Page:Hendryx--Connie Morgan with the Mounted.djvu/259

Rh hardened snow. On and on he flew, dipping now into a deep ravine and again topping a ridge or circling a low snow mountain. At noon he boiled a pot of tea at the place where the fugitives had evidently spent their first night in camp. A good twenty miles," muttered the boy. "To-night ought to put me within ten miles of Wurtz's cabin."

That night he camped in a patch of scrawny scrub, where the four had made their second night's encampment. And after feeding his dogs, he ate sparingly of the pemmican, drank a little tea, and boiled half of a fish. After supper he removed his carbine from its case, assured himself that it was in proper working order, and carefully went over his service revolver. Then, spreading his bed close beside the fire he rolled in.

He breakfasted before dawn and was surprised to see that only six dogs crowded to the fire in eagerness for their morning fish. In vain the boy called and whistled, and with a sudden fear in his heart, hurried to the edge of the scrub. A slight movement attracted his attention, and, peering through the bushes, Connie saw one of the missing malamutes rise slowly, stagger stiffly for a step or two,