162 My Dogs in the Northland 



on ahead in the gloom of that stormy night. 

 He did not, however, go very far before he 

 quickly returned, with a cry of terror and 

 alarm, to his comrades. 



" We are on the thin ice over the rapid 

 current of the river," he shouted. " The dog 

 has saved our lives." 



It may be necessary here to explain that 

 while many large as well as small rivers 

 run into Lake Winnipeg, it has only one 

 outlet, the great Nelson River. So wide is 

 it at its mouth that in the gloom of night, 

 or when storms like, this one are raging, it 

 is quite easy for parties to run out on its 

 frozen surface without observing that they 

 have already left the lake. To do this is, 

 however, safe only when the cold is intense, 

 say from twenty to sixty degrees below 

 zero. But when anything warmer than this, 

 the ice wears thin from below and there is 

 the danger to all who venture on it as the 

 keen-scented, clever Voyageur discovered 

 and refused to pass over. 



A very brief investigation showed this to 

 be true, and there was a speedy retreat from 

 such a precarious position to stronger ice. 



Fortunately the discovery of the running 

 water under the thin ice indicated the local- 



