As of old, that winter partners cut the cards and drew
straws, and remained or pulled for salt water as chance decided.
They were wise of old time, and had learned never to figure on relief
expeditions. They had heard of such things, but no mortal man of
them had ever laid eyes on one.
The hard luck of other mining countries pales into insignificance
before the hard luck of the North. And as for the hardship, it
cannot be conveyed by printed page or word of mouth. No man may know
who has not undergone. And those who have undergone, out of their
knowledge, claim that in the making of the world God grew tired, and
when He came to the last barrowload, "just dumped it anyhow," and
that was how Alaska happened to be. While no adequate conception of
the life can be given to the stay-at-home, yet the men themselves
sometimes give a clue to its rigours. One old Minook miner testified
thus: "Haven't you noticed the expression on the faces of us
fellows? You can tell a new-comer the minute you see him; he looks
alive, enthusiastic, perhaps jolly.
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