1902] READY FOR SPRING SLEDGING 297 



errand, as well as to bring back the depot which we established 

 last year under such uncomfortable conditions. From this com- 

 mencement we shall work up to our more ambitious projects.' 

 So now the long winter, with its darkness and forced 

 inactivity, was at an end. Although our faces looked pale and 

 white in the glare of the returning day, beneath the pallor lay 

 every evidence of unimpaired vitality ; and believing ourselves 

 to be in the perfection of health, as we were of spirits, all 

 thoughts turned to the coming season and to prospects which 

 could look nothing but bright and hopeful. 



