270 THE EASTERN SLEDGE JOURNEY 



house at all to be seen. All that met the eyes of the 

 visitor was a sombre pile of ruins. But his anxiety 

 quickly vanished when a man emerged from the confu- 

 sion. The man was Lindstrom, and the supposed ruin 

 was the most ingenious of all winter-quarters. Lindstrom 

 was ignorant of the Fratris arrival, and the face he 

 showed on seeing Gjertsen must have been worth some 

 money to look at. 



When our first curiosity was satisfied, our thoughts 

 turned to our comrades on board the Fram. We 

 snatched some food, and then went down to the sea-ice, 

 making our way across the little bay due north of the 

 house. Our well-trained team were not long in getting 

 there, but we had some trouble with them in crossing 

 the cracks in the ice, as some of the dogs, especially the 

 puppies, had a terror of water. 



The Fram was cruising some way out, but when we 

 came near enough for them to see us, they made all 

 haste to come in to the ice-foot. Yes, there lay om* 

 good little ship, as trim as when we had last seen her ; 

 the long voyage round the world had left no mark 

 on her strong hull. Along the bulwarks appeared a row 

 of smiling faces, which we were able to recognize in spite 

 of the big beards that half concealed many of them. 

 While clean-shaven chins had been the fashion at 

 Framheim, almost every man on board appeared with 

 a flowing beard. As we came over the gangway 

 questions began to hail upon us. I had to ask for a 



