ntense frost, and
when several of the trappers arrived Robertson suggested that his
guests had better accompany a man who was going some distance south
with a dog team. He could, however, only spare them a scanty supply of
food, and they knew that a long forced march lay before them when they
had left their guide.

Day was breaking when the dogs were harnessed to the sledge, and
Harding and his companions, shivering in their furs, felt a strong
reluctance to leave the factory. It was a rude place and very lonely,
but they had enjoyed warmth and food there, and their physical nature
shrank from the toil and bitter cold. None of them wished to linger in
the North, and Harding least of all, but it was daunting to contemplate
the distance that lay between them and the settlements. Strong effort
and stern endurance would be required of them before they rested beside
a hearth again.

There was no wind, the smoke went straight up and then, spreading out,
hung above the roof in a motionless cloud; the snow had a strange
ghostly glimmer in the creeping light, and the cold bit to the bone.
It was with a pang they bade their host farewell, and followed the
half-breed, who ran down the slope from the door after his team.
Robertson was going back to sit, warm and well-fed, by his stove, but
they could not tell what hardships awaited them.

Their depression, however, vanished after a time. The snow was good
for travelling, the dogs trotted fast, and the half-breed grunted
approval of their speed as he pointed to landmarks that proved it when
they stopped at noon. After that they held on until dark, and made
camp among a few junipers in the shelter of a rock. All had gone well
the first day, Harding's leg no longer troubled him, and there was
comfort in travelling light with their packs upon the sledge. The
journey began to look less formidable, and gathering close round the
fire they ate their supper cheerfully while the dogs fought over the
scraps of frozen fish. Harding, however, had some misgivings about
their ability to keep the pace up; he thought that in a day or two it
would tell on the white men.

Nothing disturbed their sleep, which was sound, for the cold has less
effect on the man who is fresh and properly fed. Breakfast was quickly
dispatched, and after a short struggle with the dogs they set out
again. It was another good day, and they travelled fast, over a
rolling tableland on which the snow smoothed ou