THE JOURNEY SOUTHWARD 581 



some labor in beating clown against wind and sea before 

 we could reach Vardo. We passed several vessels, and 

 dipped our flag to them. We passed the revenue-cutter; 

 she came alongside, but they had nothing to do there, 

 and no one came on board. Then came pilots, father 

 and son. They greeted Brown, but were not prepared 

 to meet a countryman on board an English vessel. They 

 were a little surprised to hear me speak Norwegian, but 

 did not pay much attention to it. But when Brown 

 asked them if they knew who I was, the old man gazed 

 at me again, and a gleam, as it w^ere, of a possible recog- 

 nition crept over his face. But when the name Nansen 

 dropped from the lips of the warm-hearted Brown, as he 

 took the old man by the shoulders and shook him in his 

 delight at being able to give him such news, an expres- 

 sion came into the old pilot's weather-beaten face, a mixt- 

 ure of joy and petrified astonishment, which was inde- 

 scribable. He seized my hand, and wished me welcome 

 back to life; the people here at home had long ago laid 

 me in my grave. And then came questions as to news 

 from the expedition, and news from home. Nothing had 

 yet been heard of the Fram, and a load was lifted from 

 my breast when I knew that those at home had been 

 spared that anxiety. 



Then, silently and unobserved, the Windward glided 

 with colors flying into Vardo Haven. Before the anchor 

 was dropped, I was in a boat with Johansen on our way 

 to the telegraph-station. We put in at the quay, but 



