IN THE TRAP 9 



very inviting down below, either; immense spikes of ice 

 sticking up everywhere, which would spit you before 

 you got very far down." 



This description was not attractive; it was well we 

 had found " such a good place." Meanwhile Wisting 

 had finished his work, and was hauled up. When asked 

 whether he was not glad to be on the surface again, he 

 answered with a smile that " it was nice and warm 

 down there." We then hauled the sledge up, and for 

 the time being all was well. " But," said Hassel, " we 

 must be careful going along here, because I was just 

 on the point of going in when Hanssen and I were 

 bringing up the sledge." He smiled as though at a 

 happy memory. Hassel had seen that it was best to 

 be careful. There was no need to look for crevasses; 

 there was literally nothing else to be seen. 



There could be no question of going farther into the 



trap, for we had long ago come to the conclusion that, 



in spite of our precautions, we had arrived at this ugly 



place. We should have to look about for a place for 



the tent, but that was easier said than done. There 



was no possibility of finding a place large enough for 



both the tent and the guy-ropes; the tent was set up 



on a small, apparently solid spot, and the guys stretched 



across crevasses in all directions. We were beginning 



to be quite familiar with the place. That crevasse ran 



there and there, and it had a side-fissure that went so 



and so — just like schoolboys learning a lesson. 



VOL. II. 27 



