A wild laugh echoed up from the depths in answer, as if the prisoner was about to lose his mind.
Constable Sloan was already on the run for the rope. He came back in about twenty minutes, having lost no time in finding his way up the cavern to the surface of the glacier where the sledges were.
Hastily they began lowering the long coil down into the hole. After nearly fifty feet had been payed out, Corporal Thalman jerked on the rope to signal he had it in his hands, then they all waited tensely while he tied it securely under his shoulders. At last came the call from the pit that all was ready. All hands grasped the rope then, and began to heave it upward, hand over hand.
It was a strange caricature of a man that at last appeared dangling in the loop. He was pale as a ghost from his long sojourn underground, and a long beard covered the lower part of his face and chest. So thin was he that his bones seemed on the point of bursting through his skin. The prisoner’s clothing was in tatters and immediately upon striking the upper air he began to shiver from the cold.
“We must get him to the sledges quick!” ordered Corporal McCarthy. “There’s blankets up there, and we’ll make some hot tea for him. Just our luck to have him pass in his checks just after we’ve saved him.”
It was a hard struggle to climb out of the cavern with the almost helpless man, but they finally accomplished the task.
Once Corporal Thalman had been wrapped in blankets and furs and treated to a few cups of piping hot tea, he showed signs of returning strength. However, the policemen were in favor of returning with him immediately to the base of supplies where everything necessary for his complete recovery could be obtained.
“I guess you boys are elected for the job of hauling Corporal Thalman to the main camp,” Corporal McCarthy told them. “Sloan and I will stay here for another try at trapping that sly fox, Mistak.”
“But with only one sledge, and that loaded with Corporal Thalman, we can’t haul in the cache of meat on the back trail,” Dick explained.
“That’s alright,” retorted the policeman. “Come back after it when you have Thalman safe in a warm igloo with plenty of hot tea and food nearby.”