"But, father," cried Annie, "why does that needle always point to the North? my needle only points the way I make it when I sew."
"Your needle, dear Annie, has never been touched by the wonderful stone! You must know that some few hundred years ago, people discovered that a mineral called the loadstone, found in iron mines, had the quality of always pointing to the North, and they found, too, that any iron rubbed with it would possess the same quality. The needle Tom tells us of has undergone this operation. Before the invention of the compass, it was only by watching the stars that sailors could direct their course by night. Their chief guide was one which always points towards the North pole, and is therefore called the Pole star. But on a cloudy night, and in stormy weather, when they could not read their course in the sky, think what danger they were in! Such a voyage as ours, they could never have ventured on."
"Listen!" cried Mrs. Lee, "do you know, I fancy I hear the twittering of birds."
"Yes, ma'am, and no mistake," said the mate, who was pacing the deck, near them, wrapped up in a great dreadnaught coat, and occasionally stopping to look up at the sails, or at the compass, or over the ship's side; "Mother Carey's chickens are out in good numbers to-night."
"Are they not a sign of rather rough weather, Mr. James?" asked Mr. Lee.
"Why, so some say, sir; but I have heard them night after night in as smooth a sea and light a wind as you would wish for."
"What a funny name they have," said Annie. "I wonder it they are pretty."
"Can we catch them?" asked Tom, eagerly.
"I have caught them," said Mr. James, "but it was many years ago, and perhaps they have grown wiser; but we can try if you like. Only remember, no killing; we sailors think it very unlucky!"
"It would be very cruel, because very useless," said Mrs. Lee; "but are they not also called Stormy Petrels?"