276 PREPARING FOR WINTER 



they dug far enough into the Barrier to give the requi- 

 site height for the barrels. When the snow had been 

 thrown out, one hole was walled up again, while a large 

 entrance was constructed over the other. Stubberud's 

 knowledge of vaulting came in useful here, and he has 

 the credit of having built the splendid arched entrance 

 to the oil-store. It was a pleasure to go down into it; 

 probably no one has had so fine a storehouse for petro- 

 leum before. But Hassel did not stop here; he had 

 the building fever on him in earnest. His great project 

 of connecting the coal and wood store with the house 

 below the surface nearly took my breath away ; it seemed 

 to me an almost superhuman labour, but they did it. 

 The distance from the coal-tent to the house was about 

 ten yards. Here Hassel and Stubberud laid out their 

 line so that it would strike the passage round the house 

 at the south-east angle. When they had done this, they 

 dug a gigantic hole down into the Barrier half-way 

 between the tent and the house, and then dug in both 

 directions from here and soon finished the work. But 

 now Prestrud had an idea. While the hole remained 

 open he wished to avail himself of the opportunity of 

 arranging an observatory for his pendulum apparatus, 

 and he made a very good one. He did it by digging at 

 right angles to the passage, and had his little observatory 

 between the coal-tent and the house. When all the 

 snow was cleared out, the big hole was covered over 

 again, and now we could go from the kitchen direct to 



