to growl
or complain at little inconveniences. He was thinking only of the
duties he had assumed and the adventures that were before him.

At last he was on the seas, and his life work, though he did not know
it then, had begun.

III

ON THE HIGH SEAS

The skipper of the vessel was a bluff, hearty man of the old school of
seamen. At the same time he was a sincere Christian devoted to his
duties. At the beginning he made it plain that Grenfell was to have
quite enough to do to keep him occupied, not only in his capacity as
doctor, but in assisting to conduct afloat a work that in many
respects resembled that of our present Young Men's Christian
Association ashore.

The mission steamer was now to run across to Ostend, Belgium, where
supplies were to be taken aboard before joining the fishing fleets.

It was bitterly cold, and while they lay at Ostend taking on cargo the
harbor froze over, and they found themselves so firm and fast in the
ice that it became necessary to engage a steamer to go around them to
break them loose. At last, cargo loaded and ice smashed, they sailed
away from Ostend and pointed their bow towards the great fleets, not
again to see land for two full months, save Heligoland and
Terschelling in the far distant offing.

The little vessel upon which Grenfell sailed was the first sent to
the fisheries by the now famous Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen; and the
young Doctor on her deck, hardly yet realizing all that was expected
of him, was destined to do no small part in the development of the
splendid service that the Mission has since rendered the fishermen.

On the starboard side of the vessel's bow appeared in bold carved
letters the words, "Heal the sick," on the port side of the bow,
"Preach the Word."

"Preaching the Word" does not necessarily mean, and did not mean here,
getting up into a pulpit for an hour or two and preaching orthodox
sermons, sometimes as dry as dead husks, on Sundays. Sometimes just a
smile and a cheery greeting is the best sermon in the world, and the
finest sort of preaching. Just the example of living honestly and
speaking truthfully and always lending a hand to the fellow who is in
trouble or discouraged, is a fine sermon, for there is not a man or
boy living whose life and actions do not have an influence for good or
bad on some one else. We do not always realize this, but it is true.

Grenfell little dreamed of the future that this voyage was to open