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28 WINTER TRAILS

of country stretched silent and trackless to the
horizon.

A mile or two of all that silence was from time to
time spanned by the barking of dogs, the distant
answer of roving coyotes or the tone of a man’s
voice. But the rebel sound lingered only for a
moment before it was absorbed into the wintry
stillness of forest and hill and frozen lake. The
Cassiar lay silent under snow.