66 The Life Worth Living 



press of character which reveals itself the 

 moment she is afloat. Boats are good or 

 bad, tricky or true, just as animals and folks. 



Sailing on the river one day with my ten- 

 year-old in his boat, we passed another boy 

 in a narrow cranky-looking craft with a big 

 ugly sail. He was a poor youngster, a cook 

 for some carpenters near by. But the 

 salutes between them were given with all 

 the deference of two ocean captains in mid- 

 Atlantic. I asked my skipper what was the 

 name of his friend's craft. 



"Hell," he answered. 



"What?" 



"Yes, sir, 'Hell' she's so tricky." 



A boy learns to love or hate a boat for its 

 individuality just as he does man or animal. 

 This love for the boat rouses in him rever- 

 ence for Nature in her larger life. 



He learns that winds and tides have souls. 



He must study their temper and moods. 

 The face of the water is ever changing from 



