THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 277 



were snoring roundly, but Stefansson had occupied my tent. I 

 peeped in and saw him sleeping. In the dim light I could not 

 judge the men's condition and decided to look at their dogs. These 

 were fat and frisky and the whole six that left Alaska were there. 

 I was amazed, yet not prepared for the sight of the men when the 

 cook's breakfast shout brought them to the kitchen. All of them 

 were fat and strong, stouter, in fact, than when we last saw them. 

 They had with them when they left Alaska only a month's supply 

 of food, and now five months had elapsed and they were pictures 

 of health and strength. They told no tale of hardship, hunger, or 

 adventure. We were almost disappointed. They had traveled 

 eastward over the ice, shooting bears or seals when they had need 

 for food, and had made the journey of over a thousand miles, living 

 on the local food supply, and had never missed a meal! They had 

 in fact completed, so far, the plans of the expedition almost in 

 detail. 



"So this was the end of the enterprise which for months I had 

 heard condemned or deplored by Eskimos and whalers and the 

 men of arctic experience in our expedition as 'one crazy and two 

 deluded men going north over the sea ice to commit suicide!' " 



