AND KAYAK 71 



One moment it came groaning up to the level 

 of the land ; the next it sank away and left 

 a leap of several feet. The dogs went scram 

 bling over, glad to get on to something firm ; 

 but the drivers held the sled back until the 

 ice began to rise, and then with a yell they 

 started the dogs again and bumped across the 

 crack just as it came up level. A second too 

 soon or too late would have meant smashing 

 the front of the sled to splinters ; and as we 

 drew on to the land I looked back and saw 

 the ice dipping again behind us, and my com 

 panion s dogs coming on to take their turn. 



Johannes looked over his shoulder to see 

 that we were safe, and then started on foot, 

 ahead of his dogs, to show the track. It 

 seemed a long way over the headland, uphill 

 and down, and always through soft snow ; 

 and all the morning that little man trotted 

 on, knee -deep in snow, lifting his feet high to 

 run the more easily, and keeping the same 

 steady pace, hour after hour, with the dogs 

 hard at his heels. Sometimes he got on faster 

 than the dogs, especially where the snow was 

 deep and they had practically to swim because 

 they could not get a foothold, and then they 

 had much ado to catch him up again. 



So through the day we toiled on, with 

 Johannes ever leading, and in the dark of the 



