“That’s the correct answer,” the hunter replied: “and we’re two of the luckiest dogs in the world to have the chance to do it in the style we can. If we hadn’t been given the chance to save all that plunder from the ship to-day we would be far better off to be in the bottom of the ocean with Mr. Ware and the other poor fellows. But we had the luck, and now we have a good even fighting chance to get back home. But it means work—work and hardships, such as you never dreamed of, boy. And yet we’ll do it, or I’ll hand in my commission as a land pilot.
“Did you notice those cans of stuff that you were throwing ashore to-day—did you notice anything peculiar about those cans?” Martin asked, a moment later.
“E—er, no I didn’t,” Larry hesitated. “Unless it was that some of the bigger ones seemed lighter than tin cans of stuff usually do.”
“That’s the correct answer again,” the old man nodded; “that’s the whole thing. They were lighter, for the very good reason that they are not made of tin. They are aluminum cans. They cost like the very sin, those cans do, many times more than tin, you know. But Mr. Ware didn’t have to think about such a small thing as cost, and when he planned this hunting trip, where every ounce that we would have to haul by hand or with the dogs had to be considered, he made everything just the lightest and best that money could get it made. If there was a way of getting anything better, or more condensed, whether it was food or outfit, he did it. And you and I will probably owe our lives to this hobby of his, poor man.
“Among that stuff that we unloaded to-day there are special condensed foods, guns, tents, and outfits, just made to take such a forced tramping trip through the wilderness as we are to take. You see Mr. Ware planned to go on a long hunt back into the interior of this land, a thing that has never been done at this time of year to my knowledge. And as no one knows just what the conditions are there, he had his outfit made so that he could travel for weeks, and carry everything that he needed along with him.
“So it’s up to us to take the things that Mr. Ware had made, and which we are lucky enough to have saved, and get back to the land where people live. In my day I have undertaken just as dangerous, and probably difficult things in the heart of winter; only on those trips I didn’t have any such complete equipment as we have here.
“Why, look at that sleeping bag, for example,” the old man exclaimed, pointing to one of the bags lying in the tent. “My sleeping outfit, when I hiked from upper Quebec clear to the shore of old Hudson’s Bay in the winter, consisted of a blanket. Whenever my fire got low at night I nearly froze. But mind you, I could lie out of doors in one of these fur bags without a fire on the coldest night, and be warm as a gopher. They are made of reindeer skin, fur inside, and are lined with the skin of reindeer fawn. So there are two layers of the warmest skin and fur known, between the man inside and the cold outside. Those bags will be a blessing to us every minute. For when we strike out across this country we don’t know what kind of a land we may get into. We may find timber region all the way, and if we do there will be no danger of our freezing. But it’s more than likely that we shall strike barren country part of the time where there will be no fire-wood; and then we will appreciate these fur bags. For I don’t care how cold it gets or how hard it blows, we can burrow down into the snow and crawl into the bags, and always be sure of a warm place to sleep.
“Then again, the very luckiest thing for us was the saving of those two dogs,” Martin continued. “If they had gone overboard with the other twelve I should be feeling a good deal sadder to-night than I am. For there is nothing to equal a malamoot dog for hauling loads through this country in winter. Look at this fellow,” he said indicating one of the big shaggy dogs curled up a few feet from the tent, caring nothing for the biting cold. “There doesn’t seem to be anything very remarkable about him, does there? And yet that fellow can haul a heavier load on a sled, and haul it farther every day, than I can. And his weight is less than half what mine is.
“The dogs that Mr. Ware had selected were all veteran sledge dogs, and picked because they had proved their metal. So we’ll give this fellow a load of two hundred and fifty pounds to haul. And he could do better than that I know if he had to.”
The wind, which had died down a little at dusk, had gradually risen and was now blowing hard again, and fine flakes of snow and sleet hissed into the camp-fire. The rock which sheltered the tent protected it from the main force of the blast, but Larry could hear it lashing its way through the spruce trees with an ominous roar. Martin rose and examined the fastenings of the tent, tightened a rope here and there, and then returned to his seat on the blankets.