Fatal North by Bruce Henderson

account for this oddity, he began to feel the suffocating effects of the deoxygenated air and called out, “Kick down the door,” which Joe at once obeyed.
    In six days they reached a point that Hall named Cape Brevoort after a longtime friend and Arctic supporter, J. Carson Brevoort of Brooklyn. It was located at the northern tip of a large bay that Hall christened Newman’s Bay in honor of The Reverend Newman who had shown such kindness to
Polaris
and her crew. They could go no higher with the sledges due to thin ice, but they walked across the frozen bay. On the other side, near the beach where it could be seen by someone landing by ship, they built up a cairn and buried a cylinder containing a record of their journey. Joe and Hans shot at several seals, but were not successful in securing them. Traces of musk oxen had been seen, and also foxes, lemmings, an owl, and a few hawks.A large litter of Newfoundland pups had been devoured by the dog teams as soon as the pups were born. Leaving the Eskimos with the dogs and gear, Hall and Chester had walked north for eight hours in the deepening twilight. They reached the headlands of another bay, and then ascended to the high ground. From that vantage point, they could see the land heading off to the east, and the eastern shore of Robeson Channel, with a prominent cape, beyond which they could see nothing. On the west side they could see land stretching up for sixty miles. That, Hall said, was the direction he would go on his next trip. After spending that night at their encampment, they headed back in the morning. Hall’s health, on the journey, had been first-rate. The lowest temperature they had endured was 25 degrees below zero, but they had adequate clothing and sleeping gear.
    When they had arrived back at
Polaris,
Chester had gone below to the cabin he shared with Buddington, Tyson, Morton, engineer Alvin Odell, and Joe and Hannah. His first priority was to clean the party’s sleeping bags and make sure they got properly dried so mold didn’t set in. During the sledge trip, their bags, vestments, and virtually every article of clothing they wore had become saturated with moisture and frozen stiff, as they hadn’t carried enough fuel with them to keep a fire going to dry them at each stop. They adopted a plan of taking their smaller articles, such as mittens and socks, to bed with them. By placing them inside their sleeping bags next to their bodies, the items became partially dry by morning. Whenever they unpacked their sleeping gear, the bags had to be worked a long time before they could be unrolled, so solidly frozen were they.
    Below, Chester was pleased to find the interior of the ship at a comfortable sixty-five degrees; each compartment had its own small, coal-burning stove. Going about his chores to secure their equipment, Chester was surprised to hear, an hour later, that the commander was sick in bed.
    When Hall awoke the next morning, his paralysis was mostly gone.
    He ate some arrowroot for breakfast; and the smooth, starchyfood went down well, although he complained of continued numbness of the tongue. Emil Bessels came in and administered another cathartic.
    After the doctor left, Hall asked to see Joe. The Eskimo came into the cabin looking concerned for his old friend.
    â€œVery sick last night,” Hall told him.
    â€œWhat is the matter?” asked Joe, who knew Hall had a good constitution. He had rarely seen him sick in the past ten years.
    â€œDon’t know. Drank a cup of coffee when we came back. In a little while I was very sick and vomiting.”
    Hall signaled Joe to come closer. When he did, Hall lowered his voice. “Now, Joe, did you drink bad coffee?”
    â€œNo. Cook gave me cup. No feel sick.”
    â€œThere was bad stuff in my coffee. Felt it after a while. It burned my stomach.”
    A little later, when Hannah came to help with the commander, he also spoke of the cup of coffee that had been