OLD KOLLEK GETS CAUGHT 



if he had made up his doggy mind to straggle. 

 And round that rock he would not go. Perhaps he 

 was in a brown study: perhaps he was sulky: 

 straight on he went, outside dog right enough, but 

 the wrong side of the rock. Now came the trouble. 

 Away rushed Johannes to lift the trace over ; but 

 before he could reach it Kollek was whining and 

 whistling with terror as the weight of the sledge 

 drew it tight and dragged him backwards. Poor 

 dog ! he planted his feet as firmly as he could on the 

 frozen snow, and did his best to withstand the 

 strain ; but the sledge went calmly on, and Kollek 

 slithered frantically backwards. In a twinkling he 

 was plump up against the rock, and then he could go 

 no further. 



There was a twang as of a giant fiddle- string 

 when the trace broke, and Kollek was free. The 

 trace trailed limply behind, while the dog scurried 

 away to his place in the team. 



There he trotted, with shoulders forward and nose 

 down, looking as if he were pulling as hard as the 

 best dog in the country, but sly old rascal, looking 

 back every now and again to see if Johannes was 

 after him with the whip. 



I never saw my drivers do much work with the' 

 whip. They always had one with them, but used it 

 mostly for turning the team. Eskimo dogs are often 

 disobedient; they sometimes take absolutely nc 

 notice of the orders which the drivers shout at them :\\ 

 and when our dogs behaved like that Johanna* 

 would give them a gentle hint by lashing the whif 

 over the snow. That brought them to their senses 

 For a few minutes they would have obeyed i 



whisper. 



160 



