238 THENORTHPOLE 



and rumblings among the floes, as well as the more 

 sibilant sound of the raftering young ice in various 

 directions. This meant more open water ahead of us. 

 Soon an active lead cut right across our path, and on the 

 farther or northern side of it we could see that the ice 

 was moving. The lead seemed to narrow toward the 

 west, and we followed it a little way until we came to a 

 place where there were large pieces of floating ice, some 

 of them fifty or a hundred feet across. We got the dogs 

 and sledges from one piece of ice to another — the 

 whole forming a sort of pontoon bridge. 



As Borup was getting his team across the open 

 crack between two pieces of floating ice, the dogs slipped 

 and went into the water. Leaping forward, the 

 vigorous young athlete stopped the sledge from follow- 

 ing the dogs, and, catching hold of the traces that fas- 

 tened the dogs to the sledge, he pulled them bodily out 

 of the water. A man less quick and muscular than 

 Borup might have lost the whole team as well as the 

 sledge laden with five hundred pounds of supplies, 

 which, considering our position far out in that icy 

 wilderness, were worth more to us than their weight in 

 diamonds. Of course, had the sledge gone in, the 

 weight of it would have carried the dogs to the bottom 

 of the sea. We drew a long breath, and, reaching the 

 solid ice on the other side of this pontoon bridge, plunged 

 on to the north. But we had gone only a short distance 

 when right in front of us the ice separated with loud 

 reports, forming another open lead, and we were 

 obliged to camp. 



The temperature that night was 50° below zero; 

 there was a fresh breeze from the southeast and 



