Chapter 12 Chapter 12 The Beginning of a Gold Digging Woman
The two cousins went to Dawson's hospital immediately after disembarking from the ship.Dr. Peelcox greeted Edith like a father, and she set to work at once, as unreservedly and flustered as if she had just left the job yesterday.
Meanwhile, Jane is heading straight for her goal.She received a hunting, fishing and mining license after paying $10 from management.She hugged the whole city and quickly bought the supplies and equipment of the gold diggers.By noon, everything was ready, and when she returned to the hotel, she was transformed from head to toe.
Her dark hair was held back by a broad felt hat.She wore heavy leather shoes with big spikes, and a coat and trousers made of rough, sturdy cotton; she completely lost her feminine appearance, and instead looked like a young, capable young man.
The two sisters had lunch together, and then kissed each other as usual, without showing their actual feelings for each other.Edith returned to the patient, and Jane unswervingly embarked on an unknown adventure.
In the process of purchasing, she deliberately asked the people she met in order to understand the situation.She concluded from the information she received that she had no chance of success going south and east.Rich mines are concentrated in these two directions, so there are the most people panning for gold.She may have searched there for a long time to find an unexplored corner where she would be rewarded for her labour.
On the contrary, if you go west, not many people know about the mountains and rivers there, because the competition is not so fierce.In this direction, she might acquire title to a parcel of land that had been neglected and not too far from the city.
Convinced of her own good fortune, Jane Edgerton left Dawson and headed west.With a pickaxe on her shoulders and a bag, she walked downstream along the left bank of the Yukon River.
Where is she going like this?To be honest, she didn't even know it herself.She went straight on, but with a definite plan in her mind to follow the first river of importance that cut off the road, and to survey its western bank carefully.
Around 5 o'clock in the evening, Jane hadn't come across a river that could be called a river instead of a creek.Jane, who was a little tired, took a break and had something to eat.She hadn't seen a soul since she left the last house in town.The area around her was silent and seemingly deserted.
After the simple dry food was eaten, Jane was on the road again.At this time, a carriage from Dawson City appeared on the road and drove over quickly.It was a simple pony cart, a peasant cart, covered with a cotton tarpaulin, and drawn by a strong horse.A fat, rosy-cheeked man sat slumped on a bench suspended by ropes over the axles, and cracked his whip cheerfully.
From this point there was a rather steep slope, and the carriage was forced to slow down.Jane heard the sound of horseshoes slowing down behind her, and she felt that the sound of the creaking wheels kept a constant distance from her.
A voice, perhaps thick, but pleasant, suddenly called to her:
"Hey! Girl, what are you doing here?"
This sentence was said in very clear English, but it was so informal to a true Anglo-Saxon that it made people laugh.When Jane heard this, she turned her head and looked at the person who called her calmly.
"What about you?" she asked back.
The fat man grinned with his mouth open.
"My God!" he exclaimed, emphasizing his foreign accent with a strong Maasai accent, "you're so brave, my little cock! Don't you see that brazen man questioning passers-by? My boy .”
"What about you?" asked Jane Egerton again.
"And you," repeated the driver jokingly, "boy, can you say that? . . . Or perhaps you should introduce yourself to Mr. . . . "
"Why not?" Jane replied with a half-smile.
"It couldn't be easier," said the jovial man, giving his horse a light whip. "I have the honor to introduce you to Marius Ruvel, the most important merchant in Kudahi Fortress. Now, it's your turn." You're gone, aren't you?"
"Jane Edgerton, Prospector."
Surprised, Marius Rouvel pulled the reins involuntarily, and the carriage stopped suddenly.Now, he let go of the rein again and laughed heartily.
"Prospector! . . . " he stammered with laughter, "poor prospector! . . . Do you want wolves to eat you? . . . How long?"
"Three hours," replied Jane Egerton, blushing with anger, "but we've been on the road for over two months to get here, and I don't seem to have been eaten."
"True!" admitted the fat Marius, turning serious, "the little fellow has indeed come here! . . . But you have chosen a poor profession . . . poor man! . . . Hey, you I like your face, I like you, even though you are a little too hard-edged... I just need a buddy, if you want this position... It's better than prospecting!"
"Dude?" Jane asked. "What buddy?"
"Anything," said Marius Rouvel affirmatively, "I do all kinds of business. I have absolutely everything in my shop, even in my books. You can imagine the contents of these boxes: thread, Needles, clips, string, ham, letter paper, sausages, doublets, cans, garters, tobacco, men's and women's clothing, pots, shoes, etc. A real shop! In this cardboard box is a top hat, library Fort Darcy only has one of these. I'll rent it to the groom when someone gets married, and it will bring me a thousand times the value of the hat. It's going to be on everyone's head! … In another box is a The dress...the ball dress...with the low neckline...is the latest in Paris, my dear!"
"Sell these things here?"
"Can I sell the dress? Poor me, there's going to be a rush to buy it! The man who finds the first big nugget will give the dress to his wife for the ball at Kudahi Fortress, Overwhelm others in posh... but it's just a joke... the real stuff is here, in these boxes... champagne, brandy, whiskey, etc. I keep bringing it in and there's never enough How about selling... Is my suggestion suitable for you? Eat and live, $4 a day."
"No, sir," replied Jane Egerton, sincerely, "I thank you, but I will do what I think."
"Not a good idea, boy, not a good idea," said Marius Rouvel firmly. "I know about prospecting. I've been in it. I can tell you about it."
"You used to be a prospector?"
"Of course! Same here. People always start that way. But one out of a hundred succeeds, two change careers, a dozen go away, poorer than they came, and the rest die in Here... I was almost one of them!"
"Really?" asked Jane, who always wanted to know more.
"Didn't you see me, lad," Marius went on, "I am a sailor, a crew of Marseilles, France. When my ship was anchored in Vancouver, I had the misfortune to be deceived by a villain there; Already wandering all over the five continents of the world. Heard that wretch said that here you can just bend down and pick up gold nuggets as big as your head. The two of us set off. Of course I paid for the trip with my money, of course, All I see here is poverty. I'm left with skin and bones, and my purse didn't bulge when the bastard who brought me left me for new prey. It makes me think, since Mali Juss was no dumber than anyone else, and he quickly understood that the money the miners earned in the Klondike stayed in the Klondike, in the casinos, in the taverns, and in the shops; Therefore, I decided to become a tavernkeeper and a merchant, and I am grateful for my idea," said Marius Ruvel, patting his stomach with satisfaction, "because my purse and my stomach are bulging at the same time!"
They came to the slope.Marius stopped the car.
"Really, you don't want to?..."
"I really don't want to," replied Jane Edgerton.
"You're wrong," sighed Marius, letting go of the rein.
But almost immediately the carriage stopped again.
"I can't leave you alone on the road. Marius has money to help a lad like you. Where are you going?"
"I told you: move forward."
"Go on!...go on!...go on and you can go a long time. There isn't a river of value until the Kudahi Race. Will you let me take you there?"
"Go by car?"
"Go by car."
"Of course I would!... I would like to express my gratitude." Jane, who was overjoyed, quickly replied.
"Then! . . . Get in the car! . . . Fools will change their minds!"
Because of this unexpected harvest, the beginning of Jane's journey is greatly shortened.The horse has a great stride. It was really late on June 4th when the carriage pulled up in front of Marius Rouvel's shop.
At this time, the businessman once again puts forward the suggestion of employment.The thirty-six hours spent with his young traveling companion added to the immediate liking he felt upon seeing the latter.He insisted again and again, but to no avail.Jane Edgerton was determined to carry out her plan. In the early morning of June 5, she was on the road again.
Soon a tributary of the Yukon blocked her way, and she veered southwest, not even knowing the name of the tributary, but upstream along its right bank.
She walked all day.The path followed the river for a while, and then a hill squeezed the road away; at this time, only running water could be seen below the valley, and the hillside was more or less steep.
Of course Jane must go into these valleys, and go down to the bottom in earnest.Perhaps in a valley she could find a worthwhile corner overlooked by those who came first.However, night fell and her hopes were not fulfilled.All the land was either occupied or staked into formal private property.There is not an inch of land that does not belong to anyone.The parcels are kept next to each other, with no dividers in between, except in places that are difficult to access or where there are obviously no gold deposits.
Besides, Jane would not be surprised by her own failure.How could there be any other way out of an area that was overrun by hordes of miners and had been selectively exploited?It is not surrounded by no man's land.People are working everywhere, and it is strange that a tiny nugget escapes the keen eyes of countless gold diggers.
Had to go further afield, that's all.Then, she will go as far as she needs to go.
In the evening, another valley appeared on the right side of the road. Jane walked in as usual, and walked down facing the stream, while carefully checking the surrounding ground.This ravine looked rougher and wilder than the others, and it took many turns to reach the shore.After a hundred or so paces, Jane could no longer see the original road, but only a path between two high cliffs;
She was on the edge of a ditch, and was about to cross it, when a man suddenly appeared at the corner of the path, 20 meters away from her, whose appearance made her shudder.It was a shaggy giant, six feet high, or nearly so; locks of thick, curly red hair hung unkemptly over his brow, giving him the appearance of a beast; And all the more so because he's an extra.He has a flat nose, scalloped ears, thick lips, and brown-red hairs on his broad palms. He wears a pair of thick shoes with worn-off heels, and a pair of worn-out trousers hanging from the shoes.Undoubtedly a rough man, but certainly a man of immense strength.
Jane Egerton and the man stood where they were when they saw each other.Men first seem to be thinking, at least as far as things like this allow to think.Then he hit the road with the heavy, solid stride of a bull.As he walked forward, Jane saw his face more clearly.The more she saw his fierce appearance, the more uneasy she immediately felt.
It only took the man a few seconds to reach the edge of the ditch, and Jane stood motionless on the other side of the ditch as if preparing to defend herself.The man stopped again at this moment.
His intentions were obvious.His bloodshot eyes cast a vicious squint, his forced grin bared his teeth, and he clenched his massive fists for the attack, all of which portended a killing frenzy.Jane grabbed the pistol and loaded it.
As if laughing at such a weapon in a child's hand, the man shrugged his shoulders on the other side of the ditch, smiled grimly, picked up a stone quickly, and threw it hard; the stone missed the target.Then, desperately, he plunged into the ditch, which he could have crossed in two or three strides.Jane calmly waited for the enemy to shoot accurately.
There was no need to shoot.As soon as the giant took his first step, he slipped on a stone and fell down with a cry.He didn't get up again.
What happened to him? ... Jane didn't understand at all.The attacker did not die.His chest rose and fell rhythmically, and a moan came from his mouth.In any case, now that he was hors de combat, it was best to climb up the valley, onto the road, and get away as quickly as possible.
A deeper groan stopped Jane in retreat, refocusing her fallen opponent.The man's appearance changed so much that he couldn't recognize him anymore.The thick lips were tightly closed, not vicious at all.The blood-red eyes just now only showed unbearable pain.Fist opened, hand outstretched in a begging motion.The murderous murderer seemed to be touched by a magic wand and turned into a poor poor man suffering from poverty, and suddenly became weaker than a child.
"Are you going to let me die here?" he said gruffly, in fairly good English.
Jane didn't hesitate.All the compassion of a woman awakened in her.Unswervingly, she walked down the ditch and approached the man.
"Or, you killed me with your own hands?..." At this moment, the unfortunate man moaned, his mad eyes fixed on the pistol Jane was holding.
Jane just put the gun on her belt again, and she walked on.
"What's the matter with you? . . . " she asked. "What's the matter with you? . . . "
"There must be a broken bone. Here...here," replied the wounded man, pointing to his waist and right leg simultaneously.
"Let me come... Let me take a look." Jane knelt down and said.
With slow, precise movements, she slowly lifted the oily short overalls and tattered trouser legs.
"Your bones are not broken at all," she said when she had finished her examination. "It was just a wrong motion when you slipped and fell. You'll be better in a quarter of an hour."
Regardless of the possible danger of being so close to the pair of intimidating thick fists just now, she treated the man methodically.Savvy massage, vigorous rubbing, cupping from the cup on the Prospector's jug, and a doctor couldn't have done it better.The treatment worked quickly.Although the waist flashed and the bumps were painful, it was not a major problem.The injured person's breathing soon became normal. After half an hour, although he still couldn't stand up, he could at least sit with his back against a big rock and answer questions.
"Who are you? . . . What's your name?" Jane asked.
There was only endless surprise in the eyes of the poor man.Letting the child he was planning to kill now save his life filled his thoughts.He answered in a voice of shame:
"Patrick Richardson, sir."
"Are you British? . . . American? . . . "
"Irishman."
"Prospector?"
"No, sir. Blacksmith."
"Why did you leave your country and your profession?"
"No work... poverty... no bread."
"Here, have you succeeded?"
"No."
"You didn't find the plot?"
"How do I find it? I don't know anything about it."
"What do you wish to do?"
"Sell your strength."
"and after?"
"I tried. Now, there are enough people on the plot."
"Where were you going when you met me?"
"Going east, I may have better luck."
"Why did you kill me just now?"
"Always the same reason... I'm starving," Patrick Richardson said with downcast eyes.
"Ah! . . . ah!" said Jane.
After a moment of silence, she took the food out of the bag.
"Eat!" she said.
Her words were not immediately carried out.Patrick Richardson surveyed the child thus helping him with darker and darker eyes.The poor man cried.
"Let's eat." Jane said again.
The weak giant didn't ask Jane to repeat the invitation this time, and greedily pounced on the food delivered.
While he was gobbling, Jane watched the unexpected visitor.Apparently, Patrick Richardson is an idiot.His scalloped ears, his nearly Negro-like protruding chin, belied his incorrigible mental retardation.However, despite his intent to use violence, he is certainly not a bad guy.Undoubtedly, Jane is dealing with a poor, poor, big-city downcast.Merciless fate often sends these men back to the humble and lowly places of their birth.All in all, his thick lips expressed kindness, and his blue eyes had a childish look of surprising mildness.Perhaps this is the first time he has found a little compassion in the difficult road of life.
When Patrick fully recovered, Jane also ended thinking.
"I'll hire you to work for me if it suits you," she said, staring at him.
"you!"
"Yes, you will get ten dollars a day, which is the local market. However, I can only pay you later, when I have a considerable amount of gold to pay your wages. Before that, as an advance payment, I Take care of your diet; at the first opportunity, I will make you more comfortable. Do you think these conditions are suitable?"
Patrick grabbed Jane's hand and pressed his lips to it.There is no need for another answer.Instead of a servant, Jane will have a slave, a dog.
"Now," she went on, "you need to sleep. I'll try to make a bed out of leaves so that you can lie down. Tomorrow your wounds will be all healed."
Sure enough, the next day, after a couple of fresh massages, Patrick was on the road early.Of course, when an involuntary movement made his lower back or his thighs cramp, the pain caused him to make more than one grimace.However, holding his master's shoulders, he walked up the path and onto the road without much difficulty.It was, indeed, a strange scene; a giant whose appearance suggested that of a tall and well-built bear, led and helped by a young man whose strong will compensated for his weak constitution.
Walking gradually restored flexibility to Patrick's limbs, and soon the unique pair were moving at a faster pace.Near noon they rested for lunch.Jane began to feel a little uneasy when she saw the way her companions were destroying the food.This huge body is an abyss that will cost a lot of money to fill!
In the evening, another ditch appeared on the right side of the road.Jane and Patrick walked into this ditch, which was wider than the previous ones, and went down to the edge of the creek.
As they got closer and closer, the ditch widened.Below the ditch slope, its width is not less than 500 meters.Here the plane of the ditch is clearly divided into two layers, the upper one upstream and the lower one downstream; separating them is a great barrier of rock, perpendicular to the creek, and almost entirely horizontal; The shore ends with a mountain nose about 10 meters high.Jane inspected its lower level purely by chance.
The normal slope of this part of the valley makes the stone barrier rising upstream appear tall.The ground is covered with mines filled with more or less collapsed earth and rocks, and broken parts of gold panning tools can be seen everywhere.Apparently, this is a mined block.
There is no doubt that the plot was abandoned.The state of the mine and equipment clearly bears this out, and there is no landmark on the site, either.Still, the hardest work has already been done here, so it could be profitable to redevelop the place.Jane decided to make her first attempt here.
From the next day, after purchasing the main tools (barrels, pans, pots) at a nearby high price, Patrick, under her orders, dug the buried earth of a mine and began to wash the mine less than 24 hours later in the mud.Meanwhile, Jane went through the paperwork necessary to install the signposts and secure possession of the lot.
In less than 3 days, these procedures were completed.However, when doing the benchmarking of her plot (her plot is No. 127 B), Jane had to admit: if there is gold in this plot, the content is very little.She doesn't have any chance of harvesting gold nuggets in large quantities from it.Despite Patrick's hard work, probably due to lack of experience, the two of them could only pan out a maximum of 100 plates in 24 hours, and the average income per plate was slightly more than 1/10 of the dollar.That's just enough to pay the workers she employs and sustain her personally.If things don't improve, she will end the summer just as poor as she began it.
So, was she wrong to stay in this place?Shouldn't she have gone further, across borders?When she applied for a plot of land, she learned that the national border was at most five or six hundred meters away.
Jane knew something else: the creek that flowed through the grueling field where she attempted the prospector's job was called the Forty Mile River.Her neighbor Lot 129 is also on the bank of this river, just behind the hills that block the valley to the southwest.
Perhaps because of a vague hope, perhaps because of the obstinacy to succeed in what she began, Jane was in no way willing to admit defeat before the struggle was over; The soil gave her such a meager income.
On the afternoon of June 11, she and Patrick were working as usual, oblivious to everything around them.At this time, she heard a very familiar voice suddenly calling her:
"Miss, may I ask how you are?"
"Mr. Skinning!" she cried, flushing with undisguised excitement.
"It's me," Sammy said, warmly shaking the offered hand.
"I am in good health, Mr Skinning," Jane continued.
"How about your plot? Mademoiselle... I see you have a plot too."
"I confess to you, Mr. Skin, that I'm not optimistic about the plot," Jane admitted sullenly. "I can only make ten or twelve cents a plate, barely enough to cover my expenses."
"A tragic result!" said Sammy Skin, and besides, the misfortunes did not seem to affect him particularly. "What is your plan?"
"I don't know," said Jane, "to go any farther... no doubt out of the field that has cost me so much, and which unfortunate chance brought me here..."
"By chance?" Sammy asked again. "So you didn't know it was our neighbor?"
"I didn't know until a few days ago. But when I first stopped here, I didn't know that this river is the Forty Mile River and your property is on the other side of this hill."
"Oh!..." said Sammy, somewhat disappointed.
After a moment's silence, he continued:
"Miss, why don't you take advantage of this chance? Before you go deep into the uninhabited lands of Alaska, I think it's best to study the corner you first chose. I can't help you, because I don't know much about these things. Not at all. But five hundred meters from here is my cousin Ben Rado, an engineer you don't see every day; if you will..."
"Good advice is always welcome, and I would gladly take the help of Mr. Ben Rado," said Jane, "after he has inspected my land, and he will see what we can hope for on it. .”
"That's all right... But, miss, allow me to ask a question, if it's not too intrusive."
"It's okay." Jane said affirmatively in advance.
"I don't see any houses here... Where do you sleep at night?"
"It's very simple. Sleep in the open air," Jane replied with a smile. "The leaves make the bed, and the sand makes the pillow. I sleep very soundly."
Sammy Skinn's eyes widened.
"Sleeping in the open air!" he exclaimed. "You don't think, madam, it's not safe! . . . "
"It's safe!" said Jane. "I have two bodyguards, Mr. Skin."
"Two bodyguards?"
"That's one," Jane explained, pointing to the pistol at her waist, "and that's the other," she added, pointing to Patrick Richardson, who was watching the newcomer in amazement from a little distance away.
Sammy didn't seem entirely relieved.
"The savage? . . . " he said, "of course he can protect you, but anyway... you had better come over this hill after your work and be received with great pleasure by me and my cousin. "
Jane disagreed and shook her head.
"You're wrong, miss, you're wrong," Sammy insisted. "Believe me, it's going to be more... even, if not safer, at least more..."
"Even?……"
"Better," Sammy Skine said desperately.
Jane Edgerton frowned.What was this Mr. Sammy Skin trying to get into?She wanted to refute him violently with her customary theory of equality between men and women, and silence the brash consultant... but she didn't have the courage.Sammy, who no longer dared to look her in the face, showed a strange expression: both angry and embarrassed.This got her thinking.
A sly smile played on her lips, which was instantly suppressed, and she held out a hand to him.
"You are right, Mr. Skinning," she said gravely. "I accept your kind invitation."
"Great!" Sammy applauded. "In this case, less is better, and you will be a good person to the end. Finish work early today and accept the invitation immediately. Tell me about what happened to you on the road, and I will come over early tomorrow morning to inspect your plot."
"As you wish," Jane conceded, and called out, "Patrick!"
"Monsieur Jean?" replied the Ellerian.
"It's almost done today. Let's go to Lot 129."
"Yes, Monsieur Jean."
"Pack up your tools and go ahead."
"Yes, Mr. Jean," said Patrick, who bowed his head and ears, and started to climb up the slope of the hill lumberingly with a basin, a pan, and a pick, and kept a respectful distance from Jane and Sammy.
"Monsieur Jean?" Sammy asked, "does he take you for a man?"
"You see, Mr. Skin. Because I'm in a miner's costume."
Sammy looked at the broad back of the giant who walked ahead.
"It's a savage!" he said with conviction and certainty; for which, knowing why, Jane Egerton burst into laughter.
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