WEARY DAYS OF WAITING 159 



and forsaken, with no possible chance of knowing how and 

 where my dear ones are. It surely must end some time. 



Sunday, June 12. The snow is disappearing" rapidly, and 

 just as soon as a patch of ground is laid bare it is covered with 

 flowers, usually the purple ones, although I have seen a few 

 tiny white and yellow ones as well. The west wall of our 

 entrance is covered with green shoots. The doctor and 

 Gibson are preparing for a ten days' hunting-trip up the ba)^, 

 and they have made up the following list of provisions and 

 accessories: 140 crackers (seven per man per day), 10 pounds 

 sugar, 4 pounds meal, 8 pounds hominy, 5 cans milk, i three- 

 pound can of tongue, 2 cans corned beef, 3 cans tomatoes, 

 3 cans corn, 2 cans soup, 4 cakes pea-soup, 4 pounds bacon, 

 I package cornstarch, i can Mosqueros food, flavoring extract, 

 salt, 4 pounds coff"ee, y^ pound of tea, 15 pounds dog-meat 

 for two dogs, 2 cans alcohol, 2 alcohol- stoves, 2 boxes wind- 

 matches and I box blueheads, i box of cartridges, and a num- 

 ber of shells. They expect to leave this evening. The con- 

 dition of Matt's frozen heel has been steadily growing worse, 

 and, poor fellow! he is beginning to suffer acutely. He is 

 threatened with a chronic running sore. 



There is only one thing now left to me which gives me any 

 pleasure, and that is to go to the little brook in the Quarter- 

 Mile Valley and listen to its music while I give my thoughts 

 full play. I close my eyes, and once more I am in our little 

 tent, listening to this same music, mingled with the sound of the 

 " Kite's " whistle and the splash of the white whales as they 



