20 CAMP FIRES IN THE YUKON 



multitude, sought to stimulate interest by going up 

 to the missionary and taking his stand beside him, 

 pleading for financial aid to foreign missions. He 

 is reported to have admitted on that occasion that 

 he did not know what a church was like on the in- 

 side, but if they were anything like what they ap- 

 peared to be on the outside he was in favor of them 

 on general principles; that they were good to look 

 at, and that he had never heard of a real town that 

 did not have a church, and that he was backing his 

 own belief in the parson's cause by contributing one 

 thousand dollars. Whereupon he gave the grateful 

 missionary one thousand dollars, and hurried to the 

 outer margin of the crowd to escape being over- 

 whelmed with tears of gratitude. Then, with such 

 an example before them, the crowd broke loose and 

 almost inundated the missionary with contributions, 

 until with bulging pockets he made his way to his 

 lodging house. Before he had gone far, however, 

 Soapy slipped out from between two buildings, 

 poked a gun into the parson's stomach, and invited 

 him into the dark behind the buildings, where he 

 relieved him of the sum total of the mission contri- 

 bution and then sent him on his way. 



But Soapy's days were drawing to a close ; in fact, 

 he became too much of an institution and began to 

 get on the nerves of the people of Skagway, to such 

 an extent that they decided it was time for him to 

 move to a warmer or healthier climate. They held 



