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 counted. This country that stripped men's souls of all the finer qualities and left them nothing but blood and iron as a requisite for success.

Yet he and Silversheene had gloried in the life. The battle with the elements and the hard conditions had suited them both. But they were dominant spirits. A good fight was to their liking.

They had matched their strength and courage against the best that Alaska had to offer and had won, so they were well content. It was enough now to take life easy and think with a glow of pleasure of the great race and all the other hard conditions.

When Richard had come north the year before it had been springtime and the air was balmy, but now it was keen and almost cutting.

The gulls, the auks, the white geese and all the other northern birds were winging their way southward, and their numbers were amazing.

The autumn migration of the seals was