the top of the mast till help came next day. When, at last, he
reached land he told how the young prince and his sister had been
drowned, and also a hundred and forty noble youths and girls, and the
Captain and the fifty rowers, and everyone else on board except
himself--all because of wine.

What a dangerous drink this alcohol is, and how many accidents it has
caused! It sends the brain to sleep so that it cannot do its work, and
when that is the case we never know what dreadful thing may happen next.

When anything puts the brain to sleep, we call it narcotic. Alcohol is a
narcotic poison. No one should ever use it who wants to pilot a ship, or
steer an automobile, or drive a train, or shoot a gun, or run a machine
in a factory.

King Henry was a busy man, and he went home as quickly as he could and
attended to his work. He was very much surprised that William and the
others did not come, and he kept wondering where they could be.

When the sad news reached the palace, no man dared go in and tell the
King. At last, they sent a little boy into his room--a page who waited
on the ladies and gentlemen--and he fell at the King's feet.

"O, King ... Prince William ... the White Ship!"

When poor King Henry understood what had happened, he fell down in a
faint. They say that all the rest of his life he was very sad. No one
ever saw him smile again. One thing we must never forget about strong
drink is this: It does not only bring trouble to the people who use it,
but to many others besides. King Henry had nothing to do with the
drinking on board the White Ship. He was not even there, and did not
know about it. But it caused him to lose his boy and girl, both in one
night.

In our days, too, it makes more trouble than any one can possibly
imagine. Although the wreck of the White Ship happened nearly eight
hundred years ago, it was not by any means the first accident brought on
by alcohol. Drink has always done these things. It has always made men's
heads dull and their hands unsteady. It has caused them to be hurt and
to lose their lives. The strange thing is that, although every one knows
it does this, so many people venture to use it. We should all do well to
remember the proverb, "Where there's drink there's danger."

"Write it o'er the railroad wreck,
Write it on the sinking deck,
Write upon our hearts the truth,
Let us learn it in our youth--
Where there's d