If not, they will see things and hear things which
hurt, and they will suffer greatly, and lose faith in man--which is the
greatest evil that may happen them. Such should be sedulously
cherished, and it were well to depute this to their men-folk, the
nearer of kin the better. In line, it were good policy to seek out a
cabin on the hill overlooking Dawson, or--best of all--across the Yukon
on the western bank. Let them not move abroad unheralded and
unaccompanied; and the hillside back of the cabin may be recommended as
a fit field for stretching muscles and breathing deeply, a place where
their ears may remain undefiled by the harsh words of men who strive to
the utmost.
Vance Corliss wiped the last tin dish and filed it away on the shelf,
lighted his pipe, and rolled over on his back on the bunk to
contemplate the moss-chinked roof of his French Hill cabin. This
French Hill cabin stood on the last dip of the hill into Eldorado
Creek, close to the main-travelled trail; and its one window blinked
cheerily of nights at those who journeyed late.
The door was kicked open, and Del Bishop staggered in with a load of
fire-wood. His breath had so settled on his face in a white rime that
he could not speak. Such a condition was ever a hardship with the man,
so he thrust his face forthwith into the quivering heat above the
stove.
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