casually suggest to the Husky that
he had more dogs than he could feed through the summer.

The broad face of Kovik widened in a mysterious smile as he asked: "You
geeve black fox for dog?"

Marcel's hopes fell at the words. It was an unheard of price for a dog.
The Husky knew.

Masking his chagrin, the Frenchman laughed in ridicule:

"I geeve otter for dog."

Kovik shook his head, his narrowed eyes wrinkling in amusement. "No
husky W'ale Riv'--For' Geor'. Me trade husky W'ale Riv'."

It was useless to bargain further. The Husky knew the value of his dogs
at the posts, and Jean could not afford to rob his fur-pack to get one.
There was much that he needed at Whale River--and then there was Julie.
It was necessary to increase his credit with the Company to pay for the
home he would some day build for Julie and himself. So, when Kovik
promptly refused a valuable cross-fox pelt for a dog, the disheartened
boy gave it up.

But after the toil and lean days of the long trail he had taken to meet
the Esquimos, he could not return to Whale River empty handed. He
coveted the slate-gray and white puppy. Never had he seen a husky of her
age with such bone--such promise as a sled dog. And her spirit--at four
months she would bare her puppy fangs at an infringement of her rights
by an old dog, as though she already wore the scars of many a brawl.
Handsomer than her brothers, leader of the litter by virtue of a build
more rugged, a stronger will, she was the favorite of Kovik's children.
That they would object to parting with her; that the Husky would demand
an exorbitant price he now knew; but he was determined to have the
puppy. However, he resolved to wait until the following day, renew the
bargaining for a grown dog, then suddenly make an offer for the puppy.

The next morning Jean Marcel again offered a high price for a dog, but
the smiling Husky would not relent. Then Marcel, pointing at the female
puppy, offered the pelt of a marten for her.

To Jean's surprise, the owner refused to part with any of the litter.
They would be better than the adult dogs--these children of the
slate-gray husky--he said, and he would sell but one or two, even at
Whale River, where the Company needed dogs badly and would pay more than
Marcel could offer.

It was a bitter moment for the lad who had swung his canoe inshore at
the Husky camp with such high hopes. And he realized that it would be
useless to turn north from the mouth of the