PARDNERS
by Rex Beach
(McClure Company, 1905)
For some reason, Rex Beach's first book has often been wrongly packaged as a western novel. Actually, it isn't a novel at all, but a collection of ten short stories. Although two of the tales take place in the West, the rest of them are set in the "bleak and bald-headed North." And what a collection this is! About half the stories are eminently disposable, while the other half are gems. A mixed bag, for sure. All of them deal with the subject of "pardnerships." Well, what exactly is a "pardnership" anyway? To put it short, it's a compact between two individuals. During the Klondike gold Rush of '98, you needed a pardner, friend, to watch out for your interests. If you didn't have one, you were bound to be caught holding the bag-- maybe even cheated out of your mining claim. Back in those days, pardners worked one way or another. They either risked their lives for you, or ended up throttling you to death. This book contains a judicious sampling of the different kinds of "pardnerships" you were likely to get yourself into. Some of the writing is humorous, some of it brutal and low-down. All of it shows a masterful hand that knows how to keep a reader's attention and deliver the goods.
The finest tales in this selection are probably the last four. "The Test," certainly the best one, concerns a pair of partners who disagree about which is more important to northern survival-- brawn or brains. They end up getting trapped in a three-day blizzard, and all of their provisions run out. Then, as they stagger for days blindly forward, in an attempt to make it to the next village, both are taxed to the very limits of endurance. One passage, which details the oncoming storm, showcases Beach's ability as a descriptive writer:
"A volatile
pennant floated out from a near-bye peak, hanging about its
crest like faint smoke. Then along the brow of the pass writhed a wisp
of drifting, twisting flakelets, idling hither and yon, astatic and
aimless, settling in a hollow. They sensed a thrill and rustle to the
air, though never a breath had touched them; then, as they mounted
higher, a draught fanned them, icy as interstellar space. The view
from the summit was grotesquely distorted, and glancing upward they
found the guardian peaks had gone a-smoke with clouds of snow that
whirled confusedly, while an increasing breath sucked over the summit,
stronger each second. Dry snow began to rustle slothfully about their
feet. So swiftly were the changes wrought, that before the mind had
grasped their import the storm was on them, roaring down from every
side, swooping out of the boiling sky, a raging blast from the voids of
sunless space."
Another story, "Where Northern Lights Come Down O' Nights," is a high-octane adventure set in a remote arctic village. The story involves a whaler, "Big George," who battles it out with a perverted Russian priest for the possession of a squaw woman. In fact, "Big George" figures in the last three tales, and is probably one of Beach's most striking characters-- almost equal to the famous 'Poleon Doret. He was based on a real character, George Matson, whom Rex Beach met in Candle Creek, Alaska.
The final story, "The Scourge," is also worthy of mention. The plot concerns a plague of scurvy which decimates a mining village. A vengeful madman is hoarding the last cache of fresh potatoes, and things explode into violent warfare when the relief scout learns of his treachery. But these are only a few examples of the rougher fiber woven throughout the book. Let us not forget there are some fine humorous pieces, such as "The Shyness of Shorty" and "The Colonel and the Horse-Thief." As I've said above, the book is a mixed bag. But whatever we may think of its literary or artistic merits, Pardners is bound to give us a few hours of honest entertainment. I dare say, some of the prose is equal to Jack London's better material-- pumped with extra testosterone, perhaps, but just as keen on the drama of life in the savage wild.
The copy I own is not the original McClure edition, but the reprint published by A.L. Burt. Since Edgar Rice Burroughs's Beasts of Tarzan is advertised in the back, I presume my copy was pressed around 1916. Both editions have the same black-and-white illustrations and the same typeset. And, of course, the A.L. Burt copy is easier to find. As far as I know, only the McClure first edition has any collectors' value. Average market price of a good copy of the reprint is $5-$12.
Most of the tales in Pardners were also re-issued in the collection North of Fifty-Three (1924). I've read somewhere that during his heyday Beach was one of the wealthiest authors in America. He was a shrewd businessman who cashed in on all of his output without ever losing a dime. The mere fact that these stories were continually in print from their initial publication well into the 1920's, gives just some indication of his success. During his career, he held a place in American letters that is comparable to that which Stephen King holds now. Unfortunately, Beach is little read today. However, there's no reason to doubt that a serious revival may not be in line further down the road.
--B.A.S.
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