ask God to bless their little children at home.

Now, though time still sped on, silence possessed the forest--until:

"Hurrah, _mes bons hommes_! _Levey, levey, levey_! Up, up up, up,
up!" ending in a shrill yell from the guide startled the drowsy crew.
It was three o'clock in the morning. Had it not been for the
brilliancy of the Northern Lights all would have been in darkness. An
obscure form bent over an ash-bed and fumbled something. A tiny blaze
appeared and rapidly grew until the surrounding forest was aflare.
Over the fires frying-pans sizzled, while tea-pails heaped with snow
began to steam. A hurried breakfast followed. The sleds were packed.
The dogs, still curled up in the snow, pretended to be asleep.

"Caesar! Tigre! Cabri! Whiskey! Tête Noire! Pilot! Michinass!
Coffee! Bull! Brandie! Caribou!" shouted the men. A few of the dogs
answered to their names and came to harness while some holding back
were tugged forward by the scruff of the neck. Others were still in
hiding. The men searched among the mounds and bushes. Every now and
then the crack of a whip and the yelp of a dog announced the finding of
a truant. Two trackers on large snowshoes had already gone ahead to
break the trail. It was easy to follow their tracks though the woods
were still in darkness and remained so for several hours. At dawn
Oo-koo-hoo and our little outfit parted company with the Dog Brigade.
Already the packet was many miles ahead. As I turned on my western
way, I thought of the work of these postmen of the wilderness, of the
hardships they endured, and the perils they braved; and the Chief
Factor's assertion that no packet had ever been lost beyond recovery,
recalled to mind other stories that were worth remembering: For
instance, a canoe express was descending the Mackenzie River; the canoe