r grows colder. Man and dog alike require
quantities of fat food in this climate; it is astonishing how much bacon
and butter one can eat. When the dogs have eaten, and each one has made
the rounds of all the other pans to be sure nothing is left, they retire
to their respective nests of spruce bough and curl themselves up with
many turnings round and much rearranging of the litter. Feet and nose
are neatly tucked in, the tail is adjusted carefully over all, the hair
on the body stands straight up, and the dogs have gone to bed and do not
like to be disturbed again.

[Sidenote: DOG-HARNESS]

Therein lies the cruelty of depriving them of their tails, which used
to be the general custom in this country. The old tandem harness almost
required it, as the breath of the dog behind condensed upon the tail of
the dog in front until he was carrying around permanently a mass of ice
that was a burden to him and rendered his tail useless for warmth. But
the rig with a long mid rope, to which the dogs are attached by
single-trees in such manner that they may at will be hitched abreast or
one ahead of the other as the trail is wide or narrow, is superseding
the tandem rig, and one sees more bushy tails amongst the dogs. The
thick, long-haired tail of the dog in this country is indeed his
blanket, and in cold weather the tailless dog is at a great
disadvantage.

It was said that all the dogs retired to the nests of spruce bough; it
should have been all but one. It is Lingo's special charge to guard the
sled and his special privilege to sleep on it. Turning around and
curling up on the softest spot he can find of the unlashed and partly
unloaded toboggan, he will not touch anything it contains nor permit any
other dog to touch it.

The northern skies are clouded the next morning, the first day of the
new year, and there is a ruddy dawn that is glorious to behold. The
white earth gives back a soft rose tint, as an organ pipe gives back a
faint tone to the strong vibration of another pipe in pitch with it. We
shall not see the sun himself any more for many weeks, but we see his
light upon the flanks of the mountains for an hour or so around noon.
The bold, shapely peaks of the South Fork of the Koyukuk turn their
snows to pink fire as his rays slowly descend their sides, and the
whole scene is exquisitely beautiful. What a wonderful thing colour is!
When the skies are overcast this is a dead black-and-white country in
winter, for sp