hundred pounds
on his back, he arose on hands and knees. But he got no farther. One arm
sank to the shoulder, pillowing his cheek in the slush. As he drew
this arm clear, the other sank to the shoulder. In this position it was
impossible to slip the straps, and the hundred-weight on his back would
not let him rise. On hands and knees, sinking first one arm and then the
other, he made an effort to crawl to where the small sack of flour had
fallen. But he exhausted himself without advancing, and so churned and
broke the grass surface, that a tiny pool of water began to form in
perilous proximity to his mouth and nose.

He tried to throw himself on his back with the pack underneath, but this
resulted in sinking both arms to the shoulders and gave him a foretaste
of drowning. With exquisite patience, he slowly withdrew one sucking arm
and then the other and rested them flat on the surface for the support
of his chin. Then he began to call for help. After a time he heard the
sound of feet sucking through the mud as some one advanced from behind.

"Lend a hand, friend," he said. "Throw out a life-line or something."

It was a woman's voice that answered, and he recognized it.

"If you'll unbuckle the straps I can get up."

The hundred pounds rolled into the mud with a soggy noise, and he slowly
gained his feet.

"A pretty predicament," Miss Gastell laughed, at sight of his
mud-covered face.

"Not at all," he replied airily. "My favourite physical-exercise stunt.
Try it some time. It's great for the pectoral muscles and the spine."

He wiped his face, flinging the slush from his hand with a snappy jerk.

"Oh!" she cried in recognition. "It's Mr.--ah--Mr. Smoke Bellew."

"I thank you gravely for your timely rescue and for that name," he
answered. "I have been doubly baptized. Henceforth I shall insist always
on being called Smoke Bellew. It is a strong name, and not without
significance."

He paused, and then voice and expression became suddenly fierce.

"Do you know what I'm going to do?" he demanded. "I'm going back to the
States. I am going to get married. I am going to raise a large family
of children. And then, as the evening shadows fall, I shall gather those
children about me and relate the sufferings and hardships I endured on
the Chilkoot Trail. And if they don't cry--I repeat, if they don't cry,
I'll lambaste the stuffing out of them."

The arctic winter came down apace. Snow that had come to stay lay