In the nature of the work they could not, nor in their own natures were they given to talking while they worked.

At rare intervals, when necessary, they addressed each other in monosyllables, Kama, for the most part, contenting himself with grunts.
Occasionally a dog whined or snarled, but in the main the team kept silent.

Only could be heard the sharp, jarring grate of the steel runners over the hard surface and the creak of the straining sled.
As if through a wall, Daylight had passed from the hum and roar of the Tivoli into another world--a world of silence and immobility.

Nothing stirred.

The Yukon slept under a coat of ice three feet thick.