If Any Man Sin

by H. A. Cody

"Oh!" It was all that Nance said as she looked inquiringly across the table.

"Yes," Martin continued, "I suspected something, and made up my mind to visit my old diggings. There were faded foot-prints all around, and I found where the men had shovelled away the snow and examined the hole I had made. Of course, as you know, the earth I left is full of gold, so they must have found enough in the frozen ground to more than satisfy them. I saw the little brush lean-to where they had evidently camped, showing that they must have been there several days. I tracked them down-stream, and learned that they had been close to our house. Why they did not call, I cannot tell. Perhaps they were unaware that white people lived here. They turned off sharply to the left, and either crossed the lake or went around the other side, and came out upon the river farther down."

"Do you think that they will come back?" Nance inquired.

"Come back! Indeed they will, and bring a regular crazy mob with them. It isn't every day that men make such a strike as that. As soon as those men record what they have found there will be the greatest stampede the world has ever seen."

"Will they wait until the river is open, do you think?" Nance asked. "We may be away soon afterwards, and so they will not trouble us."

"No, they won't wait, Nance. They will come at once, and many of them, no doubt, will die upon the way. There is no trail, and the ice in the river is getting weak. I've heard about such stampedes. Men seem to go about crazy. They start off with little food, some get hurt, others sick, and numbers just play out. It is wonderful to me what men will endure for the sake of gold."

Almost three weeks later what Martin had foretold came to pass. The vanguard of the prospectors and miners arrived. It was early morning when men were observed making their way slowly along the shore of the lake. They bore packs upon their backs, and leaned much forward. Each carried a stick, which he used as a cane. They all passed close to the cabin, so Martin and Nance could see them quite plainly. They did not turn aside to rest, but moved steadily onward. They seemed to be very weary, and their clothes were ripped and torn. They passed, and, later, others came. Several were limping painfully, which told of swollen and blistered feet. They, too, passed without stopping. Then far down the shore of the lake a struggling line appeared, and as they drew near and staggered by, the watchers from the cabin were moved to deep pity.

"Look at that old man with the white beard!" Nance exclaimed. "Why, he can hardly walk, and that young man by his side is supporting him and helping him along. They must be father and son."

She had barely finished speaking when the old man fell heavily forward. With a cry that could be heard within the cabin, the young man knelt by his side, and endeavoured to lift him to his feet. No one stopped to help him, but all brushed by and hurried on. The gold was ahead, and they must not delay. They had witnessed numerous cases such as this since leaving the great river, one hundred and forty miles away, and their hearts had become hardened to such sights.

With the watchers in the cabin, however, it was different. No sooner had the man fallen than Martin bounded across the room, flung open the door, and hurried out into the open. The young man was astonished to see aid in the form of a white man emerge from a building, which he had supposed contained only natives. "Come," Martin ordered, "give me a hand, and we'll carry him up to the house."