ty hours later, Johnny found himself sitting sleepily on the edge of
one of the deer sleds. The reindeer, unhitched and tethered, were
digging beneath the snow for moss. The storm had subsided and once more
they had journeyed far. The Jap girl was buried deep beneath the furs on
the other sled.

Johnny was puzzling his brain at this time over one thing. They had
followed a half covered, ancient trail due north for two days. Then a
fresh track had joined the old one. It was the track of a man with dog
team and sled. This they had followed due north again, and two hours
ago, while the deer were resting and feeding, Johnny had detected the
Jap girl in the act of measuring the footprints of the man who drove the
dog team.

She had appeared troubled and embarrassed when she knew that he had seen
what she was doing. Notwithstanding the fact that there had been no sign
of guilt or treachery in her frank brown eyes, Johnny had been
perplexed. What secret was she hiding from him? What did she know, or
seek to know, about this man whose trail had joined theirs at an angle?
Could it be? No, Johnny dismissed the thought which came to his mind.

He had dismissed all his perplexities, and was about to abandon himself
to three winks of sleep, when something on the horizon attracted his
attention. A mere dot at first, it grew rapidly larger.

"Dog team or reindeer on our trail," he thought. "I wonder."

From beneath his parka he drew his long blue automatic. After examining
its clip, he laid it down on the sled with two other clips beside it.
Then he drew the two knives also from his belt; the one he had secured
at the time of the street fight in Vladivostok, the other had belonged
to the Chukche who had attacked him. For the twentieth time he noted
that they were exactly alike, blade forging, hilt carving, and all. And
again, this realization set him to speculating. How had this brace of
knives got so widely separated? How had this one found its way to the
heart of a Chukche tribe? Why had the Chukches attempted to murder the
Japanese girl and himself? Had it been with the hope of securing wealth
from their simple luggage, or had they been bribed to do it? Once more
his brain was in a whirl.

But there was business at hand. The black spot had developed into a
reindeer, driven by a man. How many were following this man Johnny could
not tell.

CHAPTER IV

A NARROW ESCAPE

As Johnny stood awaiting the arrival of the st