I told them by all means to go back to the land just as quickly as they could, and to take with them a note to Marvin, urging him to hurry.
I also sent by them a note to the mate of the ship, giving instructions in regard to these two men and their families.
As the days went by, other Eskimos began to complain of this and that imaginary ailment.

Two of them were rendered temporarily unconscious by the fumes of the alcohol cooker in their igloo, frightening all the rest of the Eskimos half out of their wits, and I was seriously puzzled as to what I should do with them.

This was an illustration of the fact, which may not have occurred to every one, that the leader of a polar expedition has sometimes other things to contend with than the natural conditions of ice and weather.
On the 9th or 10th we might possibly have crossed the lead on the young ice, by taking desperate chances; but, considering our experience of 1906, when we had nearly lost our lives while recrossing the "Big Lead" on the undulating ice, and also considering that Marvin _must_ be somewhere near by this time, I waited these two more days to give him a chance to catch up.
MacMillan was invaluable to me during this period.

Seeing the restlessness of the Eskimos, and without waiting for any suggestion from me, he gave himself absolutely to the problem of keeping them occupied and interested in games and athletic "stunts" of one kind and another.
This was one of those opportunities which circumstances give a man silently to prove the mettle of which he is made.
On the evening of March 10, the lead being nearly closed, I gave orders to get under way the next morning.

The delay had become unendurable, and I decided to take the chance of Marvin's overtaking us with the oil and alcohol.
Of course there was the alternative of my going back to see what was the trouble.