284 TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 



ample room and a supply of spare blankets. After 

 a long chat over our doings, we turned in for the night 

 to waken to a clear, fine morning, with that crisp 

 invigorating feeling in the air which so often heralds 

 the day in Northern lands. A slight covering of 

 snow still lay upon the ground and trees, its glaring 

 whiteness shimmering in the morning sun, and stand- 

 ing out in sharp contrast to a dark background of 

 the sombre-garbed pine-trees. During the night 

 another foreboding of approaching winter had cast its 

 spell upon us, and a sharp touch of frost had made 

 the snow firm and crackling, in which our footsteps 

 left sharp imprints. On seeing this, at breakfast- 

 time Agnes suggested that they remained yet another 

 day with us, in order that we might together try to 

 track a bull moose in the snow. 



Cecily and Ralph set off in one direction, whilst 

 Agnes and I started out on the opposite side of 

 camp, and for reasons best known to ourselves each 

 party decided to dispense with the services of any 

 natives. We had not proceeded really far from camp 

 ere we came upon the tracks of moose, where a band 

 of three or four cows had crossed a well-worn moose 

 trail; but here we failed to see the track of any bull. 

 Once we struck the trail of a lynx, but the track was 

 partly covered up with snow, showing that the beast 

 had passed here early in the night, ere the snow 

 had ceased to fall. Towards noon we came across 

 the hoof-marks of a single bull moose, their size 

 was such, and the snow seemed so recently broken, 

 that we straightway elected to follow up this trail. 



