KOOT AND THE BOB-CAT 283 



wolves dashed from wooded ravines and stopped to look till Koot 

 fired a shot that sent them galloping. 



In the dark that precedes daylight, Koot camped beside a grove 

 of poplars — that is, he fed the dog a fish, whittled chips to make a 

 fire and boil some tea for himself, then digging a hole in the drift with 

 his snow-shoe, laid the sleigh to windward and cuddled down be- 

 tween bear-skins with the dog across his feet. 



Daylight came in a blinding glare of sunshine and white snow. 

 The way was untrodden. Koot led at an ambling run, followed 

 by the dog at a fast trot, so that the trees were presently left far 

 on the offing and the runners were out on the bare white prairie 

 with never a mark, tree or shrub, to break the dazzling reaches of 

 sunshine and snow from horizon to horizon. A man who is breaking 

 the way must keep his eyes on the ground ; and the ground was so 

 blindingly bright that Koot began to see purple and yellow and red 

 patches dancing wherever he looked on the snow. He drew his 

 capote over his face to shade his eyes ; but the pace and the sun 

 grew so hot that he was soon running again unprotected from the 

 blistering light. 



Towards the afternoon, Koot knew that something had gone 

 wrong. Some distance ahead, he saw a black object against the 

 snow. On the unbroken white, it looked almost as big as a barrel 

 and seemed at least a mile away. Lowering his eyes, Koot let out 

 a spurt of speed, and the next thing he knew he had tripped his 

 snow-shoe and tumbled. Scrambling up, he saw that a stick had 

 caught the web of his snow-shoe ; but where was the barrel for 

 which he had been steering ? There wasn't any barrel at all — 

 the barrel was this black stick which hadn't been fifty yards away. 

 Koot rubbed his eyes and noticed that black and red and purple 

 patches were all over the snow. The drifts were heaving and 

 racing after each other like waves on an angry sea. He did not go 

 much farther that day ; for every glint of snow scorched his eyes 

 like a hot iron. He camped at the first bluff and made a poultice 

 of cold tea leaves which he laid across his blistered face for the night. 



