TO BUILD A FIRE
By Jack London
First published in
First published in Youth's Companion, v. 76, May 29, 1902
NOTE: This is the first, more juvenile version of a story later published for an
adult audience in The Century Magazine in August 1908.
1
For land travel or seafaring, the world
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and be had thirty miles of lonely trail to cover,
2
over, a companion is usually considered
24
but he did not mind. In fact, be enjoyed it,
3
desirable. In the Klondike, as Tom Vincent
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swinging along through the silence, his blood
4
found out, such a companion is absolutely
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pounding warmly through veins, and his mind
5
essential. But he found it out, not by precept,
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carefree and happy. For he and his comrades
6
but through bitter experience.
28
were certain they had struck "pay" up there on
29
the Cherry Creek Divide; and, further, he was
7
"Never travel alone," is a precept of the
8
north. He had heard it many times and
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returning to them from Dawson with cheery
9
laughed; for he was a strapping young
31
home letters from the States.
10
fellow, big-boned and big-muscled, with
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11
faith in himself and in the strength of his
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his moccasins toward Calumet Camp, it was
12
head and hands.
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still black night. And when day broke at half
At seven o'clock, when he turned the heels of
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It was on a bleak January day when the
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past nine he had made the four-mile cut-off
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experience came that taught him respect for
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across the flats and was six miles up Paul
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the frost, and for the wisdom of the men who
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Creek. The trail, which had seen little travel,
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had battled with it.
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followed the bed of the creek, and there was no
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He had left Calumet Camp on the Yukon
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possibility of his getting lost. He had gone to
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with a light pack on his back, to go up Paul
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Dawson by way of Cherry Creek and Indian
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Creek to the divide between it and Cherry
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River, so Paul Creek was new and strange. By
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Creek, where his party was prospecting and
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half past eleven he was at the forks, which bad
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hunting moose.
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been described to him, and he knew he had
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covered fifteen miles, half the distance. He
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The frost was sixty-degrees below zero,
1
1
knew that in the nature of things the trail
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packstraps across his shoulders, he leaped to
2
was bound to grow worse from there on, and
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his feet and ran briskly up the trail.
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thought that, considering the good time he
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4
had made, he merited lunch. Casting off his
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and he settled down to a steady stride,
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pack and taking a seat on a fallen tree, he
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munching the biscuits as be went along. The
6
unmittened his right hand, reached inside
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moisture that exhaled with his breath crusted
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his shirt next to the skin, and fished out a
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his lips and mustache with pendent ice and
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couple of biscuits sandwiched with sliced
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formed a miniature glacier on his chin. Now
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bacon and wrapped in a handkerchief -- the
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and again sensation forsook his nose and
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only way they could be carried without
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cheeks, and he rubbed them till they burned
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freezing solid.
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with the returning blood.
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He had barely chewed the first mouthful
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A few minutes of this made him warm again,
Most men wore nose-straps; his partners did,
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when his numbing fingers warned him to
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but he had scorned such "feminine
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put his mitten on again. This he did, not
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contraptions," and till now had never felt the
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without surprise at the bitter swiftness with
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need of them. Now he did feel the need, for he
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which the frost bit in. Undoubtedly it was
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was rubbing constantly.
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the coldest snap he had ever experienced, he
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thought.
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of exultation. He was doing something,
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achieving something, mastering the elements.
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He spat upon the snow, -- a favorite
Nevertheless he was aware of a thrill of joy,
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northland trick, -- and the sharp crackle of
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Once he laughed aloud in sheer strength of life,
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the instantly congealed spittle startled him.
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and with his clenched fist defied the frost. He
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The spirit thermometer at Calumet had
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was its master. What he did he did in spite of it.
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registered sixty below when he left, but he
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It could not stop him. He was going on to the
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was certain it had grown much colder, how
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Cherry Creek Divide.
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much colder he could not imagine.
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Strong as were the elements, he was stronger.
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Half of the first biscuit was yet untouched,
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At such times animals crawled away into their
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but he could feel himself beginning to chill --
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holes and remained in hiding. But he did not
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a thing most unusual for him. This would
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hide. He was out in it, facing it, fighting it. He
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never do, he decided, and slipping the
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was a man, a master of things.
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1
In such fashion, rejoicing proudly, he
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broke through.
2
tramped on. After an hour he rounded a
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3
bend, where the creek ran close to the
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a man does not drown in twelve inches of
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mountainside, and came upon one of the
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water, -- but in its consequences as serious an
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most insignificant-appearing but most
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accident as could possibly befall him.
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formidable dangers in northern travel.
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At the instant he broke through he felt the
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cold water strike his feet and ankles, and with
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The creek itself was frozen solid to its
In itself it was a very insignificant mishap, --
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rocky bottom, but from the mountain came
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half a dozen lunges he made the bank. He was
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the outflow of several springs. These springs
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quite cool and collected. The thing to do, and
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never froze, and the only effect of the
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the only thing to do, was to build a fire. For
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severest cold snaps was to lessen their
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another precept of the north runs: Travel with
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discharge. Protected from the frost by the
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wet socks down to twenty below zero; after that
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blanket of snow, the water of these springs
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build a fire. And it was three times twenty
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seeped down into the creek and, on top of
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below and colder, and he knew it.
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the creek ice, formed shallow pools.
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He knew, further, that great care must be
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exercised; that with failure at the first attempt,
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The surface of these pools, in turn, took on
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a skin of ice which grew thicker and thicker,
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the chance was made greater for failure at the
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until the water overran, and so formed a
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second attempt. In short, he knew that there
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second ice-skinned pool above the first.
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must be no failure. The moment before a strong,
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exulting man, boastful of his mastery of the
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Thus at the bottom was the solid creek ice,
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then probably six to eight inches of water,
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elements, he was now fighting for his life
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then the thin ice-skin, then another six inches
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against those same elements -- such was the
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of water and another ice-skin. And on top of
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difference caused by the injection of a quart of
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this last skin was about an inch of recent
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water into a northland traveller's calculations.
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snow to make the trap complete.
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To Tom Vincent's eye the unbroken snow
In a clump of pines on the rim of the bank the
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spring high-water had lodged many twigs and
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surface gave no warning of the lurking
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small branches. Thoroughly dried by the
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danger. As the crust was thicker at the edge,
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summer sun, they now waited the match.
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he was well toward the middle before he
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It is impossible to build a fire with heavy
3
1
Alaskan mittens on one's hands, so Vincent
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his slight movement in collecting the twigs had
2
bared his, gathered a sufficient number of
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been sufficient to disturb the balance.
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twigs, and knocking the snow from them,
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The snow from the topmost bough was the
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knelt down to kindle his fire. From an inside
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first to fall, striking and dislodging the snow on
5
pocket he drew out his matches and a strip
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the boughs beneath. And all this snow,
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of thin birch bark. The matches were of the
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accumulating as it fell, smote Tom Vincent's
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Klondike kind, sulphur matches, one
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head and shoulders and blotted out his fire.
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hundred in a bunch.
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He still kept his presence of mind, for be
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knew how great his danger was. He started at
9
He noticed how quickly his fingers had
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chilled as he separated one match from the
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once to rebuild the fire, but his fingers were
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bunch and scratched it on his trousers. The
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now so numb that he could not bend them, and
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birch bark, like the dryest of paper, burst
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he was forced to pick up each twig and splinter
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into bright flame. This be carefully fed with
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between the tips of the fingers of either hand.
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the smallest twigs and finest debris,
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cherishing the flame with the utmost care. It
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great difficulty in separating one from the
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did not do to hurry things, as he well knew,
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bunch. This he succeeded in managing,
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and although his fingers were now quite
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however, and also, by great effort, in clutching
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stiff, he did not hurry.
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the match between his thumb and forefinger.
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But in scratching it, he dropped it in the snow
and could not pick it up again.
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After the first quick, biting sensation of
When he came to the match he encountered
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cold, his feet had ached with a heavy, dull
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21
ache and were rapidly growing numb. But
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the fire, although a very young one, was
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even his weight on his feet, although the ankles
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now a success; he knew that a little snow,
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were aching painfully. Putting on his mittens,
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briskly rubbed, would speedily cure his feet.
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he stepped to one side, so that the snow would
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But at the moment he was adding the first
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not fall upon the new fire he was to build, and
beat his hands violently against a tree-trunk.
He stood up, desperate. He could not feel
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thick twigs to the fire a grievous thing
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27
happened. The pine boughs above his head
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This enabled him to separate and strike a
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were burdened with a four months snowfall,
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second match and to set fire to the remaining
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and so finely adjusted were the burdens that
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fragment of birch bark. But his body had now
4
1
begun to chill and he was shivering, so that
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blade of a hunting-knife would project when
2
when be tried to add the first twigs his hand
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clutched in the fist.
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shook and the tiny flame was quenched.
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4
The frost had beaten him. His hands were
But his fingers stood straight out. They could
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not clutch. This he overcame by pressing the
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worthless. But he had the foresight to drop
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wrist of the other hand against them, and so
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the bunch of matches into his wide-mouthed
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forcing them down upon the bunch. Time and
7
outside pocket before he slipped on his
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again, holding thus by both bands, he scratched
8
mittens in despair , and started to run up the
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the bunch on his leg and finally ignited it. But
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trail. One cannot run the frost out of wet feet
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the flame burned into the flesh of his hand, and
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at sixty below and colder, however, as he
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he involuntarily relaxed his hold. The bunch
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quickly discovered.
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fell into the snow, and while he tried vainly to
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pick it up, sizzled and went out.
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He came round a sharp turn of the creek to
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where he could look ahead for a mile. But
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14
there was no help, no sign of help, only the
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His feet were utterly devoid of sensation. He
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white trees and the white hills, and the quiet
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stubbed his toes once on a buried log, but
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cold and the brazen silence! If only he had a
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beyond pitching him into the snow and
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comrade whose feet were not freezing, he
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wrenching his back, it gave him no feelings.
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thought, only such a comrade to start the fire
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19
that could save him!
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hunters somewhere above the forks of Paul
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Creek. He must be somewhere near it, he
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Then his eyes chanced upon another high-
Again he ran, by this time badly frightened.
He recollected being told of a camp of moose-
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water lodgment of twigs and branches. If he
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thought, and if he could find it be yet might be
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could strike a match, all might yet be well.
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saved. Five minutes later he came upon it, lone
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With stiff fingers which he could not bend,
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and deserted, with drifted snow sprinkled
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he got out a bunch of matches, but found it
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inside the pine-bough shelter in which the
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impossible to separate them.
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hunters had slept. He sank down, sobbing. All
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was over, and in an hour at best, in that terrific
temperature, he would be an icy corpse.
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He sat down and awkwardly shuffled the
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bunch about on his knees, until he got it
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resting on his palm with the sulphur ends
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29
projecting, somewhat in the manner the
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But the love of life was strong in him, and he
sprang again to his feet. He was thinking
5
1
quickly. What if the matches did burn his
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necessary, such was his extremity, and he took
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hands? Burned hands were better than dead
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them.
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hands. No hands at all were better than
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4
death. He floundered along the trail until be
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thrusting them into the flames, and now and
5
came upon another high-water lodgment.
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again beating them against the hard trees, he
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There were twigs and branches, leaves and
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restored their circulation sufficiently for them
7
grasses, all dry and waiting the fire.
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to be of use to him. With his hunting-knife he
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slashed the straps from his pack, unrolled his
of matches on his knees, got it into place on
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blanket, and got out dry socks and footgear.
10
his palm, with the wrist of his other hand
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Then be cut away his moccasins and bared
11
forced the nerveless fingers down against the
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his feet. But while he had taken liberties with
12
bunch, and with the wrist kept them there.
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his hands, he kept his feet fairly away from the
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At the second scratch the bunch caught fire,
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fire and rubbed them with snow. He rubbed till
14
and he knew that if he could stand the pain
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his bands grew numb, when he would cover his
15
he was saved. He choked with the sulphur
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feet with the blanket, warm his hands by the
16
fumes, and the blue flame licked the flesh of
45
fire, and return to the rubbing.
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his hands.
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For three hours he worked, till the worst
8
9
Again he sat down and shuffled the bunch
Alternately rubbing his hands with snow and
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At first he could not feel it, but it burned
47
effects of the freezing had been counteracted.
19
quickly in through the frosted surface. The
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All that night he stayed by the fire, and it was
20
odor of the burning flesh -- his flesh -- was
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late the next day when be limped pitifully into
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strong in his nostrils. He writhed about in
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the camp on the Cherry Creek Divide.
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his torment, yet held on. He set his teeth and
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23
swayed back and forth, until the clear white
52
his feet, although the toes were destined always
24
flame of the burning match shot up, and he
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after that to be very sensitive to frost. But the
25
had applied that flame to the leaves and
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scars on his hands he knows be will carry to the
26
grasses.
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grave. And -- "Never travel alone!" he now lays
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down the precept of the North.
27
An anxious five minutes followed, but the
28
fire gained steadily. Then he set to work to
29
save himself. Heroic measures were
In a month's time he was able to be about on
6