CHRISTMAS EVE 159 



best when they come straight out of the oven, but 

 Lindstrom would not hear of it. His cakes vanished 

 for the time being under lock and key, and we had to 

 be content with the smell of them. 



Christmas Eve arrived with finer weather and a 

 smoother sea than we had seen for weeks. The ship 

 was perfectly steady, and there was nothing to prevent 

 our making every preparation for the festivity. As the 

 day wore on Christmas was in full swing. The fore- 

 cabin was washed and cleaned up till the Ripolin 

 paint and the brass shone with equal brilliance; Ronne 

 decorated the workroom with signal flags, and the good 

 old " Happy Christmas " greeted us in a transparency 

 over the door of the saloon. Inside Nilsen was busily 

 engaged, showing great talents as a decorator. The 

 gramophon was rigged up in my cabin on a board 

 hung from the ceiling. A proposed concert of piano, 

 violin, and mandolin had to be abandoned, as the piano 

 was altogether out of tune. 



The various members of our little community ap- 

 peared one after another, dressed and tidied up so that 

 many of them were scarcely recognizable. The stubbly 

 chins were all smooth, and that makes a great difference. 

 At five o'clock the engine was stopped, and all hands 

 assembled in the fore-cabin, leaving only the man at 

 the wheel on deck. Our cosy cabins had a fairy-like 

 appearance in the subdued light of the many-coloured 

 lamps, and we were all in the Christmas humour at 



