PUPPIES BORN 261 



had happened only a few days before? Kaisa, a big 

 black-and-white bitch, had taken a three-months-old 

 pup when no one was looking, and made a meal off it. 

 When we arrived we saw the tip of its tail disappear- 

 ing, so there was not much to be done. Now, it fortu- 

 nately happened that one of the dog - tents became 

 vacant, as Prestrud's team was divided among the other 

 tents ; as " forerunner," he had no use for dogs. Here, 

 with a little contrivance, we could get two of them dis- 

 posed of; a dividing wall could be put up. When first 

 laying out the station, we had taken this side of life 

 into consideration, and a " hospital ' in the shape of 

 a sixteen-man tent had been erected; but this was not 

 nearly enough. We then had recourse to the material 

 of which there is such superabundance in these parts 

 of the earth snow. We erected a splendid big snow- 

 hut. Besides this, Lindstrom in his leisure hours had 

 erected a little building, which was ready when we 

 returned from the second depot journey. We had 

 none of us asked what it was for, but now we knew 

 Lindstrom's kind heart. With these arrangements at 

 our disposal we were able to face the winter. 



Camilla, the sly old fox, had taken things in time; 

 she knew what it meant to bring up children in the 

 dark, and, in truth, is was no pleasure. She had there- 

 fore made haste, and was ready as soon as the original 

 ' hospital " was prepared. She could now look forward 

 to the future with calmness in the last rays of the 



