Prev | Current Page 205 | Next

London, Jack, 1876-1916

"The God of His Fathers: Tales of the Klondyke"


"Oh, Donald, will ye no lend a hand?" Davy sobbed at the foot of the tree
into which his comrade had climbed. "Oh, Donald, man, will ye no lend a
hand?" he sobbed again, his hands bleeding from vain attempts to scale
the slippery trunk.
But Donald had fixed his gaze up river, and now his voice rang out,
vibrant with fear:--
"God Almichty, here she comes!"
Standing knee-deep in the icy water, the Minook men, with Montana Kid and
the policeman, gripped hands and raised their voices in the terrible,
"Battle Hymn of the Republic." But the words were drowned in the
advancing roar.
And to Donald was vouchsafed a sight such as no man may see and live. A
great wall of white flung itself upon the island. Trees, dogs, men, were
blotted out, as though the hand of God had wiped the face of nature
clean. This much he saw, then swayed an instant longer in his lofty
perch and hurtled far out into the frozen hell.


THE SCORN OF WOMEN

I

Once Freda and Mrs. Eppingwell clashed.
Now Freda was a Greek girl and a dancer. At least she purported to be
Greek; but this was doubted by many, for her classic face had overmuch
strength in it, and the tides of hell which rose in her eyes made at rare
moments her ethnology the more dubious.


Pages:
193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217