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Goodht," Jack said, gesturing around theh the pass"

And it was true The traffic all trudged in the same direction now There were still bits of abandoned equip ahead, Jack could see at least two dead horses--poor beasts that had handled the worst of it but couldn’t go a step farther--but for theon with it

"But we need to hurry," he said

The laconic, gloomy Goodman seemed to come awake at that "Hurry? I’m just happy to be alive"

Ahead of them were two men, German by the accents he’d heard, who slowed down a bit as if to eavesdrop Holding the leads of his horses tightly, Jack slowed his own pace, and Sloper and Goodold for everyone," Jack said "Maybe the whole of the Klondike is El Dorado But I look at every man on this trail as competition, and you’d do well to think the saer beard His normally jovial expression had faded into an almost childlike sadness "Even us, Jack? Are we corinned "You sure are, boys But with us, it’s a friendly competition And listen, there’s another reason we need to hurry Winter’s colasses up on the bridge of his nose "Winter! Jack, in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s alinter up here"

"You knohat I et to Dawson before the rivers freeze, we may never make it"

"It’s barely September," Sloper said

"I talked to a fellow on the clins were pointing to an early freeze He said that once, when his grandfather was a boy, the rivers froze in the ripped the lead of his weary horse, and picked up the pace again "Iazed at Jack orry creasing his brow "Is that the truth?"

Jack loosened his grip on the leads and followed Goodman, with Sloper beside him and the horses behind "I o back to California with a hty pile You visit an inhospitable land, you have to rely on the wisdom of the people who make it their home Besides, can’t you feel it? The wind makes my teeth rattle"

Sloper nodded at this, and when the trail widened a bit, the three men walked abreast They spoke of home and of their dreams, of books and adventure Jack entertained the the rails with hoboes and brawling on the docks He chose not to ed to surprise him, however, when he discovered that neither was much older than Jack hier than Jack had presumed, while Goodman--who actually was a schoolteacher--had recently celebrated his twenty-second birthday The two o, and had beco friendship between their families While their personalities could not have beenfriends, yet they easily and willingly incorporated Jack into their dynaht in the shelter of a copse of trees, stacking their belongings around three sides to try to protect the to his horses first, Jack sat with his t friends around the ca a weak stew that tasted better than it had any right to taste, and then Jack felt exhaustion overtaking hi the tiold

At so slipped away, and he was adrift in his own subconscious The relative peace hich he i passed away also; men were killed for the best claims, and wild creatures ca behind only bloody red smears in the snow But such aelse

He drea upriver fro on his oith little more than a campfire and a torn, tattered tent He panned by day and read by firelight at night, and all the ti illu It followed hihts of a greaton him from the darkness beneath the trees He could neverwas terrible

And it was only at night that he saw it Eyes like fallen stars stared at hi for the opportunity to pounce

In the lateof September 8, the three men came at last to the shore of Lake Lindeht before, and it was Sloper who put the ani out along the trail and across the green-black mountain slopes, Merritt Sloper finally lost his s when they caht to have been beautiful Lake Lindeman sat nestled in a basin surrounded by white-capped mountains whose foothills were thick with dark pines and powdered with a light snow Around the lake grew scrub grass, and at other times animals must have coetation grew there

But a vast swath had been cut out of the pine woods around the shore of the lake Sta tio farther had set up a nice business for theeous prices

"We’ll be flat broke before we even get to Dawson if we pay that," Goodlasses with a kerchief he kept in his front pocket

The three of the the additional weight of Sloper’s and Goodman’s equipment, and watched the buzz of activity on the lake-shore There were planks and boat frames everywhere, and a couple of acres’ worth of sawdust that covered the ground like snow, the sweet sed sound of saws on wood resounded, along with shouts and laughter and the crash and crack offelled They watched a new boat set off across the lake, and it i that," Jack said

Sloper scratched his red beard and glanced nervously at Goodman "You don’tback"

Jack shot hioal, Merritt I mean to keep it My whole life, I never turned back fro satchel that hung froht in Dyea From within he drew out a leather case, and from the leather case an ax

"Besides, I don’t think you boys were listening to the stories I told you I’ve been on boats my whole life Why, I spent so much time at the docks and out on the bay that they used to callthe ax over his shoulder and took up the horses’ tethers again "Now you go and talk to thethem in the water See if you can’t buy us another ax or two, and a saw That’ll cost a lot less than a boat Then co so theh not quite sure if he could see Jack clearly

"Are you suggesting that we build our own boat?"

Jack tipped him a wink "You catch on quick, Ji it over his arm The sun felt warrown used to It would be a long while before they were truly warain

"If you say you know boats, then I believe you, Jack," the burly stonemason said "And I’m not afraid of a little work But you orried about the winter co Won’t this delay be costly?"

"I won’t lie to you, Merritt," Jack said "This is an unfortunate complication But the boatbuilders down there on the shore have a long line of customers ahead of us If ork hard and don’t ht actually be faster than waiting for them to make one for us"

With that he left the toward the line of trees with the horses behind hi over his shoulder He could see in his mind the boat he would build, every plank and joint And he knehat he would name her