had been the others. Frank was the next pulled out,
feet foremost. Sam was the last rescued. His tobogganing slide had
been abruptly ended by his being entangled in the harness of Frank's
train coming on behind him. Then it seemed to him as though the head of
the oncoming sled, like the cowcatcher on an engine, had picked him and
the dogs up, and in an instant more, he said, he was sent flying as from
a catapult into the drift, the instant the sled left the track. So far
ahead was he thus shot, that the sleds stopped before they reached him,
and so, although he was deeply buried, he was not run over.

Not one of the boys had a scratch or a bruise. The only discomfort was
that, in spite of big mittens and capotes, so much snow had found its
way where it was, to say the least, not very welcome. But it was light
and feathery, and was soon dusted off or shaken out, and then the work
was to get out and disentangle the dogs. This was no easy matter. Some
of them, in the wild rush down the hill, when struck by the sleds had
rolled over and over in such a way that their traces looked more like
ropes than anything else. Others of them were now in such uncomfortable
positions that they were howling most piteously for help, while others
that had happened to be thrown together, and perhaps each thinking that
the others were to blame for this mix-up, were as vigorously fighting as
their entanglement in their harnesses and sleds would allow.

After the rescue of the lads the Indians unfastened one of their most
powerful dog-trains from one of the other sleds and hitched it to the
rear of these buried ones, from which they had, with the snow shoes as
shovels, so thrown the snow that they could be reached. With a good
deal of effort and a great deal of fun they were pulled out one by one.
The dogs of each train were naturally indignant at thus being
unceremoniously dragged backward. As each sled and train were thus
hauled out and straightened in the trail, and the harness untangled, the
amount of damage could be ascertained. With the exception of a few
loose articles that were buried somewhere in the drift there was no
loss. It is true that some of the dogs seemed a little sore and stiff
for a few days, but beyond that there was nothing serious. Snow is a
capital substance in which to tumble if there is plenty of it.

This adventure, which was often talked about and caused many a hearty
laugh, delayed the party about a