s still as death, as stern as fate._

_The lonely sunsets flame and die;
The giant valleys gulp the night;
The monster mountains scrape the sky,
Where eager stars are diamond-bright._

_So gaunt against the gibbous moon,
Piercing the silence velvet-piled,
A lone wolf howls his ancient rune,
The fell arch-spirit of the Wild._

_O outcast land! O leper land!
Let the lone wolf-cry all express--
The hate insensate of thy hand,
Thy heart's abysmal loneliness._

CONTENTS

PAGE
THE LAW OF THE YUKON 11
THE PARSON'S SON 17
THE SPELL OF THE YUKON 21
THE CALL OF THE WILD 25
THE LONE TRAIL 28
THE HEART OF THE SOURDOUGH 31
THE THREE VOICES 34
THE PINES 36
THE HARPY 39
THE LURE OF LITTLE VOICES 43
THE SONG OF THE WAGE-SLAVE 46
GRIN 49
THE SHOOTING OF DAN MCGREW 51
THE CREMATION OF SAM MCGEE 56
MY MADONNA 62
UNFORGOTTEN 63
THE RECKONING 64
QUATRAINS 66
THE MEN THAT DON'T FIT IN 68
MUSIC IN THE BUSH 70
THE RHYME OF THE REMITTANCE MAN 73
THE LOW-DOWN WHITE 76
THE LITTLE OLD LOG CABIN 78
THE YOUNGER SON 81
THE MARCH OF THE DEAD 85
"FIGHTING MAC" 89
THE WOMAN AND THE ANGEL 93
THE RHYME OF THE RESTLESS ONES 96
NEW YEAR'S EVE 99
COMFORT 103
PREMONITION 105
THE TRAMPS 106
L'ENVOI 108

Songs of a Sourdough

THE LAW OF THE YUKON

This is the law of the Yukon, and ever she makes it plain:
"Send not your foolish and feeble; send me your strong and your sane.
Strong for the red rage of battle; sane, for I harry them sore;
Send me men girt for the combat, men who are grit to the core;
Swift as the panther in triumph, fierce as the bear in defeat,
Sired of a bulldog p