Adventure Magazine Cover, April 1916 — page 150: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

148 “What does the crowd think about it?” demanded the Commissioner impartially. ‘Sark said it,’’ vociferated the crowd. ‘‘We all want to share and share alike. Not a man of us wants to shove anybody else out, and not a man of us wants to be shoved out by anybody else. What’s your other plane” “The other plan,” announced Fawcett, with an eloquent sweep of his arm, ‘“‘is to relocate Montana Creek!”’ A cheer burst from the non-stakers who had not been lucky enough to get in at first. “‘Hurroo!”’ they exulted. ‘‘Splendiferous! Relocate it is!”’ And those who had already staked caught their enthusiasm and swelled their cheers. For this abrupt option of the Gold Com- missioner’s struck hot their imagination and stirred their riotous blood. According to the other suggestion their ground was going to be shifted anyway. What they might get would be only a lottery, and many of them would draw blanks. Whereas in this proposition they would get exactly what they staked and recorded, and there were equal chances for all. That several would be in the running for each of the many prizes only provided more excitement and called for stiffer qualities of manhood in the winners. So they hailed the idea of relocation with acclaim and fe- verishly urged Fawcett to begin the game. ‘You like it, eh?” chuckled the Commis- sioner amid their clamor. “I’m glad of that. The other switch wouldn’t be fair at all. This is. I knew it would get you. But still both plans have to be duly voted upon by those concerned. All in favor of a shift of the claims shove up their fists!” Casino and his gang pawed the air, but they could muster no more than a score or so of votes. ‘All in favor of relocation!’’ Three hundred fur gauntlets and woolen mittens wriggled in the frosty night. ‘“Carried,’”” announced Fawcett, and waved off the storm of protest from Casino, Ante, Gunboat and the rest. “Go to thun- der, you hoggish kickers. You’re outvoted and that settles it. You take your chance with the others, and I hope to blazes you get badly trimmed. Tom Bassett and Eric Sark, I presume there’s no balk coming from you nowe” “No,” answered Sark promptly, ‘“‘there isn’t. It puts us under heavy odds. You Adventure see Casino’ll concentrate certain of his gang on that promising claim of ours. We'll be under odds of two or three or four to one, but that doesn’t matter. We don’t want to block the general move for good. We’re dead game sports and we accept those heavy odds. Go on with your relocation.” “All right, Eric. On we go. To prevent outsiders squeezing in on this the plan’ll have to be carried out at once. It’s nearly four o’clock in the morning now. [’ll throw Montana Creek, with the exception of one legal claim held by Jess Tolume, open for relocation at six. That'll give everybody a chance to overhaul their sleds, harness the dogs and allow the upper stakers time to make the head of the creek. At six the race begins. The starters’ gun-shots’ll signal the take-off. ‘Since Jess Tolume isn’t running, he'll act as starter at the head. Captain Con- stantine’ll do the same midway, and I’ll go down to the mouth myself. When the guns go off, you stake and get to the recording office at Dawson City as fast as dog-flesh’ll let you. But first pick out what claim you're going to try for. I numbered them all as I measured, and I have here a list of all the stakers and non-stakers. You choose and have your stakes blazed and written ready with the number of the claim you’ve set your heart on. Then all you'll have to do is drive them!” IMMEDIATELY great rifts split Seem thecrowd. This development called . for dynamic activity. They had been content to rest that afternoon after having staked without recording for the time being. Under the mining regulations, if they were ten miles from the recording office of the district wherein they staked, they had ten days to file their ground, and for each additional ten miles of distance an additional day. Montana Creek was in the Dawson Min- ing District. The recording office was at Dawson City, about forty miles away. _ Therefore the stakers had had thirteen days to file and had not been in a hurry, prefer- ring first to blaze out the boundary-lines and do other necessary work upon the claims. But now when the claims were dis- covered to be of illegal length and hopeless- ly jumbled and the creek was thrown open for relocation by Fawcett, that is to say, de- clared virgin ground just as it was before COMmicboooks CO