CHAPTER XXTII. 
CHKISTMAS IN ALASKA. 
S the winter wore on, all the members of the 
expedition found that their clothes were becom- 
ing decidedly the worse for wear. 
" Why not make some more ? " asked Solomon. 
"No cloth! " 
" Humph ! A whole storeful running araound the 
woods on four legs ! " 
Solomon accordingly took Joe and Jim, the two Cana- 
dian Indians, and started off for a two-days hunt. They 
returned heavily laden with pelts. On being laid out, the 
furs were found to be long and silky, of a delicate, Mal- 
tese blue color. 
"Blue foxes," explained the hunter. "We struck a 
lot of 'em up towards the maountings. Lucky we've got 
plenty o' fish an' meat stored up fer winter," he added, 
with a grave shake of his head. " I've never seed game 
so scurce in my life. It's my belief that that 'ere big 
critter Peeschee saw has scared 'em all away. B'ars is 
denned up, and I haven't seen a sign o' deer nor moose 
sence we started." 
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