A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR. 313 



to be rid of them ; and therewith vanished through the door, to 

 return a few minutes later the self-same Peder, in his best clothes, 

 as smart and dapper as possible, with a little black hat perched 

 on the side of his head. Shaven, shining, and smiling, he 

 looked like a boy. He was the New Year which had come to 

 wish us good luck. His eyes were bright with good-humour, and 

 his face shone like a newly-scoured copper kettle. We all caught 

 the infection from him, and the applause was greater than even 

 on his first appearance. And thus it was that we old boys amused 

 ourselves like children in the midst of the gloomy ice night, far, 

 far away from everything and everybody. 



On January 4 we gave up keeping Christmas, and went back 

 to work again. Before we did anything else, the kennels had to be 

 put in thorough repair. 



The weather this winter had been remarkably variable. The 

 thermometer had continually gone up and down, reading at one 

 time from - 51 to - 53Fahr. ( - 46 to - 47 Cent.), and even, 

 if I am not mistaken, as low as 54 Fahr. ( 48 Cent.), and 

 then suddenly up to 28 Fahr. On the mildest days the snow 

 thawed on the deck ; while the kennels melted inside in an incon- 

 venient manner, although we made big holes in the roof. The 

 dogs, always on the alert for something to do, profited by the 

 occasion to scratch and burrow in the porous ice, and several of 

 them made their way right through the wall. 



In order not to weary the reader with all the work we had 

 still on hand, I will merely mention that Nodtvedt had a very large 

 order for swivels, which were to be spliced into the dogs' traces. 

 The dogs often twisted their traces round and round in the 

 night, and the worst of them were quite capable of spoiling a new 

 trace in a single night. 



It was my intention that the expeditions should start as early 

 as Monday, March 5, as I was afraid that in many places, where 

 the current was strong, the ice might break up. It was not easy 

 to tell" how long during the spring and summer the ice would 

 bear, so it was best to make snre of it, and start as soon as 

 possible. The question was, whether it would be possible to get 

 off by this date, or not ; I hardly thought it could be. We often 



