Alaska -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
Always, the next thing was to start a Sunday-school, if there were any
children in the camp, or at least a Bible class, if there were only
grown people. I always had hymn-books and a baby-organ along, and was
sure of finding people to play the organ and sing. The gold-seekers
are not all roughs and toughs, as some people think, but just such
people as may be seen in the States, and a large proportion of them are
Christians.
One of the greatest of these gold stampedes occurred in the heart of
Alaska--in the center of a great wilderness until then unexplored.
A rich vein of gold was struck deep down in the frozen ground. The
news spread, and soon thousands of eager gold-seekers from all parts
of Alaska, from the Pacific States, from Canada, and later from all
parts of the United States came over the mountains from the coast,
down the Yukon from Dawson City, up the Yukon from Nome and from other
directions; traveling by steamboat, poling boat and canoe on the
rivers, and with dog-sled, horse-sled and hand-sled in the winter over
the mountains, and with packs on their backs and guns in their hands in
the summer.
Of course I was with the crowd. I never liked to miss the fun of a
great scramble like that. When I got to the big new camp I set up my
tent and began to prepare a preaching-place and to advertise a meeting
for the next Sunday by putting up posters on stumps and trees. I also
called the children to come and be organized into a Sunday-school.
About twenty children came the first Sunday.
Among them was a pretty little Swedish girl, named Nina. She had blue
eyes, flaxen hair and rosy cheeks, and was about twelve years old.
She won my heart at once, and soon we were great chums. She was so
bright and pleasant and sweet, and such a fearless and intelligent
outdoor girl, that one could not help loving her. She was always at
Sunday-school and church, always knew her lessons, and sang so heartily
and tunefully that people turned their heads to see her, and her sunny
smile drew answering smiles even from care-worn faces.
I soon found that among Nina's accomplishments she was already a good
shot with both rifle and shotgun; and when the snow began to fall in
October I took her with me on a couple of rabbit-hunts, and her glee
at getting the biggest bag of snow-shoe rabbits was very enjoyable.
Rabbits formed our principal meat-supply that winter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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