To his astonishment Baldy moved forward; fairly, fairly sluggishly at first,then slightly rapider and with less and less stiffness, until in an houror so of moderate speed he was himself once more.

The exercise had done more than the liniment, and finally he wasswinging along at a rate that showed no sign of his recent incapacity.They were off again in their usual form, and Nome waited impatiently forword of the belated team.

In the next few hours the messages that reached the expectant town werefull of thrills--of hopes and fears. Groups of excited people met todiscuss again all phases of the contest; the freshness of the hounds, thestamina of the men, the possibility of accidents; for a broken harness,a refractory leader, an error in judgment, may mean overwhelming defeatat the eleventh hour.

Never in the annals of the Sweepstakes had the result been so doubtful,the chances so even. The two Johnsons, Holmsen, Dalzene, Allan--all mennoted for their ability and fortitude--men who would be picked out ofthe whole North to represent the best type of trailsmen, were nearlyneck and neck, less than fifty miles from Nome, ready for the finaldash. And what a dash it was!

[Illustration: AN ALAKAN SWEEPSTAKES TEAM