It was nine o'clock, and after ten before he again took up the pursuit of the two sledges.
Not until several hours later did he give up hope of overtaking Isobel and her father as he had planned, and he reproved himself roundly for having overslept.

The afternoon was half gone before he struck their camp of the preceding evening, and he knew that, because of his own loss of time, Isobel was still as far ahead of him as when he had left Lac Bain.
He made up some of this time by following the trail for an hour when the moon was at its highest, and then pitched his tent.

He was up again the next morning and breaking camp before it was light.

Scarcely had he traveled an hour over the clear-cut trail ahead of him when he suddenly halted his dogs with a loud cry of command and astonishment.

In a small open the trails of the two sledges separated.