of the Northern Dog Transportation Company, Unlimited.

At night they were taken for long walks by the Woman and Ben. Out over
the snow that crackled sharply in the clear, crisp air; out where the
stars seemed strangely close, the moon strangely bright--and where
across the heavens waved the luminous, ghostly banners of the Northern
Lights.

Time now meant nothing. It was the Land of Day After To-morrow, where
the obligation of definite hours for definite duties did not exist.

And because there was a vacation freedom in the very atmosphere,
sometimes they stole into the big living-room of the Road House, two or
three at a time; and lying in the shadowy twilight they would listen,
in drowsy content, to the cheery snap of the wood in the huge ruddy
stove, and to the voices of their friends as they talked of the North,
its hardships, its happiness, its hopes.

[Illustration: KRUZAMAPA HOT SPRINGS]

The great world "Outside," and its troubles, seemed far away.

International difficulties, the Fall of a Monarchy? Interesting of
course, but on the last Holiday, Charles Johnson, with his marvelous
Siberians, supplemented the previous Siberian triumph of John Johnson by
winning the Solomon Derby of that year; making the course of sixty-five
miles in but little more than five hours. That was something to worry
one.

Suffrage? Desirable for many places, naturally. Though in Nome a woman
could be a member of the Kennel Club, enter a racing team, and vote on
school matters, long before the franchise was given her by the
Legislature in Juneau. And surely that, all agreed, had been as liberal
a policy as any reasonable female should have demanded from any
community.

The Tariff, Panama Canal news, and graft prosecutions? Well, of course,
one discussed such affairs casually; but after all, the Dog Question in
all its phases was of far more immediate importance to Alaskans. And so
they spent many an hour in reminiscences and prophecies; and were
thrilled over and over again with the excitement of the great contests
they had witnessed--lost and won; basing predictions for the future on
the achievements of the past.

Then the dogs would be roused by the entrance of the Eskimo hunters, who
stopped in the dusk of the evening on the way back to their settlement
at Mary's Igloo, to barter for their day's bag. And later they sniffed
with keen pleasure the wonderful smells from the adjoining kitchen;
smells of broiled trout, reind