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Show I did not listen because I had gold fever. On Saturday nights when Tip and Caribou entertained at Belinda's, I met in the back room with several men who had just arrived in the North. They talked about a new sold rush on the sands of Nome, Alaska, just across the Bering Strait from Siberia. This new Eldorado had no mountains to climb, no boats to build, and no shafts to dig. Gold simply washed up from the ocean and covered the sandy beaches. And it was just a short steamer cruise to the mouth of the Yukon River-and around the bay. I wanted it. I found a partner called Beans who wanted it, too. "After cleanup," I agreed. "After what I have is safely shipped to San Francisco." Tit) and Caribou tried to talk me out of it. "You have enough gold," Caribou said. "At least a hundred thousand." Every time I thought what I could do -with one hundred thousand dollars, I thought what I could do with five hundred thousand. "I can throw a hundred thousand out of the Palace Hotel in one day," I said. "I thought we all wanted to stay together," Tip said. "Caribou and Josephine and you-and me." "You'll go to your Rabbi grandparents," I said. "Maybe for a while. Maybe they won't want me." |