"One day geeve snow time to settle an' mak' more bon goin'," he assured them.
By noon they had interviewed probably nearly everyone in the village, Jules going with them and introducing them. They found the people universally courteous and eager to be of service, but they learned no more than they already knew. It was evident that neither their uncle or Long had confided in anyone, keeping their destination a secret.
The next morning they got an early start. Although it would be several hours before the sun would make its appearance, it was not dark as the moon was full. The dogs had indeed profited by their day's rest and had fully recovered their eagerness or pep as Jack put it. It was twenty-five degrees below zero when they drove off after thanking their host and hostess for their kindness.
"We ver' glad to have you an' hope you find your uncle all right an' hope you stop longer time on way back," Jules Lamont told them as he shook hands.
"We'd sure like to and will if we can," they assured him.
"He's a mighty fine man," Bob said as soon as they were out of the village.
"And his wife's a queen if there ever was one," Jack added.
"If you've got any more friends like them up this way just lead us to them," Bob told Lucky.
"Jules, heem best, but they some others," Lucky said.
Their way now lay straight up the river and, as the snow had settled, they were able to make better time especially as they found that two or more teams had been ahead of them and broken a fairly good trail.