id that he would trust us
not to set up a title to the ground adverse to his. This is but one
instance of the many kind and generous acts of which such men are
capable; and it was the beginning of a neighborly association with this
hearty old miner, who contributed in many ways toward our agreeable
sojourn at Council City.

After singling out the least humpy spot, the tundra was torn and hacked
off it until a layer of damp clay earth was reached. This was then
pretty well leveled and ditched, in the belief that, by giving the sun a
good chance at this surface, it would become ideally dry, a fine place
to sleep over. But, though the sun was unusually friendly and, at times,
in the middle of the day, hot, that ground remained as damp as ever. We
realized at last that frozen earth and ice beneath, a barrier to the
seepage, made the trouble irremediable. Two large tents, one made to
open into the other, were used, respectively, to sleep and to cook and
eat in, and near the side of this oblong arrangement was erected the
"office" tent. A bunk put together and a folding cot, picked up at
Chenik, kept us off the ground at night. It is a tribute to the general
healthful conditions of that country that during the seven weeks we
lived there, despite the night dampness, which seemed at first of ill
omen, none of us was afflicted with even a cold. For warmth, comfort,
and protection, a reindeer-skin is invaluable.

There were perhaps two hundred persons about Council at that time. Most
of the miners had made their camps above, on the creeks where their
claims were situated, to remain there during the working season, though
many trudged back into town periodically for supplies and what not. Of
course the number of saloons, with their dance-hall and gambling
adjuncts, was entirely disproportionate to the population of the place,
but their proprietors were looking forward to activity in the late fall
and winter, when mining would cease. A number of horses and mules had
been brought overland from Nome, small fortunes in themselves. People
were continually straggling in, and, camped as we were on the bluff,
with that last riffle into Council almost at our feet, when a splashing
sound, intermingled with a bumping noise against the stones and with
oaths and exhortations, was heard, one, or all in chorus, would exclaim,
"Another case of 'mush.'"

Very soon, and in no modest fashion, the signs "Attorneys at Law" and
"Surveyors" were flas