ng had only an hour's rest,
would likely be no match in speed for those attached to the
See-ne-mee-ute sledges; but they started nobly, spreading out like a fan
before the sledge and tugging at the breast-straps.

"Had Kalutunah been able to drive them, there might be more chance for
us, I thought; but Kalutunah remained unconscious, and I had all I could
do to hold both him and myself upon the swaying sledge.

"Without Kalutunah's voice and whip to guide them, the dogs turned aside
for very few obstructions, but tore over them all, nearly wrecking the
sledge at every leap. The pursuing sledges, guided by skillful drivers,
were therefore able to gradually creep up on us.

"I knew very few Esquimaux words, but I yelled to the dogs at the top of
my voice and managed to get 'em infused with some of my own fear, for
they sped over the ice-field as I had never seen them travel before.

"On, on we went! The wind cut my face--from which the hood had fallen
back--like a knife. I grew dizzy with the rush of air and the swaying of
the sledge. It was impossible to get a shot at my pursuers, while the
dogs were traveling at this rate; but I determined to make a desperate
stand against the four men, should they overtake us.

"For some reason or other, their dogs were not so superior in endurance
to Kalutunah's as I had feared. After first gaining on us a little, they
barely kept their pace for the first six miles. Then the speed began to
tell on my dogs and skillful driving on my pursuers'. My animals were
getting fagged out, and slowly but steadily I was being overhauled.

"Old Kalutunah had all the appearance of a dead man. For one dreadful
moment I was tempted to throw him off the sledge. Their burden thus
lightened, the dogs might be able to carry me safely back to the ship,
still far down the inlet.

"But this cowardly thought possessed me only an instant. I recalled the
old Esquimau's unselfishness in wanting me to escape and leave him when
he was wounded, and determined that, if I ever reached the Henry Clay
again, he should.

"The See-ne-mee-utes were close behind me now, urging their dogs on with
exultant cries. The foremost sledge was within fifty feet, and the other
directly behind it.

"Risking a disastrous tumble upon the ice, I rose upon my knees and
turned toward them, holding by one hand to the back of the sledge.
Kalutunah lay on the bottom, and I held his body from rolling off by the
pressure of my knees.