The Frenchman shouted a command to the dogs, and they at once came to a halt and sat down on their haunches.
“Pardon moi,” he laughed. “I forgeet, you not so used to go fast. We take leetle rest, oui, and then we go not so fast, hey?”
“Not so fast is right,” Jack laughed, as he leaned against a big spruce. “These long legs of yours just naturally seem to eat up space, but ours aren’t so long.”
While they were resting Bob attempted to pet the dogs, but low, deep throated growls warned him not to get too friendly.
“They no like strangers,” Jacques explained. “Take um three four days geet quainted, then they make friend all right if um like you.”
“I think I’ll take your word for it,” Bob laughed. “That big leader has sure got a dandy set of teeth and he looks as though he’d rather enjoy taking a sample out of my leg.”
In a few minutes they were off again, but now, in obedience to a command from Jacques, the dogs set a more moderate pace. Still it was, as Jack declared, plenty fast enough, and at the end of another hour Bob had to call a second halt. At ten o’clock they reached the spot where they had spent the first night of the trip, and here they stopped to cook their dinner and feed the dogs.
“We mak de carry by seex o’clock eef all goes well,” Jacques declared as he began to harness the dogs again.
As a matter of fact they did a little better than his estimate, for at half-past five the lights of the little settlement hove in sight.
“Hello, just in time to eat. Hurry up and take a seat,” was Ezra Kimball’s greeting as they pushed open the door of the store. “Did you get the deed, or had he too much lead?” he asked as soon as they were fairly inside.