（
总裁别太霸道了）（
花非花雾非雾）（
重庆书厂）（
天价赌神魔手妖女）（
惟我神尊）（
夺鼎1617）by jack london
david rasmunsen waustler, and, like manreater man, a manthe on, when the clarion callthe north ranghis ear,conceivedadventureeggs and bent all his energyit figured briefly andthe point, and the adventure became iridescent hued, eggs would selldawson for five dollarozen waafe workinwas incontrovertible that ohousand dozen would bring,the golden metropolis, five thousand dollars.
on the other hand, expense was tobe considered, andconsideredwell, forwaareful man, keenly practical, witard head aneart that imagination neve fifteen centozen, the initial costhis thousand dozen wouldone hundred and fifty dollars, a mere bagatellefacethe enormou suppose, just suppose,be wildly extravagant for once, that transportation for himself and eggs should runeight hundred and fifty more;would still have four thousand clear cash and clean when the last egg was disposedand the last dust had rippled into his sack.
“you see, alma,”figuredover with his wife, the cosy dining room submergeda seamaps, government surveys, guidebooks, and alaskan itineraries, “you see, expenses don't really begin till you make dyea fifty dollars'll coverwitirst class passage thrown in.now from dyealake linderman, indian packers take your goods over for twelve centound, twelve dollarundred,one hundred and twenty dollarshave fifteen hundred pounds, it'll cost one hundred and eighty dollars calltwo hundred anreditably informeda klondiker just e out thaan buoat for thre the same man says i'm suregeouplepassengers for one hundred and fifty each, which will givethe boat for nothing, and, further,they can helpmanage it.and...that’s all; i puteggs ashore from the boaetsee how muchthat?”
“fifty dollars from san franciscodyea, two hundred from dyealinderman, passengers pay for the boat two hundred and fifty all told,” she summedswiftly.
“anundred forclothesand personal outfit,”wenthappily; “that leavearginfive hundredwhat possible emergenciescan arise?”
alma shrugged her shoulders and elevatedthat vast northland was capableswallowinga man anhousand dozen eggs, surely there was room andspare for whatever elsemight happehe thought, but she sai knew david rasmunsen too wellsay anything.
“doubling the time becausechance delays, i should make the triptwit, thousandtwo months!beats the paltry hundreonth i'm gettin, we'll build further out where we'll have more space, gasevery room, aniew, and the rentthe cottage'll pay taxes, insurance, and water, and leave somethin then there's always the chancemy strikingand ing out tell me, alma, don’t you think i'm very moderate ?”
and alma could hardly thin, had not her own cousin, thougemote and distant oosure, the black sheep, the harum scarum, the ne’erwell, had note down outthat weird north country witundred thousandyellow dust,say nothinga half ownershipthe hole from whichcame?
david rasmunsen's grocer was surprised whenfound him weighing eggsthe scalesthe endthe counter, and rasmunsen himself was more surprised whenfound thaozen eggs weigheound analf fifteen hundred pounds for his thousan wouldno weight left for his clothes, blankets, and cooking utensils,say nothingthe grubmust necessarily consumeth calculations were all thrown out, andwas just proceedingrecast them whenhit upon the ideaweighing small eggs.“for whether theylargesmall, a dozen eggsa dozen eggs,”observed sagelyhimself; anozen small onesfoundweigh buound and the citysan francisco was overrunanxious eyed emissaries, and mission houses and dairy associations were startleda sudden demand for eggs running not more than twenty ouncesthe dozen.
rasmunsen mortgaged the little cottage fohousand dollars, arranged for his wifemakrolonged stay among her own people, threwhis job, and starte keep within his schedulepromiseda second class passage, which, becausethe rush, was worse than steerage; andthe late summer, a pale and wabbly man,disembarked with his eggsthe dyedid not take him longrecover his land legsfirst interview with the chilkoot packers straightened himand stiffenedcentound they demanded for the twenty eight mile portage, and whilecaught his breath and swallowed, the price wentto fort husky indians put the strapshis packsforty five, but took them offan offerforty seven frokaguay croesusdirty shirt and ragged overalls who had lost his horsesthe white pass trail and was now makinast desperate drivethe countrywaychilkoot.
but rasmunsen was clean grit, andfifty cents found takers, who, two days later, set his eggs down intacifty centounda thousand dollaron, and his fifteen hundred pounds had exhausted his emergency fund and left him strandedthe tantalus point where each daysaw the fresh whipsawed boats departing fo, a great anxiety brooded over the camp where the boats wer worked frantically, early and late,the heighttheir endurance, calking, nailing, and pitchinga frenzyhaste for which adequate explanation was not farseek.
each day the snowline crept farther down the bleak, rock shouldered peaks, and gale followed gale, with sleet and slush and snow, andthe eddies and quiet places young ice formed and thickened through the fleetin each morn, toil stiffened men turned wan faces across the lakeseethe freezeha the freezeheralded the deaththeir hope the hope that they wouldfloating down the swift river ere navigation closedthe chainlakes.
to harrow rasmunsen's soul further,discovered three petitorsthewas true that one, a little german, had gone broke and was himself forlornly back tripping the last packthe portage; but the other two had boats nearly pleted and were daily supplicating the godmerchants and tradersstay the iron handwinter for just anothe the iron hand closed down overwere being frozenthe blizzard, which swept chilkoot, and rasmunsen frosted his toes erewa founhancego passenger with his freighta boat just shoving off through the rubble, but two hundred, hard cash, was required, andhadmoney.
“ay tank you yust wait one leedle w'ile,” said the swedish boatbuilder, who had struck his klondike right there and was wise enoughknow“one leedle w'ile unake yoam fine skiff boat, sure pete.”
with this unpledged wordgo on, rasmunsen hit the back trailcrater lake, wherefellwith two press correspondents whose tangled baggage was strewn from stone house, over across the pass, andfarhappy camp.
“yes,”said with consequence.“i'vhousand dozen eggslinderman, andboat's just about got the last sea myselfluckget it.boats area premium, you know, and noohad.”
whereupon and almost with bodily violence the correspondents clamoredgo with him, fluttered greenbacks before his eyes, and spilled yellow twenties from hanould not hearit, but they overpersuaded him, andreluctantly consentedtake themthree hundre they pressed upon him the passage monehile they wrotetheir respective journals concerning the good samaritan with the thousand dozen eggs, the good samaritan was hurrying backthe swedelinderman.
“here, you!gimme that boat!” was his salutation, his hand jingling the correspondents’ gold pieces and his eyes hungrily bent upon the finished craft.
the swede regarded him stolidly and shook his head.
“how muchthe other fellow paying?three hundred?well, here’ it.”
he triedpressupon him, but the man backed away.
“ay tan say him get der skif yust wait ”
“here’sor leave it.tell’m it’istake.”
the swede wavered.“ay tank yes,”finally said, and the last rasmunsen sawhim his vocabulary was goingwrecka vain effortexplain the mistakethe other fellows.
the german slipped and broke his anklethe steep hogback above deep lake, sold out his stock foollaozen, and with the proceeds hired indian packerscarry him back tthe morning rasmunsen shoved off with his correspondents, his two rivals followed suit.
“how many you got?” onethem, a lean little new englander, called out.
“ohousand dozen,” rasmunsen answered proudly.
“huh!i’llyou even stakeeat youwitheight hundred.”
the correspondents offeredlend him the money; but rasmunsen declined, and the yankee closed with the remaining rival, a brawny sonthe sea and sailorships and things, who promisedshow them alrinkletwo whencamecracking on.and crackhe did, witarge tarpaulin squaresail which pressed the bow half underever was the firstrun outlinderman, but, disdaining the portage, piled his loaded boatthe rocksthe boilin and the yankee,who likewise had two passengers, portaged acrosstheir backs and then lined their empty boats down through the bad waterbent.
bent wawenty five mile lake, narrow and deep, a funnel between the mountains through which storms eve campedthe sand pitits head, where were many men and boats bound norththe teeththe arcti awokethe morningfiniping gale from the south, which caught the chill from the whited peaks and glacial valleys and blewcoldnorth wind evewas fair, andalso found the yankee staggering past the first bold headland with all sai after boat was getting under way, and the correspondents fellwith enthusiasm.
“we'll catch him before cariboo crossing,” they assured rasmunsen,they ranthe sail and the alma took the first icy spray over her bow.
now rasmunsen all his life had been proo cowardicewater, butclungthe kicking steering oar with set face and determihousand dozen were therethe boat before his eyes, safely secured beneath the correspondents’ baggage, and somehow, before his eyes,were the little cottage and the mortgage fohousand dollars.
it was bitte and againhauledthe steering sweep and put ouresh one while his passengers chopped the ice fromthe spray struck,turned instantlyfrost, and the dipping boomthe spritsail was quickly fringed wit alma strained and hammered through the big seas till the seams and butts beganspread, butlieubailing the correspondents chopped ice and flunaslet up.the mad race with winter was on, and the boats tore alonga desperate string.
“w wcan't stopsave our souls!” onethe correspondents chattered, from cold, not fright.
“that’s right!keep her down the middle, old man!” the other encouraged.
rasmunsen replied withidioti iron bound shores werea latherfoam, and even down the middle the only hope waskeep running away from thelower sail wasbe overtakenand again they passed boats pounding among the rocks, and once they saw onethe edgethe breakers abouraft behind them, with two men, jibed over and turned bottom up.
“tch out, old man!” criedof the chattering teeth.
rasmunsen grinned and tightened his aching gripthtimes had the sendthe sea caught the big square sternthe alma and thrown her off from dead beforetill the after leachthe spritsail fluttered hollowly, and each time, and only with all his strength, hadforcedgrinthen had bee fixed, anddisturbed the correspondentslookhim.
they roared down pastisolated rocundred yards fro its wave drenched toan shrieked wildly, for the instant cutting the storm withthe next instant the alma was by, and the rock growinlack speckthe troubled froth.
“that settles the yankee!where’s the sailor?” shouted onehis passengers.
rasmunsen sholance over his shouldera blac had seenleapoutthe graywindward, and forhour, off and on, had been watchinailor had evidently repaired damages and was makingfor lost time.
“lookhim e!”
both passengers stopped chopping icilesbent were behind them room andspare for the seatossits mountains towardand soaring liktorm god, the sailor drovuge sail seemedgrip the boat from the creststhe waves,tearbodily outthe water, and flingcrashing and smothering down into the yawning troughs.
“the sea’ll never catch him!”
“but he’l run her nose under!”
eventhey spoke, the black tarpaulin swooped from sight behind anext wave rolled over the spot, and the next, but the boat didalma rushedth riffraffoars and boxesarm thrustanhaggy head broke, surfaccoreyarime therethe endthe lake camesight, the waves beganleap aboard with such steady recurrence that the correspondentslonger chopped ice but flung the water out wit this would not do, and, aftehouted conference with rasmunsen, they attacked th, bacon, beans, blankets, cooking stove, ropes, odds and ends, everything they could get hands on, fle boat acknowledgedat once, taking less water and rising more buoyantly.
“that’ll do!”rasmunsen called sternly,they applied themselvesthe top layereggs.
“thehellwill!” answered the shivering one, the exceptiontheir notes, films, and cameras, they had sacrificed thei bent over, laid holdan egg box, and beganworryout from under the lashing.
“drop it!drop it, i say!”
rasmunsen had manageddraw his revolver, and with the crookhis arm over the sweep head was takin correspondent stoodon the thwart, balancing back and forth, his face twisted with menace and speechless anger.
“my god!”
so cried his brother correspondent, hurling himself, face downward, into the bottomth alma, under the divided attentionrasmunsen, had been caughta great masswater and whirle after leach hollowed, the sail emptied and jibed, and the boom, sweeping with terrific force across the boat, carried the angry correspondent overboard witroke and sail had gone over the sidea followed,the boat lost headway, and rasmunsen sprangthe bailing bucket.
several boats hurtled past themthe next half hour, small boats, boatstheir own size, boats afraid, unabledo aught but run madly on.theen ton barge,imminent riskdestruction, lowered sailwindward and lumbered down upon them.
“keep off!keep off!”rasmunsen screamed.
but his low gunwale ground against the heavy craft, and the remain ing correspondent clambere was overthe eggs likat andthe bowthe alma, striving with numb fingersbend the hauling lines together.
‘e on!’ a red whiskered man yelledhim.
“i’vhousand dozen eggs here,”shouted back.“gimmow!i’ll pay you!
“e on!” they howledchorus.
a big whitecap broke just beyond, washing over the barge and leaving the alma hal men cast off, cursing himthey ranthei cursed back and felast and sail, likea anchor, still fastthe halyards, held the boat headto wind and sea and gave hihancefight the wate hours later, numbed, exhausted, blathering likunatic, but still bailing,went ashorean ice strewn beach near caribo men, a government courier analf breed voyageur, dragged him outthe surf, saved his cargo, and beachedwere paddling outthe countrya peterborough, and gave him shelter for the nighttheir storm bound camp.
next morning theyparted, butelectedstayhi thereafter the name and famethe man with the thousand dozen eggs beganspread throughseekers who madebefore the freezecarried the newshi old timersforty mile and circle city, sour doughs with leathern jaws and bean calloused stomachs, calleddream memorieschickens and green thingsmentionhi and skaguay tookinteresthis being, and questioned his progress from every man who came over the passes, while dawson golden, omeletless dawson fretted and worried, and waylaid every chance arrival for wordhim.
butthis, rasmunsen kne day after the wreckpatchedthe alma and pulle east wind blewhis teeth from tagish, butgot the oars over the side and bucked manfully into it, though half the timewas drifting backward and chopping ice fromto the customthe country,was driven ashorewindy arm; three timestagish saw him swamped and beached; and lake marsh held himthe freeze up.the alma was crushedthe jammingthe floes, but the eggs werback tripped two miles across the icethe shore, wherebuilache, which stood for years after and was pointed outmen who knew.
halhousand frozen miles stretched betweenhim and dawson, and the waterwayrasmunsen, witeculiar tense lookhis face, struck backthe lakes osufferedthat lorip, with naught buingle blanket,axe, anandfulbeans,not givenordinary mortalhe arctic adventurerthatwas caughta blizzardchilkoot and left twohis toes with the surgeonsheestoodhis feet and washed dishesthe scullerythe pawonathe puget sound, and from there passed coala p. s. boatsa waaggard, unkempt man who limped across the shining office floorraisecond mortgage from the bank people.
his hollow cheeks betrayed themselves through the scraggly beard, and his eyes seemedhave retired into deep caverns where they burned with col hands were grained from exposure and hard work, and the nails were rimmed with tight packed dirt and coa spoke vaguelyeggs and ice packs, winds and tides; but when they declinedlet him have more thaecond thousand, his talk became incoherent, concerning itself chiefly with the pricedogs and dog food, and such thingssnowshoes and moccasins and winte let him have fifteen hundred, which was more than the cottage warranted, and breathed easier whenscrawled his signature and passed out the door.
two weeks laterwent over chilkoot with three dog sledsfive dog teamdrove, the two indians with him drivinglake marsh they broke out the cache and loaded up.but there waas the firstover the ice, andhim fell the taskpacking the snow and hammering away through the rough rive himoften observeamp fire smoke trickling thinlythrough the quiet air, andwondered why the people did not overtakwatrangerthe land and didcouldunderstand his indians when they triehey conceivedbardship, but when they balked and refusedbreak campmornings,drove themtheir workpistol point.
whenslipped throughice bridge near the white horse and froze his foot, tender yet and oversensitive from the previous freezing, the indians looked for himlie up.butsacrificelanket, and, with his foot incasedan enormous moccasin, biga water bucket, continuedtake his regular turn with the fron was the cruelest work, and they respected him, thoughthe side they rapped their foreheads with their knuckles and significantly shook thei night they triedrun away, but the zip ziphis bulletsthe snow brought them back, snarling but convinced.
whereupon, being only savage chilkat men, they put their heads togetherkill him; butslept likat, and, wakingsleeping, the chance neve they triedtell him the importthe smoke wreaththear, butcould not prehend and grew suspiciouhen they sulkedshirked,was quicklet drivethem between the eyes, and quickcool their heated souls with sighthis ready revolver.
andit went with mutinous men, wild dogs, anrail that brokefought the menstay with him, fought the dogskeep them away from the eggs, fought the ice, the cold, and the painhis foot, which wouldfastthe young tissue renewed,was bitten and searedthe frost,thaunning sore developed, into whichcould almost shovethe mornings, whenfirst put his weight upon it, his head went dizzy, andwas nearfainting from the pain; but laterin the dayusually grew numb,remence whencrawled into his blankets and triedsleep.
yet he, who had beelerk and sata desk all his days, toiled till the indians were exhausted, and even outworkedhardworked, how muchsuffered,dida manthe one idea, now that the idea had e,mastere the foregroundhis consciousness was dawson,the background his thousand dozen eggs, and midway between the two his ego fluttered, striving alwaydraw them togethera glittering golde golden point was the five thousand dollars, the consummationthe idea and the pointdeparture for whatever new idea might presen the rest,waer was unawareother things, seeing themthrouglass darkly, and giving themthought.
the workhis handsdid with machine like wisdom; likewise the workhi the lookhis face grew very tense, till even the indians were afraidit, and marvelledthe strange white man who had made them slaves and forced themtoil with such foolishness.
then camnaplakebarge, when the coldouter space smote the tipthe pla, and the frost ranged sixty and odd degrees belo, laboring with open mouth thatmight breathe more freely,chilled his lungs, and for the restthe tripwas troubled witry, hacking cough, especially irritablesmokecampunder stressundu the thirty mile riverfound much open water, spannedprecarious ice bridges and fringed with narrow rim ice, trickyrim ice was impossiblereckon on, anddaredwithout reckoning, falling backhis revolver when his drivers demurred.
butthe ice bridges, covered with snow though they were, precautions coulhey crossedtheir snowshoes, with long poles, held crosswisetheir hands,whichclingcasver, the dogs were called tsucridge, where the absencethe centre ice was maskedthe snow, onethe indians metwent throughquickly aand neatlya knife through thin cream, and the current swept him from view down under the stream ice.
that night his mate fled away through the pale moonlight, rasmunsen futilely puncturing the silence with his revolvehing thathandled with more celerity tha six hours later the indian madolice campthe big salmon.“umum funny mans what you call? tophead all loose,” the interpreter explainedthe puzzled captain.“eh ?yep, crazy, much craz, eggs, alime eggs savvy?ebime by.”
it was several days before rasmunsen arrived, the three sleds lashed together, and all the dogsa singl was awkward, and where the going was badwas pelledback tripsledsled, thoughmanaged mostthe time, through herculean efforts,bring all alongthedid not seem moved when the captainpolice told him his man was hitting the high places for dawson, and wasthat time, probably, halfway between selkirkdidappear interested when informed that the police had broken the trailfarpelly; forhad attaineda fatalistic acceptanceall natural dispensations, goohen they told him that dawson wasthe bitter clutchfamine,smiled, threw the harnesshis dogs, and pulled out.
butwashis next halt that the mysterythe smokethe wordbig salmon that the trail was brokenpelly, there waslonger any need for the smoke wreathlingerhis wake; and rasmunsen, crouching over his lonely fire, saotley came the courier and the half breed who had hauled him out from bent; then mail carriers for circle city, two sledsthem, anixed followingingoin and men were fresh and fat, while rasmunsen and his brutes were jaded and worn downthe skinof the smoke wreath had travelled one daythree, resting and reserving their strength for thei dashe when broken trail was met with; while each dayhad plunged and floundered forward, breaking the spirithis dogs and, robbing themtheir mettle.
as for himself,wa thanked him kindly for his effortstheir behalf, those fat, fresh men, thanked him kindly, with broad grins and ribald laughter; and now, whenunderstood,madidcherish silenidea the fact behind the idea washe was and his thousand dozen; there was dawson; the problem was unaltered.
at the little salmon, being shortdog food, the dogs got into his grub, and from thereselkirklivedbeans coarse, brown beans, big beans, grossly nutritive, which griped his stomach and doubled himat two hou the factorselkirk haoticethe doorthe postthe effect thatsteamer had beenthe yukon for two years, andconsequence grub was beyon offeredswap flour, however,the ratea cupful for each egg, but ras munsen shook his head and hitthe postmanagedbuy frozen horse hide for the dogs, the horses having been slainthe chilkat cattle men, and the scraps and offal preservedth tackled the hide himself, but the hair worked into the bean soreshis mouth, and was beyond endurance.
hereselkirk,met the forerunnersthe hungry exodusdawson, and from therethey crept over the trail, a dismal throng.“no grub!” was the song they sang.“no grub, and hadgo.”“every body holding candles foisethe spring.”“flour dollar’alound, andsellers.”
“eggs?” onethem answered.“dollar apiece, but they ain’t none.”rasmunsen madapid calculation.“twelve thousand dollars,”he said aloud.
“hey?” the man asked.
“nothing,”answered, and mushed the dogs along.
whenarrivedstewart river, seventy miles from dawson, fivehis dogs were gone, and the remainder were fallingth, also, wasthe traces, hauling with what little strength was lefhenwas barely crawling along ten miles cheekbones and nose, frost bitten again and again, were turned bloody blackthumb, which was separated from the fingersthe gee pole, had likewise been nipped and gave him grea monstrous moccasin still incased his foot, and strange pains were beginningrack the leg.
at sixty mile, the last beans, whichhad been rationing for some time, were finished; yetsteadfastly refusedtouchcould not reconcile his mindthe legitimacyit, and staggered and fell along the wayindiresh killed moose andopen handed old timer gave him and his dogs new strength, andainslie’sfelt repaid forall whetampede, ripe from dawsonfive hours, was surecould geollar anuarter for every eggpossessed.
he camethe steep bankthe dawson barracks with fluttering heart and shakin dogs wereweak thatwas forcedrest them, and, waiting,leaned limply against the ge,eminently decorous looking man, came saunteringireat bearski glancedrasmunsen curiously, then stopped and rapeculative eye over the dogs and the three lashed sleds.
“what you got?”asked.
“eggs,” rasmunsen answered huskily, hardly ablepitch his voice abovhisper.
“eggs!whoopee!whoopee!”he spranginto the air, gyrated madly, and finished with halozen war steps.“you don’t say all’em?”
“all’em.”
“say, you mustthe egg man.”he walked around and viewed rasmunsen from the other side.“e, now, ain't you the egg man?”rasmunsen didn't know, but supposedwas,and the man sobered dowit.
“what d’ye expectget for ’em?”asked cautiously.
rasmunsen became audacious.“dollar’alf,”said.
“done !” the man came back promptly.“gimmozen.”
“eaollar’alf apiece,” rasmunsen hesitatingly explained.
“ heartw’s the dust.”the man pulled ouealthy gold sack the sizea small sausage and knockednegligently against thefeltrange tremblingthe pithis stomach, a ticklingthe nostrils, andalmost overwhelming desiresit downa curious, wide eyed crowd was beginningcollect, and man after man was calling outwas without scales, but the man with the bearskin coat fetcheair and obligingly weighedthe dust while rasmunsen passed out the goods.
“soon there waushing and shoving and shouldering, anrea wantedbuy andbe servethe excitement grew, rasmunsen coole would never do.there mustsomething behind the facttheir buyinouldwiserhe rested first and sizedth eggs were worth two dollar, wheneverwishedsell,was surea dollar analf.“stop!”cried, wheouplehundred had been sold.“no mor’m playe’vegotgeabin, and then you can e and see me.”
a groan wentat this, but the man with the bearskin coa fourthe frozen eggs went rattlinghis capacious pockets anddidn't care whether the restthe town ate o,could see rasmunsen washis last legs.
“there'abin right around the second corner from the monte carlo,”told him “the one with the sody bottl ain't mine, but i've got for teay and cheap formove right in,and i’ll see yo’t fet the sody bottle window.”
“traloo!”called baent later.“i'm goin’the hilleat eggs and dreamhome.”
on his waythe cabin, rasmunsen recollectedwas hungry and boughmall supplyprovisionsthe n. a. t. & t. store alseefsteakthe butcher shop and dried salmon forfound the cabin without difficulty and left the dogsthe harness whilestarted the fire and got the coffee under way.
“a dollar’alf apiece ohousand dozen eighteen thousand dollars!”he kept mutteringto himself, over and over,he went about his work.
asflopped the steak into the frying pan the doo was the man with the bearski seemedewith determination,though boundsome explicit errand, buthe lookedrasmunsenexpressionperplexity came into his face.
“i say noay ”began, then halted.
rasmunsen wonderedhe wanted the rent.
“i say, damn it, you know, them eggsbad.”
rasmunse feltthough some one had struck himastounding blow betweenwallsthe cabin reeled and tilted up.he put out his handsteady himself and restedonsharp pain and the smellthe burning flesh brought him backhimself.
“i see,”said slowly, fumblinghis pocket for the sack.“you want your money back.
“it ain’t the money,” the man said, “but hadn’t you got any eggs good ?”
rasmunsen shook his head.“you’d better take the money.”
but the man refused and backed away.“i’ll e back,”said, “when you've taken stock, and get what’s in’.”
rasmunsen rolled the chopping block into the cabin and carriedth went aboutquit tookthe hand axe, and, oneone, chopped the eggalvesexamined care fully and let fallth firstsampled from the different cases, then deliberately emptied one case heapthe floor gre coffee boiled over and the smokethe burning beefsteak filledchopped steadfastly and monotonously till the last case was finished.
somebody knockedthe door, knocked again, and let himself in.
“whaess!”remarked,he paused and surveyed the scene.
the severed eggs were beginningthawthe heatthe stove, aniserable odor was growing stronger.
“musappenedthe steamer,”suggested.
rasmunsen lookedhim long and blankly.
“i’m murray, big jim murray, everybody knows me,” the man volunteered.“i'm just hearin’ your eggsrotten, and i'm offerin’ you two hundred forain't goodsalmon, but still they’re fair scoffin’s for dogs.”
rasmunsen seemed turneid not move.“youto hell,”said passionlessly.
“now jus myself it'ecent price foess like that, and it's better'n nothin’.tw you say?”
“youto hell,” rasmunsen repeated softly, “and get outhere.”
murray gaped witreat awe, then went out carefully, backward, with his eyes fixedthe other’s face.
rasmunsen followed himout and turned the dog threw them all the salmonhad bought, and coileled lashinginhe reentered the cabin and drew the latchafte smoke from the cindered steak made his eye stoodthe bunk, passed the lashing over the ridge pole, and measured the swingoff withdid not seemsatisfy, forput the stoolthe bunk and climbed upondrovoosethe endthe lashing and slipped his hea other endmadkicked the stool out from under.
m.pi.co
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