et a
little wood and started a fire. There were a few spoonfuls of meal in
the bottom of the bag and a little end of bacon, mostly rind. The sort
of soup the dogs had had yesterday was good enough for men to-day. The
hot and watery brew gave them strength enough to strike camp and move
on. The elder man began to say to himself that he would sell his life
dearly. He looked at the dogs a good deal, and then would look at the
Boy, but he could never catch his eye. At last: "They say, you know,
that men in our fix have sometimes had to sacrifice a dog."

"Ugh!" The Boy's face expressed nausea at the thought.

"Yes, it is pretty revolting."

"We could never do it."

"N-no," said the Colonel.

The three little Esquimaux horses were not only very hungry, their feet
were in a bad condition, and were bleeding. The Boy had shut his eyes
at first at the sight of their red tracks in the snow. He hardly
noticed them now.

An hour or so later: "Better men than we," says the Colonel
significantly, "have had to put their feelings in their pockets." As if
he found the observation distinctly discouraging, Nig at this moment
sat down in the melting snow, and no amount of "mushing" moved him.

"Let's give him half an hour's rest, Colonel. Valuable beast, you
know--altogether best team on the river," said the Boy, as if to show
that his suggestion was not inspired by mere pity for the bleeding
dogs. "And you look rather faded yourself, Colonel. Sit down and rest."

Nothing more was said for a full half-hour, till the Colonel, taking
off his fur hat, and wiping his beaded forehead on the back of his
hand, remarked: "Think of the Siege of Paris."

"Eh? What?" The Boy stared as if afraid his partner's brain had given
way.

"When the horses gave out they had to eat dogs, cats, rats even. Think
of it--rats!"

"The French are a dirty lot. Let's mush, Colonel. I'm as fit as a
fiddle." The Boy got up and called the dogs. In ten minutes they were
following the blind trail again. But the sled kept clogging, sticking
fast and breaking down. After a desperate bout of ineffectual pulling,
the dogs with one mind stopped again, and lay down in their bloody
tracks.

The men stood silent for a moment; then the Colonel remarked:

"Red is the least valuable"--a long pause--"but Nig's feet are in the
worst condition. That dog won't travel a mile further. Well," added the
Colonel after a bit, as the Boy stood speechless studying the team,
"wha