228 THE NORTH POLE 



which might have carried us beyond the 85th parallel 

 but for those three days of wind at the start which had 

 been the cause of this obstruction in our course. 



During those five days I paced back and forth, 

 deploring the luck which, when everything else was 

 favorable — weather, ice, dogs, men, and equipment — 

 should thus impede our way with open water. Bartlett 

 and I did not talk much to each other during those days. 

 It was a time when silence seemed more expressive than 

 any words. We looked at each other occasionally, and 

 I could see from the tightening of Bartlett' s jaw all that 

 I needed to know of what was going on in his mind. 



Each day the lead continued to widen before us, 

 and each day we looked anxiously southward along 

 the trail for Marvin and Borup to come up. But they 

 did not come. 



Only one who had been in a similar position could 

 understand the gnawing torment of those days of 

 forced inaction, as I paced the floe in front of the igloos 

 most of the time, climbing every little while to the top 

 of the ice pinnacle back of the igloos to strain my eyes 

 through the dim light to the south, sleeping through a 

 few hours out of each twenty-four, with one ear open 

 for the slightest noise, rising repeatedly to listen more 

 intently for the eagerly desired sound of incoming dogs 

 — all this punctuated, in spite of my utmost efforts at 

 self-control, with memories of the effect of the delay at 

 the "Big Lead" on my prospects in the previous expedi- 

 tion. Altogether, I think that more of mental wear 

 and tear was crowded into those days than into all 

 the rest of the fifteen months we were absent from 

 civilization. 



