Roy Norton

“ Hunger walked with them and lent staggers to their steps as the squeakings of their snow shoes blended together at their meeting place. Below them for indefinite miles stretched the cañon up which they had come, its only relief from snowy whiteness being the darker copses of green where pine boughs protruded. On all sides, save that slit in the sky line, huge mountains thrust fiercely jagged fingers into the blue and interposed ice-clad steeps. ”

“ They rested, lying on their aims and gathering strength for the traversement of the ridge which stretched away before them like a narrow path on the backbone of the world. Chilled with their respite they arose to their feet and staggeringly made their way along this pathway to shelter and food. Still the malignancy of the mountains was upon them and the ridge seemed to diminish as they advanced, rendering their positions more precarious and their footing more difficult. ”

“ The other turned slowly on his shoes and faced him, vaguely realizing and understanding a hatred so great that it rendered, even in this terrible distress, one cabin roof too small for both. He was overwhelmed.
"Tom," he said, "I told you back there to-day that I didn't want to live. Well—I don't. You said 'not then.' Better make it now!" He stood waiting.
"Killing's too good for you." Tom's voice, fraught with malevolence, came through the gloom. "Damn you! I hope now that you live forever and never forget!" ”

“ It caught on a stronger projection of ice. The outshooting body of the man came to a sudden stop and almost jerked loose the hands which, with the blind instinct of self-preservation, clung tensely to the only hold between him and the abyss.
The stocky man, paralyzed by the suddenness of the catastrophe, stood high above him, the pick still over his shoulder and one hand in his pocket. In outline against the sky, he looked a firmly immovable statue, a part of the mountain watching a men spectacle of interest. ”

“ And never until then had he realized that life could hold as its sole object and ambition a desire to kill another man. Never until then had he known that hatred could become so intense, so cumulative, so pervading, that even in the nights it filled sleep with fierce combat and savage triumph and brutal exultation. ”

“ Hope fed their starved frames with new fire and diminished the leaden weight of their snowshoes. They went stronger, and Jack fell less frequently. They struggled harder now that a goal was at hand, knowing that across this last stretch of weariness were refuge and food.
As they approached the black, squatty cabin, whose snow-laden roof was outlined against a group of pines, the night painted the picture. Behind it and away off in the dim and mysterious north, the northern lights were spreading a dull glow of red and purple, preliminary to a grander display. ”

“ And thus with but a pick and shovel they assaulted the mountain range, cutting foothold in its glassy face and climbing upward, like doggedly persistent insects, toward the ridges high above them. With the instincts of the mountaineer they had chosen the lowest place in this three-sided battlement, which shut them off from the other side of the divide where were cabins and—grub.
At intervals as they progressed they changed places, working carefully past each other, the one in front cutting—always cutting—footholds into which the moccasins fitted, mere toeholds between them and death. ”

“ And the one in the rear always repeated the same gesture and pose, the planting of the shovel point alongside, the leaning forward against the face of the frozen snow, and the holding of the arms overhead as a protection against the stray bits of ice chipped out from above. ”

“ Through all this Tom came behind apparently unmoved and callous. Only once or twice toward the last, when the effort to arise became too much for Jack, did he offer assistance.
The night shadows, with stealthy creeping, transformed the sky and rendered the way harder. Insistently they walled in the world with darkness. ”

“ But Jack cowered down upon one knee, surprise and remorse written in his startled eyes and opened lips.
"A babe? She left a babe—my baby!" he muttered, thinking aloud. "And I never knew!" This day and perhaps other days had wrought upon him. Now came facts marshaled from the years and passing in dread review before the judgment of his introspection. A woman's love unfairly won, then crushed under foot ”