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 thing was shipshape before the start. The load often had to be relashed to the sled if it had got to slipping. When everything was in readiness there came the clear call to mush and the sharp crack of the whip like the report of the rifle. The team sprang gladly into the traces and they were off for the long day's run.

It was through a lonely waste that they travelled. Usually their own last trail was the only track they saw. They heard few sounds save the howling of the wind and the creaking of the snow. If they did happen to hear the howl of the great white arctic wolf at night, the silence that followed was still more appalling. If the blue fox did puncture the silence with his sharp staccato bark, the stillness afterwards was still more pronounced. Often the arctic owl vied with the howling wind to make the night fearsome, but neither man nor dog heard the sounds, for they were sleeping the sleep of exhaustion.

Each noon Gene allowed himself half an