THE JOURNEY OVER THE PACK ICE 231 



The dogs are getting hungrier now, and it is quite hard 

 work to feed them. It takes two men, one to chop the 

 pemmican into suitable pieces, another to keep the dogs away 

 with a club. The animals sit in a circle round the two men, 

 watching every movement with the greatest interest, their 

 tongues hanging out of their mouths and their eyes full of desire. 



DOGS WAITING TO BE FED. 



The pemmican, brittle with the cold, splits when struck with 

 the axe, and small splinters fly far and near, possibly so far 

 that a dog, daring the club, can reach it and ah ! it tastes 

 beautifully, and he licks his mouth delightedly while trying to 

 look as if he did not see the eight or nine pair of eyes turned 

 on him with the greatest disapproval of his lack of manners 

 and envy of his good luck. When the pemmican is split up the 

 feeding commences. Each dog gets his share and retires to a 

 far away corner to eat it in peace, but all the time he is keeping 

 a sharp look-out around him and showing his gleaming white 

 teeth with an ominous snarl whenever another dog comes too 

 close. For a couple of minutes everything is quiet. The dogs 

 are swallowing their food, the faster the better, and when it is 

 consumed they commence to stroll about, looking at their 

 comrades, greeted by a snarl and a snap whenever they come 

 near another dog who has a little pemmican left, and conse- 

 quently does not like to see a loafer around. Suddenly a big 

 dog discovers a smaller one who has yet a good-sized chunk left, 



