Evening journal., 1909-10-07

about the eye into o state of chronic con-
traction. The pupil was reduced TO
mere pinhole.
The strong winds and drifting suowsl
encouraged the habit Of peeping out
the corner Of one eye Nature in attempt
ing to keep the ball from hardeuin.
flushed it az an times with blood Ther
WIS no end of trouble at hand in endeav
oring TO keep the windows Of the sou.
open. and all of the effect was run Ia.
gether in set expression Of hardship aud
wrinkles which should be called the boreal
squint.
Nearing the Poic.
This boreal squint is part of the rus.
set bronze physiognomy which falls to
the lot of every Arcuc explorer The
early winds, with q piercing Temperature
start hush Of scarlet. while frequent
ltrostbites leave hgures In black, later the
burning sun browns the skin. subse-
lquently strong winds sap the moisture.
harden the skin aud leave open dssures.
The hard work and reduced nourish-
ment contract the muscles. dispel the fat
and leave the skin to shrivel up in folds
The imprint Of the goggles, the set ex.
= preston of hard lines and the mentnl
S blank OF the environment have removed
an spiritual animation. We have the
u color and the lines Of Old russet apples
progenitors of man
}. In the enforced effort 20 spread ont
the stihened legs over the last reaches
=, there was no longer sufficient energy M
camping times 10 erect snow shelter.
The silk tent was then pressed into use.
: lhough the temperature was still very
low Whcn the sun was high it's genial
rays pierced the silk fabric and rested
softly on our brows closed in heavy slum.
I Der. In strong winds Il was still noces.
sary TO erect a shelteriuc wall 10 shield
the tent. but altogether the change
proved quite agreeable. u encoura eed a
more careful scrutiny of the STRANGE
world into which fortune had pressed
us-iirst Of all men.
Optical Illusions.
, Signs of land were still seen everr day.
but they were deceptive optical illusions.
and a mere verdict of fancy. II seemed
that something must happen, some line
must cross our horizon 10 mark the i'm.
portant area into which we were press
ing.
I When the sun was low the eve ran
over moving plains in brilliant waves of
color 10 dancing horizons The mirages
j turned things topsy turvy. Inverted
lands and queer objects ever rose and
! fell in shrouds of mystery. but an of
this was due 20 the atmospheric magic of
the midnight sun.
With a lucky series of daily astronom-
ical observations our position was now
accurately fixed for each stage of prog
ress. AS we neared the pole the imagi-
nation quickened. and a restless. almost
hysteric excitement came over u.s. The
boys fancied they saw beaver aud seals.
and / had new land under observation
frequently. but with a change in the di-
rection Of light or an altered trend In our
, temperament the horizon cleared. and we
, became eager only TO push further into
the mystery
/ From the eighty-eighth TO the eighty
ninth the ice was IN very large fields
and the surface was less irregular. but
IN other respects Il was about the same
as below the eighty-seventh. We no.
ueed here also an extension of the range
OF vision. We seemed 10 see longer dis
tances aud the ice along the horizon had
less angular outline.
= The color Of the sky and the ice also
changed 10 deeper purple blues. We had
40 way Of checking these impressions by
other observations; the eagerness 10 dnd
something unusual may have fired the
IMAGINATION, but since the earth is fat
tened az the pole perhaps a Widcncd
hori1on should be detected
Enthusiasm Reirns.
+. Al eight O'Clock on the mornius Of