JOHANNES IN A STORM 



were out of sight ; I could hear no sound of them 

 above the roaring of the wind, and there was 

 nothing to be seen but the main hauling trace 

 quivering away into the drift and the white floor 

 slipping past. 



As long as daylight lasted I could understand 



how the drivers found the way, because all the flying 



snow seemed to be whipped up from the floor, and 



in the occasional lulls of the wind we caught sight of 



the cliffs and mountains alongside of us. In fact, 



when the sledge rose up to cross a neck of land we 



gradually drew above the drift, and could look back 



and see the sea-ice covered with a rushing cloud of 



powdery snow that seemed like driven smoke. But 



when night fell, and the storm roared louder, I began 



to wonder how we should fare. The dogs were tiring, 



and would not turn ; they wanted the storm behind 



them ; and when all landmarks were swallowed up in 



the drift and the darkness, and there was nothing for 



me to see but an occasional glimpse of the stars or 



the dull glow of the drivers' pipes as they stuffed the 



tobacco down with their thumbs, little Johannes 



pulled off his sealskin dicky and I knew that he 



was going to run ahead. " Sit on the sledge, or you 



will get lost," he yelled, and trotted into the dark. 



It seemed hours before I saw him again, and then I 



suddenly found him beside me. " Are you cold ? " he 



: shouted, and slipped off the sledge again to join Julius 



i where he was wrestling, with hands and teeth, with 



! the frozen and tangled traces. I hardly knew that 



! the sledge had stopped, but presently Johannes ran 



i off again, and there was a mighty jerk as the dogs 



got up to follow him. The next stop was dramatic. 



Miles and miles we seemed to have run, when sud- 



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