ass of
the canyon, his lead-dog pricked up its ears and whined. Then Smoke came
upon the Indians, six of them, coming toward him. They were traveling
light, without dogs, and on each man's back was the smallest of pack
outfits. Surrounding Smoke, they immediately gave him several matters
for surprise. That they were looking for him was clear. That they talked
no Indian tongue of which he knew a word was also quickly made clear.
They were not white Indians, though they were taller and heavier than
the Indians of the Yukon basin. Five of them carried the old-fashioned,
long-barreled Hudson Bay Company musket, and in the hands of the sixth
was a Winchester rifle which Smoke knew to be Shorty's.

Nor did they waste time in making him a prisoner. Unarmed himself, Smoke
could only submit. The contents of the sled were distributed among
their own packs, and he was given a pack composed of his and Shorty's
sleeping-furs. The dogs were unharnessed, and when Smoke protested, one
of the Indians, by signs, indicated a trail too rough for sled-travel.
Smoke bowed to the inevitable, cached the sled end-on in the snow on the
bank above the stream, and trudged on with his captors. Over the
divide to the north they went, down to the spruce-trees which Smoke had
glimpsed the preceding afternoon. They followed the stream for a dozen
miles, abandoning it when it trended to the west and heading directly
eastward up a narrow tributary.

The first night was spent in a camp which had been occupied for several
days. Here was cached a quantity of dried salmon and a sort of pemmican,
which the Indians added to their packs. From this camp a trail of many
snow-shoes led off--Shorty's captors, was Smoke's conclusion; and before
darkness fell he succeeded in making out the tracks Shorty's narrower
snow-shoes had left. On questioning the Indians by signs, they nodded
affirmation and pointed to the north.

Always, in the days that followed, they pointed north; and always
the trail, turning and twisting through a jumble of upstanding peaks,
trended north. Everywhere, in this bleak snow-solitude, the way seemed
barred, yet ever the trail curved and coiled, finding low divides and
avoiding the higher and untraversable chains. The snow-fall was deeper
than in the lower valleys, and every step of the way was snow-shoe work.
Furthermore, Smoke's captors, all young men, traveled light and fast;
and he could not forbear the prick of pride in the knowledge th