaker 1: cleaned up big before they got to him. He pedaled
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  Speaker 1: his tips for real money. Yes, Grant spoke quietly. Johnny
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  Speaker 1: bought one. That's what brought us from Seattle. We went
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  Speaker 1: out on the last boat and figured we'd come in
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  Speaker 1: from this side before the breakup. So fake, gee, you
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  Speaker 1: fella's big good. The mail carrier shook his head. Well,
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  Speaker 1: you'd better get going now. You'll get to know him
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  Speaker 1: before the season opens. Better take dogfish from Bethel. It's
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  Speaker 1: four bits a pound. On the Yukon. Sorry, I didn't
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  Speaker 1: hear you camp last night. We had had a visit.
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  Speaker 1: Tell the gang that you saw me. He shook hands, ceremoniously,
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  Speaker 1: yelled at his panting dogs, and went swiftly on his way,
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  Speaker 1: waving a mitten on high as he vanished around the
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  Speaker 1: name been. The partners watched him go. Then Grant turned
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  Speaker 1: to Johnny and repeated fake McDonald's stung you Cantwell's face
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  Speaker 1: went as white as the snow behind him. His eyes blazed.
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  Speaker 1: Why did you tell him a bit? He demanded harshly.
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  Speaker 1: Huh didn't you bite two thousand miles a foot three
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  Speaker 1: months of hades for nothing? That's biting some well. The
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  Speaker 1: speaker's face was convulsed, and Grant's flamed with an answering anger.
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  Speaker 1: They glared at each other for a moment. Don't blame me,
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  Speaker 1: you fell for it too, I Mort checked his rushing words.
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  Speaker 1: Yes you now. What are you going to do about it? Welsh?
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  Speaker 1: I'm going through to Nome. The sight of his partner's
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  Speaker 1: rage had set Mort into shaking with a furious desire
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  Speaker 1: to fly at his throat, but fortunately he retained his
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  Speaker 1: spark of sanity, then shut up and quit chewing the rag.
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  Speaker 1: You talk too much. Mort's eyes were bloodshed. They fell
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  Speaker 1: upon the carbine under the sled lashings and lingered there.
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  Speaker 1: Then wavered, he opened his lips, reconsidered, spoke softly to
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  Speaker 1: the team, then lifted the heavy dog whip and smote
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  Speaker 1: the malamoots with all his strength. The men resumed their
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  Speaker 1: journey without further words, but each was cursing inwardly. So
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  Speaker 1: I talked too much, Grant thought. The accusation struck in
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  Speaker 1: his mind, and he determined to speak no more. He
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  Speaker 1: blames me, can't well, reflected bitterly, I'm in the wrong again,
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  Speaker 1: And he couldn't keep his mouth shut. A fine partner
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  Speaker 1: he is. All day they plodded on, neither trusting himself
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  Speaker 1: to speak. They ate their evening meal like mutes. They
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  Speaker 1: avoided each other's eyes. Even the guide noticed the change
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  Speaker 1: and looked on curiously. There were two robes, and these
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  Speaker 1: the partners shared nightly. But their hatred had grown so
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  Speaker 1: during the past few hours that the thought of lying
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  Speaker 1: side by side, limb to limb was distasteful. Yet neither
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  Speaker 1: dared suggested a vision of the betting or that would
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  Speaker 1: have brought further words, and resulted in the crash which
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  Speaker 1: they longed for but feared. They stripped off their furs
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  Speaker 1: and laid down beside each other with the same repugnance
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  Speaker 1: they would have felt had there been a serpent in
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  Speaker 1: the couch. This unending, malevolent silence became terrible. The strain
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  Speaker 1: of it increased, for each man now had something definite
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  Speaker 1: to cherish in the words and the looks that had passed.
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  Speaker 1: They divided the camp work with scrupulous nicety. Each man
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  Speaker 1: waited upon himself and asked no favors. The knowledge of
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  Speaker 1: his debt forever shaped Cantwell. Grant resented his companion's lack
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  Speaker 1: of gratitude. Of course, they spoke occasionally. It was beyond
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  Speaker 1: human endurance to remain entirely dumb, But they conversed in
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  Speaker 1: monosyllables about trivial things, and their voices were throaty, as
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  Speaker 1: if the effort choked them. Meanwhile, they continued to glow
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  Speaker 1: inwardly at the white heat. Cantwell no longer felt a
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  Speaker 1: desire merely to match his strength against Grants. The estrangement
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  Speaker 1: had become too wide for that a physical victory would
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  Speaker 1: have been flat and tasteless. He craved some deeper satisfaction.
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  Speaker 1: He began to think of the ax, just how or
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  Speaker 1: when or why. He never knew. It was a thin, bladed,
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  Speaker 1: polished thing of frosty steel, And the more he thought
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  Speaker 1: of it, the stronger grew his impulse to rid himself
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  Speaker 1: once and for all of that presence which exasperated him.
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  Speaker 1: It would be very easy, he reasoned, A sudden blow
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  Speaker 1: with the weight of his shoulders behind it. He fancied
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  Speaker 1: he could feel the bit sink into Grant's flesh, cleaving
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  Speaker 1: bone and cartilages in its course. A slanting downward stroke
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  Speaker 1: aimed at the neck where it joined the body, and
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  Speaker 1: he would be forever satisfied. It would be ridiculously simple.
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  Speaker 1: He practiced in the gloom of the evening as he
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  Speaker 1: felled spruce trees for firewood. He guarded the axe religiously.
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  Speaker 1: It became a living thing which urged him on to violence.
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  Speaker 1: He saw it standing by the tent fly when he
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  Speaker 1: closed his eyes to sleep. He dreamed of it. He
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  Speaker 1: sought it out with his eyes when he first awoke.
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  Speaker 1: He slid it loosely under the sled lashings every morning,
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  Speaker 1: thinking that its use could not long be delayed. As
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  Speaker 1: for Grant, the carabine dwelt forever in his mind, and
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  Speaker 1: his fingers itched for it. He secretly slipped a cartridge
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  Speaker 1: into the chamber, and when an occasional ptarmagain offered itself
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  Speaker 1: for a target, he saw the white spot on the
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  Speaker 1: breast of Johnny's reindeer parka, dancing ahead of the lyman bead.
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  Speaker 1: The solitude had done its work. The North had played
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  Speaker 1: its grim comedy to the final curtain, making sport of
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  Speaker 1: men's affections and turning love to rankling hate. But into
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  Speaker 1: the mind of each man crept a certain craftiness. Each
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  Speaker 1: long to strike, but feared to face the consequences. It
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  Speaker 1: was lonesome here among the white hills and deathly silences.
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  Speaker 1: Yet they reflected that it would be still more lonesome
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  Speaker 1: if they were left to keep step with nothing more
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  Speaker 1: substantial than a memory. They determined, therefore to wait until
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  Speaker 1: civilization was near. Meanwhile, rehearsing the moment they knew was inevitable,
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  Speaker 1: over and over in their thoughts, each of them enacted
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  Speaker 1: the scene, ending it always with a picture of a
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  Speaker 1: prostrate man and a patch of trampled snow which grew
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  Speaker 1: Crimson as the other gloated. They paused at Bethel Mission
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  Speaker 1: long enough to load with dried salmon, then made the
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  Speaker 1: ninety mile portage over lake and tundra to the Yukon.
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  Speaker 1: There they got their first touch of the inside world.
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  Speaker 1: They camped in a barraboro where a white man had
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  Speaker 1: slept a few nights before, and heard their own language
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  Speaker 1: spoken by native tongues. The time was growing short now,
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  Speaker 1: and they purposely dismissed their guide, knowing that the trail
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  Speaker 1: was plane from there on. When they hitched up on
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  Speaker 1: the next morning, Cantwell place the axe bit down between
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  Speaker 1: the tarpaulin and the sledge rail, leaving the hell projecting
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  Speaker 1: where his hand could reach it. Grant thrust the barrel
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  Speaker 1: of the rifle beneath the lashing, with a butt close
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  Speaker 1: by the handlebars, and it was loaded. A mile from
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  Speaker 1: the village, they were overtaken by an Indian and his squaw,
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  Speaker 1: traveling light behind hungry dogs. The natives attached themselves to
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  Speaker 1: the white men and hung stubbornly to their heels, taking
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  Speaker 1: advantage of their tracks. When night came, they camped alongside
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  Speaker 1: in hope of food. They announced they were bound for
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  Speaker 1: Saint Michael's, and in spite of every effort to shake
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  Speaker 1: them off, they remained close behind the partners until that
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  Speaker 1: point was reached. At Saint Michael's there were white men,
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  Speaker 1: practically the first Johnny and Mort had encountered since landing
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  Speaker 1: at Catmai, and for a day at least they were sane.
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  Speaker 1: But there were still three hundred miles to be traveled,
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  Speaker 1: three hundred miles of solitude and haunting thoughts. Just as
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  Speaker 1: they were about to start, Cantwell came up on Grant
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  Speaker 1: and the ac agent and heard his name pronounced, also
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  Speaker 1: the word Capmai. He noted that Mort fell silent on
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  Speaker 1: his approach, and instantly his anger blazed afresh. He decided
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  Speaker 1: that the latter had been telling the story of their
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  Speaker 1: experience on the pass and boasting of his service so
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  Speaker 1: much better. He thought, in a blind rage, that which
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  Speaker 1: he planned doing would appear all the more like an accident,
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  Speaker 1: For who would dream that a man could kill the
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  Speaker 1: person to whom he owed his life. That night he
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  Speaker 1: waited for a chance. They were camped in a dismal
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  Speaker 1: hut on a wind swept shore. They were alone, but
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  Speaker 1: Grant was waiting also. It seemed they lay down beside
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  Speaker 1: each other, ostensibly to sleep. Their limbs touched, the warmth
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  Speaker 1: of their bodies intermingled, but they did not close their eyes.
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  Speaker 1: They were up and away early, with Nome drawing rapidly nearer.
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  Speaker 1: They had skirted an ocean foot by foot. Bearing sea
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  Speaker 1: lay behind them now, and its northern shore swung westward
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  Speaker 1: to their goal. For two months they had lived in
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  Speaker 1: silent animosity, feeding on bitter food while their elbows rubbed.
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  Speaker 1: Noon found them floundering through one of those unherald storms
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  Speaker 1: which make coast travels so hazardous. The morning had turned
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  Speaker 1: off gray. The sky was of a leaden hue which
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  Speaker 1: blended perfectly with the snow underfoot. There was no horizon.
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  Speaker 1: It was impossible to see more than a few yards
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  Speaker 1: in any direction. The trail soon became obliterated, and their
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  Speaker 1: eyes began to play tricks. For all they could distinguish,
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  Speaker 1: they might have been suspended in space. They seemed to
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  Speaker 1: be treading the measures of an old, endless dance in
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  Speaker 1: the center of a whirling cloud. Of course, it was cold,
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  Speaker 1: for the wind off the open sea was damp, but
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  Speaker 1: they were not men to turn back. They soon discovered
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  Speaker 1: that their difficulty lay not in facing the storm, but
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  Speaker 1: in holding to the trail. That narrow two foot causeway,
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  Speaker 1: packed by a winter's travel and frozen into a ribbon
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  Speaker 1: of eyes by a winter's frosts, afforded their only avenue
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  Speaker 1: of progress. For the moment they left it, the sled
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  Speaker 1: plowed into the loose snow, well nigh disappearing and bringing
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  Speaker 1: the dogs to a standstill. It was the duty of
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  Speaker 1: the driver in such case to wallow forward, right the load,
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  Speaker 1: if necessary, and lift it back into place. These mishaps
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  Speaker 1: were forever occurring, for it was impossible to distinguish the
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  Speaker 1: trail beneath its soft covering. However, if the driver's task
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  Speaker 1: was hard, it was no more trying than that of
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  Speaker 1: the man ahead, who was compelled to feel out and
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  Speaker 1: explore the ridge of hardened snow and ice with his feet,
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  Speaker 1: after the fashion of a man walking the plank in
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  Speaker 1: the dark. Frequently he lunged into the drifts with one
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  Speaker 1: foot or both. His glaze Muckluck's souls slid about, causing
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  Speaker 1: him to bestride the invisible hog back or again. His
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  Speaker 1: legs crossed awkwardly, throwing him off his balance. At times
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  Speaker 1: he wandered away from the path entirely and had to
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  Speaker 1: search it out again. These exertions were very wearing, and
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  Speaker 1: they were dangerous also, for joints are easily dislocated, muscles
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  Speaker 1: twisted and tendon strained. Hour after hour, the march continued,
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  Speaker 1: unrelieved by any change, unbroken by any speck or spot
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  Speaker 1: of color. The nerves of their eyes, wearied by constant
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  Speaker 1: near sighted peering at the snow, began to jump, so
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  Speaker 1: the vision became untrustworthy. Both travelers appreciated the necessity of
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  Speaker 1: clinging to the trail, for once they lost it, they
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  Speaker 1: knew they might wander about indefinitely until they chanced to
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  Speaker 1: regain it or found their way to the shore. While
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  Speaker 1: always to seaward was their menace of open water, of
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  Speaker 1: open airholes or cracks which might gape beneath their feet
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  Speaker 1: like jaws. Immersion in this temperature, no matter how brief,
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  Speaker 1: meant death. The monotony of progress through this unreal leaden
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  Speaker 1: world became almost unbearable. The repeated strainings and twistings they
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  Speaker 1: suffered walking through the slippery ridge reduced the men to wariness.
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  Speaker 1: Their legs grew clumsy and their feet uncertain. Had they
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  Speaker 1: found a camping place they would have stopped, but they
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  Speaker 1: dared not forsake the thin thread that linked them with
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  Speaker 1: safety to go and look for one, not knowing where
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  Speaker 1: the shore lay. In storms of this kind, men had
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  Speaker 1: lain in their sleeping bags for days within a stone's
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  Speaker 1: throw of a roadhouse or village. Bodies had been found
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  Speaker 1: within one hundred yards of shell. After blizzards have abated.
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  Speaker 1: Cantwell and Grant had no choice therefore, except to bore
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  Speaker 1: into the welter of drifting flakes. It was late in
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  Speaker 1: the afternoon when the latter met with an accident. Johnny,
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  Speaker 1: who had taken a spell at the rear, heard him
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  Speaker 1: cry out, saw him stagger, struggle to hold his footing,
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  Speaker 1: then sink into the snow. The dogs paused instantly, lay
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  Speaker 1: down and began to strip the ice pellets from between
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  Speaker 1: their toes. Cantwell spoke, harshly, leaning upon the handlebars, Well,
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  Speaker 1: what's the idea? It was the longest sentence of the day.
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  Speaker 1: I've hurt myself. Mart's voice was thin and strange. He
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  Speaker 1: raised himself to a sitting posture. He reached beneath his parka,
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  Speaker 1: then lay back weakly. He writhed His face was twisted
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  Speaker 1: with pain, he continued to lither, doubled into a knot
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  Speaker 1: of suffering. A groan was wrenched from between his teeth.
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  Speaker 1: Hurt how, Johnny inquired dully, it seemed very ridiculous to
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  Speaker 1: see that strong man kicking around in the snow. Something
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  Speaker 1: loose here. Mort's palms were pressed in upon his groin.
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  Speaker 1: His fingers were clutching. Something ruptured, I guess. He tried
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  Speaker 1: again to rise, but sank back. His cap had fallen off,
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  Speaker 1: and his forehead glistened with sweat. Cantwell went forward and
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  Speaker 1: lifted him. It was the first time in many days
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  Speaker 1: that their hands had touched, and the sensation affected him strangely.
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  Speaker 1: He struggled to repress a devilish mirth at the thought
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  Speaker 1: that Grant had played out. It amounted to that, and
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  Speaker 1: nothing less. The trail had delivered him into his enemy's hands.
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  Speaker 1: His hour had struck. Johnny determined to square the debt
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  Speaker 1: now once and for all, and wipe his own mind
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  Speaker 1: clean of that poison which corroded it. His muscles were strong,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: his brain clear. He had never felt his strength so
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: irresistible as at this moment. While Mort, for all his
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: boasted superiority was nothing but a nerveless thing, hanging limp
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: against his breast. Providence had arranged it all. The younger
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: man was impelled to give Erousse's voice to his glee,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: and yet his helpless burden exerted an odd effect upon him.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: He deposited his foe upon the sled and stared at
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: the face he had not met for many days. He
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: saw how white it was, how wet and cold, how
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: weak and dazed. Then as he looked, he cursed inwardly,
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: for the triumph of his moment was spoiled. The axe
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: was there, its polished bit showed like a piece of ice.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: Its hell protruded handily, but there was no need of it.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Now his fingers were all the weapons Johnny needed. They
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: were more than sufficient, in fact, for mort was like
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: a child. Cantwell was a strong man, and although the
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: north had coarsened him, yet underneath the surface was a
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: chivalrous regard for all things weak. In this the trail
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: madness had not affected. He had longed for this instant,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: but now that it had come, he felt no enjoyment,
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: since he could not harm a sick man, and waged
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: no war on cripples perhaps when mort had rested, they
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: could settle their quarrel. This was as good a place
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: as any. The storm hid them. They would leave no traces,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: there would be no interruption. But Moore did not rest,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: he could not walk. Movement brought excruciating pain. Finally, he
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: can'twell hurt himself, saying, better wrap up and last still
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: for a while, I'll get the dogs underway. His words
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: amazed him. Dully, they were not at all what he
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: had intended to say. The injured man demurred, but the
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: other insisted gruffly, then brought him as mittens and cap
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: slapping the snow out of them before rousing the team
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: to motion. The load was very heavy now the dogs
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: had no footprints to guide them, and it required all
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: of Cantwell's efforts to prevent capsizing. Night approached swiftly. The
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: whirling snow particles continued to flow past upon the wind,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: shrouding the earth in an impenetrable pull. The journey soon
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: became a terrible ordeal, a slow, halting progress that led nowhere,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: and was accomplished at the cost of tremendous exertion. Time
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: after time. Johnny broke trail, then returned and urged the
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: huskies forward to the end of his tracks. When he
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: lost the path, he sought it out, laboriously hoisted the
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: sledge back into place, and coaxed his four footed helpers
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: to renewed effort. He was drenched with perspiration, his inner
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: garments were steaming, his outer garments were frozen into a
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: coat of armor. When he paused, he chilled rapidly. His
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: vision was untrustworthy also, and he felt snow blindness coming on.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: Grant begged him more than once to unroll the bedding
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: and prepare to sleep out the storm. He even urged
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Johnny to leave him and make a dash for his
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: own safety, but at this the younger man cursed and
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: told him to hold his tongue. Night found the lone
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: drivers slipping, plunging, lurching ahead of the dogs, or shoving
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: at the handlebars and shouting at the dogs. Finally, during
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: a pause for rest, he heard a sound which roused
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: him out of a gloom. To the right came the faint,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: complaining howl of a malamut. It was answered by his
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: own dogs, and the next moment they had caught a
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: scent which swerved them shoreward and led them scrambling through
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: the drifts two hundred yards and a steep bank loomed above,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: up and over which they rushed with cantwell yelling encouragement.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Then a light showed and they were in the lee
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: of a low roofed hut. A sick native huddled over
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Yukonsto made them welcome to his mean abode, explaining that
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: his wife and son had gone to unil clique for supplies.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: Johnny carried his partner to the one unoccupied bunk and
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: stripped his clothes from him with his own hands. He
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: rubbed the warmth back into Mortimer's limbs, then swiftly prepared
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: hot food, and, holding him in the hollow of his
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: aching arm, fed him a little at a time. He
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: was like to drop from exhaustion, but he made no complaint.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: With one folded robe, he made the hard boards comfortable,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: then spread the other as a covering for himself. He
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: sat beside the fire and fought his weariness. When he
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: dozed off off and the cold awakened him, he renewed
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: the fire. He heated beef tea, and rousing, mort fed
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: it to him with a tea spoon. All night long
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: had intervals He tended to the sick man, and Grant's
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: eyes followed him with an expression that brought a fierce
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: pain to Cantwell's throat. You're mighty good after the rotten
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: way I acted, The former whispered once, and Johnny's big
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: hand trembled so that he spilled the broth. His voice
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: was low and tender as he inquired, are you resting
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: easier now? The other nodded, maybe you're not hurt badly
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: after all, God, that'd be awful. Cantwell choked, turned away, and,
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: raising his arms against the log wall, buried his face
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: in them. The morning broke clear, Grant was sleeping as
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: Johnny stiffly mounted the creek bank with a bucket of water.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: He heard a jingle of sleigh bells and saw a
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: sled with two white men swing in toward the cabin. Hello,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: he called, and then he heard his own name pronounced,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: Johnny Cantwell, by all that's holy. The next moment, he
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: shaking hands vigorously with two old friends from Nome. Martin
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: and me were bound for Saint Mike's. One of them explained,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: where the deuce did you come from? Johnny? The outside
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: started for stony River, but Stony River. The newcomers began
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: to laugh loudly, and can't well join them. It was
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: the first time he had laughed for weeks. He realized
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: the fact with a start, then recollected also his sleeping
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: partner and said, mortz inside asleep during the night. Everything
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: had changed for Johnny Cantwell, his mental attitude, his hatred,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: his whole reasonless insanity. Everything was different now. Even as
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: debt was canceled, the weight of obligation was removed, and
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: his diseased fancies were completely cured. Yes, Stony River, he repeated,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: grinning broadly. Ah bit Martin burst forth gleefully. They caught
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: McDonald to hold across and ran him out on a limb.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: He'll never start another stampede. Old man Baker gun branded him.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: What's the matter with mort inquired second traveler. He's resting up.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: Yesterday during the storm, Johnny was up on the point
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: of saying played out, but changed it to had an accident.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: We thought it was serious, but a few days rest
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: he'll be bringing around all right. He saved me a
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: cat Mike coming in. I petered out and threw up
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: my tail, but he got me through. Come inside and
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: tell him the news. Sure thing. Well, well, Martin said,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: so you and Moore are still partners. Eh, still partners?
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: Johnny took up the pail of water. Well, rather, we'll
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: always be partners. His voice was young and full of
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: hearty as he continued, Wow, Mort's the best fellow in
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: the world. I'd laid down my life for him. End
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: of Chapter five, Part two recording by Kurt Trotwine