Derby Day in the Yukon and Other Poems of the "Northland"   By: Catherine E. Simpson Hayes (1852-1943)

[Illustration: THE MALAMUTE]

DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON

and other Poems of the "Northland"

by

YUKON BILL

Toronto The Musson Book Company Limited

Copyright, 1910, by George H. Doran Co.

So, go you, little broken Song, And carry to some heart in bitter pain Only my lute's light laughter; make thou strong The weak of heart, and bid them smile again!

THESE RHYMES OF THE NORTHLAND ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED TO MY PARDS, B. AND B., WHO HELPED ME TO CARRY MY PACK OVER LIFE'S TRAIL.

Y. B.

On the Trail, 1910.

CONTENTS

Page

GREETING 11

DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 17

THE MALAMUTE 23

RED JACKET 29

UP AGAINST IT 35

HOW SLIPPERY PLAYED THE GAME 39

HEROES 47

LOWER FLAT ANNALS 53

THE TRAIL 61

THE KING OF THE KLONDIKE 67

GHOSTS 75

AN ANGEL 81

BILLY BIRD'S CELEBRATION 87

INVITATION 93

JIM 97

TALE OF THE CHE CHA KO 107

ST. BONIFACE FIRE BRIGADE 113

WINDY 119

MY SONG 127

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

THE MALAMUTE Frontispiece

RED JACKET, BULLY BOY HE IS facing p. 29

WHEN I MET WITH JIM ALONG THE DAWSON TRAIL 97

PRAY, SIR, HAVE YOU SEEN MR. MARMADUKE? 121

GREETING

TO ROBERT W. SERVICE

GREETING

Shake, Pard! I'm mighty proud o' you! (I'm know'd as "Yukon Bill"); You blazed th' trail an' blazed it true; Some o' my friends I see y' knew On old Che cha ko Hill; But say, old man, y' clean forgot my friend, "Swiftwater Bill!"

You was a kid in pettic'uts When I went in, a man; Grub stakin' with two other goats We sow'd th' last of our wild oats An' th' new, clean life began; We was th' fu'st (an' p'raps th' wu'st) Five Fingers' Rapids ran.

I staked out Eldorado crick Long 'fore th' world was told Them hills from Hunker to St. Mick Groaned f'r th' drill an' f'r th' pick, The'r bellies achin' GOLD! Where many a night th' moon pale white saw me in blankets rolled.

At Magnet Gulch I lit my pipe Got drunk upon Gold Hill; I hoofed it cle'r t' Kokusqum 'Twas ther' I lost my Siwash chum (She drownded in a spill), An' Love an' Luck together went from pore old Yukon Bill!

Big Skookum claim might a bin mine, But fortune ther' I missed; For all I got a though I sought I starved an' thirsted, dug an' fought, Was d plumbago schist! Ten years of toil, of muck an' spoil; then on th' "Failure list."