nd--but there is no thought of victory
now; we are not so far north as I had expected; the northwest wind has
come again, and we are drifting south. And yet the future does not seem
to me so long and so dark as it sometimes has done. Next September 6th
... can it be possible that then every fetter will have burst, and we
shall be sitting together talking of this time in the far north and
of all the longing, as of something that once was and that will never
be again? The long, long night is past; the morning is just breaking,
and a glorious new day lies before us. And what is there against this
happening next year? Why should not this winter carry the Fram west
to some place north of Franz Josef Land?... and then my time has come,
and off I go with dogs and sledges--to the north. My heart beats with
joy at the very thought of it. The winter shall be spent in making
every preparation for that expedition, and it will pass quickly.

"I have already spent much time on these preparations. I think
of everything that must be taken, and how it is to be arranged,
and the more I look at the thing from all points of view, the more
firmly convinced do I become that the attempt will be successful,
if only the Fram can get north in reasonable time, not too late in
the spring. If she could just reach 84 deg. or 85 deg., then I should be off
in the end of February or the first days of March, as soon as the
daylight comes, after the long winter night, and the whole would go
like a dance. Only four or five months, and the time for action will
have come again. What joy! When I look out over the ice now it is
as if my muscles quivered with longing to be striding off over it in
real earnest--fatigue and privation will then be a delight. It may seem
foolish that I should be determined to go off on this expedition, when,
perhaps, I might do more important work quietly here on board. But
the daily observations will be carried on exactly the same.

"I have celebrated the day by arranging my workroom for the winter. I
have put in a petroleum stove, and expect that this will make it
warm enough even in the coldest weather, with the snowballs that I
intend to build round the outside of it, and a good roof-covering
of snow. At least, double the amount of work will be done if this
cabin can be used in winter, and I can sit up here instead of in the
midst of the racket below. I have such comfortable times of it now,
in peace and quietness, letting my