CHAPTER XII 



MY DRIVERS Two JONATHANS MY Box OLD KOLLEK GETS 

 CAUGHT A SNOW HOUSE A WOLF A NINETY-MILE TROT 

 A PARTRIDGE ON THE ROAD MY FROZEN NOSE 



AFTER a little experience of Eskimo sledge 

 XX travelling, I decided that I should get on 

 better if I chose two men as permanent drivers. 

 So I appointed Julius and Johannes to the position. 



Julius is a big, burly fellow, not more than five 

 feet three or four inches tall, but with a magnificent 

 pair of shoulders. He must weigh fourteen or 

 fifteen stone, and can lift almost anything. To see 

 him hoist my big sledge this way and that, a weight 

 that I could hardly shift at all, was a constant 

 delight to me. The big man did it so easily, and 

 always with the same gentle smile on his broad 

 face ; he never bothered to clench his teeth and 

 draw deep breaths, he simply lifted things as if they 

 were nothing. " Yes," said I, 6t that is the man for 

 me." So Julius became head driver. It was a wise 

 choice : there was never any trouble while he was in 

 charge, and the sledge never upset or ran away as 

 sledges sometimes do. 



Johannes is a sort of pocket edition of Julius. 

 He has the same delightfully happy smile, whatever 

 there is to do, and the same willing energy ; but 

 the man himself is small and slim, and active as 

 an eel. Each of these men possesses an Eskimo 

 surname, and the names just happen to fit them. 



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