nlike the Tolman brothers, McMillan, Irish and Rover, he did not curry
favor by the happy accident of birth, beauty, or personal magnetism; and
so Dubby began to bestow upon Baldy, for his modesty and industry, an
approbation not accorded by him to many of the others in the Kennel. And
Dubby's opinion of a new dog was worth much, for "Scotty" Allan himself
respected the experience and sagacity that governed it.

Possessed of the colorings and markings of his wolf forbears, as well as
their keen instinct in trail emergencies, Dubby combined with this the
faithful, loving nature of the dog branch of the family.

In his merest infancy he had given promise of unusual ability--a promise
more than fulfilled.

When hardly more than three months old he had learned the orders "Gee,"
"Haw," "Mush" and "Whoa" perfectly. And he was beginning to think a
little for himself when the rest of the litter were still undecided
whether "Gee" meant to turn to the right paw side, or the left paw side;
and were hardly convinced that "Mush" was "Go on" and not a terse
invitation to breakfast.

His later accomplishments were many. He could pick up an uncertain trail
when concealed by three feet of soft, freshly fallen snow; he could tell
if ice was thick enough to carry the weight of a loaded sled, when the
most seasoned trailsman was deceived, and he could scent a camp for four
or five miles with the wind in the right direction. Never but once in
his life had he been known to take the wrong route to a given point.
Then he mistook the faint glimmer of Venus, as she dimly showed above
the dark horizon, for the lantern on the ridge-pole of a road house;
which was poetic, but misleading, and proves that even dogs can come to
grief through too much star gazing.

He was always driven "loose" on the rare and gala occasions when, at his
own plainly expressed desire, he was placed again in temporary service.
With that liberty he made it his business to see that no dog was
shirking. A glance at a slack strap was enough to betray the idler; and
an admonishing nip on the culprit's ear or flank was the cause of a
reformation that was sudden and abject for a while at least.

The only punishment that had ever been meted out to Dubby for some
indiscretion, or an act of insubordination, was to hitch him up with the
rest of the team. There were no depths of humiliation greater, no shame
more poignant, and for days after such an ordeal he would show a
brood