it was, too, often the boss had to retrace
his steps due to overflow or an impassable
situation. Now a shaft-dog had no sine-
cure, and every terrible mile of that
journey was paid for by the most back-
breaking toil I think I’ve ever put in. Of
the many trips up and down the Dease,
that was the worst of all.

It was a sorely tried team of sleigh
dogs that stopped at the “little old log
cabin ‘neath the pines” of our good friend
silly Noel that Christmas Eve. Naturally
we stayed over the Yuletide with our ap-
propriately named host and feasted royally
on delicious moose meat—all we wanted
of it. I know you won't believe it, but
when we reached McDames Creek we
had spent 23 days in travel on a trip that
would ordinarily take 10 days. So we
licked our paws and rested, preparing for
the next patrol.

The remainder of that winter was spent
in making routine patrols and hauling
logs to a nearby sawmill. We were slow-
ing down a bit as Rum and Rye were
getting pretty old for the arduous work,
in fact, this was the last season they pulled
a load. Brownie was acting up, too; he’d
been shot at once by the fur-trader at
McDames in mistake for a wolf. He hid
in a swamp behind the Post for two or
three days, and when he reappeared it
was a mighty wild and nervous sleigh
dog. He never recovered his composure
and was always very jumpy—specially if
he heard a rifle-shot.

The following summer we were moved
to Lower Post where there was all sorts
of activity. The Alaska Highway was
changing the tempo of the whole North
Country. When we first visited Lower
Post some six or seven years before, it

BURNABY GARAGE

BOB THOMSON, Prop.
GAS AND OIL GENERAL REPAIRS
SHELLUBRICATION

Telephone N.W. 1592-L-1
1869 Kingsway
NEW WESTMINSTER, B. C.

} Mr. and Mrs. Frank Mainfroid, Proprietors
Modern Heated Cabins at Reasonable Rates
Trailer 24-Hour
Accommodations Service Station
Telephone N.W. 3527-R3

1957 Kingsway New Westminster |

SUNSHINE MOTEL

BUILDERS’ HARDWARE
MARSHALL-WELLS PAINTS AND
VARNISHES

DExter 3290
3398 Kingsway NEW WESTMINSTER

LYNCH HARDWARE

Page Sixty-eight

was the most isolated spot you could wish
for. And now—why they even had buses
and jeeps at the Post. Noisy things with
the stink of gasoline on ’em.

First SiGHT oF NEGROES

We had nice new kennels now, while
all sorts of men in uniform (but not like
policemen at all) came to look at us and
talk to us in their slow drawl. Some of
these men—American soldiers they were
—had faces blacker than the darkest In-
dians, they had a different smell, too. All
of them took pictures of us and we became
accustomed to being stared at by chee-
chakos.

Poor old Rum, my father, died about
this time. He'd been ailing for some time
so it came as no surprise. We missed his
giant figure very much in the team. We
knew his harness would be a difficult one
to fill, but it was handled very capably
indeed by a young dog with a fair degree
of training.

Though it may seem curious, the Indian
dogs get the best and earliest training—
though not the best of care. The children
play continually with the pups and fit
them with tiny harness, making them pull
on a miniature sleigh. So when the pups
get big and strong it is just a matter of a
sizable harness and a heavier load. They
already know all the words of command,
having heard them since before they were
weaned.

Winter 1943-44. We were out on patrol
again, going was pretty good, about eight
inches of soft snow covering Blue River
—a large tributary of the Dease. We'd
completed a trap-line check up and were
heading for home, following a trail down-
stream. All was going well, when the
boss paused to fix his snowshoe harness.
We continued on the trail going round a
curve of the river.

Out of the corner of my eye I could
see the constable cutting straight across
unbroken snow to catch up to us. I knew
he shouldn't have done it, I could antici-
pate trouble—and sure enough it came.
River snow can be very deceptive, with
open water just under the surface. That’s
just what the master walked into, and in a
second he crashed into black rushing
water.

Now when you travel with a toboggan
you always have a long drag rope dangling
behind for controlling the load on a sharp
hill or a side-hill or some sort of emerg-
ency. I saw the boss make a grab for the
rope, clutch it like a drowning person,
and then he yelled at us one single word:
“Mush !”

As far as I was concerned he didn’t need
to yell, I could see the whole thing coming
up, so I put my head down and pulled for
all I was worth. The other chaps had
paused when they heard the shout, and
turned around in confusion; but I know
a good boss when I have one, so put all |
had into it. The water must have been
dragging greedily to pull him under the
ice for it took all my strength—and I’m

SAFE DOD

GOOD FOOD
In the Heart of the Tourist Camp District

4048 Kingsway S. BURNABY

eee

4028 KINGSWAY Telephone:
(At McKay) DE xter 2972

THISTLE MEAT MARKET

Choice Quality
FRESH AND CURED MEATS
FRESH FISH DELICATESSEN
POULTRY
Try Us for Quality and Courteous Service
BILL CRONIN, Manager

—————————

BAILEY’S
HARDWARE

4012 KINGSWAY

(At McKay)
BURNABY B.C

& MEN’S FURNISHINGS
STORES

3966 and 3968 Kingsway
at McKay, B.C.

CITY PRICES RELIABLE GOODS
E. PITMAN, Prop.

McKAY DRY GOODS

JAMES. LIND

Member of Associated Merchants
of B.C. Ltd.

GROCERS

4032 Kingsway BURNABY
DE xter 0296-L

For
“BK COMPLETE PRINTING SERVICE”
Call
SOUTH BURNABY PRESS

R. J. Plowright - F. C. Wilson
N. W. 1942
2060 KINGSWAY NEW WESTMINSTER

|
|
|

WHELAN’S CONFECTIONERY

DExter 2780
@ FOUNTAIN SERVICE
@ LIGHT GROCERIES |
@ MAGAZINES
@ STATIONERY

Kingsway at Royal Oak

Burnaby

THE SHOULDER STRAP