FIRST OPEN WATER 229 



The additional supply of oil and alcohol, which 

 Marvin and Borup were to bring to me, was, I felt, 

 vital to our success; but even if they did not come in 

 with it, I could not turn back here. While pacing the 

 floe, I figured out how we should use our sledges piece- 

 meal as fuel in our cookers, to make tea after the oil 

 and alcohol were gone. By the time the wood of the 

 sledges was exhausted, it would be warm enough so that 

 we could suck ice or snow to assuage our thirst, and get 

 along with our pemmican and raw dog without tea. 

 But, though I planned, it was a plan of desperation. 

 It was a harrowing time, that period of waiting. 



