Soapy Smith 
the way, the boy did not turn up. It was all 
so natural that during the wait we should talk, 
and. Well, they did me down too, and I 
am not ashamed to own it. I think it was five 
dollars well spent, for I learnt the depth of that 
particular game and the “trimmings” that 
attended it. The moral of the story is this: 
Soapy and his gang supposed that my friend 
and I were leaving the steamer at Skagway, that 
we should, according to the custom of the 
country, carry the greater part of our worldly 
goods on our persons, and that they would be 
able to make a rich haul. That they would, had 
it suited their book, have shot one or both of us 
goes without saying, and that we were covered 
by a “gun” during the time we were in that 
house is also a fair certainty. On my arrival on 
board the steamer I took pains to discover the 
status of my tall companion who shared my 
experience. For I thought he might have been 
“in the crowd.” I quite satisfied myself that 
he was a most estimable gentleman, and very 
well known in Seattle: but one never knows! 
Whilst on the subject of Soapy Smith, I may 
as well relate a few true stories concerning the 
man and his end, which for calm cheek and daring 
are hard to beat. An embryo prospector, with 
his wife and child of ten years old, landed at Skag- 
way on the way to Dawson. The man got into 
the clutches of the band, who, by means of tricks 
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