STORY OF HARRY WHITNEY 337 



"I examined that sledge," said the commander. "Yes, I looked over it 

 carefully. So did Hensen. So did McMillan. They know sledges, I guess, 

 and so do I. Was it anything like my Morris K. Jessup sledge? (Peary's 

 shoulders shook, though at the same time he gritted his teeth). I should say 

 it was not anything like the Morris K. Jessup sledge. 



"That sledge of Cook's was built along lines of no sledge I ever saw 

 before. Why, I don't believe that sledge would last one day over Arctic ice 

 with a standard load of 500 or 600 pounds." 



Getting down to the Whitney phase in his controversy with Cook Peary 

 asked a few questions. 



"I would like to know," he said, "why, if Harry Whitney knew the value 

 of these instruments and proofs that Cook intrusted to his custody — to the 

 custody of a man practically a stranger — he did not sail back to Etah on the 

 Jeanie for these things? Why did he come away from Smith's sound and 

 leave those treasures to the mercy of another Arctic winter ? 



"Let me point out," ran on Peary, "where the Jeanie was when I last saw 

 Mr. Whitney. I picked up Harry \Miitney at Etah on Aug. 17 and we ran 

 down the sound about 100 miles to Saunder's island. Gear water and fair 

 winds ; fine going. 



"At Saunder's island tlie Jeanie came along. We went into North Star 

 bay so that the Jeanie could transfer the coal it had for me to the Roosevelt. 

 Then we ran out into open water again. Whitney was aboard the Jeanie. He 

 was one day's sail from Etah. He had clear, free water along the eastern 

 shore of the sound. 



"Did Whitney run back to Etah for those immensely valuable records and 

 instruments of Dr. Cook ? He did not. He sailed directly west, where the ice 

 was packed against the western shore. He wanted a bear. He cared more 

 about a bear than he did about Cook's property. He would not do without 

 two days of his hunting to go back for what he says now he knew was Cook's 

 proof of the discovery of the pole." 



Then, to add a touch of the dramatic, Peary related that whereas Dr. Cook 

 had left his polar flag, his instruments, and records to the mercy of a stranger 

 at Etah, he ( Peary, had sewn his flag into his undershirt, sewn his records into 

 his clothing, and taken every precaution humanly possible to guard his instru- 

 ments against destruction. 



"Why," cried Peary, with a savage sneer, "I would not have intrusted 

 those things to my father, mother, or brother, to any human being. They 



