The farmer and mechanic., 1909-09-14

advantage.
PART III
Dash to the Pole and the Return.
From Battle Harbor. Labrador (via
MarconI wireless, Cape Ray, New
| foundland). Sept. 10.-With the dis
appearance of Bartlett 1 turned to
| the problem before me This was
that for which l had worked 50 years.
TOR which | had lived the simple life,
for which l had conserved all nv en-
erRv on the upward trip, for which
L had trained myself as for a race.
crushing down every worry about sue
cess.
/ For success now, in spite of my
years, felt in trim-ft for the de-
nnandS Of the coming days and eager
TO be on the trail. As for my party,
my equipment. and my supplies I
was N shape beyond my most san
Sulne dreams of earliest years NV
partv might be regarded as an ideal
as loyal and responsive to my will
| as the fingers of my right hand
Personnel of the Party.
Four of them carried the technique
q uoSs sleGSes, ice, and cold as
| their heritage. Two of them Han
sen and Ootaw, We're my companions
| TO the farthest point three years be-
lore. Two others, Eginswah and
| SIgloo, were in Clark's division. which
had such narrow escape at that
! time and now We're willing to go any
where with my immediate party and
willing to risk themselves again in
any supporting party.
Inc n1tn was young man who
had never served before in my ex-
petition, but who was if possible
even more willing and eager than the
others for the princely gifts-a boat.
d rlne, shotgun, ammunition,
knives. etc.-Which l had promised to
yhn
with me; for he knew that these
riches r-ould enable him to wrest
from stubborn father the girl whose
| image filed his hot young heart All
hac bilnd confidence SO long as / was
/ with them, and gave no thOught for
the morrow. sure that whatever hap
pened / should somehow get them
back to land But | dealt with the
party equally. [ recognized that all
its impetus centered IN me, and that
whatever pace | set it would make
good. If any one was played out. T
would stop for q short time.
Dogs III Good Condition.
had no fault to find with the con-
ditions. My dogs were the very best
the pick of 122 with which we left
Colum bia. Almost all were powerful
males, hard as nails, in good flesh.
but without a superfiuous ounce, with
out a suspicion of fat anywhere, and.
what was better yet, they were all
in good spirits.
My sledges, now that the repairs
were completed, were in good condi-
ton. My supplies were ample for 40
days and. with the reserve represent
ed by the dogs themselves, could be
made to last so.
Pacing back and forth in the lee
of the pressure ridge, where our
igloos were built. while my men got
their loads ready for the next march
es. | settled on my program. l de-
cided that | should strain every nerve
to make five marches of Is miles
each crowding these marches in such
a way as to bring US to the end Of
the fifth long enough before noon to
permit the immediate taking of an
observation for latitude.
Two Plans in Reserve.
Weather and leads permitting,
believed I could do this II my pro-
posed distance were cut down by any
chance. I had two means in reserve
for making up the deficit:
First-To make the last march a
forced one, stopping to make tea and
rest the dogs, but not to sleep.
Second-At the end of the fifth
march to make a forced march with
a light sledge, double team of dogs,
and one two Of the party, leaving
the rest in camp.
Underlying all these calculations
was a recognition Of the ever-present
neigh borhood Of open leads and i'm
| pasSa BILE water, and the knowledge
that a "a hour gale would knock all
my plans into a cooked hat, and even
put US in imminent peril.
Peary Leads the Way.
At little after midnight of April
L. after a few hours Of sound slAep,
| I hit the trail. leaving the others to
break up camp and follow. AS I
climbed the pressure ridge back of
our igloos I set another hole in my
belt the third since I started. Every
man and dog of US was lean and fiat
| belIied as board, and hard.
1t was a fine morning. The wind
of the last two days had subsided,
and the going was the best and most
| euuable of any I had had yet. The
foes Nere large and old. hard and