294 THE UPPER YUKON 



The bereft widow was a tall, well-built, 

 fine-looking woman who was — and is even 

 now — possessed of a rugged constitution, and 

 best of all she has a stout heart. For several 

 weeks after her husband's death she was in a 

 dazed condition hardly knowing which way 

 to turn. She might well say: 



"My mind is troubled, like a fountain stirred, 

 And I myself see not the bottom of it." 



One day a neighboring woman came to 

 make a visit of condolence to the widow. 

 After a mutual interchange of opinions as to 

 what might be done to bring some revenue 

 into the family's coffers, the visitor ventured 

 a suggestion. It was a startling one at first 

 thought, but the more it was considered the 

 better it looked. It was nothing more nor less 

 than this: that the widow, being of an un- 

 usually strong and robust build, should make 

 a journey to a far-off place in Alaska called 

 Skagway — a town over a thousand miles from 

 where she lived — and there see if money could 

 not be made by working at something, but 

 what that "something" might be, time alone 

 could tell. 



The suggestion, although laughed at when 

 first made, took hold of the widow's imagina- 



