After their second meal the journey was resumed, and by referring occasionally to his compass Howland observed that the trail was swinging gradually to the eastward.

Long before dusk exhaustion compelled him to ride once more on the sledge.

Croisset seemed tireless, and under the early glow of the stars and the red moon he still led on the worn pack until at last it stopped on the summit of a mountainous ridge, with a vast plain stretching into the north as far as the eyes could see through the white gloom.

The half-breed came back to where Howland was seated on the sledge.
"We are going but a little farther, M'seur," he said.

"I must replace the rawhide over your mouth and the thongs about your wrists.