mittened hand down the gathered sack till he had outlined the contents
at the bottom.

"Lord! That's all there is."

The boy only blinked his half-shut eyes. The change in him, from
talkativeness to utter silence, had grown horribly oppressive to the
Colonel. He often felt he'd like to shake him till he shook some words
out. "I told you days ago," he went on, "that we ought to go on
rations."

Silence.

"But no! you knew so much better."

The Boy shut his eyes, and suddenly, like one struggling against sleep
or swooning, he roused himself.

"I thought I knew the more we took off the damn sled the lighter it'd
be. 'Tisn't so."

"And we didn't either of us think we'd come down from eighteen miles a
day to six," returned the Colonel, a little mollified by any sort of
answer. "I don't believe we're going to put this job through."

Now this was treason.

Any trail-man may think that twenty times a day, but no one ought to
say it. The Boy set his teeth, and his eyes closed. The whole thing was
suddenly harder--doubt of the issue had been born into the world. But
he opened his eyes again. The Colonel had carefully poured some of the
rice into the smoky water of the pan. What was the fool doing? Such a
little left, and making a second supper?

Only that morning the Boy had gone a long way when mentally he called
the boss of the Big Chimney Camp "an old woman." By night he was saying
in his heart, "The Colonel's a fool." His pardner caught the look that
matched the thought.

"No more second helpin's," he said in self-defence; "this'll freeze
into cakes for luncheon."

No answer. No implied apology for that look. In the tone his pardner
had come to dread the Colonel began: "If we don't strike a settlement
to-morrow----"

"Don't _talk!"_

The Boy's tired arm fell on the handle of the frying-pan. Over it
went--rice, water, and all in the fire. The culprit sprang up
speechless with dismay, enraged at the loss of the food he was hungry
for--enraged at "the fool fry-pan"--enraged at the fool Colonel for
balancing it so badly.

A column of steam and smoke rose into the frosty air between the two
men. As it cleared away a little the Boy could see the Colonel's
bloodshot eyes. The expression was ill to meet.

When they crouched down again, with the damped-out fire between them, a
sense of utter loneliness fell upon each man's heart.

* * * * *

The next morning, when they came to