“Why, papa, they put me in mind of a herd of cattle driven through the country, the drovers running here and there, shouting loudly, and sending their sharp barking dogs now to one side, now to the other, to keep them together.”
“Not a bad idea, Mary,” answered Captain Rymer. “But should thick weather come on, or a heavy gale spring up, the work will be much more difficult. Sometimes a whole herd, as you would call them, is scattered, and lions or wolves occasionally pounce down on the weakest, and carry them off.”
“I hope that will not be our fate, papa,” said Mary, timidly.
“No fear of that, dearest. I am sorry that I should have put such a notion into your head,” answered Captain Rymer. “The Betsy is a well-found ship, well manned and well armed, and Captain Bolton has the character of being a first-rate seaman, so that we have every reason for expecting to arrive in safety at our destination.”
“Oh, I am not at all afraid,” said Mary. “Besides, you know, papa, we can pray to be protected; and what a comfort it is, and how brave it should make us, to know that God hears our prayers, and will grant them whenever He sees that to do so is best for us!”
What a support in daily life, what a consolation to the voyager over the stormy ocean, is a firm confidence in that glorious truth!