COOK'S RETURN 259 



the health officer boarded the ship. The explorer's face was tinged with a 

 healthy bronze and his demeanor was modest and unassuming. He answered 

 questions freely, but declined to discuss the attitude of Commander Peary. 



When asked about the controversy over the discovery of the pole, Dr. 

 Cook said : 



"I have deplored the whole controversy and feel that nothing should be 

 said. I shall leave the public to judge. I feel that the Danish people, who have 

 accepted me without question and have treated me so liberally, should be the 

 first to receive the evidences of my work. 



"I want to see my wife and family, who, I understand, will come to us first 

 in a revenue tug; then I do not care what comes." 



Dr. Cook said that during the four months of his stay in Greenland he 

 went over all his notes and data and completed his book describing his trip 

 to the pole. 



When he was informed that they were close at hand on board the tugboat 

 John Gilperson, his face beamed and he ran to the side of the deck and peered 

 through the mist. 



Just then, the Gilperson loomed up through the light fog and the figures of 

 his wife and children began to assume definite shapes. 



When Mrs. Cook and the children could be distinguished the explorer looked 

 down at the little woman, who had smiled unbelievingly when she received 

 reports that he was dead in the Arctic regions, who had wept for joy when the 

 first dispatches of his discovery of the north pole reached her, and who had 

 stood by him when Peary questioned his veracity. 



He gazed for several seconds without displaying any emotion, save a slight 

 trembling of his hands. Then his eyes began to fill with tears. 



He pulled off his Derby hat and waved it at his wife. She waved her hand- 

 kerchief — quickly, eagerly. At the same moment, the Gilperson blew three 

 blasts of its whistle. It was the nautical language for "Glad to see you back." 

 The deep, bass whistle of the Oscar H responded in kind. 



Dr. Cook then turned to Captain Hempel of the steamship. 



"I guess ril go aboard the tugboat right away," he said. 



The captain grasped tiis hand. 



"All right, sir," he replied. 



Then the captain turned and ordered his men to lower the rope ladders. It 

 had been understood that Dr. Cook was to board the Grand Republic, but it 

 was not yet in sight. Even if it had been. Dr. Cook would not have boarded it. 

 He had eyes only for his wife and little daughters, Helen and Ruth. 



