"All right!" exclaimed Chet, suddenly. "I suppose you've got as much right to grumble as I have. But my stomach is as flat as a pancake," he continued, woefully. "I could fill up on sawdust, if I had any." All of the party set off in the direction of the object Barwell Dawson had discovered. The explorer was in advance, and suddenly he set up a ringing shout: "Saved! saved!" "What do you mean?" asked Chet, quickly. "It is our old sledge--the one the dogs ran away with. It is stuck in a crack of the ice." "Are the stores on it?" asked Andy. "Yes, everything seems to be here," returned the explorer, joyfully. How the sledge had gotten there they did not know, and, at that moment, they did not care. Probably the floating ice had bumped against the shore and the dogs had started northward, not knowing what else to do. Then the sledge had become caught in the crack, and the dogs, growing impatient, had broken their harness. They had gnawed at the coverings of the stores, but had been unable to get at the food, and had then disappeared utterly. The finding of the sledge with its provisions, and its supply of alcohol, filled the entire party with joy, and they uttered a prayer to Heaven for their deliverance from what looked to be starvation. As quickly as it could be done, they fixed the little stove and lit it, and made themselves a steaming hot broth, which they devoured with gusto. Then they fed the dogs, built a rough _igloo_, and sank down in a profound slumber, from which nobody awakened until ten hours later. "Although we have found these supplies, we must be very sparing of them," said Barwell Dawson, when they awoke. "There is no telling when or how we will be able to get more--certainly not until we have joined the rest of our party, and gotten down to where we can find game." All were now anxious to rejoin those who had been left behind, and they journeyed steadily southward as fast as the weather would permit. They had one wide lead to cross, and it took a whole day to get to the south shore. Then came more snow, and they had to lose a day. But luck was with them, and one day, late in the afternoon, they heard a loud shout, and saw an Esquimau, standing on a hillock of ice, waving his arms at them. It was Olalola, and they soon reached him. "Chief Dawson reach the Big Nail?" asked the Esquimau, eagerly. "We did," was the answer. "Olalola much glad," went on the native, and his smiling face proved his words. All in the camp, including Dr. Slade, who was better, were glad that those who had gone to the Pole had returned, and the very next day everything was packed on the sledges, and the journey to the ship was begun. The food supply was very low, and all the extra dogs were killed and fed to the other canines. The Esquimaux lived on blubber and walrus meat. The boys tried blubber once, but had to give it up. "It turns me wrong side out in a minute," was the way Andy expressed it.