e next man pushed me aside, and there I stood, gaping and gasping. A
man in the waiting line looked at me pityingly.

"It's no use, young fellow; you'd better make up your mind to lose that
claim. They'll flim-flam you out of it somehow. They've sent some one
out now to stake over you. If you kick, they'll say you didn't stake
proper."

"But I have witnesses."

"It don't matter if you call the Angel Gabriel to witness, they're going
to grab your claim. Them government officials is the crookedest bunch
that ever made fuel for hell-fire. You won't get a square deal; they're
going to get the fat anyhow. They've got the best claims spotted, an'
men posted to jump them at the first chance. Oh, they're feathering
their nests all right. They're like a lot of greedy pike just waiting to
gobble down all they can. A man can't buy wine at twenty dollars per,
and make dance-hall Flossies presents of diamond tararas on a government
salary. That's what a lot of them are doing. Wine and women, and their
wives an' daughters outside thinkin' they're little tin gods. Somehow
they've got to foot the bill. Oh, it's a great country."

I was stunned with disappointment.

"What you want," he continued, "is to get a pull with some of the
officials. Why, there's friends of mine don't need to go out of town to
stake a claim. Only the other day a certain party known to me, went
to--well, I mustn't mention names, anyway, he's high up in the
government, and a friend of Quebec Suzanne's,--and says to him,'I want
you to get number so and so on Hunker recorded for me. Of course I
haven't been able to get out there, but--'

"The government bug puts his hands to his ears. 'Don't give me any
unnecessary information,' he says; 'you want so and so recorded, Sam.
Well, that's all right. I'll fix it.'

"That was all there was to it, and when next day a man comes in
post-haste claiming to have staked it, it was there recorded in Sam's
name. Get a stand-in, young fellow."

"But surely," I said, "somehow, somewhere there must be justice. Surely
if these facts were represented at Ottawa and proof forthcoming----"

"Ottawa!" He gave a sniffing laugh. "Ottawa! Why, it's some of the big
guns at Ottawa that's gettin' the cream of it all. The little fellows
are just lapping up the drips. Look at them big concessions they're
selling for a song, good placer ground that would mean pie to the poor
miner, closed tight and everlastingly tied up. How is it done? W