Page:Silversheene (1924).djvu/219

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to run much of the way behind the sled holding on to the gee pole.

The more the driver ran, the better chance there was to save the team for the finish. So it was really a race of endurance, for both man and dogs.

Weather conditions which would have killed a man from the States also had to be taken into consideration. Wind, frost, storms and snow would all conspire to retard the race and make it a stern battle with the elements all the way.

When the racing dog teams and their drivers finally assembled at Nome, Richard had never imagined there were so many people in all Alaska. There were all sorts and conditions of spectators, from every walk of life, so far as Alaska could furnish them. There were tradesmen ranging all the way from rich bankers, to bootblacks. Old grizzled miners with their weather-stained faces and "chechahcos" just arrived from the States. Indians, half-breeds and Eskimos, English, French, Swedes, Ca-