ded in hauling myself along by the line which was
still attached to my wrist, and was nearly up to the snow-raft, when
the leader turned adroitly round, slipped out of his harness, and once
more leered at me with his grinning face.

There seemed nothing to be done, and I was beginning to feel drowsy
with the cold, when I noticed the trace of another dog near by. He had
fallen through close to the pan, and was now unable to force his way
out. Along his line I hauled myself, using him as a kind of bow
anchor--and I soon lay, with my dogs around me, on the little island
of slob ice.

The piece of frozen snow on which we lay was so small that it was
evident we must all be drowned if we were forced to remain on it as it
was driven seaward into open water. Twenty yards away was a larger and
firmer pan floating in the sish, and if we could reach it I felt that
we might postpone for a time the death which seemed inescapable. To my
great satisfaction I now found that my hunting knife was still tied on
to the back of one of the dogs, where I had attached it when we first
fell through. Soon the sealskin traces hanging on the dogs' harnesses
were cut and spliced together to form one long line. I divided this
and fastened the ends to the backs of my two leaders, attaching the
two other ends to my own wrists. My long sealskin boots, reaching to
my hips, were full of ice and water, and I took them off and tied them
separately on the dogs' backs. I had already lost my coat, cap,
gloves, and overalls.

Nothing seemed to be able to induce the dogs to move, even though I
kept throwing them off the ice into the water. Perhaps it was only
natural that they should struggle back, for once in the water they
could see no other pan to which to swim. It flashed into my mind that
my small black spaniel which was with me was as light as a feather and
could get across with no difficulty. I showed him the direction and
then flung a bit of ice toward the desired goal. Without a second's
hesitation he made a dash and reached the pan safely, as the tough
layer of sea ice easily carried his weight. As he lay on the white
surface looking like a round black fuss ball, my leaders could plainly
see him. They now understood what I wanted and fought their way
bravely toward the little retriever, carrying with them the line that
gave me yet another chance for my life. The other dogs followed them,
and all but one succeeded in getting out on the new haven of