The two men, however, were quite cheerful.

And they were proud, too.

They were doing the thing in style, with fourteen dogs.

They had seen other sleds depart over the Pass for Dawson, or come in from Dawson, but never had they seen a sled with so many as fourteen dogs.

In the nature of Arctic travel there was a reason why fourteen dogs should not drag one sled, and that was that one sled could not carry the food for fourteen dogs.