along the snow while laughed till the tears ran down his face there followed days and days of the cruel whip that like the wind over ice and his companions all bit him because he did not know his work and the harness him and he was not allowed to sleep with any more but had to take the in the passage it was a sad time for the the boy learned too as fast as the dog though a dog is a heart breaking thing to manage each beast is � the nearest to the driver � by his own separate trace which runs under his left fore leg to the main where it is fastened by a sort of button and which can be slipped the second book by a turn of the wrist thus one dog at a time this is very necessary because young dogs often get the trace between their hind legs where it cuts to the bone and they one and all will go visiting their friends as they run jumping in and out among the traces then they fight and the result is more mixed than a wet fishing line next morning a great deal of trouble can be avoided by scientific use of the whip every boy himself as being a master of the long lash but it is easy to at a mark on the ground and difficult to lean forward and catch a dog just behind the shoulders when the is going at full speed if you call one dog s name for visiting and accidentally lash another the two will fight it out at once and stop all the others again if you travel with a companion and begin to talk or by yourself and sing the dogs will halt turn round and sit down and hear what you have to say was run away from once or twice through forgetting to block the when he stopped and he broke many and ruined a few ere he could be trusted with a full team of eight and the light then he felt himself a person of consequence and on smooth black ice with a bold heart and a quick elbow he smoked along over the as fast as a pack in full cry he would go ten miles to the and when he was on the hunting grounds he would a trace loose from the and free the big black leader who was then the dog in the team as soon as the dog had scented a breathing hole would reverse the driving a couple of that stuck up like handles deep into the snow so that the team could not get away then he would crawl forward inch by inch and wait till the seal came up to breathe then he would down swiftly with his spear and running line and presently would haul his seal on to the lip of the ice while the black leader came up and helped to pull the across the ice to the that was the time when the dogs and with excitement and laid the long lash like a red hot bar across all their faces till the stiff going home was the heavy the loaded had to be humoured among the rough ice and the dogs sat down and looked at the seal instead of pulling at last they would strike the well worn road to the village and ki along the ringing ice heads down and tails up while struck up the na na ne the song of the returning and voices hailed him from house to house under all that dim star sky when the dog came to his full growth he enjoyed himself too he fought his way up the t the second book team steadily fight after fight till one fine evening over their food he the big black leader the boy saw fair play and made second dog of him as they say so he was promoted to the long of the leading dog running five feet in advance of all the others it was his duty to stop all fighting in harness or out of it and he wore a collar of copper wire very thick and heavy on special occasions he was fed with cooked food inside the house and sometimes was allowed to sleep on the bench with he was a good and would keep a ox at bay by running round him and snapping at his heels he would even � and this for a dog is the last proof of bravery � he would even stand up to the gaunt wolf whom all dogs of the north as a rule fear beyond anything that walks the snow he and his master � they did not count the team of ordinary dogs as company � hunted together day after day and night after ni t � fur wrapped boy and savage long haired narrow eyed white yellow brute all an has to do is to get food and skins for himself and his family the women folk make the skins into clothing and occasionally help in small game but the bulk of the food � and they eat � must be found by the men if the supply fails there is no one up there to buy or beg or borrow from the people must die an does not think of these chances till he is forced to and the boy baby who kicked about the hood and pieces of all day were as happy together as any family in the world they came of a very gentle race � an seldom loses his temper and almost never strikes a child � who did not know exactly what telling a real lie meant still less how to steal they were content to spear their living out of the heart of the bitter hopeless cold to smile smiles and tell queer ghost 