26 The Musk-ox 



deep into a strange land to lose me ; thus in the 

 great silent land we raced grimly, with death 

 trailing the steps of each. The dead-white sur- 

 face reaching out before me without ending 

 seemed to rise and to fall as though I travelled a 

 rocking ship ; and the snow and the rocks danced 

 around my whirling head in a grinning, glisten- 

 ing maze. When I fell, which frequently I did, 

 it seemed such a long time before I again stood 

 on my feet ; and what I saw appeared as though 

 seen through the small end of field-glasses. 



I was in a dripping perspiration and had 

 dropped my fur capote and cartridge-belt after 

 thrusting half a dozen shells into my pocket. 

 On and on I ran, wondering in a semi-dazed 

 way if the musk-oxen were really on the other 

 side of the ridge. Finally the ridge took a sharp 

 turn to the north, and as I reached the top of it, 

 there about one hundred yards ahead were 

 two of the musk-oxen running slowly but directly 

 from me. Instantly the blood coursed through 

 my veins and the mist cleared from my eyes ; 

 dropping on one knee I swung my rifle into posi- 

 tion, but my hand was so tremulous and my heart 

 thumped so heavily that the front sight wobbled 

 all over the horizon. I realized that this might 



