Page:Silversheene (1924).djvu/229

 word or gesture brought immediate response.

So, with only the stars and the pale light of the moon and the aurora, the teams sped on through the darkness. Whenever the pace began to slow down the men would spring from the sled and run by the gee pole.

Dick had thought himself a great runner before he came to Alaska as he held the Marathon record for American colleges, but this cross country mile on mile was quite a different affair. It pulled upon the muscles as no Marathon ever did.

What tired him and lamed him the most was the slipping and sliding. If the footing had been uniform that would have been one thing, but to have one's feet constantly slipping and sliding was quite another. This also required more wind even than did the Marathon races, for here it was a case of running hour after hour without stopping to rest. When he was utterly exhausted he would throw himself face down