170 My Dogs in the Northland 



themselves with a thousand weight of fish 

 on the sled as to try and run down a young 

 dog, even if old Voyageur did desire it. 



Thus completely foiled in this as in every 

 other scheme his dog intellect could devise, 

 Voyageur suddenly collapsed. His proud, 

 eager, ambitious spirit was completely 

 broken. His high head with that ever alert 

 eye went down and the long tail tried to 

 disappear between his hind legs. A look of 

 utter despair, or rather discouragement, 

 took possession of him, and he just mechani- 

 cally slouched along like a frightened wolf. 



Quickly detecting this I at once unhar- 

 nessed the young dog from before him and 

 thus left him in his coveted place as the 

 leader. 



As he still seemed disconsolate I spoke a 

 few cheery words to him : 



" Poor old dog, so you don't want a young 

 supplanter to take your place. I am sorry 

 you feel so badly about it and so I will not 

 vex you in this way again." 



But it was too late. The mischief was 

 done, Voyageur's heart was broken. He 

 never forgave me, and he never held up his 

 head again with the old-time dash and 



