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London, Jack, 1876-1916

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


Freda ruled down in the town; but the men she ruled were the same who
functioned socially at the Barracks or were fed tea and canned preserves
at the hand of Mrs. Eppingwell in her hillside cabin of rough-hewn logs.
Each knew the other existed; but their lives were apart as the Poles, and
while they must have heard stray bits of news and were curious, they were
never known to ask a question. And there would have been no trouble had
not a free lance in the shape of the model-woman come into the land on
the first ice, with a spanking dog-team and a cosmopolitan reputation.
Loraine Lisznayi--alliterative, dramatic, and Hungarian--precipitated the
strife, and because of her Mrs. Eppingwell left her hillside and invaded
Freda's domain, and Freda likewise went up from the town to spread
confusion and embarrassment at the Governor's ball.
All of which may be ancient history so far as the Klondike is concerned,
but very few, even in Dawson, know the inner truth of the matter; nor
beyond those few are there any fit to measure the wife of the captain or
the Greek dancer. And that all are now permitted to understand, let
honor be accorded Sitka Charley.


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