“No, no. Men without snowshoes came this way.” Louis followed the tracks a little distance, then returned to his companions and the dogs, who had stopped for a rest. “There were three people,” he said positively, “two men; or a man and a boy,—and a woman.”
“How can you tell it was a woman?” demanded Neil sceptically.
“Where she broke through into soft snow there are the marks of her skirt.”
“Maybe it was a man wrapped in a blanket. They were probably Indians,” the Scotch boy suggested.
Louis shook his head. “Why should Indians travel without snowshoes?”
“Well, it’s no affair of ours how they traveled or why. What we want is a camping place. The wind strikes us here.”
“Yes,” Louis agreed, “we will go on and look for a better place.”
Along the terrace the dogs needed no guidance. Nose lowered, Askimé followed the human tracks. Where the terrace dipped down a little, the husky paused, raised his head, and howled. Louis ran forward and almost stumbled over something lying in the snow in the shadow of the slope. He uttered a sharp exclamation.
“What’s the matter?” called Neil.
“Have you found a good place?” asked Walter.