Before dawn the next day, Konrad and his Eskimo servant were up and at work. The dogs were fed, the sled packed for the first lap of the long journey to Barrow. There were stores of pemmican and oil, a tiny oil-stove to warm the snug snow-huts they would build en route, robes, and a few personal supplies. The two women took just enough clothes to be presentable while they were waiting for their airplane at Barrow, as they planned to buy a complete outfit when they reached Fairbanks, in Central Alaska.
Neither Gretchen nor her mother feared the hardships of the trip. They were mushers aforetime; and the frozen waste was their home. Not even Mrs. Konrad would ride the sled, but would tramp behind at the gee-pole. Both women were dressed for the terrible Arctic temperatures—mukluks, fur mitt
