Page:Furcountryorseve00vernrich.djvu/79

 A WAPITI DUEL. 35 worthy to be your companion, and wherever you venture, we will venture together." " I agree, madam, I agree ; and may all the women and soldiers^ accompanying nie show themselves as resolute as you. If so, God helping us, we shall indeed advance far." " You have nothing to complain of yet," observed the lady. " Not a single accident has occurred, the weather has been propitious, the cold not too severe — everything has combined to aid us." " Yes, madam ; but the sun which you admire so much will soon create difficulties for us, and strew obstacles in our path." country ; that the melted ice will impede the sliding of the sledges • that the ground will become rough and uneven; that our panting dogs will no longer carry us along with the speed of an arrow ; that the rivers and lakes will resume their liquid state, and that we shall have to ford or go round them. All these changes, madam, due to the influence of the solar rays, will cause delays, fatigue, and dangers, the very least of which will be the breaking of the brittle snow beneath our feet, or the falling of the avalanches from the summits of the icebergs. For all this we have to thank the gradual rise of the sun higher and higher above the horizon. Bear this in mind, madam : of the four elements of the old creation, only one is necessary to us here, the air ; the other three, fire, earth, and water, are de trop in the Arctic regions." Of course the Lieutenant was exaggerating, and Mrs Barnett could easily have retorted with counter-arguments ; but she liked to hear his raptures in praise of his beloved country, and she felt that his enthusiasm was a guarantee that he would shrink from no obstacle. Yet Jaspar Hobson was right when he said the sun would cause difficulties. This was seen when the party set out again on the 4th May, three days later. The thermometer, even in the coldest part of the night, marked more than 32° Fahrenheit. A complete thaw set in, the vast white sheet of snow resolved itself into water. The irregularities of the rocky soil caused constant jolting of the sledges, and the passengers were roughly shaken. The roads wen^ 80 heavy that the dogs had to go at a slow trot, and the reins were therefore asrain entrusted to the hands of the imprudent Corporal
 * ' What do you mean, Lieutenant Hobson % "
 * I mean that the heat will soon have changed the aspect of the