nkin' about un till we finds out. Dad says folk worry more about
things that don't happen than about things that do."

On they went in silence, tense with uncertainty, for another half hour.
Charley was thinking about what Skipper Zeb had said about worry when
they were in the camp at the Duck's Head, and Skipper Zeb's philosophy
helped him to keep his courage.

"Ah!" Toby suddenly shouted to the dogs, and they came to a stop at the
command. "She's gone abroad from the shore!" and he pointed at a long,
black streak of water between the ice and the shore ahead.

"What'll we do?" asked Charley in a frightened voice. "Can't we get to
land?"

"We'll try un to the west'ard," suggested Toby. "The ice'll hold the
shore longer there. 'Tis only half as far from here as we've come from
the p'int this side of Deer Harbour. There's a narrow place in the bay
where I'm thinkin' the ice may clog and hold."

With this he shouted "Ooisht!" to the dogs, and breaking the komatik
loose, "Ouk! Ouk! Ouk!" until they were pointing toward the opposite
shore of the bay, and farther inland.

"And you runs ahead of the dogs now," suggested Toby, "'twill help un to
work faster. I'll push un with the whip. Make toward the Capstan. That's
that round hill you sees over there," and Toby pointed to a lonely
mountain to the westward.

Charley set forth at a trot. His example, aided by Toby's threatening
whip, accelerated the speed of the dogs perceptibly, and the shore began
to loom up. But the sky had clouded, and presently a fine mist of snow
shut out the Capstan, which was Charley's guide, and at last the entire
shore line was clouded from view.

For some time the dogs had persisted in edging toward the right, which
was seaward, though Toby held them to their course with the whip. After
a little while he called to Charley to come back.

"I'm thinkin' you don't go straight since the snow comes and you can't
see the hill," he explained. "I'll be goin' ahead for a bit and you
drive."

"All right," agreed Charley. "I can drive the team, and you'll know the
way better in the snow."

Still the dogs were obstinate. They at once recognized the change in
drivers, and took advantage of Charley's inexperience. Charley used the
whip, but he could not handle it as effectively as a driver should, and
the dogs gave little heed to it. They insisted upon taking an angle to
the right of Toby's trail, and Charley found that he could not
straighten them ou