Free Under the Sea to the North Pole by Pierre Maël Page B

extraordinary means of warming which they possessed had rendered easy the arrangement of a drying stove and a laundry, which, under ^he immediate direction of Tina Le Floc’h, rendered the Fort Esperance people the immense service of keeping-them constantly supplied with clean linen and bed clothes.
    We must not omit the recreations. What is superfluous in temperate zones becomes .indispensable at the Pole, and that is the necessity of keeping everybody in good humour.
    The initiative in these things was left to Isabelle. Concerts were organized of vocal and instrumental music and so much interest was taken in these matters that the programme was always criticized with interest the night before. On each occasion the entertainment was preceded by a banquet, and the bill of fare would have done honour to a cook of the temperate zones. Thanks to the numerous provisions brought by the expedition, and the reserve provided by the hunters of the party, fresh meat and preserved meat could be served, so as to give an agreeable change.
    When it would become possible to add a few vegetables, the Sunday’s dinner would become quite a festival. Besides, the ingenious mind of the sailor Le Clerc, aided by the experience of Tina, succeeded in treating pemmican and biscuits in many a novel way. Fellow-workers at the stove, the two Bretons promptly raised their culinary art to heights quite unsuspected by the vulgar.
    This was not all. Other secondary occupations interested the men.
    Three of the Eskimo sledge train had augmented the canine population by twelve new arrivals. These pups were to be educated in shelter from the extreme cold. In spite of all that could be done three of them died, but the other nine attained robust youth.
    And one of the most affecting sights of this cloistered life was to see Isabelle twice a day distributing the food to these little dogs, which daily grew bigger, and which she allowed to sleep in a well sheltered corner of the hothouse, where the three mothers came to look after them.

CHAPTER VI
    AN ACCIDENT.

    T HERE were daily expeditions from the 1st of March onwards. The last days of winter were at hand, and the moment was approaching when the sun would remain for months above the horizon. Such conditions were most suitable for walks abroad, and afforded wonderfully fairy-like views over the desolate landscape.
    The district round Cape Ritter was bordered by gently sloping hills. From their tops a view over the whole country could be obtained, and when the atmosphere was clear the sight was one of the most beautiful it was possible to meet with.
    And consequently Isabelle took the greatest pleasure in these
    excursions. When she returned on one occasion, she remarked,— “In truth, I shall end by finding the Pole a terrestrial paradise.” But unfortunately, there remained the keen, boisterous north
    wind to contradict these laudatory observations. De Keralio was untiring in his cautions to his daughter as to the need of extreme care.
    “We are now in a most dangerous period of the year, and not a day passes without innumerable fissures in the ice being noticed. The differences of temperature would be sufficient to explain their appearance if we did not know that the eastern coast of Greenland is washed by a branch of the Gulf Stream, and subject to elevations of temperature unknown on the western side, in Robeson Channel and Smith Sound. We must keep a constant watch on the state of the ground, for fear of being dragged away by some fall of icebergs or movement of glaciers.”
    This sensible advice was generally received with a shake of the head.
    Cautious as she was in other things, Isabelle allowed herself to be carried away by the seductions of the landscape. Her nature was rather adventurous and enthusiastic, and she paid little heed to the warnings of her father and his companions.
    A terrible affair soon showed the truth of this.
    It was not only from the state of the ice that danger was to be