ever, to their joy they found that others had
also overslept themselves. Even Mr Ross himself, who was one of these,
declared that the capital outing of the previous day had done him a
great deal of good, as he had not slept so well for a long time.

The events of yesterday and the anticipations of the present day were
discussed with great animation. The boys were questioned as to the
style and disposition of the dogs they each desired, and the methods
they intended to pursue in their training. Frank wanted his to be
strong and powerful, able to carry him over any difficult place and able
to draw any reasonable load assigned him. Alec's ambition was for a
swift train, that he might have all the fun and excitement of rapid
travelling.

"All right," said Sam, "but give me the darlings with any amount of
mischief and tricks in them. Those are the dogs for me."

A hearty laugh from all greeted Sam's queer wish.

"I think, as regards the tricks, we can easily satisfy you," said Mr
Ross. "And it will be amusing to see how a young Irish gentleman can
circumvent them; for you will find out, before you get through with
them, that tricky dogs are not only very clever, but very provoking, in
some of their deals."

Mr Ross had been very careful for years in the selection and breeding
of his dogs. There is as much difference between good and bad dogs as
there is between high-spirited horses and miserably lazy ones. The
hardy Eskimo was still the prevailing element in his dogs. There were,
however, many crosses with some of the finest breeds of civilisation,
such as the English mastiff, the Newfoundland, and the large Scottish
staghound. Dogs are considered old enough to be broken to harness when
they have reached their ninth month. They should not, however, be
expected, no matter how willing, to draw very heavy loads until they are
considerably older. They are much more easily trained when young, and
are not so apt to be sullen and ugly as are dogs which are only broken
in after they have reached the age of two or three years.

Soon after breakfast and prayers an early visit was made to the kennels.
The boys were desirous of having the pleasure that morning of giving
the dogs their breakfast. They were very much surprised, however, when
informed that the dogs were only fed once a day, and that that one meal
was given to them in the evening, when their day's work was done. This
information at first aroused their s