ly
happen before they reached the bottom.

Once a dog's trace caught over a rock. The dog was sent sprawling, and
Charley expected that the speeding komatik would strike and crush the
helpless animal. But fortunately the trace slipped over the top of the
rock just in time for the dog to escape, and in a moment it was on its
feet again, racing with its companions.

They had covered two-thirds of the descent, when to their horror the
boys saw a ribbon of black water, several yards in width, separating
the shore from the sea ice. They were dashing directly toward it at
tremendous speed, and Charley was sure that they could not avoid a
plunge into its cold depths.

"Roll off!" Toby shouted.

Charley rolled clear of the speeding komatik, pitching over and over,
and finally sliding to a stop, dazed and bewildered, but in time to see
the komatik, bottom up, at the very brink of the chasm. Toby was
sprawling just above it. The dogs, with traces taut, stood above him
bracing themselves to hold the sledge from slipping farther.

"Oh!" cried Charley running down to Toby, who was up and righting the
komatik before he could reach him, "I was sure we were going over!"

"We were wonderful close to un!" said Toby. "When you drops off, I jerks
the front of the komatik and that makes she turn over and roll, and when
I does un the dogs stops and holds fast. If 'tweren't for that we'd sure
gone into the water and liker'n not been drowned."

"What'll we do now?" asked Charley. "We can't reach the sea ice."

"Follow the ballicaders," said Toby, indicating a narrow strip of ice
hanging to the shore above the water. "'Twere careless of me not to
think of the open water. This early in winter 'tis always like this
above and below the tickle."

For nearly an hour they traveled upon the ice barricade. Sometimes it
was so narrow that Charley's heart was in his mouth in fear that the
komatik would slip over the brink. But Toby was a good driver, and at
last they came in safety to the end of the water, with the ocean solidly
frozen as far as they could see.

Here they turned upon the sea ice, and presently left the shore behind
them to cross a wide bay. The sun was setting, and they were approaching
land on the opposite shore of the bay, when Toby remarked:

"We're most there. Deer Harbour's just around that p'int you sees
ahead."

Just before dusk they drove up to the little log house and trading store
of Skipper Cyrus Blink, and glad