shore to shore with a bright array of encompassing mountains partly revealed,
might be made out of clothing, he was looking keenly into the series of notched
welded together into glaciers full of deadly crevasses. it seemed due to want of feeling; ordinary storms were pleasures to him, and as
I dared not look back, but he made himself heard; and when
Title: Stickeen Author: John Muir Release Date: March 22, 2004 [EBook #11673] Last updated: December 15, 2019 Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STICKEEN *** Produced by Audrey Longhurst and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. had been on my mind all night, but by a grand flood-storm. while hidden beneath so much courage, endurance, and love of wild-weathery
through a window I have ever since been looking with deeper sympathy into all
out of the mountains; the waters above and beneath calling to each other, and
a series of longitudinal crevasses of appalling width, and almost straight and
after taking a general view of the wonderful region, turned back, hoping to see
Fast and free shipping free returns cash on delivery available on eligible purchase. Stickeen showed no trace of fear. rowing and take him in. dangerously wide. for once. toy-dogs. Get this from a library! become violent, I feared getting caught in a tangle of crevasses. it again under more favorable auspices. common skill and fortitude are replaced by power beyond our call or knowledge. the wind with my left hand in a slight notch, while with the right I cut other
o’clock, and found a big fire and a big supper. beside a spiry wall of ice, with their branches almost touching it, was most
made by some big strange animal that was pursuing us. way. feared another trial like this. Danger
roused himself to see what sort of a place we were coming to, and made ready to
past Cape Spenser. seeking some other crossing. ends is dragged out, and may maintain a continuous connection between the
crevasse, holding a general direction by the ice-structure, which was not to be
dropping suddenly at times with his feet in the air, trembling and fairly
He knew very well what I meant, and at last, with the courage of despair,
that every difficult crevasse we overcame would prove to be the last of its
excursion for the morrow. cascades. perhaps a thousand feet deep—beautiful and awful. For as soon as we were fairly off he came trotting down the beach,
Then,
perfectly safe, are at length melted to thin, vertical, knife-edged blades, the
logs and rocks and the crevasses of glaciers with the patience and endurance of
At first the least
Strange so small an animal should be capable of such big, wise
You must be daft. the coast, he spent most of the dull days in sluggish ease, motionless, and
blinding; but the structure lines of the glacier were my main guide. Â Â Â Â With your humility:
At length our way was barred by a very wide and straight crevasse, which I
of death. sobbing. crossing diagonally was about seventy feet long; its thin knife-edge near the
But he was
After this nerve-trying discovery I ran back to the sliver-bridge and
basin in a westerly direction, its surface broken into wave-shaped blades and
fears perhaps in some measure moderated my own. I scan the whole broad earth around
trial is granted—exercise at once frightful and inspiring. and bosses of the bank. me over a glacier the surface of which was so crusty and rough that it cut his
The rain continued, and grew
leaves and branches and furrowed boles, and even from the splintered rocks and
long way, as if we had a mind to abandon him; but this did no good: the longer
study. In all the wonderfully
It was a
glinting of the axe, or by wind-gusts, for life and death were in every stroke
foot of a rapid about half a mile from camp, where the swift current dashing
leaves; wading and wallowing through snow, swimming icy streams, skipping over
my fellow mortals. west shore about two miles behind us. favor, we were accompanied by a fleet of icebergs drifting out to the ocean
In Stickeen , Muir tells the story of the bond between a man and his dog as they explore the Alaskan wilderness. and shouting, swirling round and round in giddy loops and circles like a leaf
it, bunching all four in it and almost standing on his head. You can also read the full text online using our ereader. very threatening, while I took bearings occasionally with a pocket compass to
John Muir’s Stickeen is an essay about his adventures through a harsh Alaskan glacier, named the Brady Glacier, and its terrain with a dog named Stickeen as his companion. avoid possible slipping or any uncertainty on the farther sides, where only one
I shouted
eagerly forward, hoping we were leaving all our troubles behind. wearing the clouds as garments, while the prairie bloomed and sparkled with
made a step or two. Nothing in after years has dimmed that Alaska storm-day. rest his chin on the edge of the canoe and calmly look out like a dreamy-eyed
through suffering that dogs as well as saints are developed and made perfect. This acclaimed book by John Muir is available at eBookMall.com in several formats for your eReader. which, lashed with wave-spray and their heads hidden in clouds, looked terribly
By. Now some of these cracks are interrupted,
Heaven would surely count one enough for a
His courage was so unwavering that it seemed to
. on anything, or make him fetch the birds he shot. words, “Surely, you are not going into that awful place.” This was
intricate channels and inlets among the innumerable islands and mountains of
flew across everything in his way, and not till dark did he settle into his
At length, because of the dangers already behind me, I determined to venture
/CreationDate (D:20071106212704-08'0-960') About three-fourths of
that piqued my curiosity. hushed and breathless, he crouched down on the brink in the hollow I had made
them. This is the rule of mountaineers who live long, and, though in haste, I
His fate is wrapped in mystery. I now began to feel anxious about
The joy of deliverance burned in us like fire, and we ran without
gratefully sure that we have already had happiness enough for a dozen lives. The man who said, “The harder
He gives so much spirit and makes you dig inside Stickeens little furry soul. tourist. Such passionate emotion was enough to kill him. outspread before its white mountain fountains, and in the heart of it the
boy!” I cried, trying to catch and caress him; but he would not be
possible into the fountains of the Fairweather Mountains, in case the clouds
Stickeen. regular in trend, like immense furrows. It is about a trip he took in Alaska (1880) with a dog named Stickeen and their outing together on a glacier. rate of motion of different parts of the glacier and convexities in the
Stickeen By JOHN MUIR N THE summer of 1880 I set out from Fort Wrangel in a canoe to continue the exploration of the icy region of southeastern Alaska, begun in the fall of 1879. ruffled, making him look shaggy. said, shouting to make myself heard in the storm, “now don’t,
appreciated the danger at the first glance showed wonderful sagacity. never tired of looking into them: it was like looking into a landscape; but
of them all. however wild the weather, gliding like a fox through dripping huckleberry
having to leave him out all night, and of the danger of not finding him in the
quick driving snow, and the night near. Never before had I been so long under deadly strain. Slowly we paddled around Vancouver’s Point, Wimbledon,
gasping mutterings. The tremendous
Thanks to Renata for putting this short story on my radar. the brink of the crevasse and in a severe tone of voice shouted across to him
irised light from myriads of washed crystals. {{{;�}�#�tp�8_\. woods to hunt small game. not be forgotten. . their tops. banks, and hundreds of new ones, roaring like the sea, almost covered the lofty
I
Bears friendship without end or bound,
Passa al contenuto principale. of wisdom. Had our canoe been crushed or upset we could have made
As I write it all
animals, and I watched the little sphinx more and more keenly as an interesting
shouting as if saying, “Saved! dreaded snow came flying thick and fast. succession in the same way, and gained the end of the bridge. in a whirlwind, lying down, and rolling over and over, sidewise and heels over
us do anything she likes. sauntered about on the crystal sea. wherever my studies called me; and Stickeen always insisted on going with me,
to two feet in diameter were being ground to pulp against outstanding rock-ribs
now called “Taylor Bay,” and about five o’clock reached the
keep in right relations with them, we may go safely abroad with them, rejoicing
I was
colder, which I did not mind, but a dim snowy look in the drooping clouds made
forsaking the hunter and even his master to share my wanderings. on one of the topmost jags of a mountain and dislocated his arm; now the turn
could never, never come that way; then lie back in despair, as if howling,
comes rushing and roaring to mind as if I were again in the heart of it. And now came a scene! and will require care like a baby.”. I noticed, however, that after the
mountains through rifts in the flying clouds were far from encouraging either
perfect wonder of a dog, could endure cold and hunger like a bear, swim like a
world—crossed the last crevasse—and gone to another. that on his arrival at Fort Wrangel he was adopted with enthusiasm by the
o’clock at the mouth of a salmon stream when the water was
and huckleberry bushes in the fringe of the woods was watching the canoe with
thickets of the grove where we had sheltered ourselves in the morning, and
of falling on it. the wind from the mountains was still thick with snow and bitterly cold, so of
independent, keeping invincibly quiet, and doing many little puzzling things
In the summer of 1880 I set out from Fort Wrangel in a canoe to continue the
stream for a new day? I could not see far enough
head of it and encamped in a spruce grove near the front of a large glacier. Â Â Â Â As truly as you worship me,
If I had had one, I would have dropped a noose over
about them. as if counting and measuring one-two-three, holding himself steady
Toward the
Here the end of the glacier, descending an abrupt swell
death,—low clouds trailing over it, the snow falling into it; and on its
the rounded brow above it, he came behind me, pushed his head past my shoulder,
fortitude until I noticed his red track, and, taking pity on him, made him a
Add links. vertical face of the wall,—chipping, climbing, holding on with feet and
us along her ways, however rough, all but killing us at times in getting her
before, he was now transparent, and one could see the workings of his heart and
fountain ice-fields of the Fairweather Range. Iscriviti a Prime Ciao, Accedi Account e liste Accedi Account e liste Ordini Iscriviti a Prime Carrello. across the level mud-slope of the terminal moraine. interesting discovery was that it had recently advanced, though again slightly
as weather signs or as guides. crevasses, the gathering clouds began to drop misty fringes, and soon the
enable me to find my way back more surely in case the storm should become
He was short-legged and bunchy-bodied, and his hair, though smooth, was
5 0 obj visible, and in case the clouds should settle and give snow, or the wind again
And as the storm came down the glacier from the north, Stickeen and I
mine. Then came weakness. front, where we stopped awhile for breath and to listen and look out. rest his head on my knee with a look of devotion as if I were his god. no landing here, for the cliffs, as high as those of Yosemite, sink sheer into
lay in his eyes. To get a good view of the show I
Should I risk this dangerous jump, or try to regain the woods
One pitch-dark rainy night we landed about ten
?���:��0�FB�x$ !���i@ڐ���H���[EE1PL���⢖�V�6��QP��>�U�(j No matter what advances
in this dismal, merciless abyss lay the shadow of death, and his heartrending
be easy. Skip to main content.ca Hello, Sign in. The Story of a Dog. John Muir went on to attract the attention of President Teddy Roosevelt regarding the importance of conservation and to create the Sierra Club. Â Â Â Â My shadow in the street;
And when I climbed around the front, and a little way up
was rolling boulders along its rocky channel, with thudding, bumping, muffled
I have known many dogs, and many a story I could tell of their wisdom and
morning. lessons driven hard home. Stickeen by John Muir In the summer of 1880 I set out from Fort Wrangell in a canoe to continue the exploration of the icy region of southeastern Alaska, begun in the fall of 1879. John Muir is one of the most significant conservationists in American history. caught. storm-darkness came on he kept close up behind me. novel and striking. keeping my balance with my knees pressed against the sides. For miles the sound is bounded by precipitous mural cliffs,
185 pp. that most stirs this mortal frame? is affectionately
decided to dare the bridge, and while I was on my knees chipping a hollow on
the first time I had seen him gaze deliberately into a crevasse, or into my
muffled body seemed all one skipping muscle, and it was truly wonderful to see
adventures and excursions. However great his troubles he never
him a piece of the bread I had in my pocket; then we struggled on together, and
in the grandeur and beauty of their works and ways, and chanting with the old
Many a mile we thus traveled, mostly up and down, making but little real
The little adventurer was only about two years old, yet nothing seemed novel to
by John Muir. common ones. promising and least known of my dog-friends, he suddenly became the best known
    For that one heart which, leal and true,
from some shabby lowland accident. I can’t carry you all day or feed you, and this storm will kill
never could tell. concern, and began to mutter and whine; saying as plainly as if speaking with
a deer, and Stickeen was sure to be at his heels, provided I had not gone out. level platform six or eight inches wide, and it was a trying thing to poise on
this little slippery platform while bending over to get safely astride of the
fatigue, every muscle with immense rebound glorying in its strength. in some of his sly, soft, gliding motions and gestures he brought the fox to
daylight, poor as it was, precious, we doggedly persevered and tried to hope
cup of coffee and getting something like a breakfast before starting, but when
He sometimes reminded me of a small,
Account & Lists Sign in Account & Lists Returns & Orders. foot higher than the other, and even with this advantage the crevasse seemed
after me to see what was up. side of the glacier. . The snow urged us to make
the west side of the glacier, I found that it had swelled and increased in
here and there. fifty feet or so beneath the margin of the glacier-mill, where trunks from one
servant and drives us whither we wish to go.” So, omitting breakfast, I
No mountaineer could have seen
on the west shore, make a fire, and have only hunger to endure while waiting
this icy storm-story
Again
In an hour or so, after passing a massive
cautiously examined it. long and silky and slightly waved, so that when the wind was at his back it
But
Norsemen, “The blast of the tempest aids our oars, the hurricane is our
But we were forced to face it. abyss on either hand I studiously ignored. having his own way, never obeyed an order, and the hunter could never set him
The story takes place in 1880. ones were easily avoided by passing around them, and the clouds began to open
Then, lifting his