d. In these matters, indeed, he
looked upon Bobby as an Eskimo, and had great confidence in Bobby's
ability to overcome conditions that to himself would seem unconquerable.

He knew, too, that Bobby, when hunting with Abel upon the barrens, had
weathered some terrific storms. These were experiences which he himself
had never encountered, for he and Skipper Ed during their winter months
on the trapping trails clung more closely to the forests, where they
were protected from sweeping gales and could always find firewood in
abundance, and could build a temporary shelter.

And pondering these things as he sat huddled upon the sledge, his hope
that Bobby might after all be safe grew, and he felt a sense of vast
relief steal over him. He was not so cold now, his brain was heavy with
sleep and he began to doze.

Suddenly he again realized his own danger were he to submit to the sleep
which the cold was urging upon him, and he sprang to his feet and jumped
and jumped and shouted and swung his arms, until he could feel the blood
tingling through his veins, and his brain awake.

"I must do something!" said he. "I must do something! Bobby is lost out
there and I can't help him, and I can't stand this much longer. I must
do something for myself or I'll perish before morning."

Then he remembered the dogs, lying deep and snug under the drifts, and
what Bobby had said about them, and with feverish haste he drew his snow
knife and cut away the drift which now all but covered the _komatik_.
Then he took his sleeping bag from the load, and, digging deeper down
and down into the drift, stretched the bag into the hole he had made,
and slid into it, and in a little while the snow covered him, and he
like the dogs lay buried beneath the drift.

CHAPTER XXV

A LONELY JOURNEY

Weary as Jimmy was, he lay awake for a long time, torn by emotions and
filled with misgivings and wild imaginings. Would he ever see good old
Partner again? Would he ever see the cozy cabin that had been his home
through all these happy years? Would he ever again sit, snug in his big
arm chair before the big box stove with its roaring fire, while Skipper
Ed helped him with his studies or told him stories of the far-off fairy
land of civilization?

Then for a time he fell to thinking about Bobby, and, in his old way, to
worrying, and to wondering if, after all, he could not or should not
make one more attempt to rescue his comrade.

"I never should ha