.

"Yes, please, and I will call after supper for it," said I, in a low
tone, while going out the door.

Early this morning, putting on my furs and carrying a small shoe box
under my arm, I ran over to the Mission. In the hall I was met by B., to
whom I handed the box. He took it quietly and went directly to his room,
reappearing in a moment and handing it back to me, saying significantly
as he did so: "Three doses of that are better than one, if any are
needed," which remark I understood without further explanation.

I have brought the box to my room and have placed it under the head of
my cot upon the floor, where, in case of emergency, it may be of
service. It is not a pretty plaything, and will not be used as such by
me, but I shall feel safer to know it is near at hand.

Little did I know when I selected my room the day Mollie brought me
upstairs that on the other side of the board partition slept the man who
had killed another in the early winter; and, though the murderer has so
far never molested me in any way, still he sometimes gets what they call
"crazy drunk," and is as liable to kill some other as he was to kill the
first; then, too, thin board walls have ears, and I have heard the
mutterings and threats of these wretches for a number of weeks.

I have been exceedingly sorry for a month past to see the preparations
my friends, the Swedish women in the Mission, are making to go to Nome,
and now they expect to start tomorrow. They must be in town to put
everything in readiness for the opening of the "Star" when the first
steamers arrive from the outside. The weather is bright and pretty cold
today, making the trails good, but in a thaw they are bad and are now
liable to break up at any time. Quite a party will go to Nome, Mr. L.,
M. and others, and they will travel with dogs. I dread to see my Swedish
friends, the only white women in this camp with whom I can be friendly,
leave Chinik, for I shall then be more alone than ever. If this
tiresome ice in the bay would only move out so the boats could get in,
we should have others, but there is no telling when that will be. Many
are now betting on the breaking up of the ice, and all hope it will be
very soon.

May second: My Swedish friends left very early today for Nome, and only
Miss L. from the Home is there, sweeping out the place; but B. and the
visiting preacher will go with her to the Home today, closing the
hospitable doors of the Mission for a time.