.

"But you fell off at the end, old year; you hardly carried us so far
as you ought. Still you might have done worse; you have not been so
bad, after all. Have not all hopes and calculations been justified,
and are we not drifting away just where I wished and hoped we should
be? Only one thing has been amiss--I did not think the drift would
have gone in quite so many zig-zags.

"One could not have a more beautiful New-year's-eve. The aurora
borealis is burning in wonderful colors and bands of light over the
whole sky, but particularly in the north. Thousands of stars sparkle
in the blue firmament among the northern lights. On every side the
ice stretches endless and silent into the night. The rime-covered
rigging of the Fram stands out sharp and dark against the shining sky.

"The newspaper was read aloud; only verses this time; among other
poems the following:

"'TO THE NEW YEAR.

"'And you, my boy, must give yourself trouble
Of your old father to be the double;
Your lineage, honor, and fight hard to merit
Our praise for the habits we trust you inherit.
On we must go if you want to please us;
To make us lie still is the way to tease us.
In the old year we sailed not so badly,
Be it so still, or you'll hear us groan sadly.
When the time comes you must break up the ice for us;
When the time comes you must win the great prize for us;
We fervently hope, having reached our great goal,
To eat next Christmas dinner beyond the North Pole.'

"During the evening we were regaled with pineapple, figs, cakes,
and other sweets, and about midnight Hansen brought in toddy, and
Nordahl cigars and cigarettes. At the moment of the passing of the
year all stood up and I had to make an apology for a speech--to the
effect that the old year had been, after all, a good one, and I hoped
the new would not be worse; that I thanked them for good comradeship,
and was sure that our life together this year would be as comfortable
and pleasant as it had been during the last. Then they sang the songs
that had been written for the farewell entertainments given to us at
Christiania and at Bergen:

"'Our mother, weep not! it was thou
Gave them the wish to wander;
To leave our coasts and turn their prow
Towards night and perils yonder.
Thou pointedst to the open sea,