300 THENORTHPOLE 



the Stars and Stripes, the flag that during a lonely 

 and isolated life had come to be for me the symbol of 

 home and everything I loved — and might never see 

 again. 



The thirty hours at the Pole, what with my march- 

 ings and countermarchings, together with the obser- 

 vations and records, were pretty well crowded. I found 

 time, however, to write to Mrs. Peary on a United 

 States postal card which I had found on the ship 

 during the winter. It had been my custom at various 

 important stages of the journey northward to write 

 such a note in order that, if anything serious happened 

 to me, these brief communications might ultimately 

 reach her at the hands of survivors. This was the 

 card, which later reached Mrs. Peary at Sydney: — 



"90 North Latitude, April 7th. 

 "My dear Jo, 



"I have won out at last. Have been here a day. 

 I start for home and you in an hour. Love to the 

 "kidsies." 



"Bert." 



In the afternoon of the 7th, after flying our flags 

 and taking our photographs, we went into our igloos 

 and tried to sleep a little, before starting south again. 



I could not sleep and my two Eskimos, Seegloo 

 and Egingwah, who occupied the igloo with me, seemed 

 equally restless. They turned from side to side, and 

 when they were quiet I could tell from their uneven 

 breathing that they were not asleep. Though they 

 had not been specially excited the day before when I 



