supplies were to be taken aboard before joining the fishing fleets.

It was bitterly cold, and while they lay at Ostend taking on cargo the
harbor froze over, and they found themselves so firm and fast in the
ice that it became necessary to engage a steamer to go around them to
break them loose. At last, cargo loaded and ice smashed, they sailed
away from Ostend and pointed their bow towards the great fleets, not
again to see land for two full months, save Heligoland and
Terschelling in the far distant offing.

The little vessel upon which Grenfell sailed was the first sent to
the fisheries by the now famous Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen; and the
young Doctor on her deck, hardly yet realizing all that was expected
of him, was destined to do no small part in the development of the
splendid service that the Mission has since rendered the fishermen.

On the starboard side of the vessel's bow appeared in bold carved
letters the words, "Heal the sick," on the port side of the bow,
"Preach the Word."

"Preaching the Word" does not necessarily mean, and did not mean here,
getting up into a pulpit for an hour or two and preaching orthodox
sermons, sometimes as dry as dead husks, on Sundays. Sometimes just a
smile and a cheery greeting is the best sermon in the world, and the
finest sort of preaching. Just the example of living honestly and
speaking truthfully and always lending a hand to the fellow who is in
trouble or discouraged, is a fine sermon, for there is not a man or
boy living whose life and actions do not have an influence for good or
bad on some one else. We do not always realize this, but it is true.