aric, the mighty orgy of the winter-time aurora
began.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

In a day or two Dick was attacked by the fearful _mal de raquette_,
which tortures into knots the muscles of the leg below the knee; and by
cramps that doubled him up in his blankets. This was the direct result
of his previous inaction. He moved only with pain; and yet, by the stern
north-country code, he made no complaint and moved as rapidly as
possible. Each time he raised his knee a sharp pain stabbed his groin,
as though he had been stuck by a penknife; each time he bent his ankle
in the recover the _mal de raquette_ twisted his calves, and stretched
his ankle tendons until he felt that his very feet were insecurely
attached and would drop off. During the evening he sat quiet, but after
he had fallen asleep from the mere exhaustion of the day's toil, he
doubled up, straightened out, groaned aloud, and spoke rapidly in the
strained voice of one who suffers. Often he would strip his legs by the
fire, in order that Sam could twist a cleft stick vigorously about the
affected muscles; which is the Indian treatment. As for the cramps, they
took care of themselves. The day's journey was necessarily shortened
until he had partly recovered, but even after the worst was over, a long
tramp always brought a slight recurrence.

For the space of nearly ten weeks these people travelled thus in the
region of the Kabinikagam. Sometimes they made long marches; sometimes
they camped for the hunting; sometimes the great, fierce storms of the
north drove them to shelter, snowed them under, and passed on shrieking.
The wind opposed them. At first of little account, its very insistence
gave it value. Always the stinging snow whirling into the face; always
the eyes watering and smarting; always the unyielding opposition against
which to bend the head; always the rush of sound in the ears,--a
distraction against which the senses had to struggle before they could
take their needed cognisance of trail and of game. An uneasiness was
abroad with the wind, an uneasiness that infected the men, the dogs, the
forest creatures, the very insentient trees themselves. It racked the
nerves. In it the inimical Spirit of the North seemed to find its
plainest symbol; though many difficulties she cast in the way were
greater to be overcome.

Ever the days grew shorter. The sun swung above the horizon, low to the
south, and dipped back as though pulled by some invisible st