oceeded in a
happier frame of mind to open up the cave and have a meal.

The journey of more than six hundred miles was now practically over.
After a carousal lasting till 5 P.M. on the 11th, we went down hill,
arriving just after dinner and finding all well.

We three had never thought the Hut quite such a fine place, nor have we
ever since.

CHAPTER XV EASTWARD OVER THE SEA-ICE

by C. T. MADIGAN

Harnessed and girt in his canvas bands,
Toggled and roped to his load;
With helmeted head and bemittened hands,
This for his spur and his goad:

"Out in the derelict fastnesses bare
Some whit of truth may be won."
Be it a will o' the wisp, he will fare
Forth to the rising sun.

The Sledge Horse

The Eastern Coastal party consisted of Dr. A. L. McLean, P. E. Correll
and myself. For weeks all preparations had been made; the decking put
on the sledge, runners polished, cooker- and instrument-boxes attached,
mast erected, spar and sail rigged, instruments and clothing collected,
tent strengthened--all the impedimenta of a sledge journey arranged and
rearranged, and still the blizzard raged on. Would we never get away?
November arrived, and still the wind kept up daily averages of over
fifty miles per hour, with scarce a day without drifting snow.

At last it was decided that a start must soon be made even though it
ended in failure, so that we received orders to set out on November 6,
or the first possible day after it.

Friday November 8 broke, a clear driftless day, and Murphy's party left
early in the morning. By noon, Stillwell's party (Stillwell, Hodgeman
and Close), and we, were ready to start. The former were bound on a
short journey to the near east and were to support us until we parted
company.

All was bustle and excitement. Every one turned out to see us off.
Breaking an empty sauce-bottle over the bow of our sledge, we christened
it the M.H.S. Championship (Man-Hauled Sledge). The name was no
boastful prevision of mighty deeds, as, at the Hut, a "Championship" was
understood to mean some careless action usually occasioning damage to
property, while our party included several noted "champions."

Mertz harnessed a dog-team to the sledge and helped us up the first
steep slope. With hearty handshakes and a generous cheer from the other
fellows, we started off and were at last away, after many months of
hibernation in the Hut, to chance the h