From a Thistle Print, Copyright Detroit Publishing Co.
A Helping Hand
A flat-bottomed boat is the best for fishing, they say. You can move about in it without much danger of tipping over, and it holds more. The fish often think it is a wharf or a good cool place under which to hide, and you can catch them easily.
Very likely this little girl has never been out with her father on one of his long trips, for it would be much too tiresome for so small a girl. It would seem, rather, as if he had finished his day's work, and was taking his little daughter with him on some short errand. Perhaps they are on their way home, and there is something in that sack the mother needs. Just now there is no wind, or it is not in the right direction, for they do not use the sail.
Can you see the other oar? It must be in the bottom of the boat. The man must row hard with the oar he is pulling at or they will run into that great rock you see ahead.
It looks as if those little sailboats far off in the distance are standing still. Perhaps they have no oars, and are waiting for the wind to come up and blow them home. If they were anchored the sails would be rolled up and put away. A good sailor must take good care of his boat and sails. If a sail is not stretched out in the sun and allowed to dry after a heavy dew or rain, it will rot and soon fall to pieces.
A sailor knows how to tie a very tight knot which is called a "sailor's knot." He needs to know how to tie this, for if the knots are not tight and his rope should come untied, or anything give way when there is a heavy wind, the boat would very likely be overturned.
The little girl looks as if she were putting all her strength into those tiny hands that cannot near go around the oar. How pleased her father seems to be to have her try to help him! He knows she is doing the best she can, and he lets her think she is helping row the boat. It must help him somewhat, just to know that she is trying so hard and wants to help.