book_id
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6
| title
stringclasses 1
value | author
stringclasses 1
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listlengths 1
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|---|---|---|---|
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "H'l'o, Reeves, ol' top! Glad to she you. S'down an' have a good ol' drink! Wait'll I shave. Hell of a job to shave. He stood before the mirror weaving back and forth, with a razor in one hand and a shaving brush in the other, and a glass half full of whiskey upon the washstand before him, into which he gravely from time to time dipped the shaving brush, and rubbing it vigorously upon the soap, endeavored to lather the inch-long growth of beard that covered his face. Despite his apprehension as to what had become of the paragon, Joe Pete, Reeves was forced to laugh. He laughed and laughed, until Brent turned around and regarded him gravely:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Wash matter? Wash joke? Wait a minuit lesh have a li'l drink. He reached for the bottle, that sat nearly empty upon the table, and guzzled a swallow of the liquor."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Damn near all gone. Have to get nosher one when Joe Pete comes."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "When Joe Pete comes! cried Reeves,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You'll never see Joe Pete again! He's skipped out!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Skipped out? Washa mean skipped out?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I mean that it's a quarter past seven and he hasn't showed up and you told him you would start at eight."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Quar' pasht seven? Quar pasht seven isn't eight 'clock. You don' know Joe Pete."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, man, you're not ready. There's nothing packed. And you're as drunk as a lord!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sure, I'm drunk's a lord--drunker'n two lords--lords ain't so damn' drunk. If I don't get packed by eight 'clock I'll have to go wishout packin'. You don' know Joe Pete."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Whad' I tell you? he asked solemnly of Reeves."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You don't know Joe Pete."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We got to get a bottle of hooch. I got to have jus' one more drink. Jus' one more drink, an' then to hell wish it."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sho long, ol' man--she you later--I got to go now. You don' know Joe Pete."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "To hell with tea! he growled thickly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I want hooch. I've got to have it--just one drink."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Give me a drink of hooch! Didn't you hear me? I need it,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hooch no good. Tea good. Ain' got no hooch--not wan drink."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No hooch! cried Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I tell you I've got to have it! I thought I could get away with it, this trailing without hooch--but, I can't. How far have we come?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Bout 'leven mile."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, just as soon as you finish eating you turn that dog team around. We're going back."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I can't eat. I'm sick. Hurry up and finish, and hit the back-trail as fast as those dogs can travel."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You goin' ride?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, I'll walk. Got to walk a while or I'll freeze."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Here you! cried Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Pull those dogs around! We're going back to Dawson."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mebbe-so we goin' back Dawson, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, firs' we goin' Fo't Norman. You tak hol' tail-rope, an' mush."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What do you mean? Damn you! Who is running this outfit? I've changed my mind. I'm not going to Fort Norman."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You ain' change _my_ min' none. You droonk. I ain' hear you talk. Bye-m-bye, you git sober, Joe Pete hear you talk. You grab tail-rope now or I tie you oop agin."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How far is it to Fort Norman?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Five hundred miles! I can't stand the trip, I tell you. I'm in no condition to stand it. I'll die!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "To hell with the hooch, he said, one evening, as he and the Indian sat upon their robes in the door of the tent and watched the red flames lick at the firewood,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I wouldn't take a drink now if I had a barrel of it!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mebbe-so not now, but in de morning you tak' de beeg drink--you bet,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The hell I would! flared Brent, and then he laughed."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There is no way of proving it, but if there were, I'd like to bet you this sack of dust against your other shirt that I wouldn't."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We'll swing in just below them, he called back to Joe Pete,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's time to camp anyway."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Goin' to camp?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Where you headin'?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mackenzie River."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, you ain't got fer to go. Trappin'?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No. Prospecting."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Where'd you come from?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dawson."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Dawson! exclaimed Claw, and Brent, who had purposely kept his face turned away, was conscious that the man was regarding him closely. Claw began to speak rapidly,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This Dawson, it's way over t'other side the mountains, ain't it? I heard how they'd made a strike over there--a big strike."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, he answered."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ever been there?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Me? No. Me an' the woman lives over on the Nahanni. I trap."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What's the matter, Claw? I'm not connected with the police. You don't need to lie to me. What have you got, a load of hooch for the Injuns?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, damn my soul, if it ain't you!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, what in hell's happened to you? A month ago you was----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A bum, interrupted Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Going to hell by the hooch route--and not much farther to go. But I'm not now, and inside of six months I will be as good a man as I ever was."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You used to claim you always was as good a man as you ever was, grinned Claw."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, you was hittin' it a little too hard. I'm glad you quit. You an' me never hit it off like, what you might say, brothers. You was always handin' me a jolt, one way an' another. But, I never laid it up agin you. I allus said you played yer cards on top of the table--an' if you ever done anything to a man you done it to his face--an' that's more'n a hell of a lot of 'em does. There's the old woman hollerin' fer supper. I'll come over after you've et, an' we'll smoke a pipe 'er two."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What you doin' over on this side, he asked,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You hain't honest to God prospectin' be you?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sure I am. Everything is staked over there, and I've got to make another strike."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They ain't no gold on this side,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Who says so?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Me. An' I'd ort to know if anyone does. I've be'n around here goin' on twenty year, an' I spend as much time on this side as I do on t'other."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Maybe you haven't spent much time hunting for gold,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'd tell a party I hain't! What's the use of huntin' fer gold where they hain't none? Over on this side a man c'n do better at somethin' else."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "For instance?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I hain't afraid to tell you what I do over here. They hain't but damn few I would tell, but I know you won't squeal. You hain't a-goin' to run to the Mounted an' spill all you know--some would--but not you. I'm peddling hooch--that's what I'm doin'. Got two sled-loads along that I brung through from Dawson. I thin it out with water an' it'll last till I git to the coast--clean over on Coronation Gulf, an' then I lay in a fresh batch from the whalers an' hit back fer Dawson. It used to be I could hit straight north from here an' connect up with the whalers near the mouth of the Mackenzie--but the Mounted got onto me, an' I had to quit. Well, it's about time to roll in. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of liquor,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Glad you quit hooch, he grinned,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, I don't s'pose you'd mind takin' a little drink with a friend--way out here it can't hurt you none, where you can't git no more. He removed the cork and tendered the bottle. But Brent shook his head:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No thanks, Claw, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm off of it. And besides, I haven't got but a few real friends--and you are not one of them."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, all right, all right, laughed Claw as he tilted the bottle and allowed part of the contents to gurgle audibly down his throat,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Of course I know you don't like me none whatever, but I like you all right. No harm in offerin' a man a drink, is they?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "None whatever, answered Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And no harm in refusing one when you don't want it."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not none whatever--when you don't want it."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, yer breakfast's ready an' you'll be pullin' out soon. We've pulled a'ready--the old woman's mushin' ahead. So long--shake, to show they's no hard feelin's--or, better yet, have a drink."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tea ready,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Damn it! Don't I know it? snapped Brent, then his hand reached out for the bottle."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Guess one won't hurt any,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sure it won't, agreed Claw,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I know'd you wasn't afraid of it. Take it, or let it alone, whichever you want to--show'd that las' night."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What do you get for a quart of that liquor over here,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Two ounces, answered Claw,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "An' they ain't nothin' in it at that, after packin' it over them mountains. I git two ounces fer it after it's be'n weakened--but I'll let you have it, fer two the way it is."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll take a quart, said Brent, and a moment later he paid Claw two ounces"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Just forget what I said yesterday--I was a damned fool."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The hooch, she all tam' mak' de damn fool. She no good. I ain' care w'at de hooch talk 'bout. Som' tam' you queet de hooch. Dat good t'ing. W'en you sober, you good man. You say, Joe Pete, you do lak dis. I do it. W'en de hooch say, Joe Pete you do lak som' nodder way. I say go to hell."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If there is, he added,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No one's ever got any of it. An' I'm doubtin' if there's any gold east of the Mackenzie. I've been on the river a good many years, an' I never saw any, except a few nuggets that an old squaw named Wananebish found years ago."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "On the Coppermine?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't know--an' she don't either. She found 'em, an' then her husband was drowned in a rapids and she pulled out of there and she claims she ain't never be'n able to locate the place since, an' she's spent years huntin' for it an' draggin' a little band of worthless Injuns after her. They're over there now, somewhere. I heard they hit up Hare Indian River, along about the first of September. McTavish at Good Hope, give 'em debt to be rid of 'em. But I don't think they'll find any gold. The formation don't seem to be right on this side of the river."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Gold has been taken from the bottom of the sea, and from the tops of mountains, reminded Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You know the old saying, 'Gold is where you find it.'"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Aye, answered Murchison, with a smile,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, east of the Mackenzie, gold is where you don't find it."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come on now, you old leather image! he cried,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Come and take your medicine! I owe you a good fall or two for the way you used me on the trail. You're heap _skookum_, all right, but I can put you on your back! Remember you didn't handle the butt ends of _all_ those logs!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "On de trail, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I handle you lak wan leetle baby. Now, you _skookum tillicum_. You de firs mans kin put Joe Pete on de back. De hooch, she no good for hell!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You bet, she's no good! agreed Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Believe me, I'm through with it. It's been a good while since I've even thought of a drink."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You ain't t'ink 'bout a drink cos you ain't got non. Dat better you keep 'way from it, or you t'ink 'bout it dam' queek."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I beg your pardon, he stammered,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You see, I had no idea you were here--I mean, I had not expected to meet a lady in the middle of this God-forsaken wilderness. And especially as I only expected to find Indians--and I hadn't even expected them, until I struck the trail on the river."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "announced the girl, haughtily,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And, now you have found us--go!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "An Indian! cried Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Surely, you are----"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Go! Repeated the girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Before I kill you!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, come, now, smiled Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You wouldn't do that. We are neighbors, why not be friends?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Go! repeated the girl,"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Very well, he said gravely."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't know who you think I am, or why you should want to kill me, but I do know that some day we shall become better acquainted. Good bye--till we meet again."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What's all this? he asked,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What do they want?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hooch,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No hooch here, he answered,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You've come to the wrong place. You are the fellow I saw today in the camp up the river. Tell me, who is the young lady that claims she's an Injun? And why is she on the war-path? The three stared stolidly at each other and at Brent, but gave no hint of understanding a word he had uttered. He turned to Joe Pete."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You try it, he said,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "See if you can make 'em talk."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They think we're holding out for a higher price,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No wonder these damned hooch-peddlers can afford to take a chance. What are those skins worth?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dis wan she dark cross fox, wort' mebbe-so, t'irty dolla. Dis wan, an' dis wan, cross fox, wort' 'bout twenty dolla."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Seventy dollars for a bottle of hooch! cried Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's robbery!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Go down the river, whispered the still small voice of Common Sense,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There are no hunters there. But Brent only smiled, and held his course. And as he swung over the snow trail his thoughts were of the girl who had stepped from the cabin and angrily ordered him from the village at the point of her rifle. Each day during the intervening week he had thought of her, and he had lain awake at night and tried in vain to conjure a reason for her strange behaviour. Alone on the trail he voiced his thoughts:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why should she threaten to shoot me? Who does she think I am? Why should she declare she is an Injun? I don't believe she's any more Injun than I am. Who ever heard of an Injun with eyes like hers, and lips, yes, and a tip-tilted nose? Possibly, a breed--but, never an Injun. And, I wonder if her warlike attitude includes the whole white race, or a limited part of it, or only me? I'll find out before this winter is over--but, I'll bet she can shoot! She threw that shell into her rifle in a sort of off-hand _practiced_ way, like most girls would powder their nose."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wonder if she needs any help? he muttered as he slit the throat of his third caribou. He glanced across the short open space to see the girl bending over the carcass of the other bull."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Guess I'll take a chance, he grinned,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And go and see. I knew she could shoot--three out of four, running shots--that's going some!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That was mighty good shooting, he smiled,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Those brutes were sure traveling!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, they were very close. I couldn't have missed. It took two shots for the last one, but both bullets counted. You did good shooting, too. Your shots were harder--they were farther away. Did all your bullets count?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm sure I don't know, he managed to reply,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I didn't stop to look. I think very likely I missed one shot."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why do you take your cap off? she asked, and almost instantly she smiled again:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, yes, I know--I have read of it--but, they don't do it here. Put it on please. It is cold."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm glad I didn't know the other day, how expert you are with your rifle, he laughed,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Or I wouldn't have stayed as long as I did."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You are not angry with me?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, no, of course not! Why should I be angry with you? I knew that there was no reason why you should shoot me. And I knew that things would straighten out, somehow. I thought you had mistaken me for someone else, and----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I thought you were a hooch-runner, interrupted the girl."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I did not think any white man who is not a hooch-runner, or a policeman, would be way over here, and I could see that you were not in the Mounted."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, answered Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am not in the Mounted, but, how do you know that I am not a hooch-runner?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Because, three of our band went to your cabin that very night to buy hooch, and they did not get it. And the next night they went again and took more fox skins, and again they came away empty handed."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You sent them then?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, no! But, I knew that they would think the same as I did, that you wanted to trade them hooch, so I followed them when they slipped out of the village. Both nights I followed, and I pressed my ear close to the door, so that I heard all you said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I have some recollection of asking one of those wooden images something about a certain warlike young lady----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, I heard that, and I heard you swear at the hooch traders, and tell the Indians there was no hooch in the cabin, and I was glad."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why--why were you glad?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Because I--because you--because I didn't want to kill you. And I would have killed you if you had sold them hooch."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You wouldn't--really----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, I would! cried the girl, and Brent saw that the dark eyes flashed,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I would kill a hooch-runner as I would a wolf. They are wolves. They're worse than wolves! Wolves kill for meat, but they kill for money. They take the fur that would put bread in the mouths of the women and the little babies, and they make the men drunken and no good. There used to be thirty of us in the band, and now there are only sixteen. Two of the men deserted their families since we came here, because they would not stay where there was no hooch. The girl ceased speaking and glanced quickly upward:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Snow! she cried,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is starting to snow, and darkness will soon be here. I must draw these caribou, before they freeze."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Let me do it, he said, eagerly,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You stand there and tell me how, and we'll have it done in no time."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Tell you how! exclaimed the girl,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What do you mean? Brent laughed:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm afraid I'm still an awful _chechako_ about some things. I can shoot them, all right, but there has always been someone to do the drawing, and skinning, and cutting up. But, I'll learn quickly. Where do I begin?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We had better go now, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Do you know how far it is to your camp?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nine or ten miles, I think, answered the girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We have only been here since fall and this is the first time I have hunted in this direction. But, first we must draw your caribou. If they freeze they cannot be drawn and then they will not be fit for food."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, the snow, objected Brent."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is coming down faster all the time."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The snow won't bother us. There is no wind. Hurry, we must finish the others before dark."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, the wind might spring up at any moment, and if it does we will have a regular blizzard."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then we can camp,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You did learn quickly, she smiled,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I could not have done it any better nor quicker, myself."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Thank you, he laughed,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And that is a real compliment, for by the way you can handle a rifle, and cover ground on snowshoes, I know you are _skookum tillicum_."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, admitted the girl,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm _skookum tillicum_. But, I ought to be. I was born in the North and I have lived in the woods and in the barrens, and upon rivers, all my life."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is the wind! cried the girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Quick, take a shoulder of meat! We must find shelter and camp."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I can't cut a leg bone with this knife!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There are no bones! It is like this. She snatched the knife from Brent's hand and with a few deft slashes severed a shoulder from the yearling caribou."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come, quick, she urged, and led the way toward a dark blotch that showed in the scraggling timber a few hundred yards away:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "When the storm strikes, we shall not be able to see, she flung over her shoulder,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We must make that thicket of spruce--or we're bushed."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Break some live branches for the roof of our shelter! she commanded."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This stuff will do for firewood, and in a minute you can take the ax and I will build the wikiup."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We must be careful, she cautioned,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "As she talked she opened a light packsack that Brent had noticed upon her shoulders, and drew from its interior a rabbit robe which she spread upon the boughs. Then from the pack she produced a small stew pan and a little package of tea. She filled the pan with snow, and smiled up into Brent's face:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And, now, at last, we are snug and comfortable for the night. We can live here for days if necessary. The caribou are not far away, and we have plenty of tea."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You are a wonder, breathed Brent, meeting squarely the laughing gaze of the dark eyes,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Do you know that if it had not been for you, I would have been--would never have weathered this storm?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You were not born in the bush, she reminded, as she added more snow to the pan."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I do not even know your name, she said, gravely,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And yet I feel--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, you feel--how do you feel?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I feel as though--as though I had known you always--as though you were my friend."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, he answered, and it was with an effort he kept the emotion from his voice,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We have known each other always, and I am your friend. My name is Carter Brent. And now, tell me something about yourself. Who are you? And why did you tell me you were an Indian?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am an Indian, she replied, quickly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That is, I am a half-breed. My father was a white man."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And what is your name?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Snowdrift."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Snowdrift! he cried,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why, it is the only name I have, and I never had any other."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But your father--what was your father's name?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "My father is dead, she answered,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I do not know his name. Why is Snowdrift an odd name?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I think it a beautiful name!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Do you--really?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Indeed I do! I love it. And now tell me more--of your life--of your education."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I went to school at the mission on the Mackenzie. I went there for a good many years, and I worked hard, for I like to study. And books! I love to read books. I read all they had, and some of them many times. Do you love books?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why yes, answered Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I used to. I haven't read many since I came North."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why did you come North?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I came for gold."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "For gold! cried the girl, her eyes shining,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That is why we are here! Wananebish says there is gold here in the barrens. Once many years ago she found it--but we have tried to find the place again, and we cannot."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Who is Wananebish?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wananebish is my mother. She is an Indian, and she has tried to keep the band together through many years, and to keep them away from the hooch, but, they will not listen to her. It was hard work to persuade them to come away from the river. And, have you found gold?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, answered Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Way over beyond the mountains that lie to the westward of the Mackenzie, I found much gold. But I lost it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Lost it! Oh, that was too bad. Did it fall off your sled?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, not exactly, answered the man dryly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In my case, it was more of a toboggan."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Couldn't you find it again?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No. Other men have it, now."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And they won't give it back!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, it is theirs. That part of it is all right--only I would give anything in the world to have it--now."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why do you want it now? Can you not find more gold? I guess I do not understand."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, you do not understand. But, sometime you will understand. Sometime I think I shall have many things to tell you--and then I want you to understand."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You must sharpen some green sticks and cut pieces of meat, she said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And we will eat our supper."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now, I know why I like you,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes? smiled Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And are you going to tell me?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is because you are good. She continued, without noting the quick catch in the man's breath."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Men who hunt for gold are good. My father was good, and he died hunting for gold. Wananebish told me. It was years and years ago when I was a very little baby. I know from reading in books that many white men are good. But in the North they are bad. Unless they are of the police, or are priests, or factors. I had sworn to hate all white men who came into the North--but I forgot the men who hunt gold."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I am glad you remembered them, answered Brent gravely."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I hope you are right."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I am sleepy, announced the girl."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We cannot both sleep in this robe, for we have only one, and to keep warm it is necessary to roll up in it. One of us can sleep half the night while the other tends the fire, and then the other will sleep."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You go to sleep, said Brent."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I will keep the fire going. I am not a bit sleepy. And besides, I have a whole world of thinking to do."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I will wake up at midnight, and then you can sleep,"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Good night,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Good night, and may God keep you. You forgot that part, she corrected, gravely,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We used to say that at the Mission."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, answered Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "May God keep you. I did forget that part."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Do you believe we have known each other always?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, girl, he answered,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I believe we have known each other since the beginning of time itself."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why did you come way over here to find gold? I have heard that there is much gold beyond the mountains to the westward."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I came to find you, but, he restrained the impulse."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "All the gold claims that are any good are taken up over there, he explained,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And I read in a book that a man gave me that there was gold here."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What kind of a book was that? I never read a book about gold."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It was an old book. One that the man had picked up over in the Hudson Bay country. Its title was torn off, but upon one of its pages was written a man's name, probably the name of the former owner of the book. I have often wondered who he was. The name was Murdo MacFarlane."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Murdo MacFarlane!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, answered the man,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Do you know him?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is the name upon the sheath of the knife, she answered,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is Wananebish's knife. I broke the point of mine."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Murdo MacFarlane, he deciphered,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, the name is the same. And long after the girl's regular breathing told him she was sleeping, he repeated the name again:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Murdo MacFarlane. I don't know who you were or who you are, if you still live, but whoever you were, or whoever you are--here's good luck to you--Murdo MacFarlane!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Good bye, he smiled, extending his bared hand, when at length they came to the parting of the ways,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't want but one of the caribou I shot. Divide the other two between the families of the Indians that skipped out."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, she answered, making no effort to release the hand,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They need the meat. With the rabbits they can snare, it will keep them all winter. I have not much fur yet--a few fox skins, and some _loup cervier_. I will bring them to you tomorrow."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Bring them to me! cried Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What do you mean? Why should you bring them to me?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why! she exclaimed, regarding him curiously,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "To pay for the meat, of course. A caribou is worth a cross fox, and----"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I did not offer to sell you the meat, he answered, a trifle stiffly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They need it, and they're welcome to it."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I--I do not understand, she said, softly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have made you angry. I do not want you to be angry with me. Do you mean that you want to give them the meat? People do not give meat, excepting to members of their own tribe when they are very poor. But you are not of the tribe. You are not even an Indian. White men do not give Indians meat, ever."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am not angry with you, Snowdrift! he exclaimed, quickly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I was a fool! It was I who did not understand. But, I want you to understand that here is one white man who does give meat to Indians. And I wish I were a member of your tribe. Sometime, maybe----"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, no, no! You would not want to be one of us. We are very poor, and we are Indians. You are a white man. Why should you want to live with us?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Some day I will tell you why, answered the man, in a voice so low that the dark eyes searched his face wonderingly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And, now, won't you give me your hand again? To show me that you are not angry with me."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Angry with you! Oh, I would never be angry with you! You are good. You are the only good white man I have known who was not a priest, or a factor, or a policeman--and even they do not give the Indians meat."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "May I come and see you, soon?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why, yes, of course! Why did you ask me that? she inquired, wonderingly,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You know the way to our camp, and you know that now I know you are not a hooch trader."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why, smiled Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I asked because--why, just because it seemed the thing to do--a sort of formality, I reckon."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I do not understand, I guess. Formality--what is that? A custom of the land of the white man? But I have not read of that in books. Here in the North if anybody wants to go a place, he goes, unless he has been warned to stay away for some reason, and then if he goes he will get shot. I will shoot the hooch traders if they come to the camp. The first time I will tell them to go--and if they come back I will kill them."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You wouldn't kill them--really? smiled Brent, amazed at the matter of fact statement coming from this slip of a girl, whose face rimmed in its snow-covered parka hood was, he told himself, the most beautiful face he had ever looked upon."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Didn't they teach you in the mission that it is wrong to kill?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is wrong to kill in anger, or for revenge for a wrong, or so that you may steal a man's goods. But it is not wrong to kill one who is working harm in the world. You, too, know that this is true, because in the books I have read of many such killings, and in some books it was openly approved, and other books were so written that the approval was made plain."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, there is the law,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, there is the law. But the law is no good up here. By the time the policemen would get here the hooch trader would be many miles away. And even if they should catch him, the Indians would not say that he traded them hooch. They would be afraid. No, it is much better to kill them. They take all the fur in trade for hooch, and then the women have nothing to eat, and the little babies die."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I reckon you're right, he agreed,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, I wish you would promise me that if any hooch runners show up, you will let me deal with them."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, will you? cried the girl, her eyes shining,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Will you help me? Oh, with a white man to help me! With _you_--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Of course I'll help you! he smiled reassuringly,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I would love to, and between us we'll make the Coppermine country a mighty unhealthy place for the hooch runners."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You will come to see me, reminded the girl,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And I will come to see you, and we will hunt together, and you will show me how to find gold."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, promised Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We will see each other often--very often. And we will hunt together, and I will show you all I know about finding gold. Good bye, and if you need any help getting the meat into camp, let me know and Joe Pete and I will come down with the dogs."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We won't need any help with the meat. There are plenty of us to haul it in. That is squaw's work, Good bye."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He came back yesterday--he and his Indian, and they got the meat. He is strong, she breathed to herself,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Stronger than I, for I was tired from walking in the loose snow, and I did not come back."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is _his_ trail, she whispered, to a Canada jay that chattered and jabbered at her from the limb of a dead spruce."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He came here, as I came, to look at our little wikiup. And he went away and left it just as it was. Above her head the jay flitted nervously from limb to limb with his incessant scolding."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why did he come? she breathed,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And why did I come?"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Is Snowdrift in?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, the squaw answered, and as an after-thought,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "She has gone with the women to bring in the meat."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "His smile broadened, though he noticed that the glare of hostility had not faded from the eyes:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "She told you about our hunt, then? It was great sport. She is a wonder with a rifle."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, she did not tell me."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Can't I come in? Brent asked the question suddenly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I must get back to camp soon. I just came down to see--to see if I could be of any help in bringing in the meat."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The women bring in the meat,"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Can't we be friends?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, if you will let me kill you now--we can be friends."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, come, laughed Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That's carrying friendship a bit too far, don't you think?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I had rather you had traded hooch to the men, answered the woman, sullenly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "For then she would even now hate you--as someday she will learn to hate you!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Learn to hate me! What do you mean?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You know what I mean! cried the squaw, her voice quivering with anger,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You white men are devils! You come, and you stay a while, and then you go your way, and you stop again, and your trail is a trail of misery--of misery, and of father-less half-breed babies! I wish she had killed you that day you stood out there in the snow! Maybe the harm has been already done----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What do you mean? roared Brent, overturning the bench and towering above the little stove in his rage."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You can't talk to me like that! Out with it! What do you mean?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Where were you last night? And, where was she?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We were together, he answered in a voice that cut cold as steel,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In a wikiup that we built in the blinding snow and the darkness to protect us from the storm. Half of the night, while she slept upon her robe, I sat and tended the fire, and then, because she insisted upon it, she tended the fire while I slept."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Can it be? she faltered,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Can it be that there is such a white man?"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There are many such white men, he said, soothingly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You need not fear. I am your friend, and the friend of Snowdrift. I, like yourself, am here to find gold, and like yourself, I too, hate the traders of hooch--and with reason. He stepped to the stove, upturned the bench and recovered his cap. And as the old woman rose to her feet, Brent saw that the look of intense hatred had been supplanted by a look, which if not exactly of friendliness, was at least one of passive tolerance. At the doorway he paused, hesitated for a moment, and then, point blank, flashed the question that for days had been uppermost in his mind:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Who is Snowdrift?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Snowdrift is my daughter,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I must go now. I shall be coming here often. I hope I shall not be unwelcome."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The squaw lied! he uttered fiercely."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Never in God's world is Snowdrift her daughter! But--who is she?"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Where have you been? she asked."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I came to hunt--and you were gone. So I waited for you to come, and I watched Joe Pete feed the fire in the hole."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I, too, went to hunt. I went to your cabin, and your--mother, despite himself, the man's tongue hesitated upon the word,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, you have seen Wananebish! cried the girl,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And she was glad to see you?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, smiled Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Perhaps not so awfully glad--right at first. But Wananebish and I are good friends, now."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I am glad. I love Wananebish. She is good to me. She has deprived herself of many things--sometimes I think, even of food, that I might stay in school at the mission. And now it is too late to hunt today, and I am hungry. Let us go in the cabin and eat."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Fine! cried Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hey, Joe Pete, cut some caribou steaks, and I'll build up the fire! He turned again to the girl,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come on, he laughed,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I could eat a raw dog!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, there is plenty of meat! cried the girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And you'll need the dogs! Only when men are starving will they eat their dogs--and not _raw_!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You need not be afraid, we will save the dogs till we need them. That was only a figure of speech. I meant that I am very hungry, and that, if I could find nothing else to eat I should relish even raw dog meat."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I see! she cried,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In books are many such sayings. It is a metaphor--no, not a metaphor--a--oh, I don't remember, but anyway I am glad you said that because I thought such things were used only in the language of books--and maybe I can say one like that myself, someday."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You're in on this feed! Get busy and fry up those steaks while I set the table."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why do you have the fire in the hole?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why, to thaw the gravel so we can throw it out onto the dump. Then in the spring, we'll sluice out the dump and see what we've got."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Do you mean for gold? asked the girl in surprise,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We only hunt for gold in the summer in the sand of the creeks and the rivers."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This way is better, explained Brent."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In the summer you can only muck around in the surface stuff. You can't sink a shaft because the water would run in and fill it up. In most places the deeper you go the richer the gravel. The very best of it is right down against bed-rock. In the winter we keep a fire going until the gravel is thawed for six or eight inches down, then we rake out the ashes and wait for the hole to cool down so there will be air instead of gas in it, and then we throw out the loose stuff and build up the fire again."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And you won't know till spring whether you have any gold or not? Why, maybe you would put in a whole winter's work and get nothing!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, we kind of keep cases on it with the pan. Every day or so I scoop up a panful and carry it into the cabin and melt some ice and pan it out."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And is there gold here? Have you found it?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not yet. That is, not in paying quantities. The gravel shows just enough color to keep us at it. I don't think it is going to amount to much. So far we're making fair wages--and that's about all."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What do you mean by fair wages? smiled the girl."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You see, I am learning all I can about finding gold."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I expect we're throwing out maybe a couple of ounces a day--an ounce apiece. If it don't show something pretty quick I'm going to try some other place. There's a likely looking creek runs in above here."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But an ounce of gold is worth sixteen dollars! exclaimed the girl,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And sixteen dollars every day for each of you is lots of money."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's good wages, and that's about all. But I'm not here just to make wages. I've got to make a strike."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How much is a strike?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, anywhere from a half a million up."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A half a million dollars! cried the girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why, what could you do with it all?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh I could manage to find use for it, I reckon. In the first place I owe a man some money over on the Yukon--two men. They've got to be paid. And after that--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And what would you do after that?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, answered the man, as he watched the shower of sparks fly upward,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That depends--But, come, it's getting dark. I'll walk home with you."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Are you going because you think I am afraid?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I am going because I want to go,"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Isn't it beautiful?"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wonderful, he whispered, as his eyes swept the unending panorama of lifeless barrens."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is as if we two were the only living beings in the whole dead world."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, I wish--I wish we were! cried the girl, impulsively. And then:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No that is wrong! Other people--thousands and thousands of them--men, and women, and little babies--they all love to live."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is wonderful to live, breathed the man,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And to be standing here--with you--in the moonlight."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, the moonlight--is it the moonlight that makes me feel so strange--in here? she raised her mittened hand and pressed it against her breast,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "So strange and restless. I want to go--I do not know where--but, I want to do something big--to go some place--any place, but to go, and go, and go! Her voice dropped suddenly, and Brent saw that her eyes were resting broodingly upon the straggling group of tepees and cabins. A dull square of light glowed sullenly from her own cabin window, and her voice sounded heavy and dull:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, there is no place to go, and nothing to do, but hunt, and trap, and look for gold. Sometimes I wish I were dead. No I do not mean that--but, I wish I had never lived."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Nonsense, girl! You love to live! Beautiful, strong, young--why, life is only just starting for--you. Brent had almost said"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, of what use is it all? Why should one love to live? I am an Indian--yet I hate the Indians--except Wananebish. We fight the hooch traders, yet the men get the hooch. It is no use. I learned to love books at the mission--and there are no books. You are here--with you I am happy. But, if you do not find a strike, you will go away. Or, if we do not find gold, we will go. The Indians will return to the river and become hangers-on at the posts. It is all--no use!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There, there, dear. I am never going away from you--never. Two arms stole about his neck, and Brent's heart pounded wildly as he felt them tighten in a convulsive embrace. He bent down and their lips met in a long, lingering kiss,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Darling, he whispered, with his lips close to her ear,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You are mine--mine! And I am yours. And we will live--live! Tell me Snowdrift--sweetheart--do you love me?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I love you! her lips faltered the simple words, and Brent saw that the dark eyes that looked up into his own glowed in the moonlight like black pools."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Now--I know--it was--not the moonlight--in here--it was love!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, darling, it was love. I have loved you since the first moment I saw you."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And I have loved you--always!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'll make a strike before spring! I've got to! Then we'll hit for Dawson, and we'll stop at Fort Norman and be married. No--we'll go on through and be married at the Reeves'! Married! A Brent married to an Indian!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "She's a damn sight too good for you! You're a hell of a Brent--nothing left but the name! Gambler--notorious gambler, Reeves said--and a barkeep in Malone's dive. You're a hooch hound, and you've got to keep away from hooch to stay sober! You don't dare go back to Dawson--nor anywhere else where there's a saloon! You're broke, and worse than broke. You're right now living on Reeves' money--and you think of marrying _her_!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Same thing, he muttered disgustedly, as he stared at the yellow grains,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Just wages. I've got to make a strike! There's Reeves to pay--and Camillo Bill--and I've got to have dust--and plenty of it--for _her_. Damn this hole! I'm going to hit for the lower river. We'll cover this shaft to keep the snow out and hit north. Hearne, and Franklin, and Richardson all report native copper on the lower river--amygdaloid beds that crop out in sheer cliffs. Gold isn't the only metal--there's millions in copper! And, the river winding in and out among the trap and basalt dykes, there's bound to be gold, too."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I--I am hunting,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "So am I hunting--for you."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But really, I am hunting caribou. There are lots of mouths to feed, and the men are not much good. They will spend hours slipping up onto a caribou and then miss him."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Come on, then, let's go, answered the man gaily."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Which way shall it be?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I saw lots of tracks the other day on a lake to the eastward. It is six or seven miles. I think we will find caribou there."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Slow down! I'll be good!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You're a wonder! he panted, as he closed up the distance that separated them,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Don't you ever get tired?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, yes, very often. But, not so early in the day. See, three caribou passed this way only a few hours ago--a bull and two cows."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And now we must kill one for you,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We needn't be in any hurry about it, he grinned."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We still have most of the one we got the other day."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Then, why are you hunting?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I told you. I found what I was hunting--back there on the river. How about lunch? I'm hungry as a wolf."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You must have figured on getting pretty hungry,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You brought more than I did! she smiled,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "See--there is much more."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, I'll come right out with it--I put that up for two!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And mine is for two, she admitted,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But you are mean for making me say it."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What's the matter, Snowdrift, he asked abruptly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What is troubling you? Tell me all about it. You might as well begin now, you know--because----"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nothing is the matter! she cried, with an obviously forced gaiety."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, tell me, where did you come from--before you came to the Yukon? All my life I have wanted to know more of the land that lies to the southward--the land of the white man. Father Ambrose and Sister Mercedes told me much--but it was mostly of the church. And Henri of the White Water told me of the great stores in Edmonton where one may buy fine clothes, of other stores where one may sell hooch without fear of the police, and also where one may win money with cards. But, surely, there are other things. The white men, and the women, they do not always go to church and buy clothes, and drink hooch, and gamble with cards. And are all the women beautiful like the pictures in the books, and in the magazines?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, all the women are not beautiful. It is only once in a great while that one sees a really beautiful woman, and you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But I am not beautiful! cried the girl,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not like the pictures."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The pictures are not pictures of real women, they are creations of an artist's brain. The pictures are the artist's conception of what the real women should be."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Is it all make-believe, in the land of the white man? The books--the novels that tell of knights in armor, and of the beautiful ladies with their clothes, and their rings of the diamonds that sparkle like ice--and other novels that tell of suffering, and of the plotting of men and women who are very bad--and of the doings of men and women who are good--Sister Mercedes said they are all lies--that they are the work of the brain of the man who wrote it down. Is it all lies and make-believe? Do the white men use their brains only to tell of the doings of people who have never lived, and to make pictures of people and things that never were? Do you, too, live in the make-believe? You have told me you love me. And just now you told me that I was the most beautiful woman you have seen. Those are the words of the books--of the novels. Always the man must tell the woman she is the most beautiful woman in the world. And it is all make-believe, and in the words is no truth!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, no, dear! You do not understand. I don't know whether I can explain it, but it is not all make-believe--by a long shot! Life down there is as real as it is here. There are millions of people there and for them all life is a struggle. Millions live in great cities, and other millions live in the country and raise grain with which to feed themselves, and the millions who live in the cities. And the people in the cities work in great factories, and make the clothing, and the tools, and guns, and everything that is used by themselves and by the people who live outside the cities, and they build the ships and the railroads which carry these goods to all parts of the world. But you have read of all that in the books--and the books are not all lies and make-believe, for they tell of life as it is--not as any one or a dozen characters live it--but as thousands and millions live it. The comings and goings of the characters are the composite comings and goings of a thousand or a million living breathing people. And because each person is too busy--too much occupied with his own particular life, he does not know of the lives of the other millions. But he wants to know--so he reads the books and the magazines, and the newspapers."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "All my life, she concluded,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have wanted to go to the land of the white man, and see these things myself. But, I never shall see them, and I am glad you have told me more."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Indeed you shall see them! he cried."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You and I shall see them together. We'll be married at Dawson, and we'll make a strike----"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, no, no! she cried, with a catch in her voice,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I can never marry you! Oh, why must we love! Why must we suffer, when the fault is not ours? They would hate me, and despise me, and point at me with the finger of scorn!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There is one more I thought was my friend. His name is Camillo Bill, and he is square as a die, and he did me a good turn when he cleaned me out, by holding my claims for only what he had coming when he could have taken them all. But he came to see me one day toward the last. He came to tell me that the claims had petered out. I wanted him to grub-stake me, for a prospecting trip and he refused. That hurt me worse than all the rest--for I thought he was my friend. He cursed me, and refused to grub-stake me. Then I met a real friend--one I had never seen before, and he furnished the gold for my trip to the Coppermine, and--here I am."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This girl named Kitty? she asked at length,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Who is she, and why was she your friend? Did you love this woman? Is she beautiful?"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "When, at the very bottom, I was taken suddenly sick, it was Kitty who nursed me through. And then, when I was on my feet again she left me to myself. I have not seen her since."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And, if you make a strike again, asked the girl in a low voice,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Will you go back to Dawson--to the cards and the hooch?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I will go back to Dawson, he answered,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And pay my debts. I will not go back to the cards. I am through with gambling for good and all, for I have promised. And when a Brent gives his word, he would die rather than break it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But the hooch? persisted Snowdrift."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Are you done with the hooch too?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't--that is, how can I tell? I drink no hooch now--but there is none to drink. I hate it for I know that what it did to me once it will do to me again. I hate it--and I love it! exclaimed the man."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tell me, is hate stronger than love?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I, too, have a thing to tell. It is a horrible thing. And when you have heard you will not want to marry me."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tell me! he cried hoarsely. For a single instant his eyes blazed into hers, and then, as though anticipating her words, his fingers relaxed their hold and he settled back with a half-articulate moan--"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The thing I must tell you is this. I am a half-breed. But my father was not the husband of Wananebish, who is my mother----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Is that all?"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I--I do not understand, she faltered,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have known this only for a short time. Henri of the White Water told me of it, and of the shame of it--and then Sister Mercedes--and it is true, because years ago when I was very small, Wananebish told it to Father Ambrose----"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Damn Henri of the White Water! And damn Sister Mercedes and Father Ambrose! cried Brent, his eyes narrowing,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What did they tell you for? What difference does it make?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Henri of the White Water told me because he was angry. I would not marry him. I was going to a great convent school, and he said that in the land of the white man I would be an object of scorn--that people would shun me, and point me out with the finger of shame. I did not believe him, so I went to Sister Mercedes, and she told me, also. And so I would not go to the school, and that night I came away from the mission--came back to the Indians. She paused, and as she raised her eyes to his, Brent saw that in their depths a wondrous newborn hope struggled against fear. Her lips moved:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You do not scorn me? You love me--knowing that?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, I love you--love you--love you! You are mine, darling--mine for all time!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And you would marry me, not knowing who I am?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, darling, reassured Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Neither knowing nor caring who you are. It is enough that you are the dearest, and most beautiful, and the most lovable woman in the whole world of women. Why, girl, the wonder is not that I love you--but that you could love me, after what I told you."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is the answer to your question, she smiled,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It means that love is the strongest thing in all the world--stronger than hate, stronger than race, or laws, or codes of ethics. Love is supreme!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And that means, then, that my love for hooch will conquer my hate for it?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No! breathed the girl, and Brent could feel her arms tighten about his neck."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "For your love for hooch has not only to overcome your hate for it, but it must also overcome your love for me, and my love for you. I am not afraid to fight it out with hooch for your love! If I cannot make myself more to you than hooch ever can, I would not be worthy of your love!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "My darling, whispered Brent, his lips close to her ear,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You have won already. I will promise----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No--dear, she hesitated a second at the unfamiliar word,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You must not promise--yet. It is easy to promise, out here in the barrens, where you have me in your arms, and the hooch is far away. I ask no odds of hooch. Wait till you have stood the test. I am not afraid. I have not much learning, but some things I know. I know that, holding a promise in as high regard as you hold one, if anything should happen--if you should drink hooch just once, the promise would be broken--and never again would a promise be just the same. We have a war with hooch--you and I. And we are going to win. But, in the histories I have read of few wars where every battle was won by the same army. Some of the battles we must expect to lose--but the _war_ we will win."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not much learning, smiled Brent, looking into the depths of the dark eyes,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But the concentrated wisdom of the ages--the wisdom that is the heritage of woman, and which not one woman in a thousand learns to apply."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No use, he said, one day as he tossed the worthless pebbles from his pan."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If there was anything here, we'd have found at least a trace. I'm going to hit down the river and have a look at the Copper Mountains."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Take me with you! cried the girl, eagerly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How long will you be gone?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I wish I could, smiled Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But Joe Pete and I will be gone two weeks--a month--maybe longer. It depends on what we find. If we were only married, what a great trip it would be! But, never mind, sweetheart, we've got a good many trips coming--years and years of them."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But that isn't now, objected the girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What will I do all the while you are gone? Each morning I hurry here as fast as I can, and each evening I am sorry when the darkness comes and I must leave you."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, darling, he whispered,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I understand. The hours I spend away from you are long hours, and I count them one by one. I do not want to go away from you, but it is for you that I must make a strike."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I would rather have you with me than have all the strikes in the world!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I know--but we don't want to spend all our days in this God-forgotten wilderness, fighting famine, and the strong cold. We want to go far away from all this, where there is music, and books, and life! You've got it coming, little girl--but first we must make a strike."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And, we will not be married until you make your strike?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Strike or no strike, we will be married in the spring! he cried,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Will we be married at the mission?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No--at Dawson."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dawson! cried the girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And I shall really see Dawson? But, isn't it very far?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, you will really see Dawson--and you won't see much when you see it, in comparison with what you will see when we quit the North and go back to the States. In the spring you and Wananebish, and Joe Pete and I will take a month's vacation--and when we come back, darling, we will have each other always."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, if you do not make a strike? questioned the girl,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What then? Would you be happy here in the North--with me?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sweetheart, answered Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If I knew to a certainty that I should never make a strike--that I should always live in these barrens, I would marry you anyway--and call the barrens blessed. But, I will make a strike! It is for you--and I cannot fail! Oh, if I hadn't been such a fool!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If you hadn't been such a--a fool, you would never have come to the barrens. And I--I would always have been just an Indian--hating the white man, hating the world, living my life here and there, upon the lakes and the rivers, in cabins and tepees, with just enough education to long for the better things, and with my heart bursting with pain and bitterness in the realization that those things were not for me."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It was a great scheme, little girl, he smiled, suddenly breaking into a lighter mood,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And the beauty of it is--it worked. But what I was getting at is this: it don't seem reasonable that after going to all that trouble to bring us together, and taking such liberties with my reputation, Old Man Destiny is going to make us fill out the rest of the time punching holes in gravel, and snaring rabbits, and hunting caribou."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Keep this till I come back, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's gold."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, it is heavy!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Weighs up pretty big now. But when we make our strike it won't be a shoestring. But come--one more good bye and I must be going. I've got to pack my outfit for an early start."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A whaler! he exclaimed,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "One of those that Johnnie Claw said wintered up here."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Reckon we'll just mush over there and call on 'em. Neighbors aren't so damned common up here that we can afford to pass them by when we're in sight of 'em."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Dat better, mebbe-so, we don' go w'ere we ain' got no business. Mebbe-so dat Godam Johnnie Claw, she giv' you som' mor' hooch, eh? Dat breed gal she dam' fine 'oman--she ain' lak dat."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't reckon there's any danger of that, he answered, shortly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Come on, we'll harness the dogs and pull out there. I'd like to see what kind of an outfit they've got, and as long as we're this near it would be too bad not to go to the very top of the continent."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hello, he greeted,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Where's the captain?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wait here, said Brent, turning to Joe Pete,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Till I find out whether this whole crew is as cordial to strangers as these two specimens."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Who's there?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Just a visitor,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come in, an' we'll look ye over!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Shut the door! Coal costs money. What the hell ye tryin' to do, heat the hull Ar'tic? Who be ye, anyhow? An' wot d'ye want?"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, if it ain't my ol' friend Ace-In-The-Hole! cried the hooch runner."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ignoring the fact that Brent had refused the proffered hand, Claw leered into his face:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ace-In-The-Hole let me make you 'quainted with Cap Jinkins, Cap'n of the _Belva Lou_--damn good sport, too--an' Asa Scroggs, mate. Both damn good sports, _Belva Lou_ fetches out more oil an' bone 'n any of 'em--an' Cap ain't 'fraid to spend his money. Glad you come long. Welcome to stay long as you like--ain't he Cap?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sure, he growled, surlily,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Didn't know he was friend o' yourn. S'down."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Swaller that, he advised, with a grin,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yer gittin' white 'round the gills. Comin' right in out of the air, it might seem a leetle close in here, at first."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Didn't know we had no neighbors, ventured the Captain, filling his own glass."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What ye doin' up here?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Prospecting, answered Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The Copper Mountains. I saw your vessel from the ridge, and thought I would come over and see what a whaler looks like."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, grinned the captain,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The _Belva Lou_ hain't what ye'd call no floatin' palace, but she's ahead o' most whalers. An' after Johnnie gits through hornin' round 'mongst the Husky villages an' fixes us up with a wife apiece, we manage to winter through right comfortable. Me an' Asa stays on board, an' the rest of the crew, builds 'em igloos. But, here's me runnin' off at the head--an' you might spill it all to the Mounted."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not him, laughed Claw."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Him an' I ain't always pulled, what you might say, together--but he's square--kill you in a minute, if he took a notion--but he'd go to hell before he'd snitch. Have another drink, Ace-In-The-Hole, 'twon't hurt you none--only rum--an' water-weak."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wher's yer camp?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Bloody Falls, answered Brent, waxing loquacious."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Bloody Falls of the Coppermine, where old Samuel Hearne's Indians butchered the Eskimos."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Butchered the Eskimos! exclaimed Claw,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What d'you mean--butchered? I ain't heard 'bout no Huskies bein' killed, an' who in hell's Sam Hearne? I be'n round here, off an' on, fer long while, an' I ain't never run acrost no Sam Hearne. What be you handin' us? You ort to start a noospaper."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, Claw, I reckon you never ran across him. This happened over a hundred years ago--1771--July 13th, to be exact."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Man kin lap up a hell of a lot of idees out of a bottle of hooch, he opined,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Mostly it runs to ph'los'fy, er fightin', er po'try, er singin', er religion, er women, er sad mem'ries--but this here stale news idee is a new one. But, g'wan, Ace-In-The-Hole, did the Mounted git Sam fer his murdersome massacres?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That was a hundred years before the Mounted was thought of,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I always know'd I was born too late, laughed Claw, who, noting the signs of approaching trouble, sought peace."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This here'd be a hell of a fine country, if it wasn't fer the Mounted. But, say, Ace-In-The-Hole, you doin' any good? Struck any color?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, not to speak of. Just about made wages."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, continued the hooch runner,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You had a pretty fair sack of dust when you come in. What d'you say we start a little game of stud--jest the four of us?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nothing doing, answered Brent, shortly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm off of stud."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Off of stud! exclaimed the other,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How in hell d'you ever expect to git even? Stud owes you more dust than you kin pile on a sled!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The game can keep what it owes me. And besides I left my dust in camp--except a couple of ounces, or so."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yer finger bet goes with me, assured Claw,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Everybody's wouldn't, by a damn sight--but yourn does. What d'you say?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "My word is good in a game, is it?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Good as the dust--in one, or out of one,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, then listen to this: I gave my word in the presence of the man who staked me for this trip, that I would never gamble again. So I reckon you know how much stud I'll play from now on."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Gawd A'mighty! breathed Claw, incredulously,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "An' the game owin' you millions. Well, have a drink on it, anyway."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ain't happened to run onto a little bunch of Injuns, up the river, have you?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, answered Brent, drowsily,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No Injuns in Copper Mountains--nothing in the mountains--nothing but snow."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Slit his gullet, an' we'll slip him down a seal hole with some scrap iron on his legs. He's prob'bly lyin' 'bout leavin' the dust in camp."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not him, he opined,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Search him first."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Prob'ly all he's got left, anyhow, he growled in disgust."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Le's jest weight him an' slip him through the ice the way he is. 'Tain't so messy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not by a damn sight! objected Claw."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's jest like I told you, when we was watchin' him through the glass. He's got anyways clost to a hundred ounces. I seen it, when he paid me fer the hooch, like I was tellin' you."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, we kin back-track him to his camp, an' if we can't find it we kin put the hot irons to the Injun's feet till he squeals."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Injun don't know where it's at, argued Claw contemptuously,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He's too damn smart to trust a Siwash. An' you bet he's got it _cached_ where we couldn't find it. He wouldn't leave it round where the first bunch of Huskies that come along could lift it, would he?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, growled the Captain,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yer so damn smart, what's yer big idee?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We got to let him go. Put back his little two ounces, so he won't suspicion nothin'. Then, when he wakes up, I'll slip him a bottle of hooch fer a present, an' he'll hit fer camp and start in on it. It won't last long, an' then you an' me an' Scroggs will happen along with more hooch to sell him. When he digs up the dust to pay fer it, I'll tend to him. You two git the Injun--but _he's_ mine. I've got a long score to settle with him--an' I know'd if I waited long enough, my time would come."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "An' when we git him an' his Injun planted, me an' Asa'll take his dogs an' hit back here, an' you kin strike east along the coast till you pick up another woman. It's a damn outrage--that's what it is! Chargin' me fifty dollars apiece fer greasy old pelters like them, that ain't worth the grub they eat! What I want is a young one--good lookin' an' young."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You had yer pick out of the eight,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "An' a hell of a pick it was! Why, I've went out an' rustled 'em myself, an' fer a sack of flour, an' a half a dozen fish-hooks, an' mebbe a file er two, I've got the pick of a hull village."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "So they intended to murder him, did they? And, when that detail had been attended to, they would go on with their traffic in"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You ain't had no pick of a village since the Mounted begun patrolin' the coast."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Damn the Mounted!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yeh, that's what I say. But damnin' 'em don't git red of 'em. Facts is, they're here, an' every year it's harder an' harder fer a man to make a livin'. But listen, Cap, I've got one bet up my sleeve. But it'll cost you more'n any fifty dollars--er a hundred, either. She ain't no Husky--she's an Injun breed--an' damn near white. Her name's Snowdrift--an' she's the purtiest thing in the North. I've had my eyes on her fer a couple of years. She was in the mission over on the Mackenzie. But she ain't there no more. She's way up the Coppermine, with a band of about twenty Dog Ribs."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I tried to buy her once--last year it was, offen her mother--offered her a thousan' dollars, cash money--an' 'fore I know'd what happened, the damned old squaw had me about half killed. She's a hell cat. She done it barehanded--clawed my eyes, an' clawed out a hull handful of whiskers--you kin see that patch on my throat where they never grow'd back. It was over near Good Hope, an' I didn't dast to make no holler, nor kill her neither, on account of the Mounted--but I'll get her yet. An' when I do, I'll learn her to pull folks whiskers out by the ruts when they're tryin' to do the right thing by her!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You won't git no thousan' dollars from me! exploded the Captain,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They ain't no woman, white, red, brown, yaller, or black that's worth no thousan' dollars o' my money!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, ain't they? sneered Claw,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well you don't git her then. Fact is I never figgered on sellin' her to you, nohow. I kin take her over to Dawson an' make ten thousan' offen her in six months' time. They got the dust over there, an' they ain't afraid to spend it--an' they know a good lookin' woman when they see one. I'm a tellin' you they ain't no woman ever hit the Yukon that kin anyways touch her fer looks--an' I've saw 'em all. The only reason I'm offerin' her to you is because I kin run her up here a damn sight easier than I kin take her clean over to Dawson--an' with a damn sight less risk, too."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How old is she?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ain't a day over twenty. She's dirt cheap at a thousan'. You could have her all winter, an' next summer you could slip into one of them coast towns, Juneau, or Skagway, or even the ones farther north, an' make five or ten times what you paid fer her."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But s'pose she got spunky, an' I'd kill her, or knock out her teeth, er an eye--then where'd my profits be? Women's hell to handle if they take a notion."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That's your lookout. It's your money that's invested, an' if you ain't got sense enough to look after it, it's your funeral--not mine."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How you goin' to git her here? How you goin' to git her away from the Injuns? An' how do you know where she's at?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's like this. Last summer she leaves the mission an' her an' the old squaw talks the Dog Ribs into hittin' over onto the Coppermine to prospect. They gits over there an' builds 'em a camp, an' starts in trappin' an' prospectin'. But a couple of the bucks has got a thirst fer hooch, an' they can't git none so they pulls out an' hits back fer the Mackenzie. I run onto one of 'em an' he give me the dope--he's the one that's here with me, an' he's goin' to guide me down to the village when I git ready to go. That's why I asked Ace-In-The-Hole if he'd saw 'em. I didn't want him buttin' in on the deal--the old squaw's bad enough, but Gawd! I seen him kill three men in about a second in a saloon in Dawson over a stud game--bare handed. They ain't no woman ever got her hooks into him--not even The Queen of the Yukon--an' she done her damndest--really loved him, an' all that sort of bunk. I know all about women, an' she'd of run straight as hell if he'd of married her--some says she's run straight ever sense she got caked in on him--even after she seen it wasn't no use. He kind of sticks up fer 'em all. Anyways, he knocked hell out of me one night when I was lacin' it to a gal I'd brung into the country with a dog whip. He won't stand fer no rough stuff when they's women mixed up in it, an' I'd ruther be in hell with my legs cut off than have him find out what we was up to. I don't want none of his meat--me!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Better go easy with yer jaw then, advised the Captain,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mebbe he ain't so damn dead to the world as he's lettin' on."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I've got him gauged. I've studied him 'cause I aimed to git him sometime. He's a hooch-hound right. Half what he's drunk today will put him dead fer hours. You could pull all his teeth an' he'd never feel it. No, we ain't got to bother about him. He'll be out of the way before I hit fer the Injun camp, anyhow. We'll wake him up after while, an' I'll give him the bottle of hooch, like I said, so he'll stay soused an' not move his camp, then we'll hit over there with more hooch, an' when he uncovers his dust we'll git him an' the Injun both. Your share of his dust will be half enough to pay fer the breed. But, before we start out you fork over half the price--balance payable on delivery, an' me an' the Injun'll hit on up the river an' fetch back the girl. It'll cost you a keg of rum besides the thousan', 'cause the only way to git her away from them Siwashes'll be to git 'em all tanked up. They'll be right fer it, bein' off the hooch as long as they have. But, at that, I better take along a man or two of the crew, to help me handle 'em."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We won't bother none of the crew, rasped the Captain, harshly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll jest go 'long myself. With five hundred dollars of my dust in yer jeans fer a starter after ye'd got her, ye might git to thinkin' o' them ten thousan' you could make off her in Dawson--not that I wouldn't trust you, you understand, but jest to save myself some worry while you was gone, then, if she's as good lookin' as you say, I'd ruther be along myself than let you an' some of the crew have her till you get here."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Who's there? roared the Captain,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "An' what d'ye want?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dat me--Joe Pete, came a familiar voice from beyond the door."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "An' I'm t'ink dat tam we goin' back. She start to snow, an' I ain' lak we git los'. Too mooch no trail."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Might's well git 'em started now as anytime, whispered Claw."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Next thing is to git him woke up, answered the Captain. Aloud, he called to Joe Pete:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "All right, come on in an' give us a hand, yer pardner's stewed to the guards, an' it ain't goin' to be no cinch to wake him up."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Lemme 'lone. G'way--le'me sleep! The shaking was redoubled, and Brent blinked stupidly, and feigned maudlin anger as the Indian slapped him with the flat of his hand, first on one cheek and then on the other."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Who you slappin', he muttered, thickly, as he staggered to his feet and stood swaying and holding to the table for support,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "C'm on an' fight! he challenged, acting his part to a nicety, glaring owlishly about,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I c'n lick y'all. Gi'me some water, I'm burnin' up. A dipper of water was thrust into his hands and he drained it in huge gulps,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What's goin' on here? he asked, apparently revived a little by the water,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Gi'me some hooch!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Listen, Ace-In-The-Hole, he purred,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not no more hooch right now. It's startin' to snow, an' you got to be hittin' fer camp. Look a here, he picked up a corked bottle and extended it to Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Here's a bottle fer you. Wait till you git to camp, and then go to it. 'Twon't take you only a little while--but you got to git goin'. If she thicks up on you before you git to the mountains you'll be in a hell of a fix--but you got time to make it if the Siwash will shove the dogs along. Better let him ride the sled, he said, turning to Joe Pete,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You'll make better time."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How much?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That's all right, assured Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Tain't nothin' 't all. It's a present from me an' Cap. Shows we know how to treat a friend. Come over an' see us agin, when the storm lets up. Yer welcome to anything we got."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Much 'blige, Claw, mumbled Brent, blinking with solemn gravity, as he smothered an impulse to reach out and crush the man's wind-pipe in the grip of his hand,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Didn't know you was good fren' of mine. Know it--now--an' you, too, Cap--an' you, too, Snaggs."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Scroggs, corrected the mate,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Asa Scroggs."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sure--Scroggs--'scuse me--mus' be little full. My name's Ace, too--Ace-In-The-Hole--pair of aces, haw, haw, haw! Pair to draw to, I'll say. Well, s'long. Tell you what, he said, as he turned to the door, leaning heavily upon Joe Pete,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You come on over to my camp, when the storm lets up. Right on the river--can't miss it--Bloody Falls--where Old Hearne's Injuns butchered the poor Eskimos--damn shame! Bring over plenty of hooch--I've got the dust to pay for it--bring dozen bottles--plenty dust back there in camp--an' it'll be my treat."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We'll come, the Captain hastened to accept,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Might's well be good friends. Neighbors hain't none too thick in these parts. We'll come, won't we Claw--an' we'll bring the hooch."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He played me for a drunkard, as he had a right to, muttered Brent."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And his scheme would have worked except for one little mistake. He forgot to figure that physically I'm a better man than I was back at Dawson. He thought he had me gauged right, and so he talked. But--he over-played his hand. An hour ago, I was a drunkard. Am I a drunkard now? It is the test, he muttered,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The war is on,"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We ought to have hit shore by this time, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm afraid something's wrong."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mebbe-so win' change,"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Might's well git started, opined Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Have 'em load a week's grub onto my sled, an' you an' me, an' the Dog Rib'll hit out."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Will a week's grub be enough? growled the Captain,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's goin' to be a hell of a trip. Mebbe we'd ort to wait a couple o' days an' see what the weather'll do."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wait--hell! cried Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What's the use waitin'? The b'rom'ter's up, an' you know damn well we ain't in fer no more storm fer a week er two. What we want to do is to git over to Bloody Falls before Ace-In-The-Hole takes a notion to break camp. An' what's the use of packin' more grub? We'll have his won't we?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He ain't goin' to break camp till we come along with the hooch, argued the other,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Couple days more an' this snow will be settled an' the goin'll be easier."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If you don't want to go, you kin stay here, retorted Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Me--I ain't goin' to take no chances. I an' the Dog Rib kin handle them two, if you don't want none of it. An' then we'll shove on to the Injun camp an' git the girl, an' I'll jest slip on over to Dawson with her--a thousan' dollars is too cheap, anyhow. If I hadn't of b'n lit up I'd never offered her to you fer no such figger."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A trade's a trade, interrupted the Captain."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If yer so hell-bent on goin', I'll go along."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'll take that five hundred now, before we start, an' you kin give me the balance when we git back with the girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ye said there'd be five hundred apiece in Ace-In-The-Hole's sack, reminded the Captain,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'll pay the first installment with that."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You will, like hell! You'll pay me now. We ain't got that sack yet. Come acrost."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'll give ye an order on----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You'll give me an order on no one! You'll count out five hundred, cash money--dust, er bills, right here in this cabin, 'fore we budge an inch. You've got it--come acrost!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Don't forget to have 'em put a keg of rum on the sled, he reminded,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We'll need it when we get to the Injuns. Not half water, neither. What we want this trip is the strong stuff that'll set 'em afire."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You got to stand your half o' the rum. We're pardners on this."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I stand nothin'. You put up the rum, an' the grub, an' a thousan' dollars fer the girl. My contract is to git her, an' deliver her on board the _Belva Lou_. The only thing we're pardners on is Ace-In-The-Hole's dust. A trade's a trade--an' you got all the best of it, at that."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Pulled out!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They never got here, he amended,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The storm got bad before they hit the ridges, an' they're lost."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Where's the camp, then?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tent was only pegged to the snow. Wind blew it down, and the fresh snow buried it. We'll camp an' hang around a couple of days. If they weathered the storm, they'll be along by that time. If they didn't--well, they won't bother us none with the girl."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, how about the dust? asked the Captain,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If they don't come, we've got to find the camp."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You'll have a hell of a time doin' it! With the snow piled twenty foot deep along them ledges. If they don't show up, we'll shove on to the Injuns. It's clost to a hundred an' fifty mile to the camp, accordin' to the Dog Rib, an' it'll take us anyways a week to make it, with the goin' as bad as it is."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "An' if we hang around here fer a couple o' days, that'll make nine days, with a week's grub. What ye goin' to do 'bout that? I told ye we'd ort to take more."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yer head don't hurt you none--the way you work it, does it? sneered Claw,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I s'pose we couldn't send the Dog Rib back fer some more grub while we was awaitin'? An' while he's gone you kin git a belly full of rootin' up the snow to find the camp."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If you'd help, 'stead of layin' around laughin', we might find it!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't want to find it, jeered Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm usin' my head--me. The main reason I come here was to kill Ace-In-The-Hole, so he couldn't butt in on the other business. If the storm saved me the trouble, all right."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, the dust!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sure--the dust, mocked Claw."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If we find the camp, an' locate the dust, I divide it up with you. If we don't--I slip up here in the spring, when you're chasin' whales, an' with the snow melted off all I got to do is reach down an' pick it up--an' they won't be no dividin', neither."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What's to hinder me from slippin' in here long about that time? Two kin play that game."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Help yerself, grinned Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Only, the Mounted patrol will be along in the spring, an' they'll give you a chanct to explain about winterin' them klooches on the _Belva Lou_. You've forgot, mebbe, that such customs is frowned on."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ye damn double dealin' houn'!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Double dealin', eh? I s'pose I'd ort to be out there breakin' my back diggin' in the snow, so I could divvy up with you dust that I could have all to myself, by takin' it easy. I offered to share the dust with you, cause I figgered I needed yer help in bumpin' off them two. If you don't help, you don't git paid, an' that's all there is to it."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I didn't expect 'em to show up, grinned Claw, as he trudged along behind the Captain."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I figgered if they didn't make camp that first stretch, they never would make it. Full of hooch, a man ain't fit to hit the trail even in good weather. He thinks he kin stand anything--an' he can't stand nothin'. The cold gits him. Here's what happened. The storm gits thick, an' they git off the course. The Siwash is lost an' he tries to wake up Ace-In-The-Hole. He finds the bottle of hooch--and that's the end of the Siwash. Somewheres out on the sea-ice, or in under the snow on the flats they's two frozen corpses--an' damn good reddence, I says."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Must be some of 'em got sore at the rest, an' moved up here an' built the shack, opined Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Anyways, we got to find out--but we better be heeled when we do it. He looked to his revolver, and stooping, picked up a rifle from the sled. The Captain followed his example, and Claw ordered the Indian to proceed. No one had appeared, and at the foot of the ascent to the cabin, Claw paused to examine a snow-covered mound. The Captain was about to join him when, with a loud yell of terror, he suddenly disappeared from sight, and the next moment the welkin rang with his curses, while Claw laughing immoderately at the mishap, stood peering into Brent's brush-covered shaft. It was but the work of a few moments to haul the discomfited Captain from the hole."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Shaft, an' an ore dump, explained Claw."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This here's a white man's layout, an' he's up to date, too. They ain't be'n burnin' in, even on the Yukon, only a year or so. Wonder who he is?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Off huntin', I guess. Er over to the Injun camp. Looks like them tracks was made yesterday. He ain't done no work in the shaft though sence the storm. We'll go in an' make ourself to home till he gits back, anyhow. I don't like the idee of no white man in here. 'Cordin' to who it is--but----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Mebbe it ain't a white man,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sure it's a white man. Didn't I jest tell you that burnin' in ain't no Injun trick?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Dog Rib snowshoes,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That don't prove nothin', retorted Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He could of got 'em from the Injuns, couldn't he? They's two of 'em lives here, he added, from the interior."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Unharness the dogs, while I build up a fire."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Surely, he will come soon, she would mutter, when the inspection showed only the lifeless cabin, or,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He will come tomorrow."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Surely, he will be here today, she murmured,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If he is not here today I will know something has happened, and tomorrow I shall start out to find him. But, no--I am foolish! Did he not say it would be two weeks--a month--maybe longer--those were his very words. And it is only nineteen days, and that is not a month. But, he will come sooner! She flushed deeply,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He will come to _me_--for he does love me, even as I love him. In his eyes I have seen it--and in his voice--and in the touch of his hand."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, he has come! He has come! The light is in his window! Oh, my darling! My own, own man!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "YOU ARE WHITE!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "So! my beauty! grinned the Captain,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Fer once in his life Claw didn't lie. An' ye didn't wait fer us to go an' git ye--jest come right to us nice as ye please--an' saved me a keg o' rum. He rose with an evil leer."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "An' now git up an' make yerself to home--an' long as ye do as I say, an' don't git yer back up, you an' me'll git along fine."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Know me, eh? Rec'lect the time, over to the mission I tried to persuade you to make the trip to Dawson with me do you? Well, I made up my mind I'd git you. Tried to buy you offen the squaw an' she like to tore me to pieces. I'd of kidnapped you then, if it hadn't be'n fer the Mounted. But I've got you now--got you an' sold you to him, he grinned, pointing to the Captain."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "An' yer lucky, at that. Let me make you acquainted with Cap Jinkins. 'Tain't every breed girl gits to be mistress of a ship like the _Belva Lou_."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Stand away from that door! Let me go!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, jest like that! mocked the man."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If he says let you go, it's all right with me, pervided he comes acrost with the balance of the dust."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Slip out to the sled an' git a bottle o' rum, an' we'll all have a little drink."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yondo! she screamed,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This is your work! You devil!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Git back there!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Put up that gun, damn ye! An' look out who yer pullin' it on!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "By God, that's my Injun! I ain't through with him, yet, an' there ain't no damn jade kin carve him up in under my nose."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "An' this here's my woman, too. An' there ain't no damn hooch runner kin pull a gun on her, neither!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ain't no harm done, conciliated Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "An' I guess they ain't no call to fight over 'em. How about that drink?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Git it!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "An', now you hell-cat! he rasped, pushing her from him,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You set to an' git supper! An' don't go tryin' no more monkey business, er I'll break ye in two! They seems to be grub enough here without usin' none of my own, he added, eying the supplies ranged along the opposite wall,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Who owns this shack, anyhow?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Carter Brent owns it, cried the girl, drawing herself erect and glaring into the man's eyes. It was as though the very mention of his name, nerved her to defiance."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And when he returns, he will kill you both--kill you! Do you hear?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's a lie! roared Claw, then paused, abruptly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I wonder--maybe it is his shack. He come straight from the Yukon, an' that accounts fer the burnin' in."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Know him?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Know him! growled Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, I know him--an' so do you. That's Ace-In-The-Hole's real name."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The hell it is! cried the Captain, and laughed uproariously."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "So that's the way the wind blows! An' the breed's be'n livin' here with him! Things is sure comin' my way! That's most too good to be true--an' you misrepresentin' her to be a virgin, fresh from a school--ho, ho, ho!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What'd you mean? snarled Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How was I to know----"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Whether ye know'd, er whether ye didn't, it didn't make no difference--I win either way."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What d'you mean?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You know what I mean, sneered the Captain, truculently,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Secondhand goods--half price--see?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You mean I don't git my other five hundred? yelled Claw jerking the revolver from his holster and levelling at the Captain's head,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Is that what ye mean?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, he faltered, moistening his lips with his tongue,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Mebbe we might kind o' talk it over."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The only talkin' over you'll git out of me, is to come acrost with the five hundred,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ye know damn well I ain't got no five hundred with me. Wait till we git to the _Belva Lou_."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'll wait, all right--but not till we git to the _Belva Lou_. Me an' the girl will wait on shore, in sight of the _Belva Lou_, while you go out an' git the money an' fetch it back--an' you'll come back _alone_ with it. An' what's more--you ain't ahead nothin' on the rum, neither. 'Cause I'm goin' to slip down to the Injun camp in about five minutes, an' the rum goes along. I'll be back by daylight, an' instead of the rum, I'll have all the fur--an' everything else them Dog Ribs has got. An' I'll git square with that damn squaw fer jerkin' that handful of whiskers out of me, too."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That's all right, Johnnie, assured the Captain, still with his eyes on the black muzzle of the gun."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Take the rum along--only, we'd ort to split half an' half on that fur."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Half an' half, hell! You got what you come after, ain't you? An' if I kin pick up an honest dollar on the side, that ain't no reason I should split it with you, is it? I'll jest leave you two to git acquainted while I slip down to the camp."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Go ahead, grinned the Captain,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "An' don't hurry back, we'll wait."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yer damn right you'll wait! retorted Claw,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll have the dogs. In the doorway he paused,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "An', by the way, Cap. Don't open that door till I git out of range--see?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Git to work now an' git supper! We're goin' to hit the back-trail inside an' hour. We kin pack what grub we'll need, an' we'll git most a hull night's start, cause he'll be busy with them Injuns till mornin'."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'll never cook your supper! You dog! You unspeakable devil! I'll kill you first--or you'll kill me!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Kill ye, eh? sneered the man,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, I might, at that, if I didn't have five hundred good dollars tied up in ye. Guess they ain't much danger of me killin' ye till I get my money back, one way er another--an' I guess they ain't no one knows that no better'n what you do. An' as fer killin' _me_, he laughed,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You look spunky 'nough to--but I'm hard to kill--it's be'n tried."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I've warned you! cried the girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And I'll kill you!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Git to work! Damn ye! snarled the Captain,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, if he were here!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hollerin' fer yer man, eh, taunted the Captain,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ye ain't his'n now, yer mine--an' he won't come cause he's dead----"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dead! The word shrieked from the lips of the tortured girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, no, no!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, yes, yes, mocked the man,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He's dead an' froze hard as a capstan bar, somewheres upon the sea ice, an' his Injun, too. Got dead drunk upon the _Belva Lou_, an' started fer shore in the big storm--an' he never got there. So ye might's well make the best of it with me. An' I'll treat ye right if ye give me what I want. An' if ye don't give it, I'll take it--an' it'll be the worse fer you."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "So here's where he left his dust, is it? It's too good to be true! I pay five hundred fer the girl instead of a thousan', an' all the dust, that Claw'll be up scratchin' the gravel around Bloody Falls fer next summer. I guess that's poor--five hundred clean cash profit, an' the girl besides!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The land lies this way, he kept saying,"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I wouldn't lose you for a million, he muttered, as each tortured nerve of his body cried out for stimulant, and the little brain devils added their urge, and with sophistry and cunning excuse sought to undermine his resolve."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Just one drink."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You need it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Taper off gradually."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's medicine. But to the insidious suggestions of the brain devils he turned a deaf ear, and with clenched teeth, gripped his bottle."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll never want you--never need you any more than I do this night, he whispered into the dark."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Right now I'd give half my life for one big swig--but my life isn't mine to give now. It's hers--_hers_, do you hear! It's her fight that I'm fighting, now--and, by God, she's going to win!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We ain' goin' right fer de mountaine, shouted the Indian, with his lips close to Brent's ear."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Dey an' no leetle hill dere till we com' to de ridge."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't care, yelled Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We're heading south, and that's the main thing. We can hit for the river when the storm stops."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, where are we?"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm t'ink, we com' too mooch far wes', he observed,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm t'ink, we better strike eas', 'bout wan day, tomor'."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tomorrow! cried Brent."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why not today--now?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Too mooch tired out. Too mooch no good. We got to res' today. Mebbe-so, travel tomor'!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "S'pose com' nudder beeg snow? W'at you do den, eh? You git los'. You trail git cover up. I kin no fin'. Dat better you wait."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I know that lake! he cried,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's the one where Snowdrift killed a caribou! The river is six or seven miles east of here, and we'll strike it just below our cabin."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You sure 'bout dat'?. asked the Indian."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "De dogs, w'at you call, all in. I ain' lak' we mak mor' travel we kin help."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes--sure, exclaimed Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I couldn't be mistaken. There is the point where we ate lunch--that broken spruce leaning against those two others."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dat good lan' mark, the Indian agreed,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I ain' t'ink you wrong now."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We ought to make the cabin a little after dark, he figured,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And then--I'll grab a bite to eat and hit out for Snowdrift. Wonder if she's looking for me yet? Wonder if she's been thinking about me? It's--let's see--this is the nineteenth day--nineteen days since I've seen her--and it seems like nineteen years! I hate to tell her I didn't make a strike. And worst of all I hate to tell her about--what happened on the _Belva Lou_. But, I'll come clean. I will tell her--and I'll show her the bottle--and thank God I didn't pull the cork! And I never will pull it, now. I learned something out there in the snow--learned what a man can do."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They won't be in any hurry about starting up river, he argued,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They'll hunt for me for a week. Then, when they do come--I'll kill 'em as I would kill so many mad dogs. I hate to shoot a man from ambush--but there's two of 'em, and I don't dare to take a chance. If they should get me--"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Those tracks! rasped Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "When were they made? And who made 'em?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Two--t'ree mans, an' a team, he muttered,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "An' wan man dat Godam Johnnie Claw!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How do you know? cried Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How old are they?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I know dem track--seen um on Mackenzie. B'en gon' 'bout two t'ree hour!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Bring on the outfit!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's a lie! he cried,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You are not a breed! I knew it! I knew it! My darling--you are white--as white as I am! Old Wananebish is not your mother! Do you hear? _You are white!_"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There, there, darling, he soothed, as with his back toward her, his eyes roved about the room seeking to picture, in the wild disorder, the terrific struggle that had taken place."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Put on those things, and then you can tell me all about it. You're all right now, dear. I will never leave you again."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But--oh, if you had not come!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, I did come, sweetheart--and everything is all right. Forget the whole horrid business. Come, we will go straight to Wananebish. Not another hour, nor a minute will we wait. And we will make her tell the truth. I have never believed you were her daughter--and now I know!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, faltered the girl, as she slipped into the warm garments,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If I am not her daughter, who am I? Oh, it is horrible--not to know who you are! If this is true--she must tell--she has got to tell me! I have the right to know! And, my mother and my father--where are they? Who are they?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We will know soon, darling, assured Brent, drawing her to him and looking down into her up-lifted eyes,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, first let me tell you this--I don't care who you are. You are mine, now, dearest--the one woman for me in all the world. And no matter who, or what your parents were, you are mine, mine, mine!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, everything seems all strange, and unreal, and up-side-down, and horrible, and in all the world, darling, you are the one being who is good, and sane and strong--oh, I love you so--don't ever leave me again----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Never again, assured Brent, smiling down into the dark eyes raised so pleadingly to his."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And, now, do you feel able to strike out for the camp?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I feel able to go to the end of the earth, with you,"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Where is Claw?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Come we must hurry! cried the girl, who in the excitement had forgotten his very existence,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He started for the camp, to trade hooch to the Indians--and--oh, hurry! she cried, as she plunged out into the night."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He hates Wananebish, and he threatened to get even with her! If he should kill her now--before--before she could tell us--"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He may watch the back-trail, he flung back over his shoulder,"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Damn him!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is too dark, she whispered,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You can't see the sights, and you might hit one of the Indians."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Go to her, panted the girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I will try to handle the Indians."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Where--is--she?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "She's all right, assured the man,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Claw has gone, and she is trying to quiet the Indians."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No use, she whispered the words with difficulty,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Take her away--while--there--is--time. They--are--crazy--for--hooch--and--they--will--sell--her--to--him."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I am going to take her, he answered,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, tell me--who is Snowdrift?"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Forgive me, she whispered, and summoning all her fast ebbing strength she gasped:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is all a lie. You are not my child. You are white. I loved you, and I was afraid you would go to your people. A paroxysm of coughing seized her, and a gush of red blood welled from her lips."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Look--in--the--moss--bag,"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We must go! she faltered, hurriedly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I can do nothing with the Indians. I tried to reach the hooch to destroy it, but they crowded me away. He has lied to them--won them completely over by the promise of more hooch. He told them he has plenty of hooch _cached_ in the scrub. Already they have sent runners to bring him back, and when he comes, the girl paused and shuddered"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They will do anything he tells them to--for hooch, and you know what that will be--come, we must go while we have time!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Can't we stay and fight him? cried Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Surely some of the Indians will be with us."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No--only a few of the squaws--and they would be no good. No, we must go before they bring him back! My sled is beside the door. Hurry and load it with supplies while I harness the dogs. As she talked, the girl's hands searched beneath the blankets upon which lay the body of the squaw and with a low cry she drew forth the moss-bag which she handed to Brent."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Take it, she said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And I will guard it with my own! cried Brent, as he took the bag from her hand."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hurry, now and harness the dogs. I'll throw in some grub and blankets and we will finish the outfit at my cabin where we'll pick up Joe Pete."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Good-by, Wananebish, she sobbed, as she pressed her lips to the wrinkled forehead,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't know what you have done--nor why you did it--but, I forgive you. She turned to see Brent examining the two heavy crotches that were fixed, one on either side of the doorway on the inside."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That is our lock, explained the girl."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "See, there is the bar that goes across the door, like the bar at the post at Fort Norman. Wananebish made it. And every night when we were inside she placed the bar in the crotches and no one could have got in without smashing the door to pieces. Ever since I returned from the mission, Wananebish has feared someone, and now I know it was Claw."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If we could only drop the bar from the outside, mused Brent,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Maybe we could gain a lot of time. I know Claw, and when he finds that he has all the Indians with him, and that we are only two, he is not going to give you up without a struggle. By George! he exclaimed, suddenly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I believe I can do it! He motioned the girl outside, and slipped the bar into the crotch at the hinge side of the door, then driving a knife upon the inside, he rested the bar upon it, and stepping outside, banged the door shut. The knife held, and opening the door, he loosened the blade a little and tried again. This time the banging of the door jarred the knife loose. It fell to the floor, and the heavy bar dropped into place and the man smiled with satisfaction as he threw his weight against the door."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That will keep them busy for a while, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They'll think we're in there and they know we're armed, so they won't be any too anxious to mix things up at close quarters."
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Look! she cried,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "At our cabin!"
}
] |
37815
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They're piling brush against the cabin, cried Brent."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They think they'll burn us out. Come on, we haven't a minute to lose, for when Claw learns that we are not in the cabin, he'll be on our trail."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come on here! cried Brent,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Get to work! We're off for Dawson! And we've got to take grub enough to last till we hit Fort Norman."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "All day long you have been on the trail, cried the girl,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You are tired! Can't we stand them off here until you are rested?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You saw what happened at the other cabin, he answered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And here it would be even worse. With the window and the door on the same side, they could burn us out in no time."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But they will trail us--and we must travel heavy,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We will take our chances in the open, said Brent grimly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And if luck favors us we will get a long lead. The Indians may get too drunk to follow, or they may stop to loot my cabin, and even if they should overtake us, we can give a good account of ourselves. We have three rifles, and the Indians can't shoot, and Claw will not risk his own hide. Strike out straight for Fort Norman, Joe Pete. We will take turns breaking trail."
}
] |
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