ad grown apace.

No one, of course, settled down to anything serious, for business is
practically suspended during the entire progress of the event, and a
spirit of revelry is abroad. Formal and informal gatherings serve to
pass the hours, while telephone reports from each village and road house
are announced in all public places, and bulletins are posted at
convenient points for men, women and children, who await the news with
keen expectation. The messages come continuously, keeping up the intense
excitement from start to finish.

Soon on the Official Bulletin Board at the corner of Lane's way appeared
the first, telling that all of the teams had arrived in Solomon,
practically together, and had left shortly in the bitter wind that blows
in fierce gusts across the icy lagoons and sleet-swept beach.

Then in the low foot-hills had come milder weather; and the route was
fairly good, though it lay buried under freshly fallen snow through
which Baldy led, picking his way with unerring precision across the
trackless tundra. Now that he was in the open, away from noise and
people, he had settled down to a steady gait that promised much for his
endurance.

Sometimes in the glory of the April sunshine they passed other teams, or
other teams passed them; and sometimes there were hours when two teams
and possibly more met at the same relay camp.

There was never a hint here that the men were pitted against one another
in the fiercest rivalry of the North; for they were ever ready to help
their opponents to patch a broken harness, mend a sled, or care for the
dogs--just as, on the way, they give fair warning of overflows or other
obstacles. It is no race for those of weak bodies, mean minds or small
souls.

The dogs, however, carried the idea of rivalry to the point of personal
enmity, and watched ceaselessly for the opportunity to engage in a
diverting row. A row in which they might leave as many wounded on the
scene as would be caninely possible before human intervention. But this
was a vain aspiration; for every precaution was taken to guard against
fighting, and every leader slept with his driver to insure safety. Dogs,
like Death, love a shining mark, and the leaders are usually the real
victims of the fray.

Then came Candle, the end of the first half of the race, where the dogs,
after being cordially welcomed by the whole town, were checked off by
the appointed Judges, and their identification papers signed.

"O