With Wild Dogs Under the Auroras 41 



stimulate their pace, as, to the sole music 

 of their little bells, they rapidly sped along. 

 They seemed also to startle something else, 

 for out from a rocky island on our left, 

 there dashed a splendid black fox. He was 

 indeed a beauty, and so vivid was the Au- 

 rora that I had a very fine view of him, as 

 he rapidly hurried across our trail and 

 struck out for a well-wooded, rocky island, 

 perhaps half a mile on our right. 



The sight of him very much excited my 

 dogs. Home, and their comrades and ken- 

 nels, were for the time forgotten, and away 

 from the home trail they dashed in wild, 

 excitement after that fox. How far they 

 would run in the pursuit, I could not tell, 

 but every moment was taking us farther 

 from the trail, and if it were once lost, 

 could we find it again? 



Thus I had to do a lot of thinking in a 

 very short time and quickly decide what 

 to do. We had come about half of the dis- 

 tance and there being at least fifteen miles 

 yet to run, it was not safe to be madly rac- 

 ing after a fox out on this great lake. So 

 I resolved to break the silence, and to turn 

 the dogs into the home stretch, even if I had 

 to fight them. The preparations necessary 



