, and crystal clear, with a keen wind that painted the cheek and
kindled the eye. And as I sat in silent thought there came to me
Salvation Jim. His face was grim, his eyes brooding. From the
brilliantly lit social hall came a blare of music-hall melody.

"I don't like the way of things a bit," he said; "I don't like it. Look
here now, lad, I've lived round mining camps for twenty years, I've
followed the roughest callings on earth, I've tramped the States all
over, yet never have I seen the beat of this. Mind you, I ain't
prejudiced, though I've seen the error of my ways, glory to God! I can
make allowance once in a while for the boys gettin' on a jamboree, but
by Christmas! Say! There's enough evil on this boat to stake a
sub-section in Hell. There's men should be at home with their dinky
little mothers an' their lovin' wives an' children, down there right now
in that cabin buyin' wine for them painted Jezebels.

"There's doctors an' lawyers an' deacons in the church back in old Ohio,
that never made a bad break in their lives, an' now they're rowin' like
barroom bullies for the kisses of a baggage. In the bay-window of their
souls the devil lolls an' grins an' God is freezin' in the attic. You
mark my words, boy; there's a curse on this northern gold. The Yukon's
a-goin' to take its toll. You mark my words."

"Oh, Jim," I said, "you're superstitious."

"No, I ain't. I've just got a hunch. Here we are a bit of floatin'
iniquity glidin' through the mystery of them strange seas, an' the very
officers on dooty sashed to the neck an' reekin' from the arms of the
scented hussies below. It'll be God's mercy if we don't crash on a rock,
an' go down good an' all to the bitter bottom. But it don't matter.
Sooner or later there's goin' to be a reckonin'. There's many a one
shoutin' an' singin' to-night'll leave his bones to bleach up in that
bleak wild land."

"No, Jim," I protested, "they will be all right once they get ashore."

"Right nothin'! They're a pack of fools. They think they've got a bulge
on fortune. Hear them a-howlin' now. They're all millionaires in their
minds. There's no doubt with them. It's a cinch. They're spendin' it
right now. You mark my words, young feller, for I'll never live to see
them fulfilled--there's ninety in a hundred of all them fellers that's
goin' to this here Klondike will never make good, an' of the other ten,
nine won't _do_ no good."

"One per cent. that will keep their stakes--th