84 My Dogs in the Northland 



happen to come along. What makes it the 

 more dangerous is the fact that there is not 

 the slightest evidence of its existence, until 

 the unfortunate traveller is about falling 

 into it. The result is there are some narrow 

 escapes and, at times, some very serious 

 accidents. One night I had taken the place 

 of my guide, who had so badly injured his 

 knee that he was unable to do his work. 



While I was running on ahead of my 

 trains, facing towards the North Star, I 

 happened to glance down at the glassy sur- 

 face of the frozen lake, over which we were 

 now rapidly travelling. At once, I was al- 

 most startled by the vividness of the reflec- 

 tion of the stars, in what at first seemed to 

 be the ice, but a few yards in front of me. 

 On I hurried, and just as I was about to 

 plunge into it, to my horror I saw that it 

 was open water! Suddenly stopping my- 

 self, I whirled round and shouted, " Chas- 

 quaw ! " to my dogs and Indians, who were 

 close at my heels. It was a wonder, even to 

 the old experienced Indians, how I had es- 

 caped. There was not the least coating of 

 ice on the placid water, that here stretched 

 out for unknown miles each side of us and 

 was some yards in width before us. It was 



