stefansson-wrangel-09-32-060v

324 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

later record whether the guesses were right. He also made a
forecast of the verbal form which the camp-moving announcement
would take and later recorded that his guess had been wrong and
that the orders came in a form entirely different from what he had
expected.

Galle’s first reference to the trip ashore shows that he must
have been hearing rumors of it for some time. The entry is for
September 25th: “If the mysterious dash is made—this is through
careless phrases dropped by Knight, Maurer and Crawford—by
Knight and Crawford to civilization, nothing more than justice to
me, concerning camp and equipment.” This entry is comprehen-
sible only after a careful study of the rest of the notes. What
Galle seems to mean is that if he is to be one of those left on the
island while the others make the “mysterious dash,” then he should
be consulted in choosing the winter camp site. He has told us
elsewhere that he is in disagreement with the others as to where
the camp ought to be with reference to the ease of hauling fire-
wood. The reader must also remember that our quotation is
taken from what Galle wrote only as fragmentary aids-to-memory,
set down from day to day merely as the basis for longer entries
to be made in his written and typed diaries.

The next mention of the trip to civilization is a part of a long
entry for September 28th which tells about the moving to the
permanent camp of that winter and ends with a record of a con-
versation when he and Knight were returning from the new camp.
“On way back Knight tells me that they, Crawford and Knight,
were probably going to Nome next spring. He does not say why.
He tells me they will need lots of money, asks if I have any. I
will loan them all I have. Knight keeps the conversation pretty
noncommittal. Of course, I could ask questions but that is not up
to me. I can figure their motives. Will note now that they will
not go to Nome or even to Siberia. We shall await developments.
Was informed by Knight he would not like to go but he had to”
[The italics represent underscoring in Galleys manuscript.]

I have tried to think what Galle can have supposed would be the
real destination of the proposed journey by Crawford and Knight.
Possibly he thought it was all talk and that when the time came
they would not go anywhere. I am inclined to believe, however, he
must have supposed they were really going on an exploring