His voice and gestures, hopes and fears, were so
perfectly human that none could mistake them; while he seemed to
understand every word of mine. I was troubled at the thought of having
to leave him out all night, and of the danger of not finding him in the
morning. It seemed impossible to get him to venture. To compel him to
try through fear of being abandoned, I started off as if leaving him to
his fate, and disappeared back of a hummock; but this did no good; he
only lay down and moaned in utter hopeless misery. So, after hiding a
few minutes, I went back to the brink of the crevasse and in a severe
tone of voice shouted across to him that now I must certainly leave him,
I could wait no longer, and that, if he would not come, all I could
promise was that I would return to seek him next day. I warned him that
if he went back to the woods the wolves would kill him, and finished by
urging him once more by words and gestures to come on, come on.
He knew very well what I meant, and at last, with the courage of
despair, hushed and breathless, he crouched down on the brink in the
hollow I had made for my knees, pressed his body against the ice as if
trying to get the advantage of the friction of every hair, gazed into
the first step, put his little feet together and slid them slowly,
slowly over the edge and down into it, bunching all four in it and
almost standing on his head.
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