He has said that the dog
skins saved his life, and without them he certainly would have
perished.
The ice pan still held together, and with a new day came fresh hope of
the possibility of rescue. The coast was still well in sight, and
there was a chance that a change of wind might drive the pan toward it
on an incoming tide. At this season, too, the men of the coast were
out scanning the sea for "signs" of seals, and some of them might see
him.
This thought suggested that if he could erect a signal on a pole, it
would attract attention more readily. He had no pole, and he thought
at first no means of raising the signal, which was, indeed, necessary,
for at that distance from shore only a moving signal would be likely
to attract the attention of even the keenly observant fishermen.
Then his eyes fell upon the carcasses of the three dogs with their
stiff legs sticking up. He drew his sheath knife and went at them
immediately. In a little while he had severed the legs from the bodies
and stripped the flesh from the bones. Now with pieces of dog harness
he lashed the legs together, and presently had a serviceable pole, but
one which must have been far from straight.
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