Samuel Alexander White

“ They stared at the breast of the whizzing slide, and the aurora, flaming abruptly, painted darkly against the white the out lines of a man, five huskies, and a sled. Like a phantom dog-train it seemed, riding a ghost-trail through snow-swept space; but, when it hit a felled pine-tree, careened and came to rest upon the crest of the hog-back above Ten-Mile Cache, Sark and Bassett knew it for a material-outfit. ”

“ Then, as he grasped the gee-pole to mush on again, there came the shrill sound of sledge-runners on the beaten trail, and the muffled whine of punished dogs.
Sark paused and looked back curiously.
Around the bend flashed another sledge, drawn by five lean malemiuts and driven by a seeming lunatic. The seeming lunatic lay face down, holding on to the sledge with his left hand and plying the whip with his right. The wind of his going had blown back his parka-hood so that it flapped uselessly on his shoulders. But the man did not appear to know or care. ”

“ Like a thunderbolt the team sprang away under the lash and dashed up the trail.
⁠SO RAPID and so unexpected was Bassett’s move that his sled had gained a great lead before the crowd even made a break. Then, uttering furious cries, the men jumped for their own outfits. But the denseness of the crowd hampered free movement of teams and sleds. There were several jams before the chase was fairly started, and the lost minutes caused by those jams allowed Bassett and Sark to near the bend as their pursuers topped the first hog-back above the Cache. ”