“The Thousand Dozen” by Jack London

 

David Rasmunsen was a hustler, and, like many a greater man, a man of the one idea. Wherefore, when the clarion call of the North rang on his ear, he conceived an adventure in eggs and bent all his energy to its achievement. He figured briefly and to the point, and the adventure became iridescent-hued, splendid. That eggs would sell at Dawson for five dollars a dozen was a safe working premise. Whence it was incontrovertible that one thousand dozen would bring, in the Golden Metropolis, five thousand dollars.

This story, by London, one of the 100 Best according to Mr. Lewis, is a mini-marvel.

It is one of his tales of the North and it packs a lot of territory in its brief 21-pages.

We have wide-eyed dreaming and those dreams making contact with reality again and again.

We have endurance, harsh conditions, survival and hardship as can only be described by a man who has lived it and seen it.

Is this an adventure story? Yes.

A cautionary tale? Yes.

A black comedy? That, too.

Easily one of the best I’ve read by London.

An impressive 21-pages indeed.