Primus stove was lit, but when the snow underneath started to melt, on account of the heat in the tent, it got damp on the floor. We were of course entirely cut off from wood, leaves or branches of trees. At midday--still on the 22nd--the sky got overcast and we could no longer see N 25. With our lack of experience in the ice regions Ellsworth and I had the impression that we were quite safe where we were. Omdal, who _had_ some experience from his sojourn in Alaska, was not quite so calm about it, but thought that the new ice where we lay would in any case act as a protection against possible drift ice. In the afternoon the weather cleared again for about an hour and it seemed to us that we could see the top of N 25 again. Later the sky was overcast with threatening snow squalls. It was clear that the ice was constantly on the move. Meantime the water-lane was so broad that we were not afraid of it closing in. What concerned us most was the uncertainty about N 25 and its crew. We reasoned out and imagined every possible theory. If everything was all right, they would of course fly down to join us in this place, where they could land without difficulty. If the machine had been hopelessly damaged, they would come on foot over the ice to us. We ruminated thus, because it seemed to us that they _must_ have seen our flag, and, as meantime we saw nothing of them, we presumed that they had some necessary repairs to effect. The whole night, until the morning of the 23rd of May, we had snow--with bad visibility. Omdal worked at the motors while Ellsworth and I pumped. The leakage appeared to be getting gradually worse. We had a northerly breeze and about -10° c. At midday the weather cleared and the sun shone out from a clear sky. In the course of the day I was able to make two good observations, although the spirit level which Ellsworth had brought with him was too small and besides was of a very unsuitable construction. I had already pointed this out at Spitzbergen, but there was no opportunity of getting a new one. I must admit that I was disappointed with the result of our observations. I had believed that we were considerably nearer the Pole. The others thought the same. Judging by the flying and our speed through the air, we must have had a very strong wind current against us. At that time, however, we did not doubt that we could continue northwards as soon as the motors were in working order again. At midday we saw N 25 again. It had drifted nearer to us, and we noticed that tarpaulins had been put over the motor-gondolas and that the flag was flying over it. If only the weather would remain clear now, they ought to be able to see us. We tried several times to attract their attention by using smoke-bombs, and now and again we fired a gun. The part of the water-lane where we were encamped froze up more and more, a condition which rather pleased us as we expected that we would soon be able to make a start from the ice.