The Journal of a Sporting Nomad 
at cards, lightened him of eight hundred dollars 
—all he possessed. On telling his wife, this lady 
sought out Soapy Smith, crying bitterly, and 
saying that they were stranded without a cent. 
Soapy comforted the poor woman, then handed 
her a five-hundred-dollar bill, a good one, too, 
at that, with this remark: ‘‘ Here’s five hundred 
dollars for you, ma’am. Take care of that man 
of yours, for he ain’t fit to be about by hisself!” 
A carpenter had bought a small block of land 
and had built himself a shack, thinking to earn 
a few dollars, as he owned two horses. He gave 
out that he was prepared to pack goods and 
freight with them up to, or over, the White Horse 
Pass. Soapy Smith, hearing this, gave him a job 
to pack a lot of useless things to the Pass. The 
man started from Skagway, and was barely out 
of the town on his journey when Soapy sold the 
poor fellow’s block of land and house to the 
highest bidder, for cash. 
The gang consisted of Soapy, several lieu- 
tenants, and about thirty more scum of the earth. 
They had been running Skagway for months, 
every one being more or less scared of them. 
At last things became so bad that a Vigilance 
Committee was formed from the law-abiding 
citizens, headed by a. man who had _ just 
arrived, and who was the new sheriff. All 
were determined to clear up these rascals. 
Soapy got to hear of the decision, and, collecting 
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