,,out ,,of ,,the ,,fog ,a ,story of the ,sea ,c4 ,k4 ,,ober ,introduction ,by ,dr4 ,wilfred ,t4 ,grenfell ,,foreword ,since ,i am permitted to consider myself in some way responsible for this narrative's being put on record1 it is with the very heartiest good will that ,i accept the publishers' kind invitation to write a brief foreword to it4 ,i have1 during twenty years1 been working against a problem that ,i recognized called for all--yes1 and more1 than--,i had to give it4 ,for ,i have been endeavoring1 through my own imperfect attainments1 to translate into undeniable language on the ,labrador ,coast1 the message of ,god's personal fatherhood over and love for the humblest of ,his creatures4 ,during these years1 often of overwork1 ,i have considered it worth while to lay aside time and energy and strength to improve the charting and pilot directions of our devious and sometimes dangerous waterways4 ,how much more gladly shall ,i naturally avail myself of any chance by which to contribute to the knowledge of that seemingly ever evasive pathway leading to that which to me is the supreme motive power of human life--faith in the divine ,redeemer and ,master4 ,the best helps to reach the haven we are in search of1 over the unblazed trails of ,labrador1 are ever the tracks of those who have found the way before us4 ,just such to me is this simple and delightful story of ,mr4 ,ober's4 ,it has my most hearty prayers for its unprecedented circulation4 ,,wilfred ,t4 ,,grenfell4 ,illustration ,,old ,,salts ,the lure of the sea prevailed1 and at nineteen ,i shipped for a four-months' fishing trip on the ,newfoundland ,banks4 ,these banks are not the kind that slope toward some gentle stream where the weary fisherman can rest between bites1 protected from the sun by the shade of an overhanging tree2 they are thirty to forty fathoms beneath the surface of the ,atlantic ,ocean1 a thousand miles out from the ,massachusetts coast4 ,the life that had long appealed to my imagination now came in with a shock and a realism that was in part a disillusionment and in part an intense satisfaction of some of my primal instincts and cravings4 ,old salts are more picturesque and companionable spinning yarns about the stove in a shoemaker's shop than they are when one is obliged to live1 eat and sleep with them for four months in the crowded forecastle of a fishing schooner4 ,an ocean storm is a sublime spectacle1 witnessed from a position of safety on the land2 but a storm on the ocean1 experienced in its very vortex from the deck of a tiny fishing boat1 is thrilling beyond description4 ,ships that pass in the night make interesting reading2 but if they pass near you1 in a foggy night1 on the ,banks1 they are better than the muezzin of the ,moslem in reminding a man that it is time to pray4 ,i recall with vividness the scene on such a night1 and still feel the compelling power of the panic in the voice of the mild-mannered old sea dog on anchor watch1 as he yelled down the companionway1 ,all hands on deck4 ,in six seconds we were all there2 and there was the great hulk of a two-thousand-ton ship looming up out of the night4 ,she had evidently sighted our little craft just in time to change her course1 and was passing us with not more than a hundred and fifty feet to spare4 ,i can see them tonight1 as they vanished into the fog--three men and a big ,newfoundland dog1 looking over the rail and down on us who1 a moment before1 were about to die4 ,storm1 fog1 icebergs1 cold1 exposure1 the alert and strenuous life1 with his own life the forfeit of failure1 are a part of the normal experience of a deep sea fisherman4 ,two members of our crew were father and son1 ,uncle ,ike ,patch and his son1 ,frank4 ,the old man had been a fisherman in his youth1 but had been on shore for thirty years4 ,when we were making up our crew1 ,frank caught the fishing fever and wanted to go1 and his father decided to go along with him4 ,they were out in their dory1 one foggy day1 and when the boats came back to the vessel from hauling their trawls1 ,uncle ,ike and ,frank were missing4 ,we rang the bell1 fired our small cannon1 shouted and sent boats out after them4 ,as night came on1 we were huddled together in the forecastle1 wondering about their fate1 while the old fishermen told stories of the fog and its fearful toll of human life4 ,it seemed a terrible thing for the old man and his boy to be out there1 drifting no one knew where2 and though we were accustomed to danger1 there was a gloomy crew and little sleep on our schooner that night4 ,in the morning the weather cleared and soon our missing boat came alongside2 we received them as men alive from the dead4 ,they had found shelter on another fishing vessel that happened to be lying at anchor not more than two or three miles away4 ,there was reason for our solicitude1 for we knew very well that a large proportion of the men who get adrift in the fog are never found alive4 ,shortly before this experience we had spoken a ,gloucester vessel and learned that her crew had picked up1 a short time before1 one of the boats of a ,provincetown schooner that had been adrift four days4 ,one of the two men was dead and the other insane4 ,each day brought its own dangers1 which the fishermen met as part of the day's work1 thinking little of them when they were past1 and ready for whatever another day might bring4 ,but four months is a long time to be out of sight of land1 on a fresh fish and salt hoss diet1 with molasses instead of sugar in your tea1 and fresh water too much needed for drinking purposes to waste in personal ablutions4 ,we all swore that we would never go to sea again2 and when1 after gliding into harbor in the night1 we looked1 one clear ,september morning1 on the seemingly unnatural green of the grass and trees of the old ,north ,shore1 ,i said to myself1 ,this is ,god's country1 if there ever was one1 and ,i1 for one1 will never get out of sight of it again4 ,but ,i had tasted fog and brine1 and the landlubber's lot was too monotonously tame for me4 ,the next spring saw me on the deck of the same schooner headed for the ,newfoundland ,banks1 the home of the codfish and the fog4 ,a seafaring ancestry and a boyhood spent within sound of the surf doubtless had much to do with my love of the salt water4 ,my grandfather was one of six brothers who were sea captains1 and our family had clung to the ,north ,shore of ,massachusetts ,bay almost since the first white settler had moored his bark in that vicinity1 more than two hundred years before4 ,my boyhood home was originally a fishing town1 since changed to manufacturing1 and was fragrant with traditions of the sea4 ,many of the neighborhood homes in which ,i visited as a boy had souvenirs of the ocean displayed on the mantelpiece or on the everlasting solitude of the parlor table4 ,there were great conch shells that a boy could put to his ear and hear the surf roaring on the beaches from which they had been taken2 articles made of sandalwood2 curiously wrought things under glass2 miniature pagodas2 silk scarfs2 bow-legged idols2 and a wonderful model of the good ship ,dolphin1 or of some other equally staunch craft1 in which the breadwinner1 father or son1 had sailed on some eventful voyage4 ,these had all been brought from over sea1 ,i was told1 and this gave me the impression that over sea must be a very rich and interesting place4 ,but the souvenirs of the sea were not as interesting to me as its survivors4 ,we had in our town1 and especially in our end of it1 which was called the ,cove1 a choice assortment of old sea dogs who had sailed every sea1 in every clime--had seen the world1 in fact1 and were not averse1 under the stimulus of good listeners1 to telling all they knew about it and sometimes a little more4 ,scattered through the ,cove were many little shoemakers' shops1 into which1 especially in the long winter evenings1 these old salts would drift4 ,there around the little cylinder stove1 with its leather-chip fire1 leaking a fragrance the memory of which makes me homesick as ,i write about it1 they would swap their stories of the sea1 many of which had originally been based on fact4 ,these old derelicts--and some of the younger seafaring men--were better than dime novels to us boys1 for we could always question them and draw out another story4 ,some of them were unconscious heroes who had often risked their lives for their comrades and the vessel owners2 and for the support and comfort of their families no dangers or hardships had seemed too great to be undertaken or endured4 ,we boys held these old salts in high esteem1 and never forgot to give to each his appropriate title of ,captain or ,skipper1 as the case might be4 ,we also occasionally had some fun with them4 ,we never thought of any of them as bad men1 though some of them1 by their own testimony1 had lived wild and reckless lives4 ,one or two1 according to persistent rumor1 had carried out cargoes of ,new ,england rum and brought back shiploads of black ivory from the ,west coast of ,africa4 ,not a few of them were picturesquely profane4 ,old ,skipper ,tom ,bowman had a very original oath1 tender-eyed ,satan6 which he must have had copyrighted1 as he was the only one that ,i ever heard use it4 ,we boys would sometimes bait him1 provoking him to exasperation1 that we might hear it in all its original force and fervor4 ,illustration3 ,old ,salts ,are ,more ,picturesque and ,companionable ,spinning ,yarns about the ,stove in a ,shoemaker's ,shop than when ,one ,is ,obliged to ,live1 ,eat and ,sleep with ,them ,we knew his habits well4 ,he eked out a scanty sustenance by fishing off the shore and would frequently come in on the ebb tide and leave his boat half way up the beach1 going home to dinner and returning when the flood tide had about reached his boat1 to bring it up to its moorings4 ,so one day we dug a honey pot by the side of his boat1 at the very spot where we knew he would approach it1 covered it over with dry seaweed and about the time he was due we were lying out of sight1 but within earshot1 behind the rocks4 ,he drifted down1 at peace with all the world1 went in over the tops of his rubber boots1 and then1 for one blissful moment1 we had our reward4 ,some of these old salts were so thoroughly salted1 being drenched with the brine of many stormy voyages1 that they kept in good condition well beyond their allotted time of three score years and ten4 ,some were of uncertain age1 but were evidently well beyond the century mark1 as proved by the aggregate time consumed on their many voyages1 the stories of which they had reiterated with such convincing detail4 ,one of these1 ,captain ,sam ,morris1 was patiently stalked by the boys through a long season of yarn spinning1 careful tally being kept4 ,when the tale was complete1 the boys closed in on him4 ,how old are you1 ,captain ,sam8 ,oh1 ,i dunno1 ,i ain't kep' count4 ,are you seventy8 ,i swan6 ,i dunno4 ,well1 you were on the ,old ,dove with ,skipper ,jimmie ,stone1 weren't you8 ,sartin4 ,you were on the ,constitution1 when she fought the ,guerriere1 weren't you8 ,how could he deny it8 ,well1 weren't you with ,captain ,lovett on four of his three-year trading voyages to ,australia and ,china8 ,course ,i was4 ,how about those trips 'round the ,horn1 on the clipper ship ',mary ,jane' from '#di to '#ee8 ,i was thar4 ,they kept relentlessly on down the list1 and then showed him the tally4 ,allowing for infancy1 an abbreviated boyhood on land1 and the time they had known him since he had quit the sea1 he was one hundred and thirty-five years old4 ,the showing did not disconcert him1 however4 ,he was interested1 but he had told those stories so often and had come to believe each of them so implicitly that he could not doubt them in the aggregate4 ,he simply exclaimed3 ,well1 ,i'll be darned6 ,i feel like a young chap o' sixty4 ,but while some of these old sailors liked to spin yarns and some had their frailties1 they were1 as a rule1 strong characters1 rugged1 honest1 courageous1 unselfish--real men1 in fact1 whose sterling qualities stood out in strong contrast against the unreality of many timid and non-effective lives about them4 ,it was not their romancing1 but their reality1 and the achieving power of their lives that appealed to me as a boy1 and ,i was drawn to the kind of life that had helped to produce such men4 ,then1 too1 the ocean itself1 with its immensity1 its mystery1 its moods1 the danger in it1 and the man's work in mastering it1 was almost irresistibly attractive to me4 ,on graduating from high school ,i declined my father's offer to send me to college1 thinking that the life ,i had in view did not require a college education4 ,then he made me a very attractive business proposition1 but it looked to me like slavery1 and what ,i wanted most was freedom4 ,my father and mother were both ,christians1 but ,i had become skeptical1 profane and reckless of public opinion4 ,i had left home for a boarding house in the same town at eighteen1 and at nineteen ,i had slipped the moorings and was heading out to sea4 ,,adrift ,my second trip to the ,banks was made in response to the same kind of impulse as that which drives the nomad out of his winter quarters in the springtime or brings the wild geese back to their summer feeding grounds4 ,to one who really loves the ocean1 the return to it after a period of exile on the land1 is an indescribable satisfaction4 ,there was at least one of our crew who experienced this emotion as our staunch little craft turned her nose to the blue water1 and with all sail set and lee rail almost under water1 leaped away from the petty restrictions of the shore into the practically limitless expanse of the ,atlantic4 ,in a week we were on the fishing ground and sentiment gave way to business4 ,our schooner was a trawler1 equipped with six dories and a crew of fifteen1 including the skipper1 the cook1 the boy and two men for each boat4 ,each trawl had a thousand hooks1 a strong ground line six thousand feet long1 with a smaller line two and a half feet in length1 with hook attached1 at every fathom4 ,these hooks were baited and the trawl was set each night4 ,the six trawls stretched away from the vessel like the spokes from the hub of a wheel1 the buoy marking the outer anchor of each trawl being over a mile away4 ,i was captain of a dory this year1 passing as a seasoned fisherman with my experience of the year before4 ,my helper or bow-man was ,john ,hogan1 a young ,irishman about my own age1 red-headed1 but green at the fishing business4 ,john's mother kept a little oasis for thirsty neighbors1 in a city adjacent to my home town1 and his father was a man of unsteady habits4 ,but ,john was a good fellow1 active and willing1 and1 though he had not inherited a rugged constitution1 he could pull a good steady stroke4 ,soon after we reached the ,banks1 a storm swept our decks and nearly carried away our boats4 ,as a result1 the dories1 particularly my own1 were severely strained and leaked badly4 ,for two weeks1 however1 we had no fog1 but on the morning of the second of ,june1 just as we went over the schooner's side and shaped our course for our outer buoy1 a bank of fog with an edge as perpendicular as the side of a house moved down on us like a great glacier1 though much more rapidly1 shutting us in and everything else out from sight4 ,it was ugly and thick1 as if all the fog factories from ,grand ,manan to ,labrador had been working overtime for the two weeks before and had sent their whole output in one consignment4 ,we had just passed our inner buoy when the fog struck us1 but we kept on for the outer buoy1 as was customary in foggy weather1 since it was safer to get that and pull in toward the vessel1 rather than take the inner buoy1 pull out1 and find ourselves with a boatload of fish and ugly weather over a mile from the vessel4 ,we had our bearings1 ,i had often found the buoy in the fog and believed that we could do it again4 ,we kept on rowing and knew when we had rowed far enough1 though we had not counted the strokes2 but we found nothing4 ,guess we have drifted too far to leeward2 pull up to windward a little4 ,that's strange1 we must have passed it1 this blamed fog is so thick4 ,what's that over there8 ,we zigzagged back and forth for some time and then realized that we had missed it and must go back to the vessel and get our inner buoy4 ,this seemed easy1 but we found that it is as important to have a point of departure as it is to have a destination1 and not knowing just where we were we could not head our boat to where the vessel was4 ,we shouted1 and listened1 rowed this way and that way but not a sound came to us through the fog1 although we knew that the boy must be at his post ringing the bell1 so that the boats could hark their way back to the vessel4 ,i learned afterward that the tide that morning was exceptionally strong4 ,i had noted its direction and made allowance for it1 before leaving the schooner1 but we were where the ,gulf ,stream and the ,arctic ,current are not very far apart and the resulting tides are strong and changeable4 ,we were in the grip of two great elemental and relentless forces1 the impenetrable fog1 cutting off all our communications1 and the strong ocean current sweeping us away into the uninhabited waste of waters4 ,from my experience of the year before1 ,i knew what it meant to be lost in the fog on the ,banks1 practically in mid-ocean2 ,i understood that if the fog lasted for a week or ten days as it sometimes did1 especially at that season of the year1 it was a fight for our lives4 ,i soon realized that we were lost and that the fight was on4 ,we were certainly stripped for it1 without impedimenta1 no anchor1 compass1 provisions1 water1 no means of catching fish or fowl1 and with rather light clothing1 as we were dressed for work and not for protection against cold4 ,but youth is optimistic and claims what is coming to it1 with a margin for luck1 and we started on our new voyage of discovery with good courage and a cheerful disregard of the hardships1 dangers and possible death in the fog1 with which and into which we were drifting4 ,it would not be strictly accurate to say that we saw nothing during all the time we were adrift1 but the things we saw were of the same stuff that the fog was made of4 ,early in the first day ,i saw a sail dimly outlined in the misty air4 ,i called ,john's attention to it with a shout1 and he saw it too1 but1 as we rowed toward it1 the sail retreated and then disappeared4 ,we thought that this was strange1 for the wind was not strong enough to take a vessel away from us faster than we could row1 and we were near enough to make ourselves heard4 ,soon1 the sail appeared again1 and again we shouted and rowed toward it1 and again it glided away from us and disappeared1 and again1 and again1 through the seemingly endless procession of the slow-moving hours of that first day1 we chased the phantom ship4 ,when night came on1 there came with it a deepening sense of loneliness and isolation4 ,the night was also very cold1 the chill penetrated our thin clothing1 and we were compelled to row the boat to keep ourselves1 not warm1 but a little less cold4 ,the icebergs coming down on the ,arctic ,current hold the season back1 and early ,june on the ,banks is much like ,april on the ,massachusetts coast4 ,we tried to sleep lying down in the bottom of the boat with our heads in a trawl tub1 but we were stiff with cold1 the boat leaked badly1 and it was necessary to get up frequently and bail out the water4 ,the thought also that we might drift within sight or sound of a vessel1 or within sight of a trawl buoy1 made us afraid to sleep4 ,the night finally wore away1 the second day and night were like the first1 the third like the first and second and the fourth day like another cycle of ,cathay4 ,these four days and nights were like solitary confinement to the prisoner1 the grim monotony and lack of incident contributing to the cumulative effect and accentuating the sense of helplessness and isolation4 ,there was nothing to relieve the situation4 ,we were like an army lying in trenches in the face of the enemy1 waiting for the enemy's move4 ,the fourth night we were startled by the sound of the fog horn of a sailing vessel4 ,the wind was blowing almost a gale4 ,we listened to get the direction1 then sprang to the oars and rowed hard to intercept her1 shouting1 listening1 rowing with all our strength1 and willing1 if need be1 to be run down1 in the chance of being seen and rescued4 ,the horn finally sounded so near that it seemed that we could almost see the vessel1 and we felt sure that they could hear our call4 ,but our hearts sank as the sounds grew fainter and soon we were alone again with the wind and fog4 ,the fifth day we heard the whistle of an ocean steamship4 ,we can surely head this one off1 we thought1 but she quickly passed us1 too far away to see or hear4 ,it was a bitter disappointment as this floating hotel1 full of warmth1 food1 water1 shelter and companionship1 for the lack of each and all of which we were perishing1 rushed by1 so near1 yet unconscious and unheeding1 in too great a hurry to stop and listen to our cry for help4 ,i have thought of this since1 as ,i have hurried along with the crowd in the street of a great city and wondered1 if we stopped to listen1 what cry might come to us out of the deep4 ,the fifth night the sea was running high4 ,we were drifting with a trawl tub fastened to the painter as a drag to keep the boat headed to the wind1 when it began to rain4 ,i spread my oil jacket to catch the water1 and we waited until we could collect enough for a drink1 watching the drops eagerly1 as we had tasted neither food nor water since leaving the vessel five days before4 ,just as we were about to drink1 however1 our boat shipped a sea1 filling the oil jacket with salt water1 and there was no more rain4 ,every day we passed great flocks of sea fowl floating on the water1 coming frequently almost within an oar's length1 but always just out of reach4 ,we were in worse condition than the ,ancient ,mariner1 with food as well as water everywhere about us1 and not a morsel or a drop to eat or drink4 ,thirst is harder to endure than hunger1 and yet hunger finally wakes up the wolf2 and the time comes when even the thought of cannibalism can be entertained without horror4 ,about this time ,john asked me1 ,well1 what do you think8 ,oh1 ,i said1 ,i think that one of us will come out of it all right4 ,he started1 as if he thought that ,i had premature designs on him4 ,you need not be afraid1 ,i said1 ,i'll not take advantage of you4 ,he knew that ,i was the stronger and perhaps thought that if ,i felt as he did1 his chances were very small4 ,the sixth day1 ,john seemed like a man overwhelmed with the horror of a situation that had gotten beyond his control4 ,he cowered at the opposite end of the boat and had said nothing for a long time4 ,finally he opened a conversation with a person of whose presence ,i had not been conscious4 ,jim1 he said1 come1 give me a piece4 ,jim who8 ,i asked4 ,piece of what8 ,where is he8 ,jim ,woodbury1 he answered1 don't you see him8 ,there he is1 hiding under that oil jacket4 ,he's been there over half an hour1 eating pie1 and he won't give me any4 ,i tried to laugh him out of his delusion1 but the thing was real to him4 ,soon he jumped up and said3 ,i'm going on board2 ,i'm tired of staying out here4 ,how will you get there8 ,i asked4 ,walk1 he answered1 the water ain't deep1 and he started to get overboard4 ,i caught him and pulled him back into the boat1 not any too soon1 for if he had gone overboard1 the sharks would probably have gotten him1 for they were not very far away4 ,every now and then ,i had seen their fins cutting the surface of the water1 as they patrolled back and forth1 waiting their time1 or ours1 as if they knew that it was only a question of time4 ,soon ,john started again to get overboard4 ,this time ,i punished him so severely that he did not try it again4 ,after that1 ,i had to keep my eye on him constantly4 ,his ravings about food were not particularly soothing to my feelings1 for ,i was as hungry as he1 only not so demonstrative about it4 ,the seventh day drifted slowly by and the fog still held us captive4 ,for a week we had had no food1 no water1 and scarcely any sleep2 having our boots on continuously stopped the circulation in our feet with the same effect as if they had been frozen2 we were chilled to the bone2 my boat mate was insane4 ,since the whistle of the steamship had died away in the distance1 two days before1 no sound had come to us out of the fog but the voices of the wind and the swash of the waves4 ,i knew the chart of the ,banks and had a general idea as to where we were4 ,there is a great barren tract on the ,banks where few fish are found and fishermen seldom go1 and we had drifted into this man-forsaken place4 ,i had almost said ,god-forsaken too1 but something began to shape itself in my mind about that time1 that makes it difficult for me now to say this4 ,rather1 as ,i look back on our experience1 ,i feel more like claiming fellowship with the wanderer who called the place of his hardship ,bethel because it was there1 at the end of self and of favoring conditions1 that he found ,god4 ,,the ,,pilot ,i was near the end of my rope--,i was not frightened1 or discouraged2 my mind was perfectly clear2 ,i was not stampeded4 ,of course1 ,i had thought of ,god and of prayer1 but ,i was a skeptic1 as ,i supposed1 and considered both not proven4 ,but the steady contemplation of the probability of death1 for seven successive days1 under conditions that compelled candor1 raised questions that skepticism could not answer1 and gave to my questions answers that skepticism could not refute4 ,there comes a time1 under such conditions1 when common sense asserts itself and sophistry fails to satisfy4 ,since ,i made this discovery in my personal experience1 ,i have learned that my case was not peculiar1 but in keeping with a general law in human experience1 long understood and admirably stated in the #ajgth ,psalm4 ,such words as these have come out of the depths and it is sometimes necessary to go down into the depths to prove them to be true4 ,they wandered4444 in a solitary way2 they found no city to dwell in4 ,hungry and thirsty1 their soul fainted in them4 ,then they cried unto the ,lord in their trouble1 and he delivered them out of their distresses1 and he led them forth by the right way1 that they might go to a city of habitation4444 ,such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death1 being bound in affliction and iron2 because they rebelled against the words of ,god1 and contemned the counsel of the ,most ,high3 therefore he brought down their heart with labor2 they fell down and there was none to help4 ,then they cried unto the ,lord in their trouble1 and he saved them out of their distresses4 ,he brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death1 and brake their bands in sunder44444 ,they that go down to the sea in ships1 that do business in great waters2 these see the works of the ,lord1 and his wonders in the deep4 ,for he commandeth1 and raiseth the stormy wind1 which lifteth up the waves thereof4 ,they mount up to the heaven1 they go down again to the depths3 their soul is melted because of trouble444 they are at their wits' end4 ,then they cry unto the ,lord in their trouble1 and he bringeth them out of their distresses4 ,he maketh the storm a calm1 so that the waves thereof are still4 ,then are they glad because they be quiet2 so he bringeth them unto their desired haven4 ,i had drifted into the secret place1 the door was shut1 and it was the right time and place for me to pray4 ,i saw that my life had been a failure1 that ,i was absolutely worthless1 and that1 if death came then1 there was not one good thing that ,i had ever done that would survive4 ,in fact1 ,i could think of nothing in my life that was worth remembering4 ,i was not so much concerned about my own salvation as for another chance to live and to do an unselfish work in the world4 ,and so ,i did what ,i thought then 7and think still7 was the only sane thing to do1 ,i signaled for the ,pilot4 ,that night the rain came4 ,i spread my oil jacket and caught an abundance of water of which we drank deeply4 ,with this refreshment came new hope and new courage for the final struggle1 if safety could be gained that way4 ,i reviewed the situation and considered one by one the possible courses we might take4 ,we seemed to be shut in to three things4 ,the first possibility was to row to land2 but the nearest land1 the ,newfoundland coast1 was nearly three hundred miles away1 and ,i decided that we did not have the time or the strength to reach it4 ,the second possibility was to be picked up by a passing vessel2 but this did not look encouraging1 for two had already passed us4 ,the third and last hope was to find a fishing vessel at anchor1 and within a reasonable distance4 ,this last possibility seemed almost probable4 ,but how probable8 ,possibly within ten miles1 probably within twenty-five1 certainly within fifty1 some fishermen were plying their trade1 but where8 ,there are thirty-two points of the compass1 and by deviating one point at the center1 a distance of fifty miles would bring us ten miles out of the way at the circumference4 ,we could row fifty miles1 but we cannot take chances4 ,yet there is a snug little fishing craft out there on the rim of the circle1 waiting for us to find her6 ,but which way shall we go8 ,i finally decided that this was a problem for the ,pilot1 and ,i left it with ,him1 satisfied that ,he understood ,his business and that if ,he had any orders for me1 ,he knew how to communicate them4 ,the eighth day came1 and with it came an impulse to row the boat in a certain direction4 ,this impulse was not unlike the thousands that had come to me before4 ,there was nothing about it to indicate that its source was any higher than my own imagination4 ,if this was a voice from above the fog1 it was certainly a still1 small one4 ,it was unheeded at first1 not unrecognized4 ,reason said that to conserve our strength we should sit still and wait for the lifting of the fog4 ,fear whispered that if ,i obeyed the impulse1 we might be rowing directly away from safety4 ,but the impulse persisted and prevailed4 ,get up1 ,john1 ,i said1 we have a day's work ahead of us4 ,we are going to row off in this direction4 ,john responded automatically1 fear acting in place of reason1 but he was soon exhausted and lay down again4 ,i kept on1 however1 resting now and then1 and returning to the oars with the thought that fifty miles was a long distance and that we had a very small margin of time to our credit4 ,our course was with the wind1 and nature worked with us all that eighth day and on into the night1 as the pressure on me drove us toward our goal4 ,about the middle of the eighth night ,i realized that ,i had reached the limit of my fighting strength4 ,john was in worse condition than ,i1 for ,i still had hope1 but my hope was not in myself4 ,then ,i talked the situation over with the ,pilot4 ,we had nowhere else to go2 we had come as far as we could2 our time was nearly up--what of the night8 and what of the morning8 ,john was asleep2 the world was a long way off3 the sea and the mist seemed to have rolled over us and to have buried us ten thousand fathoms deep4 ,but out of the depths ,i cried1 and ,i found the communication open4 ,between midnight and dawn the fog lifted and from the overhanging clouds the rain fell gently through the remainder of the night4 ,john lay in his end of the boat1 but ,i sat watching4 ,finally1 as if in response to some secret signal1 the darkness began its inevitable retreat and1 as the night horizon receded1 out of the gray of the morning1 growing more and more distinct as the shadows fell away1 appeared a dark object less than two miles distant1 nebulous at first1 then unmistakable in its character4 ,it was a solitary fishing vessel lying at anchor1 toward which we had been rowing and drifting unerringly all through the night and the day before4 ,there it was6 only a clumsy old fisherman1 but it was the best thing in all the world to us1 and it was anchored and could not get away6 ,i do not recall the experience of any tumultuous emotion as this messenger of hope appeared on our horizon1 but we knew that we were safe4 ,how easy it is to write this simple word of four letters6 but1 to realize it1 one must have a background of despair4 ,since that morning1 the words safe1 safety1 salvation1 have always come to me freighted with reality4 ,it is doubtful if any of the vessel's crew had seen our boat1 as it was scarcely daylight and such a small object lying close to the water would not be readily discernible4 ,i had thought1 a few hours before1 that my strength was entirely exhausted1 but the sight of the vessel called out a reserve sufficient for the final effort4 ,as ,i slowly brought our boat alongside1 some of the crew were in evidence1 getting ready for their day's work1 and they seemed perplexed to account for our early morning call4 ,but1 when we came close to the vessel1 our emaciated appearance evidently told the main outlines of our story4 ,they called to the others in a foreign tongue and the whole crew crowded to the rail4 ,one strong fellow jumped into our boat and lifted ,john up while others reached down to help4 ,then1 with their assistance1 ,i tumbled on board1 stiff with cold and with feet like stone4 ,they gave us brandy and took us to the warm cabin where breakfast was being prepared and it is difficult to say which was more grateful1 the smell of food or the warmth of the fire4 ,john was put into the captain's bunk4 ,it was a good exchange for he was not far from ,davy ,jones' locker4 ,we had been on board only a few hours when the fog rolled back again and continued for some time afterward4 ,the vessel was a ,french fishing brig from the island of ,st4 ,malo in the ,english ,channel4 ,none of the crew understood ,english and neither of us could speak ,french1 but they understood the language of distress and kindness needs no interpreter4 ,the captain showed me a calendar and pointed to the tenth of ,june1 and when ,i pointed to the second he evidently found it hard to believe me1 but ,john's condition helped to corroborate my statement4 ,they let us eat as much as we wished1 but nature protected us1 for the process of eating was so painful at first that ,i felt like a sword swallower who had partaken too freely of his favorite dish4 ,fortunately1 also1 our hosts were living the simple life4 ,their menu consisted chiefly of sliced bread over which had been poured the broth of fish cooked in water and light wine1 the same fish cooked in oil as a second course1 bread and hardtack1 and an occasional dish of beans1 which seemed to be regarded by them as a luxury4 ,they had an abundance of beer and light wine and in the morning before going to haul their trawls1 coffee was served with brandy4 ,cooking was done on a brick platform1 or fireplace1 in the cabin1 and the captain1 the mate and all hands sat around one large dish placed on the cabin floor and each helped himself with his own spoon4 ,a loaf of bread was passed around1 each cutting off a slice with his own sheath knife4 ,but notwithstanding simple food1 frugal meals and primitive conditions1 the hospitality was genuine and against the background of our recent hunger1 thirst and general wretchedness1 the place was heaven and our hosts were angels in thin disguise4 ,in about ten days we were brought into ,st4 ,pierre1 the ,french fishing town on the small rocky island of ,miquelon1 off the ,newfoundland coast1 the depot of the ,french fishing fleet and the only remaining foothold for the ,french of the vast empire once held by them between the ,north ,atlantic and the ,mississippi ,valley4 ,the ,american consul took us in charge1 sending us to a sailors' boarding house and giving each of us a change of clothing4 ,in another week we were sent on by steamer to ,halifax1 consigned to the ,american consul at that port4 ,there ,john's feet proved to be in such bad condition that it was necessary to send him to the hospital1 and1 as gangrene had set in1 a portion of each foot was amputated4 ,he was queer for several weeks1 but1 with returning physical health1 gradually recovered his mental equilibrium4 ,after a few days in ,halifax1 ,i was sent on by steamer to ,boston1 bringing the first news of either our loss or our rescue4 ,on reaching my home town ,i did not go to a boarding house2 there was plenty of room for me in the home and ,i was contented to stay there for a while4 ,the old salts received me as a long-lost brother1 and while the official notice was never handed me1 ,i was made to feel that somewhere in their inner consciousness ,i had been elected a regular member of the ,amalgamated ,society of ,sea ,dogs1 and was entitled to an inside seat1 if ,i could find one1 about the stove of any shoemaker's shop in the ,cove4 ,the ,banks were revisited in memory1 and all the old fog experiences were brought out1 amplified and elongated as far as possible1 but it was conceded that we had established a new record in the nautical traditions of the ,cove4 ,it took several years for me to inch my way back to physical solvency from the effects of my exposure1 and this delayed the carrying out of my plans1 to which my fishing trips had been a prelude4 ,the strange thing that ,i now have to record is that ,i soon forgot1 or willfully ignored1 my whole experience of ,god1 prayer and deliverance1 and became apparently more skeptical and indifferent than before4 ,the only way ,i can explain this is that ,i had not become a ,christian1 and my dominant mental attitude reasserted itself when danger was past4 ,i practically never attended church4 ,my position and influence1 however1 were not merely negative2 ,i was positively antagonistic to ,christianity1 and this attitude continued up to the ,april following4 ,illustration3 ,dave ,lived in a ,beautiful ,old ,place ,near the ,shore and ,i ,had ,been in the ,habit of ,spending ,many of ,my ,sundays with ,him ,but while ,i forgot1 ,i was not forgotten4 ,god had begun a work in me1 the continuation and completion of which waited on my willingness to cooperate1 and the most powerful force in the world1 that of believing and persistent prayer1 was being released in my behalf4 ,my mother was a woman of remarkable ,christian character1 with rare qualities of mind and heart1 knowledge and love of the ,scriptures1 and a deep and genuine prayer life4 ,notwithstanding my lack of sympathy with her in the things most fundamental1 she had confidence that the tide would turn with me4 ,her confidence1 however1 was not based on me4 ,she knew the ,lord and understood that it was not the sheep that went out after the ,shepherd who was lost until it found ,him4 ,so she kept a well-worn path to the place of prayer4 ,she was wise and said little to me on the subject1 but ,i knew her life and what it was for which she was most deeply solicitous4 ,she had taught me from the ,bible as a boy1 and many a cold winter night1 though weary with a day filled with household cares1 she had come to my room and tucked me in with prayer4 ,my attitude toward ,christianity in the winter following my second fishing trip on the ,newfoundland ,banks was different from that of the year before4 ,then ,i had been a skeptic1 as ,i assumed1 and declined responsibility for what to me was unknown and seemed to be unknowable4 ,but1 in the meantime1 something had happened that had lifted this whole question with me from the realm of speculation to that of experience4 ,the ,pilot's response to my signal might1 for the time1 be ignored1 but it could not be forgotten4 ,but1 by deliberately putting aside my convictions of ,god1 prayer and deliverance1 treating them as if they had no existence in fact1 ,i had introduced an element of distrust of my own mental processes4 ,the will had taken the place of judgment1 and the result was confusion2 ,i was in the fog4 ,i never attended prayer meeting1 but one ,sunday night ,i was passing the chapel where such a meeting was being held4 ,i had been there with my mother1 as a boy1 and while the meetings were slow1 they were pervaded with a true devotional spirit and a something real1 though to me intangible and difficult to describe4 ,whether ,i was influenced by the memory of these boyhood glimpses into the spiritual world1 or by the spirit of the scoffer and the cynic possessing me at that time1 or by the still small voice that had pointed the way to safety only a few months before1 ,i never fully knew1 but ,i went in4 ,the room was filled with people and a meeting was in progress1 during which two men1 old neighbors1 whose lives ,i knew well1 told the story of their recent conversion4 ,one was ,skipper ,andrew ,woodbury1 a man of blameless life1 but who had lived sixty-five years without religion4 ,the other was my uncle by marriage1 twenty years my senior1 a close personal friend and familiarly called ,dave4 ,i had been in the habit of spending many of my ,sundays with him1 as he was a non-church goer1 companionable1 genuine and open-hearted as the day4 ,it was evident that he had found something that he wanted to share with his friends1 and while ,i made light of it at the time1 his testimony made a profound impression on me4 ,toward the close of the meeting the leader gave the invitation to those who want to become ,christians to rise4 ,no one stood up4 ,then he came within closer range and invited those who would like to become ,christians1 but still no one responded4 ,i was becoming interested and was almost disappointed when no one answered to this second invitation4 ,then he put up the proposition to those who have no objections to becoming ,christians4 ,he will get a lot of them on this call1 ,i said to myself1 but to my surprise1 no one stirred4 ,well1 ,i thought1 this is too bad1 but why couldn't ,i help him out8 ,i have no objections to becoming a ,christian1 and ,i stood up4 ,i slipped out of the meeting ahead of the crowd1 but in my room that night before ,i went to bed1 ,i found myself on my knees1 trying to pray4 ,i did not succeed very well4 ,oh1 what's the use8 ,i said1 there's nothing in it4 ,but ,i lay awake far into the night1 thinking1 feeling the beating of my heart1 wondering what kept it going and what if it should stop suddenly8 ,but in less than a day these impressions had passed4 ,i laughed them off and kept on in my own way4 ,for six weeks ,i steered clear of ,dave1 but ,i did not want to lose his friendship1 and then1 too1 ,i was rather curious to find out what1 if anything1 he had really discovered4 ,so1 one ,sunday morning in early ,april1 ,i drifted down to his home1 as ,i had done so many times before4 ,i stopped at my father's house on the way1 and after a short visit1 went on to ,dave's4 ,it was a pleasant morning1 and ,i left my overcoat at home1 as ,i had but a short distance to go4 ,dave lived in a beautiful old farmhouse near the shore1 overlooking the harbor1 and our ,sunday program had been walking along the beach1 or sitting around the house smoking1 eating apples1 drinking cider and killing time in the most unconventional way possible4 ,it's too bad1 ,i thought1 that ,dave has got religion1 it spoils all our good times2 but ,i was hoping to find him less strenuous on the subject than when ,i had heard him in the chapel six weeks before4 ,but ,dave's conversion was so genuine and his enthusiasm so real that it was impossible for me entirely to resist and beat back the impact of his testimony4 ,i concealed my impressions1 however1 and told him that no doubt he needed it1 it was probably a good thing for him1 ,i wouldn't say a word to discourage him1 but as for me1 ,i did not need that kind of medicine4 ,he urged me to go to church with him1 but ,i declined his invitation so positively that he did not renew it4 ,i'll walk along with you as far as the corner1 ,i said1 but when we came to the point of parting an impulse came to me to go with him4 ,walk slow1 ,dave1 ,i said1 ,i'll go in and get my coat and go to church with you4 ,we were both surprised1 he1 because he had given up all hope of my going with him1 and ,i1 because ten seconds before ,i had no thought of going4 ,i have often thought of it since1 and never without a sense of profound thankfulness for the impulse that came to me that bright ,sunday morning1 at the parting of the ways4 ,i went with ,dave to church that morning1 came back and spent the afternoon with him and went with him again to the evening service1 after which ,i remained for personal conversation4 ,dave had exhausted his ammunition1 but the man who talked with me had been practicing the ,christian life for twenty-five years and was a man of fine personality1 culture and business experience4 ,he knew the ,gospel and also knew human nature1 and mine in particular1 while ,i knew that he was genuine4 ,charlie1 he said1 don't you think it is time for you to be a ,christian8 ,no1 ,i answered1 ,i can't be a hypocrite2 ,i can't pretend to believe what ,i don't believe4 ,what is there that you can't believe8 ,well1 there is the ,bible1 for instance4 ,don't you believe the ,bible8 ,about as ,i believe ,robinson ,crusoe4 ,do you think the trouble is with the ,bible1 or with yourself8 ,don't you think that1 if you had faith1 as a ,christian man1 the ,bible would be a different book to you8 ,that looks easy2 of course1 if ,i had faith ,i would be just as you are4 ,but how can a man believe what he does not believe8 ,did you ever hear about prayer8 ,yes1 ,i have heard something about it4 ,don't you think that there is something in it8 ,yes1 ,i am inclined to think there is4 7,i could not honestly deny it in the light of my experience47 ,well1 don't you think that if you were to pray to ,god for faith1 ,god would give it to you8 ,this question touched the spring of memory1 and conscience showed me what it thought of me4 ,i was ashamed of my littleness and of my unscientific attitude of mind in wilfully ignoring the greatest facts of my experience1 and ,i was also ashamed of my ingratitude4 ,and so1 in an unguarded moment1 that is1 in a moment when my will was off its guard and my judgment asserted its right to be heard1 ,i gave my answer to the question and the answer was1 ,yes1 ,i believe that ,he would4 ,and then came the question1 ,won't you do it8 ,this question precipitated the fight of my life4 ,i do not remember how long my friend waited for my answer1 but judging from the struggle in my mind1 it must have been a long time4 ,what would it mean for me to answer this question in the affirmative8 ,first1 it would mean the sacrifice of my independence2 next1 it would mean fellowship with a lot of so-called ,christians1 whose ,christianity was not of a manly type2 third1 it would mean a step in the dark1 and this seemed to me to be unreasonable4 ,on the other hand1 it might mean the winning of something better than that which ,i called independence2 it might also mean fellowship with the really great characters of the ,christian ,church1 and these men had always appeared very attractive to me4 ,with this last thought came the question1 ,how did these men live the victorious life8 and it was clear to me that they lived it by faith4 ,then came the thought1 ,how did they begin to have faith8 and it seemed to me that this step in the dark1 which ,i hesitated to take1 was probably the very step by which these great men had passed from a life of unbelief to their victory of faith4 ,this last thought came as a revelation4 ,it had always seemed to me that faith was an experience of the emotions or a satisfying of the intellect1 and that one might obtain faith by the initiative of the will was a new idea to me4 ,if this was true1 the step in the dark was not unreasonable but scientific and psychological4 ,i was certainly in the dark then4 ,it could be no darker if ,i went forward in the path to which my friend invited me4 ,i decided therefore to take the step and to pray for faith1 hoping that in the process ,i should find a ,christian experience4 ,and so ,i answered1 ,yes1 ,i'll do it4 ,my friend prayed with me and then ,i prayed1 but all that ,i could say was ,lord1 show me the way4 ,i was not conscious of any special interest1 ,i had simply willed to pray and wanted to believe4 ,i had won the fight with myself1 however1 to the extent of getting the consent of my will to pray and to trust1 but ,i realized that the battle with myself was only begun and ,i knew also that ,i had another fight ahead of me1 or a series of them1 with the conditions that hemmed me in and seemed to make the ,christian life impracticable4 ,one of these adverse conditions was my relations with the men in my boarding house4 ,how could ,i go back and tell them that ,i had decided to do the thing that ,i had ridiculed and scoffed at in their presence8 ,of course this was pure cowardice2 ,i was afraid of their ridicule4 ,but the break was made easier for me than ,i feared it would be4 ,i found on entering the smoking room of the boarding house1 that ,uncle ,dick ,moss1 a rank spiritualist1 had the floor4 ,he was on his high horse and was charging up and down the room in the midst of a bitter and blatant ,ingersollian tirade against ,christianity and the ,bible4 ,the crowd was cheering him on4 ,the day before1 this probably would have amused me and ,i might have followed him1 supporting his arguments1 or rather assertions--there were no arguments4 ,but during the twelve hours that had just passed ,i had been facing realities and ,uncle ,dick's exhibition disgusted me4 ,so when he had quieted down1 ,i decided that it was time for me to run up my colors4 ,if the break had to come1 it had better come then4 ,uncle ,dick1 ,i said1 you have been talking about something that you don't know anything about4 ,here you are swallowing spiritualism1 hook1 bob and sinker1 and having trouble with the ,bible and the only religion that can do the business that we need to have done4 ,the trouble with you is that you are afraid that the ,bible will upset your spiritualism1 and you don't dare to investigate the ,bible and stand by the result of your investigation4 ,i'm tired of this whole business1 and ,i have made up my mind to investigate the ,bible and1 if it is what ,i think it is1 to try to live by it4 ,i am going to be a ,christian4 ,a shout and a laugh went up4 ,i was called ,deacon1 and it was suggested that ,i lead in prayer or at least make a few remarks4 ,but ,i had said enough to put myself on record and it was hardly to be expected that they would take me seriously on such short notice4 ,when it came time to go to bed ,i felt that in order not to be misunderstood ,i must pray in the presence of my roommate4 ,he was a cynic and a nothingarian and ,i felt sure that he would neither understand nor appreciate it4 ,it was hard to bring it about1 as he kept on talking in a way that seemed to give me no opportunity to turn the subject naturally4 ,i was tempted to let it pass1 but felt that1 if ,i did1 it would be fatal to my new-formed purpose4 ,so finally1 in almost an agony of awkwardness1 ,i blurted out1 ,jim1 ,i don't care what you think about it1 ,i'm going to pray4 ,jim proved to be entirely mild and agreeable about it1 however1 and gave me his blessing in a patronizing sort of a way4 ,the next day ,i burned my bridges behind me by packing my trunk and going home4 ,up to this time ,i was conscious of nothing unusual4 ,what things had taken place ,i had done myself and it had been entirely within my own option and power to do or not to do them4 ,i had received the testimony of at least four witnesses of the fact of conversion and the reality of the ,christian life2 ,i had relaxed the opposition of my will and given my judgment a chance to act2 ,i had taken advice from experience2 ,i had prayed2 ,i had turned my face toward the ,christian life2 ,i had cut loose from conditions unfriendly to ,christian experience1 and ,i was trying to be a ,christian4 ,but ,i was still in the fog4 ,for the next three days ,i worked very hard trying to be a ,christian4 ,i attended a meeting each night1 rose for prayer1 prayed1 did everything ,i was told to do1 and as much more as ,i could think of4 ,the burden of my prayer and of my requests for prayer was that ,i might have faith4 ,i wanted to get something that ,i thought every ,christian had1 or must have in order to be a ,christian1 and so far as ,i knew1 ,i was willing to pay the price4 ,but nothing resulted1 except the natural weariness from my own exertions4 ,i was still in the fog4 ,the fifth day was ,fast ,day1 a good old ,new ,england institution1 with a prayer meeting in the morning1 which ,i attended and at which ,i rose for prayer4 ,in the afternoon was a union service1 with a civic or semi-religious topic1 but ,i attended it1 as ,i did not want anything to get by me that might contribute to the solution of my problem4 ,there was scarcely anything about the service that was calculated to make a spiritual impression4 ,the address was poor1 as also was the music4 ,i tried to follow the argument1 but finally gave it up and began to think about that which had been uppermost in my mind for the five days past4 ,the thing baffled me2 the object of my quest had eluded my every effort to grasp it4 ,the experience of the five days was new1 but it contained nothing but that which could be accounted for by purely natural causes4 ,i reviewed the whole period to see if ,i had left out any essential part of the formula4 ,was it possible that my skepticism had been well founded1 that there was nothing in the so-called ,christian experience after all8 ,it was about four o'clock in the afternoon of the fifth day since ,i had set my face toward the ,christian life and ,i was still in the fog4 ,but ,i was weary with the effort1 and as ,i thought it over1 ,i said to myself ,what are you trying to do8 and the answer was1 ,i am trying to be a ,christian4 ,then it dawned upon me that trying was not trusting2 that1 if ,i succeeded in my effort1 ,i should have only a self-made product and not the religion of the ,bible and that it was unreasonable for me to expect the results of faith before exercising faith itself4 ,i was stumbling at the very simplicity of faith4 ,i was working to win what ,god was waiting to give1 while my latent faculty of faith1 the greatest asset in personality1 was lying worthless through disuse4 ,i thought of my experience on the ocean1 when finally1 helpless to help myself1 ,i had left my whole problem with the ,pilot and ,he had taken command and brought us through to safety1 and so ,i deliberately gave up the struggle and said to myself1 ,it is right for me to serve ,god and to live for ,him1 and ,i will do it whether ,i have what they call an 'experience' or not4 ,and1 having settled the question1 ,i dismissed it and waited for instructions4 ,illustration3 ,it ,came as ,quietly as the ,daylight ,comes ,when the ,night is ,done ,and then something happened1 for1 from without1 surprising me with its presence1 like the discovery of a welcome but unexpected guest1 there came into my life a deep1 great1 overflowing peace4 ,i had never known it before1 and therefore ,i could not by any possibility have imagined it2 but1 ,i recognized it as something from ,god4 ,it was not sensational1 it came quietly2 as quietly as the daylight comes when the night is done4 ,it was not emotional1 unless it was in itself an emotion4 ,but emotions are transient and this had come to stay4 ,with the peace1 there came also something that seemed to be a reinforcement of my life principle1 an achieving power1 a disposition to dare and an ability to do that which hitherto had seemed impossible2 and the petty pessimism of the past gave way before this new consciousness4 ,with this deep incoming tide of peace and power came a clearing of the mental atmosphere1 and ,i saw that the fog had lifted4 ,when ,i saw this1 ,i said to myself quietly1 ,i think ,i am a ,christian1 and almost immediately added1 ,i am a ,christian6 ,the fog had passed1 and the drifting was over2 ,i had come within sight of land4 ,what land it was ,i did not then know1 but it proved to be a new world4 ,how great it is ,i do not yet fully understand1 but ,i have been exploring it thirty years and ,i think it is a continent4