The
thud of Carmack's spade, as it hit first pay, was the 'sound heard round
the world,' Miss Standish. And the gentleman with crumpled whiskers was
the second-best man at Bonanza, excepting Skookum Jim and Taglish
Charlie, two Siwah Indians who were with Carmack when the strike was
made. Also, if you care for the romantic, he was in love with Belinda
Mulrooney, the most courageous woman who ever came into the north."
"Why was she courageous?"
"Because she came alone into a man's land, without a soul to fight for
her, determined to make a fortune along with the others. And she did. As
long as there is a Dawson sour-dough alive, he will remember Belinda
Mulrooney."
"She proved what a woman could do, Mr. Holt."
"Yes, and a little later she proved how foolish a woman can be, Miss
Standish. She became the richest woman in Dawson. Then came a man who
posed as a count, Belinda married him, and they went to Paris. _Finis_,
I think. Now, if she had married Stampede Smith over there, with his big
whiskers--"
He did not finish. Half a dozen paces from them a man had risen from a
table and was facing them. There was nothing unusual about him, except
his boldness as he looked at Mary Standish. It was as if he knew her and
was deliberately insulting her in a stare that was more than impudent in
its directness.
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