"Now then, Tumbu! Good dog!" said Roy in a flutter for fear of failure.

Tumbu turned round, looked at his little master with a broad grin of red tongue and white teeth, gave a little grunt, and started.
The sledge slid on over the frozen snow quite easily! "Now praise be to God!" cried Foster-father, overjoyed.
"And Grand-dad!" said the little Prince, who always listened to everything; "but I knew he would help us, didn't you, Bija ?" "But I want to go on the thing, too," she whimpered.
"Mayhap it might support them both," put in Head-nurse; "she is but a featherweight, and there is plenty of room." Ere five minutes were over the little party, greatly heartened up by finding this unexpected way out of their difficulties, started once more, Roy encouraging Tumbu, who, in truth, seemed to feel his task quite a light one, while Foster-father, in his relief and gratitude, allowed Down, the cat, to creep once more inside his fur coat.

Her weight made him sink a little farther into the snow, but he was strong, and felt he could have done more for the sake of the children's safety.
On and on they went, the frost film giving firmer foothold on the top of the pass, while the chill which always precedes dawn took away still more from the difficulty of Tumbu's task.

In fact, the curved scabbards slipped over the hard snow as if it had been ice.
[Illustration: _Ahead of them, a shadow showed, a shambling shadow! Tumbu ...

with a bound was off full tilt after it._] So they went on till a glimmer of dawn showed them that the summit had been reached, the downward slope begun.