was to serve.

The little vessel was neat as wax below deck. The crew were
big-hearted, brawny, good-natured fellows, and gave the Doctor a fine
welcome. Of course his quarters were small and crowded, but he was
bound on a mission and an adventure, and cramped quarters were no
obstacle to his enthusiasm. Grenfell was not the sort of man to growl
or complain at little inconveniences. He was thinking only of the
duties he had assumed and the adventures that were before him.

At last he was on the seas, and his life work, though he did not know
it then, had begun.




III

ON THE HIGH SEAS


The skipper of the vessel was a bluff, hearty man of the old school of
seamen. At the same time he was a sincere Christian devoted to his
duties. At the beginning he made it plain that Grenfell was to have
quite enough to do to keep him occupied, not only in his capacity as
doctor, but in assisting to conduct afloat a work that in many
respects resembled that of our present Young Men's Christian
Association ashore.

The mission steamer was now to run across to Ostend, Belgium, where