204 THANKS 33d BIRTHDAY E T . . . > THANKSGIVING < Thursday, November 26, 1914. Clear sky pleasant with NE wind. -14° We expected El today as the weather is good and the moon has returned. But when dinner was ready there was still a vacant place. I walked out to the island in order to work my an appetite for the great feast just was preparing. The thermometer showed -17½° but thin air and no wind made it very crisp & pleasant. I got back in time to shave & dress up in a white linen shirt & waist coat. I felt very civilized when one took a flashlight of me. I at was an watch last night and put in his time cooking today's dinner. The leading feature of the feast was a magnificent dish of roast partridge which we had saved for the occasion. There were several green vegetables from our dehydrated truck farm and the dessert was apropos of the season. I believe that we had mince, apple & squash pies with plum pudding as ballast. The smokers followed the stuffing with cigars. I am very pleased to find that I am gaining weight rapidly in here. I have lost nearly 5 lbs out at the island & I imagine that the greater variety of the meat which we have in here are the cause of my improvement. The whole village came in for a junk after dinner tonight. Games and fruit cake followed.