IN A CREVASSE 7 



dogs lay down and dug their claws in. The sledge sank 

 more and more — all this happened in a few moments. 

 " Now I can't hold it any longer." We — Wisting and 

 I — had just come up. He was holding on convulsively, 

 and resisting with all his force, but it was no use — 

 inch by inch the sledge sank deeper. The dogs, too, 

 seemed to understand the gravity of the situation; 

 stretched out in the snow, they dug their claws in, and 

 resisted with all their strength. But still, inch by inch, 

 slowly and surely, it went down into the abyss. Bjaaland 

 was right enough when he said he couldn't hold on any 

 longer. A few seconds more, and his sledge and thirteen 

 dogs would never have seen the light of day again. 

 Help came at the last moment. Hanssen and Hassel, 

 who were a little in advance when it happened, had 

 snatched an Alpine rope from a sledge and came to his 

 assistance. They made the rope fast to the trace, and 

 two of us — Bjaaland and I — were now able, by getting 

 a good purchase, to hold the sledge suspended. First 

 the dogs were taken out; then Hassel's sledge was 

 drawn back and placed across the narrowest part of the 

 crevasse, where we could see that the edges were solid. 

 Then by our combined efforts the sledge, which was 

 dangling far below, was hoisted up as far as we could 

 get it, and made fast to Hassel's sledge by the dogs' 

 traces. Now we could slack off and let go: one sledge 

 hung securely enough by the other. We could breathe 

 a little more freely. 



