XXXI TISDALE OF ALASKA--AND WASHINGTON, D.C.
XXXII THE OTHER DOCUMENT
XXXIII THE CALF-BOUND NOTEBOOK


THE RIM OF THE DESERT




CHAPTER I

THE MAN WHO NEVER CAME BACK


It is in October, when the trails over the wet tundra harden, and before
the ice locks Bering Sea, that the Alaska exodus sets towards Seattle; but
there were a few members of the Arctic Circle in town that first evening
in September to open the clubhouse on the Lake Boulevard with an informal
little supper for special delegate Feversham, who had arrived on the
steamer from the north, on his way to Washington.

The clubhouse, which was built of great, hewn logs, with gabled eaves,
stood in a fringe of firs, and an upper rear balcony afforded a broad
outlook of lake and forest, with the glaciered heights of the Cascade
Mountains breaking a far horizon. The day had been warm, but a soft
breeze, drawing across this veranda through the open door, cooled the
assembly room, and, lifting one of the lighter hangings of Indian-wrought
elk leather, found the stairs and raced with a gentle rustle through the
lower front entrance back into the night. It had caressed many familiar