Dutch Courage and Other Stories E-Book

Jack London

• Herausgeber: ShadowPOET
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Dutch Courage and Other Stories
By Jack London
Publisher: ShadowPOET
Dutch Courage and Other Stories
DUTCH COURAGE
"Just our luck!"
Gus Lafee finished wiping his hands and sullenly threw the towel upon the rocks. His attitude was one of deep dejection. The light seemed gone out of the day and the glory from the golden sun. Even the keen mountain air was devoid of relish, and the early morning no longer yielded its customary zest.
"Just our luck!" Gus repeated, this time avowedly for the edification of another young fellow who was busily engaged in sousing his head in the water of the lake.
"What are you grumbling about, anyway?" Hazard Van Dorn lifted a soap- rimmed face questioningly. His eyes were shut. "What's our luck?"
"Look there!" Gus threw a moody glance skyward. "Some duffer's got ahead of us. We've been scooped, that's all!"
Hazard opened his eyes, and caught a fleeting glimpse of a white flag waving arrogantly on the edge of a wall of rock nearly a mile above his head. Then his eyes closed with a snap, and his face wrinkled spasmodically. Gus threw him the towel, and uncommiseratingly watched him wipe out the offending soap. He felt too blue himself to take stock in trivialities.
Hazard groaned.
"Does it hurt—much?" Gus queried, coldly, without interest, as if it were no more than his duty to ask after the welfare of his comrade.
"I guess it does," responded the suffering one. "Soap's pretty strong, eh?—Noticed it myself."
"'Tisn't the soap. It's—it's that!" He opened his reddened eyes and pointed toward the innocent white little flag. "That's what hurts."
Gus Lafee did not reply, but turned away to start the fire and begin cooking breakfast. His disappointment and grief were too deep for anything but silence, and Hazard, who felt likewise, never opened his mouth as he fed the horses, nor once laid his head against their arching necks or passed caressing fingers through their manes. The two boys were blind, also, to the manifold glories of Mirror Lake which reposed at their very feet. Nine times, had they chosen to move along its margin the short distance of a hundred yards, could they have seen the sunrise repeated; nine times, from behind as many successive peaks, could they have seen the great orb rear his blazing rim; and nine times, had they but looked into the waters of the lake, could they have seen the phenomena reflected faithfully and vividly. But all the Titanic grandeur of the scene was lost to them. They had been robbed of the chief pleasure of their trip to Yosemite Valley. They had been frustrated in their long-cherished design upon Half Dome, and hence were rendered disconsolate and blind to the beauties and the wonders of the place.
 

Leseprobe

DutchCourageandOtherStories

ByJackLondon

Publisher: ShadowPOET

DUTCHCOURAGEANDOTHERSTORIES

DUTCHCOURAGE

"Justourluck!"

Gus Lafee finished wiping his hands and sullenly threw the towel upon therocks.Hisattitudewasoneofdeepdejection.Thelightseemedgoneoutofthedayandthegloryfromthegoldensun.Eventhekeenmountainairwasdevoidofrelish,andtheearlymorningnolongeryieldeditscustomaryzest.

"Justourluck!"Gusrepeated,thistimeavowedlyfortheedificationofanotheryoungfellowwhowasbusilyengagedinsousinghisheadinthewaterofthelake.

"What are you grumbling about, anyway?" Hazard Van Dorn lifted a soap-rimmedfacequestioningly.Hiseyeswereshut."What'sourluck?"

"Look there!" Gus threw a moody glance skyward. "Some duffer's got aheadofus.We'vebeenscooped,that'sall!"

Hazard opened his eyes, and caught a fleeting glimpse of a white flag wavingarrogantlyontheedgeofawallofrocknearlyamileabovehishead.Thenhiseyes closed with a snap, and his face wrinkled spasmodically. Gus threw himthe towel, and uncommiseratingly watched him wipe out the offending soap.Hefelttoobluehimselftotakestockintrivialities.

Hazardgroaned.

"Does it hurt—much?" Gus queried, coldly, without interest, as if it were nomorethanhisdutytoaskafterthewelfareofhiscomrade.

"I guess it does," responded the suffering one."Soap'sprettystrong,eh?—Noticeditmyself."

"'Tisn't the soap. It's—it's that!" He opened his reddened eyes and pointedtowardtheinnocentwhitelittleflag."That'swhathurts."

Gus Lafee did not reply, but turned away to start the fire and begin cookingbreakfast.Hisdisappointmentandgriefweretoodeepforanythingbutsilence, and Hazard, who felt likewise, never opened his mouth as he fed thehorses, nor once laid his head against their arching necks or passed caressingfingers through their manes. The two boys were blind, also, to the manifoldglories of Mirror Lake which reposed at their very feet. Nine times, had theychosen to move along its margin the short distance of a hundred yards, couldtheyhaveseenthesunriserepeated;ninetimes,frombehindasmanysuccessive peaks, could they have seen the great orb rear his blazing rim; andnine times, had they but looked into the waters of the lake, could they haveseenthephenomenareflectedfaithfullyandvividly.ButalltheTitanicgrandeur of the scene was lost to them. They had been robbed of the chiefpleasure of their trip to Yosemite Valley. They had been frustrated in theirlong-cherisheddesignuponHalfDome,andhencewererendereddisconsolateandblindtothebeautiesandthewondersoftheplace.

Half Dome rears its ice-scarred head fully five thousand feet above the levelfloor of Yosemite Valley. In the name itself of this great rock lies an accurateandcompletedescription.Nothingmorenorlessisitthanacyclopean,rounded dome, split in half as cleanly as an apple that is divided by a knife. Itis, perhaps, quite needless to state that but one-half remains, hence its name,the other half having been carried away by the great ice-river in the stormytime of the Glacial Period. In that dim day one of those frigid rivers gouged amighty channel from out the solid rock. This channel to-day is YosemiteValley. But to return to the Half Dome. On its northeastern side, by circuitoustrails and stiff climbing, one may gain the Saddle. Against the slope of theDometheSaddleleanslikeagiganticslab,andfromthetopofthisslab,one

thousand feet in length, curves the great circle to the summit of the Dome. Afew degrees too steep for unaided climbing, these one thousand feet defied foryearstheadventurousspiritswhofixedyearningeyesuponthecrestabove.

One day, a couple of clear-headed mountaineers had proceeded to insert ironeye-bolts into holes which they drilled into the rock every few feet apart. ButwhentheyfoundthemselvesthreehundredfeetabovetheSaddle,clinginglikeflies to the precarious wall with on either hand a yawning abyss, their nervesfailedthemandtheyabandonedtheenterprise.Soitremainedforanindomitable Scotchman, one George Anderson, finally to achieve the feat.Beginning where they had left off, drilling and climbing for a week, he had atlast set foot upon that awful summit and gazed down into the depths whereMirrorLakereposed,nearlyamilebeneath.

In the years which followed, many bold men took advantage of the huge ropeladder which he had put in place; but one winter ladder, cables and all werecarried away by the snow and ice. True, most of the eye-bolts, twisted andbent, remained. But few men had since essayed the hazardous undertaking,andofthosefewmorethanonegaveuphislifeonthetreacherousheights,andnotonesucceeded.

But Gus Lafee and Hazard Van Dorn had left the smiling valley-land ofCalifornia and journeyed into the high Sierras, intent on the great adventure.And thus it was that their disappointment was deep and grievous when theyawoke on this morning to receive the forestalling message of the little whiteflag.

"Camped at the foot of the Saddle last night and went up at the first peep ofday," Hazard ventured, long after the silent breakfast had been tucked awayandthedisheswashed.

Gusnodded.Itwasnotinthenatureofthingsthatayouth'sspiritsshouldlongremainatlowebb,andhistonguewasbeginningtoloosen.

"Guess he's down by now, lying in camp and feeling as big as Alexander," theotherwenton."AndIdon'tblamehim,either;onlyIwishitwerewe."

"You can be sure he's down," Gus spoke up at last. "It's mighty warm on thatnaked rock with the sun beating down on it at this time of year. That was ourplan, you know, to go up early and come down early. And any man, sensibleenoughtogettothetop,isboundtohavesenseenoughtodoitbeforetherockgetshotandhishandssweaty."

"And you can be sure he didn't take his shoes with, him." Hazard rolled overonhisbackandlazilyregardedthespeckofflagflutteringbrisklyonthesheeredgeoftheprecipice."Say!"Hesatupwithastart."What'sthat?"

AmetallicrayoflightflashedoutfromthesummitofHalfDome,thena

second and a third. The heads of both boys were craned backward on theinstant,agogwithexcitement.

"Whataduffer!"Guscried."Whydidn'thecomedownwhenitwascool?"

Hazard shook his head slowly, as if the question were too deep for immediateanswerandtheyhadbetterdeferjudgment.

The flashes continued, and as the boys soon noted, at irregular intervals ofduration and disappearance. Now they were long, now short; and again theycameandwentwithgreatrapidity,orceasedaltogetherforseveralmomentsatatime.

"Ihaveit!"Hazard'sfacelightedupwiththecomingofunderstanding."Ihaveit! That fellow up there is trying to talk to us. He's flashing the sunlight downtousonapocket-mirror—dot,dash;dot,dash;don'tyousee?"

The light also began to break in Gus's face. "Ah, I know! It's what they do inwar-time—signaling. They call it heliographing, don't they? Same thing astelegraphing, only it's done without wires. And they use the same dots anddashes,too."

"Yes,theMorsealphabet.WishIknewit."

"Same here. He surely must have something to say to us, or he wouldn't bekickingupallthatrumpus."

Stilltheflashescameandwentpersistently,tillGusexclaimed:"Thatchap'sintrouble, that's what's the matter with him! Most likely he's hurt himself orsomethingorother."

"Goon!"Hazardscouted.

Gus got out the shotgun and fired both barrels three times in rapid succession.A perfect flutter of flashes came back before the echoes had ceased theirantics. So unmistakable was the message that even doubting Hazard wasconvincedthatthemanwhohadforestalledthemstoodinsomegravedanger.

"Quick, Gus," he cried, "and pack! I'll see to the horses. Our trip hasn't cometo nothing, after all. We've got to go right up Half Dome and rescue him.Where'sthemap?HowdowegettotheSaddle?"

"'Taking the horse-trail below the Vernal Falls,'" Gus read from the guide-book,"'onemileofbrisktravelingbringsthetouristtotheworld-famedNevada Fall. Close by, rising up in all its pomp and glory, the Cap of Libertystandsguard——"

"Skipallthat!"Hazardimpatientlyinterrupted."Thetrail'swhatwewant."

"Oh, here it is! 'Following the trail up the side of the fall will bring you to theforks. The left one leads to Little Yosemite Valley, Cloud's Rest, and otherpoints.'"

"Hold on; that'll do! I've got it on the map now," again interrupted Hazard."From the Cloud's Rest trail a dotted line leads off to Half Dome. That showsthetrail'sabandoned.We'llhavetolooksharptofindit.It'saday'sjourney."

"And to think of all that traveling, when right here we're at the bottom of theDome!"Guscomplained,staringupwistfullyatthegoal.

"That'sbecausethisisYosemite,andallthemorereasonforustohurry.Comeon!Belively,now!"

Well used as they were to trail life, but few minutes sufficed to see the campequipage on the backs of the packhorses and the boys in the saddle. In the latetwilightofthateveningtheyhobbledtheiranimalsinatinymountainmeadow, and cooked coffee and bacon for themselves at the very base of theSaddle. Here, also, before they turned into their blankets, they found the campof the unlucky stranger who was destined to spend the night on the naked roofoftheDome.

Dawn was brightening into day when the panting lads threw themselves downat the summit of the Saddle and began taking off their shoes. Looking downfrom the great height, they seemed perched upon the ridgepole of the world,andeventhesnow-crownedSierrapeaksseemedbeneaththem.Directlybelow, on the one hand, lay Little Yosemite Valley, half a mile deep; on theother hand, Big Yosemite, a mile. Already the sun's rays were striking aboutthe adventurers, but the darkness of night still shrouded the two great gulfsinto which they peered. And above them, bathed in the full day, rose only themajesticcurveoftheDome.

"What'sthatfor?"Gusasked,pointingtoaleather-shieldedflaskwhichHazardwassecurelyfasteninginhisshirtpocket.

"Dutch courage, of course," was the reply. "We'll need all our nerve in thisundertaking, and a little bit more, and," he tapped the flask significantly,"here'sthelittlebitmore."

"Goodidea,"Guscommented.

How they had ever come possessed of this erroneous idea, it would be hard todiscover; but they were young yet, and there remained for them many uncutpages of life. Believers, also, in the efficacy of whisky as a remedy for snake-bite, they had brought with them a fair supply of medicine-chest liquor. As yettheyhadnottouchedit.

"Havesomebeforewestart?"Hazardasked.

Gus looked into the gulf and shook his head. "Better wait till we get up higherandtheclimbingismoreticklish."

Someseventyfeetabovethemprojectedthefirsteye-bolt.Thewinteraccumulationsoficehadtwistedandbentitdowntillitdidnotstandmore

than a bare inch and a half above the rock—a most difficult object to lasso assuch a distance. Time and again Hazard coiled his lariat in true cowboyfashion and made the cast, and time and again was he baffled by the elusivepeg. Nor could Gus do better. Taking advantage of inequalities in the surface,they scrambled twenty feet up the Dome and found they could rest in ashallow crevice. The cleft side of the Dome was so near that they could lookover its edge from the crevice and gaze down the smooth, vertical wall fornearly two thousand feet. It was yet too dark down below for them to seefarther.

The peg was now fifty feet away, but the path they must cover to get to it wasquite smooth, and ran at an inclination of nearly fifty degrees. It seemedimpossible,inthatinterveningspace,tofindaresting-place.Eithertheclimbermust keep going up, or he must slide down; he could not stop. But just hererosethedanger.TheDomewassphere-shaped,andifheshouldbegintoslide,his course would be, not to the point from which he had started and where theSaddle would catch him, but off to the south toward Little Yosemite. Thismeantaplungeofhalfamile.

"I'lltryit,"Gussaidsimply.

They knotted the two lariats together, so that they had over a hundred feet ofropebetweenthem;andtheneachboytiedanendtohiswaist.

"If I slide," Gus cautioned, "come in on the slack and brace yourself. If youdon't,you'llfollowme,that'sall!"

"Ay,ay!"wastheconfidentresponse."Bettertakeanipbeforeyoustart?"

Gus glanced at the proffered bottle. He knew himself and of what he wascapable."WaittillImakethepegandyoujoinme.Allready?"

"Ay."

He struck out like a cat, on all fours, clawing energetically as he urged hisupward progress, his comrade paying out the rope carefully. At first his speedwas good, but gradually it dwindled. Now he was fifteen feet from the peg,now ten, now eight—but going, oh, so slowly! Hazard, looking up from hiscrevice, felt a contempt for him and disappointment in him. It did look easy.Now Gus was five feet away, and after a painful effort, four feet. But whenonly a yard intervened, he came to a standstill—not exactly a standstill, for,like a squirrel in a wheel, he maintained his position on the face of the Domebythemostdesperateclawing.

He had failed, that was evident. The question now was, how to save himself.With a sudden, catlike movement he whirled over on his back, caught his heelin a tiny, saucer-shaped depression and sat up. Then his courage failed him.Dayhadatlastpenetratedtothefloorofthevalley,andhewasappalledatthe

frightfuldistance.

"Goaheadandmakeit!"Hazardordered;butGusmerelyshookhishead."Thencomedown!"

Againheshookhishead.Thiswashisordeal,tosit,nervelessandinsecure,onthe brink of the precipice. But Hazard, lying safely in his crevice, now had toface his own ordeal, but one of a different nature. When Gus began to slide—as he soon must—would he, Hazard, be able to take in the slack and then meetthe shock as the other tautened the rope and darted toward the plunge? Itseemed doubtful. And there he lay, apparently safe, but in reality harnessed todeath.Thenrosethetemptation.Whynotcastofftheropeabouthiswaist?Hewould be safe at all events. It was a simple way out of the difficulty. Therewas no need that two should perish. But it was impossible for such temptationto overcome his pride of race, and his own pride in himself and in his honor.Sotheroperemainedabouthim.

"Comedown!"heordered;butGusseemedtohavebecomepetrified.

"Comedown,"hethreatened,"orI'lldragyoudown!"Hepulledontheropetoshowhewasinearnest.

"Don'tyoudare!"Gusarticulatedthroughhisclenchedteeth."Sure,Iwill,ifyoudon'tcome!"Againhejerkedtherope.