Connie Morgan in Alaska

miled down at him in the light of the flickering fire. The rich aroma of boiling coffee and the a

o. 'Cause if I know anything about it, we'll sure know we've

the gloomy gorge in which Sam Morgan's boy found himself held prisoner when the huge

got good an' asleep. What time is it?" he

d the boy extending a

hree hours till daylight-Ain't

up. "But if you wait for daylight to come down into the bott

he only one that offered a serious problem. It was decided that Connie should remain below and make the things fast, while Waseche climbed to the top and did the hoisting. A sling was rigged from a strip of old blanket, by means of

lling himself jerkily upward, hand over hand, while Connie Morgan stood below and watched the indistinct outline of

ular taps of his ice axe sounded, as Waseche chopped his "heel holts" as close to the edge as safety permitted.

set,

and were trustworthy and tractable only in harness. This accomplished, they submitted readily enough and, beginning with the "wheel dogs," one at a time, Connie passed the sling about them and cast off the harness at the same time. Waseche hauled them, snarling and biting at the encircling band, up the face of the perpendicular wall. Old Boris and good-natured Mutt submitted without a growl of protest; but it was different with the untamed savage Slasher. D

Passing a running noose about the long pointed muzzle, he secured the free end to the collar, and to make assurance dou

ve allowed himself to be torn in pieces. But he feared for Waseche Bill when he came to release him. Despite the fact that he had lived with Waseche for a year, the dog treated him no whit differently than he treat

fending off from the wall with feet and hands. At length he reached the top and the strong arms of Waseche helped him over the edge. After a brief rest, both laid hold of the re

e day, and it was well after noon when they sat d

he perpendicular walls of the yawning chasm. "Put her there, pardner," he said, gravely ext

"Yo' mout of." But the boy noticed that Wa

d the remainder of the day and that night they camped at th

wn their own home-like we do-when they built it with their own hands, you know-a fellow gets

ntangling, and stepping to the boy's side

all. I thought it was the squa'h thing to do-but I've learnt a heap since, that I didn't know then. Tell me, son, if yo' love the cabin so,

n't the same any more. I-I hated the pla

boy-an' yet-" his voice became suddenly husky, and he turned away: "Folks calls Sam Mo'gan

've come off an' left 'em all, an' neveh a onct was I homesick. But this time I was-

ts were ready

eed fo' twenty-one dawgs. I 'lowed to run acrost meat befo' now-caribou, or moose, or sheep-but this heah Lillimuit's as cold an' dead as the outeh voids that the lecture felle

was no wind, and in the narrow canyon sounds were strangely magnified. The squeak of sled runners on the hard, dry snow sounded loud and sharp as

h's I c'n make out it ain't be'n used fo' mo'n a month. I tell y

ed furtively at his partner and was quick to note the man's evident uneasiness. Mile after mile they mushed in silence. The fragmentary conversation of the earlier hours ceased, and each experienced a growing sense of exhaustion. The motionless air hung heavy and dead about them. Its vitality was

kept his eyes open, although they had been scarcely five hours on the trail. His head felt strangely light and hollow, and white specks danced before his eyes. He closed his eyes and the specks were red. They danced in the darkness, writhing and twisting like fiery sna

jerky steps. He wondered vaguely at this, for it was not Waseche's way. This passing thought vanished, and again his mind reverted to the all-important question: would Waseche camp? He would ask him. He filled his lungs-then, suddenly t

-hurry!" The man's voice was lo

ed this, and also that instead of waiting alert, with cocked ears and watchful eyes for a word of co

arried into the cavern. Waseche made another trip into the canyon while the boy sank down upon his rolled sleeping bag and stared stupidly at the dogs huddled together in the farther end of the cave, their eyes gleaming greenly in the darkness. A quarter of an hour later the man returned with a huge armful of gnarled, grubby brushwood t

le!" He stirred uneasi

muttered, sleepil

fee-jest climb outside of this, an'

eping bag. Before turning in, however, he stepped to the door and looked out. He was surprised that it was yet daylight and th

a sudden panic. "One, two, three, f

the man at his side,

! Look! Can y

count 'em." The man'

here is only one real sun!

got to camp heah till-" He

" he asked,

me say. Tonight-the flashin' lights, an' the blood-red aurora-tomorrow, a thousan' suns in the sky. They ain't no wind, an' the air is dead-de

t?" asked the

do'no, kid-t

led him with an unnamed dread. The strange hissing was not continuous, but broken and interrupted by a roaring crackle, like the sound of a burning forest. But there was no forest-only ice and snow, and the glittering peaks of ranges. With a trembling hand he r

bound at the terrible splen

the long stretch of canyon that their viewpoint commanded. Upon the green ice at the entrance to the cavern the lights showed violet and purple. The boy stared spellbound at the terrible splendour of the changing lights, while above the hiss and crackle of the aurora he could hear the whimpering and moaning of the terrified dogs. He shrank back into his sleeping bag, pulling the flap tight to keep out the awful sights and sounds, and lay for hours waiting for something to happen. But no

out of this heah Lillimuit-an' we got to get out on what we got with us. I don't reckon the

k the other night,

all the clost yo' even get to 'em. Outside of white goats, them

t surprise, when, after breakfast, instead of packing the o

"An' me'be not tomorrow-if the wind don't

w f

s, me'be-me'be half a m

che. What's going to happen? And

. I've hea'd it spoke of, only I somehow-I neveh believed it befo'. As fo' the robe-hold yo' brea

ousand suns seemed dancing in the cloudless sky. As upon the previous day, the air was filled with dancing white specks, and the suns glared with a glassy, yellow brightness. They looked wet and shiny, but their lig

f the robe and drew

nswer Waseche shifted his position, reached swiftly beneath the bottom of the robe, and withdrew from