Frank Richardson Pierce

Name: The ice goes out
Author: Frank Richardson Pierce

The ice goes out (1928)

Summary

“The ice goes out”, published in 1928, is a work by Frank Richardson Pierce. It explores elements such as ice, jam and cake.

Quotes from The ice goes out (Frank Richardson Pierce)

Frank Richardson Pierce, The ice goes out (1928)

“ They knew the ice, these men; knew that the might of the river was exerting tremendous pressure to overturn the jam; knew that in the end the river would succeed.
One of the men gained the top; the other was halfway up. For an instant the leading man was outlined sharply. He waved his hand in defiance and far beneath a cake of ice weighing tons groaned in agony, then burst.
A man in the posse cried out at the drama, The river had won. The whole jam was moving. Cakes and blocks shifted and the tiny figure of a man was hurled into the stream an instant before the jam overturned. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Frank Richardson Pierce, The ice goes out (1928)

“ First the explosive sound of breaking ice, then the grinding of millions of ice cakes as the flood waters lifted the ice bodily and carried it toward the sea. Here it stranded on bars and piled cake on cake until a dam had been formed. There it broke through the banks and relieved for a moment of pressure, while the country was flooded.
They crossed the bend in the river and, instead of the smooth surface they had desired, a churning, ice dotted flood filled the course to the banks. They ran madly, taking turns at trail breaking; helping one another over the bad places. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Frank Richardson Pierce, The ice goes out (1928)

“ They moved with desperation; falling, fighting, each for himself, but working toward the jam.
One man looked up and saw the posse, but a greater danger confronted him. Ice cakes were being sucked into a vortex that poured through an opening in the jam. He judged his situation carefully, leaped at the right moment and was on the jam proper. He did not look back at his companion, but climbed upwards, knowing that if he gained the top and the smooth ice beyond, the posse had no chance; knowing too, that if he failed, the river would demand its toll. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Frank Richardson Pierce, The ice goes out (1928)

“ The river, with its burden of ice moved on toward the sea.
The youngest member of the posse stood where the jam had once held the flood waters of an empire in check.
“Do you suppose...?” he ventured.
“No,” the marshal answered, pointing to a spruce log three feet through at the butt. It was a sound timber from heart to bark but it was now a pulpy mass being destroyed by the ice. “The only thing that’ll ever be found, son, is the gold nuggets. And maybe the river will keep even them. The rest will be destroyed. Well, boys, let’s go back and report. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Frank Richardson Pierce, The ice goes out (1928)

“ Sometime late in April or early in May the ice went out. Men sent in their money and with it the day, hour, minute and even second they believed the ice would go. Luck governed the contest, for no man could tell the exact hour. The man coming nearest to the moment of the break-up won the pot, less the expense of holding the event.
Leach spilled the contents of his poke on the rough cabin table.
“Enough,” he muttered, “to buy twenty ice pool chances. This year I’m going to win! Each year I’ve come nearer; each year the pool has been larger, but this year I win!” ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Frank Richardson Pierce, The ice goes out (1928)

“ Twenty chances will give you the edge on a lot of others, but the man with one chance often wins.”
He opened a safe, already crammed with gold dust and bills, added the contents of the poke, entered the name and times in a large book and filed the letter away.
Men were already working on the ice. In the center of the river a tripod had been erected. Just below it a wire had been strung across the river. On the town side the wire was connected to a clock as well as a siren. When the ice moved the tripod was carried against the wire. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Frank Richardson Pierce, The ice goes out (1928)

“ Nobody will know whether we’ve wintered there or just arrived. Nobody knows we’re here! And we won’t show ourselves in the camp.”
Like most prospectors he spoke of any thriving town as a camp. Originally it had been a gold camp. From it a town had grown. ”

Frank Richardson Pierce

Summary

Quotes from The ice goes out (Frank Richardson Pierce)

Common terms

Similar works

Get perspective with Kwize: daily news enlightened by great literature