Название:
Автор:
Жанр:
Серия:
Издательство:
ILLUSTRATIONS
| We were in a caldron of fire. The roar of doom was in our ears (page 143) | Frontispiece |
| FACING PAGE | |
| "No," she said firmly, "you can't see the girl" | 116 |
| Then, as I hung half in, half out of the window, he clutched me by the throat | 316 |
| "Garry," I said, "this is—this is Berna" | 476 |
| This is the law of the Yukon, and ever she makes it plain: "Send not your foolish and feeble; send me your strong and your sane. Strong for the red rage of battle; sane, for I harry them sore; Send me men girt for the combat, men who are grit to the core; Swift as the panther in triumph, fierce as the bear in defeat, Sired of a bulldog parent, steeled in the furnace heat. Send me the best of your breeding, lend me your chosen ones; Them will I take to my bosom, them will I call my sons; Them will I gild with my treasure, them will I glut with my meat; But the others—the misfits, the failures—I trample under my feet." |
| —"Songs of a Sourdough." |
BOOK I
THE ROAD TO ANYWHERE
| Can you recall, dear comrade, when we tramped God's land together, And we sang the old, old Earth-Song, for our youth was very sweet; When we drank and fought and lusted, as we mocked at tie and tether, Along the road to Anywhere, the wide world at our feet. Along the road to Anywhere, when each day had its story; When time was yet our vassal, and life's jest was still unstale; When peace unfathomed filled our hearts as, bathed in amber glory, Along the road to Anywhere we watched the sunsets pale. Alas! the road to Anywhere is pitfalled with disaster; There's hunger, want, and weariness, yet O we loved it so! As on we tramped exultantly, and no man was our master, And no man guessed what dreams were ours, as swinging heel and toe, We tramped the road to Anywhere, the magic road to Anywhere, The tragic road to Anywhere such dear, dim years ago. |
| —"Songs of a Sourdough." |
CHAPTER I
As far back as I can remember I have faithfully followed the banner of Romance. It has given colour to my life, made me a dreamer of dreams, a player of parts. As a boy, roaming alone the wild heather hills, I have heard the glad shouts of the football players on the green, yet never ettled
