352 THE END OF THE WINTER 



different things to do in his sewing-room, and was in 

 there nearly every day till late in the evening. It was 

 only when the target and darts came out at half -past 

 eight that he showed himself, and if it had not been 

 that he had undertaken the position of marker at these 

 competitions, we should hardly have seen him even 

 then. His first important piece of work was making 

 four three-man tents into two. It was not easy to 

 manage these rather large tents in the little hole that 

 went by the name of the sewing-room ; of course, he used 

 the table in the Clothing Store for cutting out, but, 

 all the same, it is a mystery how he contrived to get 

 hold of the right seams when he sat in his hole. I was 

 prepared to see the most curious-looking tents when 

 once they were brought out and set up in daylight; one 

 might imagine that the floor of one would be sewed on 

 to the side of another. But nothing of the sort hap- 

 pened. When the tents were brought out for the first 

 time and set up, they proved to be perfect. One 

 would have thought they had been made in a big 

 sail - loft instead of in a snow - drift. Neat - fingered 

 fellows like this are priceless on such an expedition 

 as ours. 



On the second Fram expedition they used double 

 tents, and as, of course, nothing is so good and service- 

 able as the thing one has not got, the praises of double 

 tents were now sung in every key. Well, I naturally 

 had to admit that a house with double walls is warmer 



