These he placed on edge around the circle, fitting their
ends close together by trimming them as he found necessary, with the
knife.
Bobby and Jimmy, each with a knife, now began also to cut other slabs
from a drift outside the circle, and passed them to Skipper Ed when he
had exhausted his supply within the circle. They were very heavy, these
blocks, and as much as the boys could manage.
When Skipper Ed had built a row of blocks completely around the circle,
he trimmed the first blocks which he had placed to a wedge, that he
might build his circle of blocks up in a spiral.
Each block of snow was so placed that it was braced against the one
next it, and its top leaned a little inward, so that as the walls of the
_igloo_ rose each was smaller than the one preceding it, until at last a
key block in the top completed the dome-shaped structure. As the house
grew Bobby plastered the joints between the blocks full of snow, making
its outside smooth like the surface of a snowdrift.
When Skipper Ed had finished the building, he cut a circular place
through the side, close down to the bottom, and just large enough to
permit him to crawl out. Now with a snowshoe he shoveled the loose snow
out of the opening, and leveled the floor within.
Bobby and Jimmy in the meantime busied themselves unlashing the loads
upon the sledges and unharnessing the dogs. When this was done Bobby
with an ax chopped frozen seal meat into pieces for the dogs' supper,
while Jimmy with the long whip kept the hungry dogs at a distance, for
with the unharnessing, and preparation of their supper, they collected
into bunches, and sitting on their haunches, growled and snapped at one
another, each fearful that his neighbor should gain an advantage, and
all the time emitted dismal, whistling whines of impatience.
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