The man above was a murderer the man below was a
thief And I lay there in the bunk between ailing
beyond belief A weary armful of skin and bone
wasted with pain and grief

My feet were froze and the lifeless toes were
purple and green and gray The little flesh that
clung to my bones you could punch it in holes like
clay The skin on my gums was a sullen black and
slowly peeling away

I was sure enough in a direful fix and often I
wondered why They did not take the chance that was
left and leave me alone to die Or finish me off
with a dose of dope so utterly lost was I

But no they brewed me the green-spruce tea and
nursed me there like a child And the homicide he
was good to me and bathed my sores and smiled And
the thief he starved that I might be fed and his
eyes were kind and mild

Yet they were woefully wicked men and often at
night in pain I heard the murderer speak of his
deed and dream it over again I heard the poor
thief sorrowing for the dead self he had slain

I'll never forget that bitter dawn so evil askew
and gray When they wrapped me round in the skins
of beasts and bore me to a sleigh And we started
out with the nearest post a hundred miles away

I'll never forget the trail they broke with its
tense unuttered woe And the crunch crunch crunch
Find more similar lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.com/17Ias their snowshoes sank through the crust of the
hollow snow And my breath would fail and every
beat of my heart was like a blow

And often times I would die the death yet wake up
to life anew The sun would be all ablaze on the
waste and the sky a blighting blue And the tears
would rise in my snow-blind eyes and furrow my
cheeks like dew

And the camps we made when their strength
outplayed and the day was pinched and wan And oh
the joy of the blessed halt and I did dread the
dawn And how I hated the weary men who rose and
dragged me on

And oh how I begged to rest to rest the snow was
so sweet a shroud And oh how I cried when they
urged me on cried and cursed them aloud Yet on
they strained all racked and pained and sorely
their backs were bowed

And then it was all like a lurid dream and I
prayed for a swift release From the ruthless ones
who would not leave me to die alone in peace Till
I waked up and I found myself at the post of the
Mounted Police

And there was my friend the murderer and there was
my friend the thief With bracelets of steel around
their wrists and wicked beyond belief But when
they come to God's judgment seat may I be allowed
the brief