stefansson-wrangel-09-32-039r

THE SECOND WINTER AND THE TRAGIC END 281

In her care for Knight’s welfare and peace of mind
Ada seems to have concealed her own illness. In that
she was probably misguided, for had she frankly owned
up that she was sick, it would have caused Knight less
mental uneasiness than the feeling he was otherwise
bound to get and did at times entertain, that she was
not doing her best.

The full entry for February 17th is: “About the same
as yesterday. The woman says that she is not going to
the traps any more and intimates that she doesn’t care
whether we get any meat or not. A rather happy pros-
pect for me. She says that she is ready to give up. All
she has been doing is getting wood and a few odd jobs,
no great hardship.”

On February 18th Knight himself evidently has real-
ized that yesterday the difficulties with Ada Blackjack
were due to her being ill. The entry is: “Feeling fairly
well to-day. A fairly good appetite. The woman is
feeling better to-day, not so grouchy. She got a little
wood.”

There is nothing of consequence on the 19th. On the
20th: “The woman got a fat fox in one of her traps.
A good feed for the two of us and the cat. She also cut
some wood. I feel fairly well to-day, especially after
getting a full stomach of underdone meat.”

From the entry of February 21st, two and a half lines
were erased by Mr. Noice and we have no idea what they
may have contained. The rest of the entry is: “Feeling
fairly well. Lower gums swelling in a couple of places.”
In addition to describing his symptoms on February
22nd, Knight says that, “The woman is better to-day.
She got some wood and did a few odd jobs about camp.”
February 23rd: “It blew a howler all night but let