CHAPTER 5
Face to Face
A LEADEN sky and a wind increasing in intensity presaged a coming storm. It had been threatening since morning, and although Sergeant North knew that he could not outstrip it, yet he hoped to reach Big Chance before the trail became too heavy. The dogs were in fine trim, better than he had ever seen them. They seemed to realize the importance of the mission upon which they were bent, and the special need for haste. They sped along the narrow, winding trail, through forests, across inland lakes, up dreary stretches of wild meadows, and over desolate tracts, where trees withered by fire stood stark and bare. Pedro, a noble Malamute, long and lithe as a wolf, was the leader. Five of his companions were full-blooded huskies, of the Mackenzie River breed, surly and treacherous, but great workers. John, the wheel-dog, was the only mongrel, lazy, but of enduring strength and speed when forced by the stinging lash. For such a team of seven able and hardened brutes the load they drew retarded them but little. At times the sergeant, who guided the sled, and the constable, who followed after, found it all they could do to keep pace with the fleet animals.
Seated upon the sled, and well wrapped in robes and blankets, Marion Brisbane thoroughly enjoyed the trip through the wilderness. Never before had she been
drawn by such a noble team of dogs, and she never
47
