PI AYES, PI ALL AND OTHER ADVENTURERS 303 



"Yes, me see." 



"Where is she going, Hans?" 



"She no go; she come back all right." 



"But she will freeze, Hans?" 



"She no freeze; she come back by-by, you see/' 



And he continued to smoke his pipe with a quiet chuckle and 

 a complacent conviction of his knowledge of the ways of womankind 

 in general, and of his wife in particular. And in about two hours 

 the Eskimo Xantippe came back, looking very blue and cold and 

 evidently much subdued. 



A disagreeable incident of the winter detention at Port Foulke 

 was the outbreak of an epidemic disorder among the dogs, re- 

 sembling mania or delirium. Of the character of this we have pre- 

 viously spoken. The mortality was dreadful. In the first two 

 weeks of December eighteen died; three more deaths occurred in 

 the following week; and Dr. Hayes found himself reduced to nine 

 animals. As all his plans of exploration in the coming spring de- 

 pended upon the efficiency of his teams as a means of transportation 

 across the ice, his anxiety was great ; and in order to obtain a fresh 

 supply, he determined on sending Mr. Sonntag, with Hans as 

 driver, to the nearest Eskimo settlement on Northumberland Island, 

 if necessary, or to Whale Sound, if haply any station should be 

 found upon its shores. 



The expedition proved an unfortunate one. After several 

 months of absence, Hans came back alone, with the bad news of 

 the death of his companion and without the dogs for which he had 

 been sent. The story he told was that Mr. Sonntag had incau- 

 tiously stepped on some thin ice covering a recently closed tide- 

 crack. It gave way and he fell in. Hans hastened to his rescue, 

 and the two then turned back for Sorfalik, where a snow hut could 

 afford them shelter. Unfortunately, Mr. Sonntag did not change 

 his wet clothing; and when the sledge halted at Sorfalik, Hans dis- 

 covered that his companion was stiff and speechless. Removing 



