n the snow, or prowled, baying the
moon, when the night was fine. Fierce-looking brutes these with their
long, keen muzzles, their high shoulders and deep chests, their drooping
quarters which were massed with muscle right down to the higher sinews
of their great feet. Their ferocity was chiefly the animal antagonism
for their kind; with Nick they were easy enough to handle, for all had
been well broken beneath the heavy lash which the man knew better than
to spare.

While the dogs were being hitched into their places Ralph secured the
door of the dugout. There were no half measures here. The door was
nailed up securely, and a barrier of logs set before it. Then, when all
was ready, the men took their poles and Nick broke out the frost-bound
runners of the sled. At the magic word "Mush!" the dogs sprang at their
breast-draws, and the sled glided away down the slope with Nick running
beside it, and Ralph following close behind.

Down they dropped into the depths of the silent valley, Nick guiding his
dogs by word of mouth alone. The lead dog, an especially vile-tempered
husky, needed nothing but the oft-repeated "Gee" and "Haw" where no
packed path was, and when anything approaching a trail was struck Nick
issued no commands. These creatures of the wild knew their work, loved
it, lived for it, as all who have seen them labouring over snow and ice
must understand.

By the route they must take it was one hundred miles to Little Choyeuse
Creek. One hundred miles of mountain and forest; one hundred miles of
gloomy silence; one hundred miles of virgin snow, soft to the feet of
the labouring dogs, giving them no foothold but the sheer anchorage of
half-buried legs. It was a temper-trying journey for man and beast. The
dogs snapped at each other's heels, but the men remained silent, hugging
their own thoughts and toiling amidst the pleasure of anticipation.

Skirting the forests wherever possible, and following the break of the
mammoth pine-trees when no bald opening was to hand they sped along. The
dogs hauled at the easy running sled, while, with long, gliding strides,
the two men kept pace with them. The hills were faced by the sturdy dogs
with the calm persistence of creatures who know their own indomitable
powers of endurance, while the descents were made with a speed which was
governed by the incessant use of Nick's pole.

The evening camp was pitched in the shelter of the forest. The dogs fed
voraciously and well on