That Spot

By Jack London

I don’t think much of Stephen Mackaye any more, though I used to swear by him.  I know that in those days I loved him more than my own brother.  If ever I meet Stephen Mackaye again, I shall not be responsible for my actions.  It passes beyond me that a man with whom I shared food and blanket, and with whom I mushed over the Chilcoot Trail, should turn out the way he did.  I always sized Steve up as a square man, a kindly comrade, without an iota of anything vindictive or malicious in his nature.  I shall never trust my judgment in men again.  Why, I nursed that man through typhoid fever; we starved together on the headwaters of the Stewart; and he saved my life on the Little Salmon.  And now, after the years we were together, all I can say of Stephen Mackaye is that he is the meanest man I ever knew.

Jack London
That Spot