The setting was a cold January morning in a little town in Wisconsin, on the southern shore of Lake Superior. It happened to be the Saturday when they had their annual dog sled derby on the ice. A one-mile course had been staked out by sticking little fir trees in the ice. The whole course was easily visible because of the steep slope of the shore.

It was a youngsters' meet and the contenders ranged all the way from large boys with several dogs and big sleds to one little fellow who didn'…