OUR LITTLE STRANGE COMPANION In the pathless forest we had a little companion that always knew its way.

No matter how strange and remote the place might be or how black the night its tiny finger always pointed in the same direction.

By the light of the torch at midnight, in blinding darkness, I have seen it sway and settle toward its beloved goal.

It seemed to be thinking of some far country which it desired to recommend to us.
It seemed to say: "Look! I know not which way is yours, but this--this is my way and all the little cross roads lead off it." What a wonderful wisdom it had! I remember it excited a feeling of awe in me as if it were a spirit and not a tool.
The reader will have observed that my uncle spoke of the compass as if it directed plant and animal in achieving their purposes.

From the beginning in the land of my birth it had been a thing as familiar as the dial and as necessary.