stefansson-wrangel-09-32-036r

THE SECOND WINTER AND THE TRAGIC END 275

article will include the diary entry of February 4th, it will
consist in large part of a separate paper on his symptoms
which Knight wrote about this time. In a way it is to
be regretted that this paper, while suited to the medical
profession, is not so well adapted for general reading.
However, its main interest would be only to show further
the marvelous spirit with which Lorne Knight met illness
and every other misfortune. But that is sufficiently
established by the rest of his straightforward record.

February 5th: “General duties. I tried to cut wood
this A. M. but had to give it up. No breath. The
woman, however, got plenty for the day. I wish the three
fellows would come back, for I can see plainly that it
will be very hard on the woman if I get completely
laid up.”

At this point we might have inserted in the record
Fred Maurer’s last letter to his wife, for it has a bearing
on whether the three men, or at least all the three, should
have left Wrangel Island. But Mrs. Maurer, on con-
sultation with his parents and family, has decided against
this for two reasons. The letter as a whole is of too
intimate a nature, and it contains isolated sentences
which the public might misinterpret, not knowing other
circumstances of the case and not having seen other com-
munications from him. As we have mentioned in this
book, Maurer’s family have concluded from all the evi-
dence in their possession that he did not wish to leave
Wrangel Island, that he did so in deference to the author-
ity and opinion of the others, that the entire party would
probably have lived through had they remained on the
island, and that Maurer would probably have been able
to secure enough fresh meat for himself, Knight and
Ada Blackjack had the journey towards Nome been