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the boy settled down on the hard wood seat and pulled just that much
harder, for this could not be allowed to stop him. Occasionally one
of the higher waves would break against and over the side of the dory,
making it difficult to keep balance.

After a long struggle he crossed the turbulence to the calm water
on the far side, and only then did he realize the effort it had taken.
He was utterly exhausted and terribly thirsty. When he reached for
the canteen he meant only to take a small swallow, but when the water
touched his lips and throat the pleasure was too wonderful to r~-
linquish and he drained the canteen of its contents. Because of hIS
exhaustion he dropped the anchor and threw himself in the bottom
of the dory to sleep.

It was getting late when he awoke and the boy realized he had
to push on if he expected to get home. His feelings at that moment
were not unlike those of the football player who has played three
quarters of the game, his team is still behind, and he is beginning to
have doubts about his team's ability to win and his ability to keep
going. Time and endurance were running out. The trial in the
inlet had sapped his strength, yet somehow he had to get back, for a
failure to do so would mean losing the game. Luckily, finishing the
journey and passing the test stilI meant more to him than his tired-
ness.

He was rowing closer to shore now. When he had come down the
coast in the morning he had been rested and strong and he had ~eIt
invincible. Now he was terribly weary, and he took solace in belllg
close to the shore. But nothing on shore was familiar. He yearned
to see the old surroundings to give him some indication he was near-
ing home, and he began to count the strokes taken with the oars. At
ten thousand he had come such a short distance in relation to the
shore, so he stopped counting for it was much too discouraging.

The gnawing sensation in his stomach had increased and he
thought about the thick steaks that could be bought in the big hotels
in the resort. In his imagination he tried to remember how it was to
eat one, but this only made the pain in his stomach unbearable. His
thirst was even greater than his hunger. There could be nothing more
wonderful than a tall cool glass of water. He tested his canteen to
make sure it was really empty, and when he found it so, Coleridge's
words flashed across his mind, making a much deeper impression than
they had when he read them for the first time in the security of a high
school classroom.

His hands became numb and tired and it was hard to straighten

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