There was no special fawning or
demonstration of affection; he was not that kind; that I might have from
any of the others; but from none but Nanook the bark of welcome with my
particular inflection in it that no one else ever got. "Well, well;
here's the boss again; glad to see you back"; that was about all it
said. For he was a most independent dog and took to himself an air of
partnership rather than subjection. Any man can make friends with any
dog if he will, there is no question about that, but it takes a long
time and mutual trust and mutual forbearance and mutual appreciation to
make a partnership. Not every dog is fit to be partner with a man; nor
every man, I think, fit to be partner with a dog.

Well, that long partnership was dissolved by the horse's hoof and I was
sore for its dissolution. There was none left now that could remember
the old days of the team save Lingo, and he grew crusty and somewhat
crabbed. He was still the guardian of the sled, still the insatiable
hand-shaker, but he grew more and more unsocial with his mates, and we
heard his short, sharp, angry double bark at night more frequently than
we used to. He reminded me of the complaining owl in Gray's "Elegy." He
resented any dog even approaching the sled, resented the dogs moving
about at all to disturb his "ancient solitary reign."

His work was well-nigh done, and old Lingo had honestly earned his rest.
With the end of this winter he would enter upon the easy old age that I
had designed for both of them. Lingo had never failed me; never let his
traces slack if he could keep them taut, never in his life had whip laid
on his back to make him pull; a faithful old work dog for whom I had a
hearty respect and regard. But he never found his way to my heart as
Nanook did. I loved Nanook, and had lost something personal out of my
life in losing him. There are other dogs that I am fond of--better dogs
in some ways that either Nanook or Lingo, swifter certainly--but I think
I shall never have two dogs again that have meant as much to me as these
two. All the other dogs were of the last two years and thought they
belonged to Arthur, who fed them and handled them most. But Nanook and
Lingo had seen boys come and boys go, and they knew better.

Six years is not very much of a man's life, but it is all a dog's life;
all his effective working life. Nanook had given it all to me,
willingly, gladly. He pulled so freely because he loved to pull. He
deli