2t)0 COOK'S RETURN 



"You are not timid about descending the rope ladder, are you ?" the captain 

 of the Oscar II, laughing, asked Dr. Cook. 



He smiled, but did not reply. In descending, he unconsciously displayed his 

 great strength. Sometimes he held himself up by his arms like an acrobat hang- 

 ing from a trapeze. When he reached the bottom of the ladder he leaped lightly 

 to the deck of the tugboat. 



He turned with his arms outstretched, and his wife threw herself into them. 



Never before had such a scene taken place on the grimy deck of the tugboat. 

 Here was a man who had received the homage of a King without displaying the 

 slightest trace of sentiment. But now, on seeing his wife, all of his reserve 

 gave way. 



He was not Dr. Frederick A. Cook, discoverer of the North Pole. He was 

 merely a man who had been separated from his wife and children for more 

 than two years. 



When he clasped his wife in his arms neither of them uttered a word for 

 some time. Then she murmured : 



"Oh, Fred," and that was all she could say. 



Dr. Cook patted her affectionately, but he couldn't say anything. 



Their two little girls broke the spell that kept their mother and father silent. 

 They rushed up and each seized one of Dr. Cook's hands. 



"Hello, papa," cried Ruth, the youngest. 



Helen, the older, then chimed in with a greeting, and Dr. Cook picked Ruth 

 and then Helen up in his arms and kissed them. 



Meantime the tugboat Gilperson had turned her nose toward New York and 

 started off at full speed. As she left, she gave the Oscar II a parting salute, 

 to which the liner replied. 



At this time the steamship Monmouth was coming up the bay. She saluted 

 the Gilperson and scores of passengers crowded out on the decks and waved a 

 greeting to Dr. Cook. 



Every craft in the bay then began saluting the tugboat. When it reached 

 Liberty statue it was met by the Grand Republic. 



As the tug came up the bay, one man had stood in the background. He was 

 John R. Bradley, the man who financed Dr. Cook's expedition. When Dr. Cook 

 had greeted everyone else Mr. Bradley stepped forward. 



The two men looked into each other's eyes for a moment and then each took 

 the other by the two hands. They stood that way for fully a minute. All the 

 gratitude that Dr. Cook could express was in his eyes. The words that came 



