his head; he heard the patter of snow as it fell from the bending
limbs; from out of a patch of darkness two trees, rubbing slightly
against each other, emitted a shivering wail that startled him--it had
seemed so like the cry of a child. He was straining his ears so tensely
to hear, and his eyes to see, that he forgot the soreness of his knees
and ankles. Now and then the dogs stopped while Mukoki and the Missioner
dragged a log or a bit of brushwood from their path. During one of these
intervals there came to them, from a great distance, a long, mournful
howl.

"A wolf!" said Father Roland, his face a gray shadow as he nodded at
David. "Listen!"

From behind them came another cry. It was Baree.

They went on, circling around the edge of a great windfall. A low wind
was beginning to move in the tops of the spruce and cedar, and soft
splashes of snow fell on their heads and shoulders, as if unseen and
playful hands were pelting them from above. Again and again David caught
the swift, ghostly flutter of the snow owls; three times he heard the
wolf-howl; once again Baree's dismal, homeless cry; and then they came
suddenly out of the thick gloom of the forest into the twilight gray of
a clearing. Twenty paces from them was a cabin. The dogs stopped. Father
Roland fumbled at his big silver watch, and held it close up to his
eyes.

"Half-past four," he said. "Fairly good time for a beginner, David!"

He broke into a cheerful whistle. The dogs were whining and snapping
like joyous puppies as Mukoki unfastened them. The Cree himself was
voluble in a chuckling and meaningless way. There was a great
contentment in the air, an indefinable inspiration that seemed to lift
the gloom. David could not understand it, though in an elusive sort of
way he felt it. He did not understand until Father Roland said, across
the sledge, which he had begun to unpack:

"Seems good to be on the trail again, David."

That was it--the trail! This was the end of a day's achievement. He
looked at the cabin, dark and unlighted in the open, with its big white
cap of snow. It looked friendly for all its darkness. He was filled with
the desire to become a partner in the activities of Mukoki and the
Missioner. He wanted to help, not because he placed any value on his
assistance, but simply because his blood and his brain were imposing new
desires upon him. He kicked off his snow shoes, and went with Mukoki to
the door of the cabin, which was fasten