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Show I walked home that summer evening in July with the fog licking my heels, talking to my pa about a golden nugget in my pocket. Not asking-just talking. Next morning I found my world, like the old man at the Palace, completely mad! At first when I heard all the commotion downstairs, I thought the house was on fire. I grabbed my pants and pulled them on going down the stairs. All the boarders were gathered around the kitchen table, reading the morning newspaper, out loud. The two old-lady sisters were smiling. I knew what had happened before they told me. "James, James," they both shouted, waving the newspaper. "The depression is over. The depression is over!" The message was spread, clear enough, across the front page of the Chronicle: Gold! Gold! Gold! Depression Over! "A ship of gold came in," Mrs, Maxwell shouted above the clamor. "A ship of gold from up North in the Yukon Territory. On the Klondike!" "Folks just picked it up and put it in their suitcases," old Mrs. Howard said. "It says so right here." She pointed. "Millionaires overnight-Tom Lippy, Hestwood, Joe Ladue, Louis Rhodes-" "Bet those suitcases were heavy," Mr, Adamson shouted. |