We had not time to tarry long at that place, for it was getting on toward sundown. It seemed to me the ship was handled as though she were a mere toy, and the first thing we knew she had been turned around and was out in the wide fjord, steaming along at a rapid rate. One by one we took the captain by the hand and thanked him for the pleasure he had given us. You see, boys and girls, everybody likes to be appreciated, even the captain of a steamship; and when we saw the weather-beaten face all smiles we felt pretty sure we had given the captain some pleasure too, for he knew that the extra pains he had taken was gratifying to every one of the passengers. Tromsö is the name of one of the stations along the route, and there we cast anchor lying by eight hours. All of the passengers but myself went ashore, and the captain said, “What, don’t you go too? It will be lonely without the rest of the people.” But I concluded it would be more pleasant to remain on the steamer and write letters than to go ashore in a small boat, for somehow I never did fancy the getting in and out of a small rowboat. My letter writing occupied several hours, and when I had finished I went on deck where there was enough to entertain me the rest of the time. Coal, freight and passengers were taken on at Tromsö, and for a while all was noise and confusion. Not very far from the ship was a floating buoy. Now, that is a floating mark to point out the position of objects beneath the water, such as rocks, sandbars, and anything which might prove disastrous to vessels or small boats. There are many different kinds of buoys, and each one has a meaning. The seaman knows them all and reads them like a book. Out in the bay were a great many little rowboats. One of them attracted my attention because there were three little boys in it, and I thought, “How dangerous!” I watched them, however, and saw they were making for the buoy. By and by they were alongside of it, and the next thing I knew two of them were sitting astride of it, while the third kept the boat from drifting away. Now I had decided those little fellows would surely roll off and perhaps be drowned, and I grew very anxious about their safety; but after having watched them an hour I concluded they were not strangers on the water, but knew the buoy well and were used to playing just where it pleased them.