Page:Silversheene (1924).djvu/111

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

to outdo his fellow. Finally when they were fully trained their greatest joy was to stand ready for the harness and their greatest ambition to aspire for Wolf's position at the head of the team.

Of course there were some dogs who were without ambition, just as there are men, but if a dog had any spirit he was always looking to promotion to the lead position.

Silversheene took to the snow like a duck to water. His forbears had revelled in it for untold ages so he came back to his own with great zest. He also surprised Gordet with the quick way in which he mastered the harness, but that also was a part of his inheritance, for one of his immediate ancestors had drawn Peary to the pole, while others had drawn heavily loaded sleds over the icefloes and the snowdrifts of the frozen arctic from time immemorial.

Silversheene had some trouble with the snow which gathered between his toes as he travelled and made him fvotsore, but he soon learned to lie upon his back and gnaw