16 THE START FOR THE POLE 



to his own use. Meanwhile I had witnessed the whole 

 scene, and before Hai knew anything about it, I was 

 upon him in turn. I hit him over the nose with the 

 whip-handle, and tried to take the pemmican from him, 

 but it was not so easy. Neither of us would give in, 

 and soon we were both rolling over and over in the 

 snow struggling for the mastery. I came off victorious 

 after a pretty hot fight, and Rap got his dinner again. 

 Any other dog would have dropped it at once on being 

 hit over the nose, but not Hai. 



It was a treat to get into the tent; the day had been 

 a bitter one. During the night the wind went round 

 to the north, and all the snow that had been blown 

 northward by the wind of the previous day had nothing 

 to do but to come back again; the road was free. And 

 it made the utmost use of its opportunity; nothing 

 could be seen for driving snow when we turned out 

 next morning. We could only stay where we were, 

 and console ourselves with the thought that it made no 

 difference, as it had been decided that we were to remain 

 here two days. But staying in a tent all day is never 

 very amusing, especially when one is compelled to keep 

 to one's sleeping-bag the whole time. You soon get 

 tired of talking, and you can't write all day long, either. 

 Eating is a good way of passing the time, if you can 

 afford it, and so is reading, if you have anything to 

 read; but as the menu is limited, and the library as 

 a rule somewhat deficient on a sledging trip, these two 



