I hadn't any
idea how much there was to it till we begun t' train the dogs, an' talk
it over with your father. I was awful nervous last night, I don't
believe I slept hardly any, worryin' about the things that can go wrong,
no matter how careful you are."
"I didn't sleep any, either. I got t' thinkin' about Queen hatin'
Eskimos, an' chasin' 'em every time she gets a chance. It 'ud be a
terrible thing if she saw one out on the tundra, an' left the trail t'
try and ketch him; or if she smelled some of 'em in the crowd an' made a
break for 'em just when she ought t' be ready t' start. An' you know
there's bound t' be loads of Eskimos, 'cause they'd rather see a dog
race than eat a seal-blubber banquet."
"That's so; but Spot is good friends with all the natives 'round town,
an' he's stronger'n Queen, an' wouldn't leave the trail for anything but
snowbirds or rabbits, so he'd hold 'er down. An' I guess Baldy'd be
kinda neutral, 'cause he don't pay attention t' Eskimos or anything when
he's workin'. I never saw a dog mind his own business like Baldy. That's
worth somethin' in a race." The inactivity was becoming unbearable.
"George, if you and Ben'll get the dogs into harness, I'll go an' see
what's doin' with some of the others. It'll sort o' fill in time."
Ben and George hitched the dogs to the respective sleds after Spot, in
the exuberant joy of a prospective run, had dashed madly about, barking
boisterously, a thing absolutely prohibited in that well-ordered
household.
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