LOST ON THE ICE-CAP 



the shore right up to the. house. Such a walk in the dark 

 would have been but a small thing had it not been for my 

 thirty-six hours of continual tramping and my long fast. 

 I found it necessary to stop frequently to rest, though every 

 time I sat down I could hardly rise again, for I was very 

 sore and lame. 



How I ever covered those twenty miles, I have never 

 been able to explain. I was familiar with all the landmarks 

 along the shore, but I did not remember passing any of 

 them except Cape Milne, where I stopped to rest and to 

 congratulate myself on having finished half the journey. 



At last I reached the ice foot in front of the lodge, and 

 while I was climbing over the rough ice to the land, one 

 of the ever-wakeful natives spied me, and in a glad voice, 

 cried out "Lee tig-er-ka-shu! Lee tig-er-ka-shu!" (Lee 

 has returned). He rushed into the house ahead of me to 

 acquaint the members of the party with the news, and I 

 followed him. I well remember the sound made by the 

 frozen snow on my fur coat as it grazed on the sides of 

 the passageway leading to the dining-room in our com- 

 fortable little house. 



In the doorway I met old Dr. Vincent, who had been 

 my companion on the night watch all through the long 

 winter, and who was that night standing watch alone in 

 my absence. He put his arms around me and kissed me 

 while the tears ran down his cheeks. 



To return to the two Eskimo who were with me on the 

 ice-cap; they became alarmed when I did not get back to 

 the tent, and when the snow storm came on they began to 

 cry out in order to guide me to the tent, for they knew 

 that I could not find it in any other way. The roaring 

 of the storm or my distance from the camp prevented me 

 from hearing them, or my suffering would have been 

 avoided. I had in the tent a box of Roman candles to be 

 used as signals later, when the main party was to join 

 me at the big supply station for which T had started. The 

 two natives had seen the queer looking sticks and had 

 asked me what they were. I had explained to them that 

 they were to be used as signals and had even taken one 

 of them in my hand and shown them where to light it. 



Poad-loo-nah, one of the two, told me afterward that 



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