On 28 of March Richard Byrd stood outside the small house. He shook hands with the menwho were leaving. They were heading back to the main camp on the coast of Antarctica （南极洲）.
He would1 to work at the base camp.
"I don't like leaving you here alone，"Pete Demas said. "I'll be2 ，"Byrd replied.
He was looking forward to the challenge of spending the winter at the base camp. He would be recording the weather. There was plenty of food and fuel （燃料） in the tiny house. He felt sure3 would go wrong.
But something did go wrong. Byrd was burning the fuel for4 . But the fumes （有毒气体）were not leaving the house. Slowly he was being poisoned（中毒）. On May 31 he broke down.
When he came to，he made himself into his sleeping bag. Three days later he5 it was a Sunday. The men would be6 his radio message. Byrd moved hard out of bed and 7 the call. He didn't want the men to know how 8 he was. It was too dangerous for them to come to save him.
By will-power alone，Byrd managed to stay alive. He was so9 that he could hardly walk. But he forced himself to do the basics. He10 food and made myself eat. He took11 of weather and sent radio messages. But by late June，the men12 that something was wrong. Most of the time，Byrd's messages made no sense.
On August 11Demas and two others reached the base camp. They13 recognized （认出） Byrd. He was very thin and looked terrible. Byrd14 them and then fell to the ground. The men had arrived in time. After two months of care，Byrd's good15 returned. He and his men worked together again.
