rk so hard,
eat and sleep so little, howl so much, and keep in good condition, is
ever an unsolvable riddle; but they are usually docile, pleasant of
disposition, and ready for any task.

The MacDougall party treated their animals kindly. Men must reasonably
do this in self defense. That a brow-beaten dog gives up and drops from
the race through sheer discouragement often happens; but well fed and
with considerate treatment a malamute will bravely work to the last
moment.

A few hundred miles farther east and these dogs would be exchanged for
"Hudson Bay huskies", or sent back over the trail to Dawson to be sold.
In case the MacDougalls "struck it rich" in the Indian country it was
imperative that they be provided with huskies, but for the present the
"malamute made much music", as Tom MacDougall laughingly remarked.

One day the party came upon the fresh tracks of a caribou. Made by
good-sized hoofs, the animal had gone toward the south apparently in
great haste. In a moment Pete was off with his rifle to the nearest
hill-top, stealthily but rapidly treading the soft, deep snow. The elder
MacDougall shouldered his gun and followed the trail of the animal whose
flesh he coveted as a feasting dish after living so long upon dried fish
and bacon.

For more than an hour the Canadian tracked his game. Pete, from the
hill-top, had sighted a tiny thread of blue smoke rising from the valley
on the other side, and knew that Indians, probably Peel River men, were
also upon the track of the animal, when instantly his enthusiasm in the
chase cooled.

He decided to follow MacDougall. If these were the Peel River Indians
they were far from their own hunting grounds, and must have driven big
game into this vicinity which they were loath to abandon. In case that
MacDougall should bring down the caribou he might get into trouble, and
Pete hastened on.

The cold, crisp air was intensely still. As he proceeded, with alert
ears, he heard a shot, angry voices in altercation, and a second shot,
when the now thoroughly awakened Indian hurried on in the footprints of
the Canadian.

One of the hunters would probably hunt no more; but which one was it?

He was not long in doubt. Coming suddenly upon them he discovered that
his fears were realized.

MacDougall stood sternly regarding a fur-dressed Indian lying dead upon
the snow. He and Pete exchanged glances.

"What's the matter?" asked Pete.

"He jumped upon me and declared the c