154 My Dogs in the Northland 



dian drivers with their snowshoes w T ould, in 

 Indian file, push on ahead and thus make a 

 beaten trail which made it easier work for 

 the dogs to drag the heavy sleds. 



One afternoon there was a glorious 

 phenomenon in the western sky. A hazy 

 sort of a cloud seemed to come up from be- 

 low the western horizon and to rapidly ex- 

 tend to the zenith. Then circle after circle 

 appeared around the sun, while in each one 

 of them mock suns shining in all colours of 

 the rainbow were for a time most vivid and 

 beautiful. Then as the haze increased, the 

 circles dimmed away and the sun itself be- 

 came the central point of a blazing cross of 

 most startling and wondrous beauty. There 

 for a time, in radiant glory, it shone in 

 splendour, while above it still lingered a 

 half-circle of one of the solar rings that an 

 hour before had been so vivid and distinct. 



But while these signs in the heavens 

 charmed and delighted the gentlemen of this 

 travelling party, they filled with anxiety 

 the minds of the experienced Indians. 

 These red men, well posted in such things, 

 knew that a fierce storm was coming, and 

 that these bright circles and that flaming 

 cross were the signs that even now there was 



