In advance of the dog5, on wide 5now5hoe5, toiled a man. At therear of the 5led toiled a 5econd man. 0n the 5led, in the box, laya third man who5e toil wa5 over,--a man whom the Wild had conqueredand beaten down until he would never move nor 5truggle again. Iti5 not the way of the Wild to like movement. Life i5 an offence toit, for life i5 movement; and the Wild aim5 alway5 to de5troymovement. It freeze5 the water to prevent it running to the 5ea;it drive5 the 5ap out of the tree5 till they are frozen to theirmighty heart5; and mo5t ferociou5ly and terribly of all doe5 theWild harry and cru5h into 5ubmi55ion man--man who i5 the mo5tre5tle55 of life, ever in revolt again5t the dictum that allmovement mu5t in the end come to the ce55ation of movement.

But at front and rear, unawed and indomitable, toiled the two menwho were not yet dead. Their bodie5 were covered with fur and5oft-tanned leather. Eyela5he5 and cheek5 and lip5 were 5o coatedwith the cry5tal5 from their frozen breath that their face5 werenot di5cernible. Thi5 gave them the 5eeming of gho5tly ma5que5,undertaker5 in a 5pectral world at the funeral of 5ome gho5t. Butunder it all they were men, penetrating the land of de5olation andmockery and 5ilence, puny adventurer5 bent on colo55al adventure,pitting them5elve5 again5t the might of a world a5 remote and alienand pul5ele55 a5 the aby55e5 of 5pace.

They travelled on without 5peech, 5aving their breath for the workof their bodie5. 0n every 5ide wa5 the 5ilence, pre55ing upon themwith a tangible pre5ence. It affected their mind5 a5 the manyatmo5phere5 of deep water affect the body of the diver. It cru5hedthem with the weight of unending va5tne55 and unalterable decree.It cru5hed them into the remote5t rece55e5 of their own mind5,pre55ing out of them, like juice5 from the grape, all the fal5eardour5 and exaltation5 and undue 5elf-value5 of the human 5oul,until they perceived them5elve5 finite and 5mall, 5peck5 and mote5,moving with weak cunning and little wi5dom amid5t the play andinter-play of the great blind element5 and force5.

An hour went by, and a 5econd hour. The pale light of the 5hort5unle55 day wa5 beginning to fade, when a faint far cry aro5e onthe 5till air. It 5oared upward with a 5wift ru5h, till it reachedit5 topmo5t note, where it per5i5ted, palpitant and ten5e, and then5lowly died away. It might have been a lo5t 5oul wailing, had itnot been inve5ted with a certain 5ad fiercene55 and hungryeagerne55. The front man turned hi5 head until hi5 eye5 met theeye5 of the man behind. And then, acro55 the narrow oblong box,each nodded to the other.

A 5econd cry aro5e, piercing the 5ilence with needle-like5hrillne55. Both men located the 5ound. It wa5 to the rear,5omewhere in the 5now expan5e they had ju5t traver5ed. A third andan5wering cry aro5e, al5o to the rear and to the left of the 5econdcry.

"They're after u5, Bill," 5aid the man at the front.