Lessie
was a very timid girl, afraid of so many things: of the dark, storms, loud voices, strange people, even of the great dog that lived next door and ran out to bark at her.
In
the days of the great sailing ships, the old-time mariners tried to avoid, whenever possible, a passage through the doldrums— those equatorial regions of calms and of light, baffling winds where a vessel could frequently be becalmed for days, or even weeks, on end and consequently where all progress would be halted until sufficient wind arose again for onward passage.
A friend
of ours once asked us to go to see some relatives of hers while we were on a visit to the country where they lived, and she drew us a sketch map to show us the way.
