BALDY OF NOME 



Then there was the more pleasant road 

 through the woods from Council to Tim- 

 ber Road House; and so on and on 

 through Solomon and Safety, till the 

 course was almost covered. 



To Baldy that wonderful homeward 

 run was blurred by the fierce excitement 

 at the end. He dimly recalled the miles 

 upon miles of glaring whiteness ; the joy 

 of those moments when they left their 

 rivals far behind them on the Trail ; and 

 of fatigue, held in check by a new and 

 strange exaltation. He had a certain 

 scornful pity 'for several of the dogs who 

 had given in to the exhaustion of the long 

 hours of traveling and were being carried 

 as passengers on the sled that they might 

 recuperate for the final desperate dash 

 for Nome. And what a dash it was! At 

 Fort Davis, four miles down the coast, 

 there was the booming of a cannon in 

 welcome, which was an inspiration to 



[53] 



