134 My Dogs in the Northland 



if I had slipped or missed him, he would 

 have killed me. But I did not miss him. 

 My muscles were strong and hardened by 

 the vigourous exercise of that wild North- 

 land, and so it was possible for me to strike 

 a blow like a blacksmith. Big as he was and 

 weighing nearly two hundred pounds, he 

 went down under that blow as though shot. 

 His recuperative power seemed marvellous. 

 Again and again he came for me, but in 

 every instance I was thus able to throw him 

 over. At length he began to lose heart in 

 his rushes, and then, after receiving a spe- 

 cially ugly clip on the jaw, his opposition 

 ceased and all the fight seemed suddenly to 

 go out of him, and there the great big fellow 

 lay sprawled out on the ground and coolly 

 looking at me. 



Now, for the first time since the com- 

 mencement of the conflict, I spoke to him : 



"Jack! What do you mean by this? I 

 am ashamed of you ! Come here ! Come at 

 once ! How dare you act like this ! " 



Thus talking to him, I stretched out one 

 of my hands to him, aud at once he began 

 crawling towards me. As he slowly came 

 crouching to my feet and the big tail began 

 wagging, I saw that the dog was conquered. 



