h and rest his limbs, and the dogs would tug harder,
scarce slackening their speed under the increased weight. Once a huge
moose crashed through the forest a hundred paces away, but the huskies
paid no attention to it; a little farther on a lynx, aroused from
his sun bath on a rock, rolled like a great gray ball across the
trail,--the dogs cringed but for an instant at the sight of this
mortal enemy of theirs, and then went on.
Slower and slower grew the pace. The rearmost dog was now no more than
a drag, and reaching a keen-edged knife far out over the end of the
sledge Wabi severed his breast strap and the exhausted animal rolled
out free beside the trail. Two others of the team were pulling scarce
a pound, another was running lame, and the trail behind was spotted
with pads of blood. Each minute added to the despair that was growing
in the youth's face. His eyes, like those of his faithful dogs, were
red from the terrible strain of the race, his lips were parted, his
legs, as tireless as those of a red deer, were weakening under him.
More and more frequently he flung himself upon the sledge, panting
for breath, and shorter and shorter became his intervals of running
between these periods of rest. The end of the chase was almost at
hand. They could not overtake the Hudson Bay mail!
With a final cry of encouragement Wabi sprang from the sledge and
plunged along at the head of the dogs, urging them on in one last
supreme effort. Ahead of them was a break in the forest trail and
beyond that, mile upon mile, stretched the vast white surface of Lake
Nipigon. And far out in the glare of sun and snow there moved an
object, something that was no more than a thin black streak to
Wabi's blinded eyes but which he knew was the dog mail on its way to
civilization. He tried to shout, but the sound that fell from his lips
could not have been heard a hundred paces away; his limbs tottered
beneath him; his feet seemed suddenly to turn into lead, and he sank
helpless into the snow. The faithful pack crowded about him licking
his face and hands, their hot breath escaping between their gaping
jaws like hissing steam For a few moments it seemed to the Indian
youth that day had suddenly turned into night. His eyes closed, the
panting of the dogs came to him more and more faintly, as if they were
moving away; he felt himself sinking, sinking slowly down into utter
blackness.
Desperately he fought to bring himself back into life. There
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