220 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



remember was the first city clerk, treasurer, assessor, and tax 

 collector of Dawson City; and this is what he says: 



" I want to say at the very outset that the Yukon was, in my 

 opinion at least, one of the most orderly corners of the earth. 

 Even in the early days of the boom, when miners and ad- 

 venturers of all nationalities poured in, the scales of justice 

 were held firmly and rigidly. The spell of the Mounted Police 

 hung over the snow-bound land and checked the evil-doer. It 

 may sound ridiculous when I assert that the Yukon that 

 gathering spot of so much of the scum of the earth was better 

 policed than Winnipeg, or Toronto, or Halifax; but, neverthe- 

 less, I believe it to be a fact. 



"Of course, crimes were committed, some of which were 

 never solved. Doubtless, also many deeds of violence occurred 

 whose authors never came to light. But, on the whole, life 

 and property were surprisingly secure. One day I visited 

 the cabin of my friend Lippy, who made a million or so upon 

 El Dorado. The door was partly open, so, on receiving no 

 response to my knock, I walked in. The cabin was empty. 

 On the table was a five-gallon pail heaped high with glittering 

 nuggets of gold! I glanced around the place. On the shelves 

 and rafters, on chairs and under bunks, were cans filled with 

 gold. There was a snug fortune in sight. Any one could have 

 slipped in and stolen the lot. I took Lippy to task about it 

 when he came in. He did not seem at all concerned, however. 



"Pshaw," he said, "I always have quite a lot of gold about. 

 But no one would steal it. I've never lost anything." 



But as the Yukon and New York are a long way from where 

 Oo-koo-hoo was hunting, let us return to his Moose Hills. 



THE WAYS OF THE MOOSE 



Moose mate in September and October, and during this 

 period great battles between bulls frequently occur before the 



