etter. Could
humility go further in making amends?"

And Baldy, who now saw the world through different and more friendly
eyes, learned that even the Woman was not wholly lacking in a certain
sense of discrimination as she had proved when she had felt the muscles
of his sturdy body and spanned the width of his broad chest with
unqualified approval.

After a complete rest of a week or more, the training began again; for
there was yet to be held the most important event of the year--the All
Alaska Sweepstakes, which takes place early in April.

The runs were much longer and harder than the preliminary dashes for the
Solomon Race; and sometimes they went back even to the Mountains which
rose, rugged and majestic, from the endless white wastes to a sky
brilliantly blue in the dazzling Arctic sunshine, or sodden and gray in
a storm.

Totally different in temperament and methods from Kid and Dubby, Baldy
manifested, nevertheless, many of the fundamental qualities that had so
distinguished those wonderful leaders. And in communion with "Scotty" in
their long hours of exercise, he not only began to understand the speech
and the touch of his hand, but also his unexpressed moods. He knew when
Allan was care-free, and satisfied with the team, or was discouraged by
some unexpected act of stupidity or disobedience, though no syllable was
spoken.

Not long before the Big Race, several unfortunate things happened in
the Kennel to make Allan believe it was, as the "Wonder Workers"
solemnly declared it, a "Hoodoo" year for the dogs. Rover wrenched his
shoulder in a friendly tussle with one of the Mego pups, Tom cut his
foot badly on a bit of broken glass, and Baldy developed a severe cold
that made him feverish and short of breath.

It seemed at first as if they might not be able to enter a team at all,
so many accidents combined against them; but the lure of the contest was
too much for "Scotty." "We'll do our best. Lots of teams go in that are
no stronger than ours at its weakest, and every entry that drops out
makes it less interesting. Then don't forget the luck of the trail, in
which you believe so thoroughly. Remember the Solomon Derby."

"I don't believe in working luck over time," she answered. "However, if
you really think it would make any difference in the sport, of course
we'll go in. I know you can do better," confidently, "with a poor team
than most men with a good one."

But "Scotty" shook his head decidedly. "D