him, but I planned to overhaul him at Spokane
and see how he was coming on.

I did not sleep much that night. I recalled how the great forest
trees were blazing last year when I rode over this same track. I
thought of the sparks flying from the engine, and how easy it would
be for a single cinder to fall in the door and set all that dry straw
ablaze. I was tired and my mind conjured up such dire images as men
dream of after indigestible dinners.

O THE FIERCE DELIGHT

O the fierce delight, the passion
That comes from the wild,
Where the rains and the snows go over,
And man is a child.

Go, set your face to the open,
And lay your breast to the blast,
When the pines are rocking and groaning,
And the rent clouds tumble past.

Go swim the streams of the mountains,
Where the gray-white waters are mad,
Go set your foot on the summit,
And shout and be glad!

CHAPTER XXV

LADRONE TRAVELS IN STATE

With a little leisure to walk about and talk with the citizens of
Seattle, I became aware of a great change since the year before. The
boom of the goldseeker was over. The talk was more upon the Spanish
war; the business of outfitting was no longer paramount; the reckless
hurrah, the splendid exultation, were gone. Men were sailing to the
north, but they embarked, methodically, in business fashion.

It is safe to say that the north will never again witness such a
furious rush of men as that which took place between August, '97, and
June, '98. Gold is still there, and it will continue to be sought,
but the attention of the people is directed elsewhere. In Seattle, as
all along the line, the talk a year ago had been almost entirely on
gold hunting. Every storekeeper advertised Klondike goods, but these
signs were now rusty and faded. The fever was over, the reign of the
humdrum was restored.

Taking the train next day, I passed Ladrone in the night somewhere,
and as I looked from my window at the great fires blazing in the
forest, my fear of his burning came upon me again. At Spokane I
waited with great anxiety for him to arrive. At last the train drew
in and I hurried to his car. The door was closed, and as I nervously
forced it open he whinnied with that glad chuckling a gentle horse
uses toward his master. He had plenty of hay, but was hot and
thirsty, and I hurried at risk of life and limb to bring him cool
water. His eyes seemed to sh