midnight
I tried again and again and again , and finally found another mine , only to be robbed of it by the Canadian laws in such a manner that there was n't the faintest hope of my recovering the property . Men told me about opportunities they could n't avail themselves of , and , although I did what they themselves would have done , these chances proved to be ghastly jokes . I finally shifted from mining to other ventures , and the town burned . I awoke in a midnight blizzard to see my chance for a fortune licked up by flames , while the hiss of the water from the firemen 's hose seemed directed at me and the voice of the crowd sounded like jeers . `` I was among the first at Nome and staked alongside the discoverers , who undertook to put me in right for once ; but although the fellows around me made fortunes in a day , my ground was barren and my bed-rock swept clean by that unseen hand which I always felt but could never avoid . I leased proven properties , only to find that the pay ceased without reason . I did this so frequently that owners began to refuse me and came to consider me a thing of evil omen .