When anything puts the brain to sleep, we call it narcotic. Alcohol is a narcotic poison. No one should ever use it who wants to pilot a ship, or steer an automobile, or drive a train, or shoot a gun, or run a machine in a factory.
King Henry was a busy man, and he went home as quickly as he could and attended to his work. He was very much surprised that William and the others did not come, and he kept wondering where they could be.
When the sad news reached the palace, no man dared go in and tell the King. At last, they sent a little boy into his room—a page who waited on the ladies and gentlemen—and he fell at the King's feet.
"O, King . . . Prince William . . . the White Ship!"
When poor King Henry understood what had happened, he fell down in a faint. They say that all the rest of his life he was very sad. No one ever saw him smile again. One thing we must never forget about strong drink is this: It does not only bring trouble to the people who use it, but to many others besides. King Henry had nothing to do with the drinking on board the White Ship. He was not even there, and did not know about it. But it caused him to lose his boy and girl, both in one night.
In our days, too, it makes more trouble than any one can possibly imagine. Although the wreck of the White Ship happened nearly eight hundred years ago, it was not by any means the first accident brought on by alcohol. Drink has always done these things. It has always made men's heads dull and their hands unsteady. It has caused them to be hurt and to lose their lives. The strange thing is that, although every one knows it does this, so many people venture to use it. We should all do well to remember the proverb, "Where there's drink there's danger."
"Write it o'er the railroad wreck,
Write it on the sinking deck,
Write upon our hearts the truth,
Let us learn it in our youth—
Where there's drink there's danger."