tarted along
with them pulling a vigorous stroke. Toward night the weather grew very
cold.

Every drop of water that splashed into the boats was quickly frozen.
Paul's head covering was iced. About eleven o'clock he pulled
alongside the boats.

"Boys," he said, "this is going to be a rough night on you and the best
way for you to get along is to pull one hour, turn about and sleep one
hour. I will keep time and call you up."

The plan met with favor and was immediately put into execution. Creelman
was to pull the first hour and Baker rolled himself in the buffalo
robes and laid on the bottom of his boat. He was fast asleep in a
moment. At the expiration of fifteen minutes, Creelman softly called
Boyton alongside.

"Say, Captain, Baker hasn't pulled all the way do n from Bismarck. He's
fresh. Suppose we wake him up and you tell him it's twelve o'clock," he
suggested.

Paul fell in with the spirit of the joke and after pulling away from the
boat, he blew the bugle and aroused Baker with the information that it
was twelve o'clock. The Kansas City man took the oars and Creelman
rolled up for a good nap. After fifteen or twenty minutes, Baker
hailed Paul, who hauled up.

"Say, Captain, Creelman has pulled all the way down the river and is
innured to this sort of thing. I'm not. It's just about knocking me
out. Suppose you call him and tell him his hour is up."

"All right," said the Captain, and in a moment Creelman was rubbing his
eyes.

"Confound it, Captain. It seems to me that was an almighty short hour,"
he said.

"It's one o'clock," sung the Captain, "time's up. Creelman took the oars
without the least suspicion that Boyton would play a joke on him.

"Call Baker up again," he said to Paul after pulling several minutes,
and Baker was called up accordingly.

"By George," exclaimed Baker, rubbing his eyes, "I must have slept
awfully sound. It doesn't seem to me as though I have been down
ten minutes."

He went to work, however, and Paul enjoyed himself calling them up, each
thinking he had the best of the other. At three o'clock, they began to
scan the horizon for daybreak. According to the hours they had pulled,
it should have been five o'clock. As daylight did not appear, Creelman
began to grow suspicious and as Baker was called up again he saw
Creelman with a lighted match consulting his watch.

"What time is it?" inquired Baker.

"Three o'clock," replied Creelman in a mournfu