ht. If we went on, and came out
into the Straits, the wind would hold us there without an inch of
gain, though we had the full power of the engines going and all sails
set. The _Strathcona_, a tiny steamer of less than fifty tons, was no
match for the sea aroused in opposition. It is a miracle that this
small boat, the _Strathcona_, lived so long, with so many attempts of
ice and rock to punch the life out of her wherever she went.

Dr. Grenfell, as his habit is on shipboard, rose at two, at three and
at four to study his charts and lay out his course, and at twenty
minutes to five his strong hands were at the wheel, on which are the
words "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

The dog Fritz had been sleeping all night on a thick blue woolen
blanket in the bunk below mine. He had no business there, and he knew
it, but as regularly as I turned him out into the nipping air and the
frosty starlight he would return indignantly. "What's the matter with
you?" his wrinkled face seemed to say. "You're just a visitor on this
boat, and I belong here. What right have you to keep me out of a nice
warm bed? You don't need this whole cabin, you selfish man." Finally
my patience gave out and I let him have his way.

Under the red edges of the dawn, a fresh breeze blowing, we came
within hail of that ugly rock named the Onion. "In that bay over
there," laughed Grenfell, "we were blown across the ice--sled and dogs
and all--when we were trying to round up the reindeer herd. We had the
time of our lives!

"You see, we had brought a bunch of reindeer all the way from Lapland,
and Lapp herders came with them, to keep off the dogs and prevent the
natives from shooting them as if they were caribou. On one occasion we
had a real 'Night before Christmas' celebration, and St. Nick
delighted the children at the Orphanage where he came with his gifts
on a big sled behind a real team of reindeer.

"But the reindeer spread all over the peninsula, and the Lapps
couldn't keep track of their charges. The hunters and the dogs were
hard on the trail of the herd. You couldn't blame hungry men and
famished animals.

"I meant in time to persuade the people to give up their dogs and use
reindeer instead. The reindeer could draw sleds, and would give milk,
and meat too, if necessary, and their furs would be valuable. There
wouldn't be any risk of their hurting children, or strangers, or sick
people, and they wouldn't make night hideous with