ey said you were mad! God, if more men were mad like you!"

II

Pichou's work at Seven Islands was cut out for him on a generous scale.
It is true that at first he had no regular canine labour to perform,
for it was summer. Seven months of the year, on the North Shore, a
sledge-dog's occupation is gone. He is the idlest creature in the
universe.

But Pichou, being a new-comer, had to win his footing in the community;
and that was no light task. With the humans it was comparatively easy.
At the outset they mistrusted him on account of his looks. Virgile
Boulianne asked: "Why did you buy such an ugly dog?" Ovide, who was
the wit of the family, said: "I suppose M'sieu' Scott got a present for
taking him."

"It's a good dog," said Dan Scott. "Treat him well and he'll treat you
well. Kick him and I kick you."

Then he told what had happened off the point of Gran' Boule. The
village decided to accept Pichou at his master's valuation. Moderate
friendliness, with precautions, was shown toward him by everybody,
except Napoleon Bouchard, whose distrust was permanent and took the
form of a stick. He was a fat, fussy man; fat people seemed to have no
affinity for Pichou.

But while the relations with the humans of Seven Islands were soon
established on a fair footing, with the canines Pichou had a very
different affair. They were not willing to accept any recommendations
as to character. They judged for themselves; and they judged by
appearances; and their judgment was utterly hostile to Pichou.

They decided that he was a proud dog, a fierce dog, a bad dog, a
fighter. He must do one of two things: stay at home in the yard of the
Honourable H. B. Company, which is a thing that no self-respecting dog
would do in the summer-time, when cod-fish heads are strewn along the
beach; or fight his way from one end of the village to the other, which
Pichou promptly did, leaving enemies behind every fence. Huskies never
forget a grudge. They are malignant to the core. Hatred is the wine of
cowardly hearts. This is as true of dogs as it is of men.

Then Pichou, having settled his foreign relations, turned his attention
to matters at home. There were four other dogs in Dan Scott's team. They
did not want Pichou for a leader, and he knew it. They were bitter
with jealousy. The black patch was loathsome to them. They treated
him disrespectfully, insultingly, grossly. Affairs came to a head
when Pecan, a rusty gray dog who had gre