r. Her bonnet was awry, the belt of her dress
had become unfastened, while her skirts were twisted around her in some
unaccountable way and her teeth chattering; but she only drew a long
sigh as she sank in a limp heap upon an army sack marked with big black
letters, and said gaspingly: "This is terrible!" Others followed her
example. Some protested they would rather stay on the ship or go back to
San Francisco than scramble down that "beastly rope ladder" swaying as
it did back and forth with every motion of the ship to which it was
attached. For myself, I had never posed as especially courageous, and
wondered how I should get on. But I said nothing. From watching the
others I had learned that to "make haste slowly" was a good method to
follow in the present case, as a misstep without a firm hand grip upon
the sides of the ladder while descending would be likely to send one
without warning into the yard wide gulf of boiling waters between the
ship's side and the lighter, as the barge was literally dancing
attendance upon the vessel in the rough sea.

Finally everything was ready. All passengers had left the ship. The
lighter was crowded to the last inch of space; baggage and freight along
the sides, and passengers in the middle, sitting wherever they could
find a box or bag upon which to sit. A tug boat made fast to the
lighter--we said good-bye to the "St. Paul" and moved away.

"We are bidding good-bye to all comforts now!" exclaimed an old Nomeite
dubiously, "for we won't find any on shore; leastwise not unless it has
improved more in the last ten months than I think it has. It was a tough
place enough last summer, and that's no josh either!" looking around him
at the ladies of the party and evidently wondering what they would think
of the celebrated mining town.

Many by this time looked sober, but it was not a hard camp that they
feared. They had expected to find a typical camp with all the attendant
evils usual in such a place, and now they were almost there. In fact
they looked out over the heaps of baggage towards shore at the long fine
of white tents, buildings of every description from a board shack to a
hotel or large store, and it seemed good in their eyes--very good. For
some unseen reason, as the barge, following as it did at the end of the
long line from the tug, rode first upon the top of a big breaker and
then below in the trough, there was a decided longing on the part of
some to be on land. It did