102 The Life Worth Living 



most important of the little things we are 

 sure to need first. My wife has become an 

 expert at this work with four years' experi- 

 ence. The man who loves the water is thrice 

 happy if his w T ife has similar tastes or has 

 the adaptability necessary to acquire them. 

 I can safely say that the happiest hours of 

 our married life have been on board this 

 schooner yacht. On her long graceful bow 

 are carved in oak on either side the smil- 

 ing face of a negro looking at a row of 

 flying ducks, symbolic of her name and 

 habitat. 



I was anxious to get the opinion of my 

 sea-dog, Captain George Isdell, on this boat 

 when he first brought her home from her 

 cradle at Pocomoke where she was born in 

 December, 1897. 



His face was wreathed in smiles. Such 

 men are always blunt and plain spoken to 

 the point of rudeness when they talk about 

 the qualities of a boat. They find her weak 



