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 just. He was not merciful but drove with his long whip and his curses.

So life went on day after day. Each morning there was the harnessing up of a team that hated the trail and wanted to shirk and get away from this drudgery. Each day they were driven cruelly and brutally until they often lay down in the harness and refused to move. Each night they fought like wolves over the dried fish in spite of all old Wolf could do, and after feeding time they went sullenly to their beds in the snow, or wearily to linger about the campfire. With each day the dissensions among the dogs grew and the rancor between Wolf and Silversheene increased until finally François had to put Silversheene back as the wheel dog. This almost broke Silversheene's heart and he laid it up against Wolf as another thing that he would some day punish him for.

By the end of the first week François had covered about three hundred miles. Three of the dogs had gone lame and limped pain-