en used to make the compass box fast
to the cabin. These screws were responsible for a serious deviation of
the needle, and this it was that had so nearly led them to fatal
disaster.

A heavy swell was running, and the little vessel, with but eight feet
beam, rolled so rapidly that the compass needle, even when the defect
had been remedied, made a wide swing from side to side as the vessel
rolled. The best that could be done was to read the dial midway
between the extreme points of the needle's swing. This was deemed safe
enough, and away the _Princess May_ ploughed again through the fog.

At five o'clock in the afternoon it was decided to work in toward
shore and search for a sheltering harbor in which to anchor for the
night. Under any circumstance it would be foolhardy for so small a
vessel to remain in the open sea outside, after darkness set in, in
those ice-menaced fog-choked northern waters. The course of the
_Princess May_ was accordingly changed to bear to the westward and
Grenfell was continuously feeling his way through the fog when
suddenly, and to the dismay of all on board, they found themselves
surrounded by jagged reefs and small rocky islands and in the midst of
boiling surf.

Now they were indeed in grave peril. They must needs maintain
sufficient headway to keep the vessel under her helm. Black rocks
capped with foam rose on every side, they did not know the depth of
the water, and the fog was so thick they could scarce see two boat
lengths from her bow.

VIII

AN ADVENTUROUS VOYAGE

The finest school of courage in the world is the open. The Sands of
Dee, the estuary and the hills of Wales made a fine school of this
sort for Grenfell.

The out-of-doors clears the brain, and there a man learns to think
straight and to the point. When he is on intimate terms with the woods
and mountains, and can laugh at howling gales and the wind beating in
his face, and can take care of himself and be happy without the
effeminating comforts of steam heat and luxurious beds, a man will
prove himself no coward when he comes some day face to face with grave
danger. He has been trained in a school of courage. He has learned to
depend upon himself.

Fine, active games of competition like baseball, football, basketball
and boxing, give nerve, self-confidence and poise. Through them the
hand learns instinctively, and without a moment's hesitation, to do
the thing the brain tells it to do.

Down on The L