When Tom leaned against people confidingly, and put up his
paw in cordial greeting; and Dick and Harry, so much alike that it was
nearly impossible to tell them apart, stood waiting eagerly for the
inevitable words of praise, it was hard indeed to realize that their
perfect manners were a cloak for morals that rough, uncultured Baldy
would condemn utterly.
With the departure of the last boats of the summer there is no
connecting link with the great, unfrozen outside, except the wireless
telegraph and the United States Government Dog Team Mail that is brought
fifteen hundred miles, in relays, over the long white trail from Valdez.
Then, with the early twilight of the long Arctic winter, which lasts
until the dawn of the brilliant sunshine and pleasant warmth of May,
there come the Dog Days of Nome. Days that are heralded by an increased
activity in dog circles, a mysterious fascination that weaves itself
about all prospective entries to the races, and the introduction of a
strange dialect called "Deep Dog Dope," which is the popular means of
communication between all people regardless of age, sex or
nationality--from the Federal Judge on the Bench to the tiniest tots in
Kindergarten.
The town gives itself up completely to the gripping intensities and
ardors of this period when all dog men assemble in appropriate places to
talk over the prospects of the coming Racing Season. Accordingly George
and Danny were in the habit of meeting in the Kennel, each afternoon, to
consider the burning questions of the hour, with all of the certain
knowledge and wide experience that belonged to their mature years--for
George and Danny were seven and eight respectively.
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