Had Curlie Carson possessed a guardian spirit he would beyond doubt have whispered in his ear:
“Curlie! Curlie Carson! Awake! You are in danger!”
But since he had none, he slept peacefully on.
CHAPTER XVII
A KNOTTY PROBLEM
Joe Marion and Jennings were facing a problem. They had returned to their camp after following what they thought was the trail of some other person than Curlie. You will remember that they had discovered the marks of a reindeer which had apparently been tied in the brush. This reindeer, they had concluded, belonged to some herder who had camped in the other clump of willows for the night. It was in fact the very reindeer which Curlie had found tangled in the brush. But this they did not know. And since they did not know it they supposed they had lost all trace of their companion and were more than half convinced that he had been frozen to death in the blizzard.
Now, under the circumstances, what were they to do? They had come a long and dangerous way to capture a man, the air outlaw. To get his man had been Curlie’s constant thought. He was doubtless getting farther and farther from them as the hours passed. They now had meat to last them three or four days. What should they do? Press on as rapidly as they could, leaving Curlie to find their trail and follow if he were still alive, or should they continue the search for him, circling the hills and the tundra with the dogs in the hopes of again picking up his trail?
“Might be still alive but with frozen feet, unable to travel,” suggested Joe.
“Yes, that has happened often in the Arctic!” said Jennings.
“But he has his belt radiophone set,” said Joe thoughtfully. “The air is quiet now. His balloon aerial would work beautifully. Why don’t—”
Suddenly he started. In his eager search for his companion he had neglected the radiophone.