Klondike Nuggets | Page 5

He looked at each
precious volume in turn, and then reverently laid them among the pile
of indispensables.
"That's the mother of it," he said, as if speaking with himself; "it's a
good many years since my poor old mother done the same thing for me
when I started for Californy, and I've got the book among my things yet,
though I don't read it as often as I should. Them go if we have to leave
everything else behind."
When the task was completed, every one acknowledged the excellent
judgment displayed by Jeff Graham. The three were arrayed in strong,
thick, warm clothing, and, in addition, each carried a heavy overcoat on
his arm. In the valises were crowded underclothing, shirts,
handkerchiefs, and the articles that have been already specified. It was
wonderful how skilfully the mothers did the packing. When it looked as
if every inch of space was filled, they found a crevice into which
another bottle of standard medicine, an extra bit of soap, more thread
and needles and conveniences of which no other person would think
were forced without adding to the difficulty of locking the valises.
Nothing remaining to be done, on the following day the boys kissed
their tearful mothers good-by, and warmly shook hands with Mr.
Palmer, who brokenly murmured, "God bless you! be good boys!" as
he saw them off on the steamer bound for Seattle, and thence to Juneau,
where they safely arrived one day early in April, 1897.

In making such a voyage, many people are necessarily thrown together
in more or less close companionship, with the result of forming
numerous acquaintances and sometimes lasting friendships. Following
the advice of Jeff, the cousins had little to say about their plans, though
they became interested in more than one passenger, and often
speculated between themselves as to the likelihood of certain ones
meeting success or failure in the gold regions.
There were three sturdy lumbermen all the way from Maine. A curious
fact about them was that, although they were not related at all, the name
of each was Brown. They were light-hearted and the life of the large
party. One Brown had a good tenor voice, and often sang popular
ballads with taste and great acceptability. Another played the violin
with considerable skill, and sometimes indulged in jig tunes, to which
his friends, and occasionally others, danced an accompaniment.
"They'll succeed," was the verdict of Roswell, "for they are strong,
healthy, and will toil like beavers."
"And what of the two men smoking their pipes just beyond the
fiddler?" asked Frank.
"I had a talk with them the other day; one has been a miner in Australia,
and the other spent two years in the diamond mines of Kimberley,
South Africa. Meeting for the first time in San Francisco, they formed a
partnership; they, too, are rugged and must understand their business."
"No doubt of it. Do you remember that stoop-shouldered old man
whose room is next to ours?"
"The one who has such dreadful coughing spells in the night?"
"Yes; he is far gone with consumption, and yet he won't believe there's
anything the matter with him. He is worse than when he came on board:
but he says it is only a slight cold which will soon pass off, and he is
just as hopeful as you or I of taking a lot of nuggets home with him."
"He never will see the other side of Chilkoot Pass."

"I doubt whether he will ever see this side."
Thus the boys speculated, sometimes amused and sometimes saddened
by what they saw. There was a big San Francisco policeman, who said
he had cracked heads so long that he thought he knew how to crack
some golden nuggets; a correspondent of a prominent New York
newspaper, whose situation was enviable, since his salary and expenses
were guaranteed, and he was free to gather gold when the opportunity
offered; a voluble insurance agent, who made a nuisance of himself by
his solicitations, in season and out; a massive football-player, who had
no companion, and did not wish any, since he was sure he could buck
the line, make a touchdown, and kick a goal; a gray-haired head of a
family, who, having lost his all, had set out to gather another fortune
along the Klondike. He walked briskly, threw back his shoulders, and
tried hard to appear young and vigorous, but the chances were strongly
against him. There were a number of bright clerks; a clergyman,
pleasant and genial with all; gamblers, with pallid faces and hair and
mustaches dyed an intense black, who expected to win the gold for
which others dug; young and middle-aged men, some with their brave
wives, serene and calmly prepared to bear their full share of