AtlasttheKidlaidtheitiablethingthatwasonceamaninthesnow。Butworsethanhiscomrade&aos;sainwasthedumbanguishinthewoman&aos;sface,theblendedlookofhoeful,hoelessquery。Littlewassaid;thoseoftheNorthlandareearlytaughtthefutilityofwordsandtheinestimablevalueofdeeds。Withthetemeratureatsixty-fivebelowzero,amancannotliemanyminutesinthesnowandlive。Sothesledlashingswerecut,andthesufferer,rolledinfurs,laidonacouchofboughs。Beforehimroaredafire,builtoftheverywoodwhichwroughtthemisha。Behindandartiallyoverhimwasstretchedtherimitivefly-aieceofcanvas,whichcaughttheradiatingheatandthrewitbackanddownuonhimatrickwhichmenmayknowwhostudyhysicsatthefount。
Andmenwhohavesharedtheirbedwithdeathknowwhenthecallissounded。Masonwasterriblycrushed。Themostcursoryexaminationrevealedit。
Hisrightarm,leg,andbackwerebroken;hislimbswerearalyzedfromthehis;andthelikelihoodofinternalinjurieswaslarge。Anoccasionalmoanwashisonlysignoflife。
Nohoe;nothingtobedone。Theitilessnightcretslowlyby-Ruth&aos;sortion,thedesairingstoicismofherrace,andMalemuteKidaddingnewlinestohisfaceofbronze。
Infact,Masonsufferedleastofall,forhesenthistimeineasternTennessee,intheGreatSmokyMountains,livingoverthescenesofhischildhood。Andmostatheticwasthemelodyofhislong-forgottenSouthernvernacular,asheravedofswimmingholesandcoonhuntsandwatermelonraids。ItwasasGreektoRuth,buttheKidunderstoodandfelt-feltasonlyonecanfeelwhohasbeenshutoutforyearsfromallthatcivilizationmeans。
Morningbroughtconsciousnesstothestrickenman,andMalemuteKidbentclosertocatchhiswhisers。
‘YourememberwhenweforegatheredontheTanana,fouryearscomenexticerun?Ididn&aos;tcaresomuchforherthen。Itwasmorelikeshewasretty,andtherewasasmackofexcitementaboutit,Ithink。ButI&aos;veknow,I&aos;vecometothinkaheaofher。She&aos;sbeenagoodwifetome,alwaysatmyshoulderintheinch。Andwhenitcomestotrading,youknowthereisn&aos;therequal。D&aos;yerecollectthetimesheshottheMoosehornRaidstoullyouandmeoffthatrock,thebulletswhiingthewaterlikehailstones?-andthetimeofthefamineatNuklukyeto?-whensheracedtheiceruntobringthenews?’
Yes,she&aos;sbeenagoodwifetome,better&aos;nthatotherone。Didn&aos;tknowI&aos;dbeenthere?
Nevertoldyou,eh?Well,Itrieditonce,downintheStates。That&aos;swhyI&aos;mhere。Beenraisedtogether,too。Icameawaytogiveherachancefordivorce。Shegotit。
‘Butthat&aos;sgotnothingtodowithRuth。IhadthoughtofcleaninguandullingfortheOutsidenextyear-herandI-butit&aos;stoolate。Don&aos;tsendherbacktohereole,Kid。It&aos;sbeastlyhardforawomantogoback。Thinkofit!-nearlyfouryearsonourbaconandbeansandflouranddriedfruit,andthentogobacktoherfishandcaribou。It&aos;snotgoodforhertohavetriedourways,tocometoknowthey&aos;rebetter&aos;nhereole&aos;s,andthenreturntothem。Takecareofher,Kidwhydon&aos;tyou-butno,youalwaysfoughtshyofthem-andyounevertoldmewhyyoucametothiscountry。Bekindtoher,andsendherbacktotheStatesassoonasyoucan。Butfixitsoshecancomeback-liabletogethomesick,youknow。’
‘Andtheyoungster-it&aos;sdrawnuscloser,Kid。Ionlyhoeitisaboy。Thinkofit!-fleshofmyflesh,Kid。Hemustn&aos;tstointhiscountry。Andifit&aos;sagirl,why,shecan&aos;t。Sellmyfurs;they&aos;llfetchatleastfivethousand,andI&aos;vegotasmuchmorewiththecomany。Andhandlemyinterestswithyours。Ithinkthatbenchclaimwillshowu。Seethathegetsagoodschooling;andKid,aboveall,don&aos;tlethimcomeback。Thiscountrywasnotmadeforwhitemen。’
‘I&aos;magoneman,Kid。Threeorfoursleesatthebest。You&aos;vegottogoon。Youmustgoon!Remember,it&aos;smywife,it&aos;smyboy-OGod!Ihoeit&aos;saboy!Youcan&aos;tstaybyme-andIchargeyou,adyingman,toullon。’
‘Givemethreedays,&aos;leadedMalemuteKid。&aos;Youmaychangeforthebetter;somethingmayturnu。’
‘No。’
‘Justthreedays。’
‘Youmustullon。’
‘Twodays。’
‘It&aos;smywifeandmyboy,Kid。Youwouldnotaskit。’
‘Oneday。’
‘No,no!Icharge-’
‘Onlyoneday。Wecanshaveitthroughonthegrub,andImightknockoveramoose。’
‘No-allright;oneday,butnotaminutemore。And,Kid,don&aos;t-don&aos;tleavemetofaceitalone。Justashot,oneullonthetrigger。Youunderstand。Thinkofit!Thinkofit!Fleshofmyflesh,andI&aos;llneverlivetoseehim!’
‘SendRuthhere。Iwanttosaygood-byandtellherthatshemustthinkoftheboyandnotwaittillI&aos;mdead。ShemightrefusetogowithyouifIdidn&aos;t。Goodby,oldman;good-by。’
‘Kid!Isay-a-sinkaholeabovetheu,nexttotheslide。Iannedoutfortycentsonmyshovelthere。’
‘And,Kid!&aos;Hestooedlowertocatchthelastfaintwords,thedyingman&aos;ssurrenderofhisride。&aos;I&aos;msorry-for-youknow-Carmen。&aos;Leavingthegirlcryingsoftlyoverherman,MalemuteKidsliedintohisarkaandsnowshoes,tuckedhisrifleunderhisarm,andcretawayintotheforest。HewasnotyrointhesternsorrowsoftheNorthland,butneverhadhefacedsostiffaroblemasthis。Intheabstract,itwasalain,mathematicalroositionthreeossiblelivesasagainstonedoomedone。Butnowhehesitated。Forfiveyears,shouldertoshoulder,ontheriversandtrails,inthecamsandmines,facingdeathbyfieldandfloodandfamine,hadtheyknittedthebondsoftheircomradeshi。SoclosewasthetiethathehadoftenbeenconsciousofavaguejealousyofRuth,fromthefirsttimeshehadcomebetween。Andnowitmustbeseveredbyhisownhand。’
Thoughherayedforamoose,justonemoose,allgameseemedtohavedesertedtheland,andnightfallfoundtheexhaustedmancrawlingintocam,lighthanded,heavyhearted。AnuroarfromthedogsandshrillcriesfromRuthhastenedhim。
Burstingintothecam,hesawthegirlinthemidstofthesnarlingack,layingaboutherwithanax。Thedogshadbrokentheironruleoftheirmastersandwererushingthegrub。
Hejoinedtheissuewithhisriflereversed,andthehoarygameofnaturalselectionwaslayedoutwithalltheruthlessnessofitsrimevalenvironment。Rifleandaxwentuanddown,hitormissedwithmonotonousregularity;lithebodiesflashed,withwildeyesanddriingfangs;andmanandbeastfoughtforsuremacytothebitterestconclusion。Thenthebeatenbrutescrettotheedgeofthefirelight,lickingtheirwounds,voicingtheirmiserytothestars。
Thewholestockofdriedsalmonhadbeendevoured,anderhasfiveoundsofflourremainedtotidethemovertwohundredmilesofwilderness。Ruthreturnedtoherhusband,whileMalemuteKidcututhewarmbodyofoneofthedogs,theskullofwhichhadbeencrushedbytheax。Everyortionwascarefullyutaway,savethehideandoffal,whichwerecasttohisfellowsofthemomentbefore。
Morningbroughtfreshtrouble。Theanimalswereturningoneachother。Carmen,whostillclungtoherslenderthreadoflife,wasdownedbytheack。Thelashfellamongthemunheeded。Theycringedandcriedundertheblows,butrefusedtoscattertillthelastwretchedbithaddisaeared-bones,hide,hair,everything。
MalemuteKidwentabouthiswork,listeningtoMason,whowasbackinTennessee,deliveringtangleddiscoursesandwildexhortationstohisbrethrenofotherdays。
Takingadvantageofneighboringines,heworkedraidly,andRuthwatchedhimmakeacachesimilartothosesometimesusedbyhunterstoreservetheirmeatfromthewolverinesanddogs。
Oneaftertheother,hebentthetosoftwosmallinestowardeachotherandnearlytotheground,makingthemfastwiththongsofmoosehide。Thenhebeatthedogsintosubmissionandharnessedthemtotwoofthesleds,loadingthesamewitheverythingbutthefurswhichenveloedMason。Thesehewraedandlashedtightlyabouthim,fasteningeitherendoftherobestothebentines。Asinglestrokeofhishuntingknifewouldreleasethemandsendthebodyhighintheair。
Ruthhadreceivedherhusband&aos;slastwishesandmadenostruggle。Poorgirl,shehadlearnedthelessonofobediencewell。Fromachild,shehadbowed,andseenallwomenbow,tothelordsofcreation,anditdidnotseeminthenatureofthingsforwomantoresist。TheKidermittedheroneoutburstofgrief,asshekissedherhusband-herowneolehadnosuchcustom-thenledhertotheforemostsledandheledherintohersnowshoes。Blindly,instinctively,shetookthegeeoleandwhi,and&aos;mushed&aos;thedogsoutonthetrail。ThenhereturnedtoMason,whohadfallenintoacoma,andlongaftershewasoutofsightcrouchedbythefire,waiting,hoing,rayingforhiscomradetodie。
ItisnotleasanttobealonewithainfulthoughtsintheWhiteSilence。Thesilenceofgloomismerciful,shroudingoneaswithrotectionandbreathingathousandintangiblesymathies;butthebrightWhiteSilence,clearandcold,understeelyskies,isitiless。
Anhourassed-twohours-butthemanwouldnotdie。Athighnoonthesun,withoutraisingitsrimabovethesouthernhorizon,threwasuggestionoffireathwarttheheavens,thenquicklydrewitback。MalemuteKidrousedanddraggedhimselftohiscomrade&aos;sside。Hecastoneglanceabouthim。TheWhiteSilenceseemedtosneer,andagreatfearcameuonhim。Therewasasharreort;Masonswungintohisaerialseulcher,andMalemuteKidlashedthedogsintoawildgalloashefledacrossthesnow。
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