Nomads of the North: A Story of Romance and Adventure under the Open Stars

place in Neewa. Challoner did not see it, and Miki was unconscious of it. But every fibre in Neewa's body was atremble,

E SMELLED HIS MOTHER! And then he discovered that the scent of her was warm and strong in the furry black mass under

s low and grief-filled call for HER. And there was no answer, except Miki's responsive whine, the crying of one child for another. Neewa's mother did not move. She made no sound. And he could see nothing of he

its one good ear and its one bad one, and furthermore beautified by the outstanding whiskers inherited from his Airedale ancestor-he was trying to come to some sort of an understanding. At the outset he had accepted Neewa as a friend and a comrade-and Neewa had thanklessly given him a good mauling for his trouble. That much Miki could forgive and forget. What he could not forgive was the utter lack of regard which N

ter of a stream that was making its way down the southward slope of the divide between Jackson's Knee and the Shamattawa. It was a new stream to Challoner, fed by the large lake above, and guarding himself against the treachery of waterfall and rapid he kept a keen lookout ahead. For a matter of half an hour the water had been growing steadily swifter, a

r which he must make the portage, and this was the shore opposite him and farthest away. Swinging his canoe at a 45-degree angle he put all the strength of body and arms into the sweep o

long and lanky, so that when the paw landed squarely on the end of Neewa's nose it was like the swing of a prize-fighter's glove. The unexpectedness of it was a further decisive feature in the situation; and, on

Spitz and an Airedale and something is bound to come of it. While the Mackenzie dog, with his ox-like strength, is peaceable and good-humoured in all sorts of weather, there is a good deal of the devil in the northern Spitz and Airedale and it is a question which li

ir again, but this time his sharp teeth were firmly fixed in the loose hide under Neewa's neck, and with his paws he continued to kick and bat in a way that promised effectively

ther as they sped swiftly toward the doom that awaited them, and a choking cry broke from Challoner's lips. He was power

his master to fasten him to the same rope with Neewa. Miki, at three months of age-weight, fourteen pounds-was about 80 per cent. bone and only a half of 1 per cent. fat; while Neewa

s belly; but no matter what his position, he kept his four overgrown paws going like paddles. To an extent this helped Neewa in the heroic fight he was making to keep from shipping too much water himself. Had he been alone his ten or eleven pounds of fat would have carried him down-stream like a toy balloon covered w

nscious of the roar in his ears, but the affair was less unpleasant than it was at the beginning. In fact, he was drowning. To Neewa the pleasant sensations of a painless death were denied. No cub in the world was wider awake than he when the fin

t was two feet or two leagues. His paws had ceased to operate and he had given himself up entirely to his fate. But Neewa came up again, and Miki followed, like a bobber. He was about to gasp his last gasp when the force of the current, as it swung out of t