over, and only
kept in place by the guy-ropes. There was no entrance except under the
flap opening, which was held down by stones. Colwell called for a knife,
cut a slit in the tent-cover, and looked in.

It was a sight of horror. On one side, close to the opening, with his
head towards the outside, lay what was apparently a dead man. His jaw
had dropped, his eyes were open, but fixed and glassy, his limbs were
motionless. On the opposite was a poor fellow, alive to be sure, but
without hands or feet, and with a spoon tied to the stump of his right
arm. Two others seated on the ground, in the middle, had just got down a
rubber bottle that hung on the tent-pole, and were pouring from it into
a tin can. Directly opposite, on his hands and knees, was a dark man
with a long matted beard, in a dirty and tattered dressing-gown, with a
little red skull-cap on his head, and brilliant staring eyes. As Colwell
appeared, he raised himself a little, and put on a pair of eye-glasses.

"Who are you?" asked Colwell.

The man made no answer, staring at him vacantly.

"Who are you?" again.

One of the men spoke up: "That's the major,--Major Greely."

Colwell crawled in and took him by the hand, saying to him, "Greely, is
this you?"

"Yes," said Greely in a faint broken voice, hesitating and shuffling
with his words, "yes--seven of us left--here we are--dying--like men.
Did what I came to do--beat the best record."

Then he fell back exhausted.

The four men in the tent with Greely were two sergeants, Elison and
Fredericks; Bierderbick, the hospital steward; and Private Connell, who,
with Brainard and Long, were all that remained of the twenty-five
members of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition. The scene, as Colwell
looked around, was one of misery and squalor. The rocky floor was
covered with cast-off clothes, and among them were huddled together the
sleeping-bags in which the party had spent most of their time during the
last few months. There was no food left in the tent but two or three
cans of a thin, repulsive-looking jelly, made by boiling strips cut from
the seal-skin clothing. The bottle on the tent-pole still held a few
teaspoonfuls of brandy, but it was their last, and they were sharing it
as Colwell entered; it was evident that most of them had not long to
live....

As soon as Colwell understood the condition of affairs, he sent
Chief-Engineer Lowe back to the cutter to put off to the "Bear" with
Long, to report wh