ROLLO ON THE ATLANTIC. 

 BY

 JACOB ABBOTT. 

 BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY TAGGARD AND THOMPSON M DCCC LXIV. 

 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by JACOB ABBOTT, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 

 STEREOTYPED AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON. 

 [Illustration: THE STATE ROOM. --See p. 77. ]

 [Illustration]

 PREFACE. 

 In the series of narratives to which this volume pertains, we offer to the readers of the Rollo Books a continuation of the history of our little hero, by giving them an account of the adventures which such a boy may be supposed to meet with in making a tour in Europe. The books are intended to be books of instruction rather than of mere amusement; and in perusing them, the reader may feel assured that all the information which they contain, not only in respect to the countries visited, and to the customs, usages, and modes of life that are described, but also in regard to the general character of the incidents and adventures that the young travellers meet with, is in most strict accordance with fact. The main design of the narratives is, thus, the communication of useful knowledge; and every thing which they contain, except what is strictly personal, in relation to the actors in the story, may be depended upon as exactly and scrupulously true. 

 New York, _September, 1853_. 

 CONTENTS. 

 CHAPTER PAGE

 I. --TAKING PASSAGE 11

 II. --THE EMBARKATION 28

 III. --DEPARTURE 47

 IV. --GETTING SETTLED 62

 V. --ON DECK 77

 VI. --A CONVERSATION 91

 VII. --INCIDENTS 109

 VIII. --THE STORM 131

 IX. --THE PASSENGERS' LOTTERY 154

 X. --THE END OF THE LOTTERY 179

 XI. --THE ARRIVAL 192

 ENGRAVINGS. 

 FRONTISPIECE. PAGE

 THE STEAMER AT THE WHARF 10

 THE PIER 24

 THE RESCUE 44

 THE PILOT ON THE PADDLE BOX 54

 THE SAILOR ON THE RIGGING 87

 THE PASSENGER ON THE RIGGING 103

 HILBERT AND THE BIRD 124

 HILBERT IN THE SPRAY 152

 HEAVING THE LOG 164

 ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE. 

 ORDER OF THE VOLUMES

 ROLLO ON THE ATLANTIC. ROLLO IN PARIS. ROLLO IN SWITZERLAND. ROLLO IN LONDON. ROLLO ON THE RHINE. ROLLO IN SCOTLAND. ROLLO IN GENEVA. ROLLO IN HOLLAND. ROLLO IN NAPLES. ROLLO IN ROME. 

 PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY. 

 ROLLO; twelve years of age. 

 MR. And MRS. HOLIDAY; Rollo's father and mother, travelling in Europe. 

 THANNY; Rollo's younger brother. 

 JANE; Rollo's cousin, adopted by Mr. And Mrs. Holiday. 

 MR. GEORGE; a young gentleman, Rollo's uncle. 

 [Illustration: THE STEAMER AT THE WHARF. ]

ROLLO ON THE ATLANTIC. 

CHAPTER I. 

TAKING PASSAGE. 

When Rollo was about twelve years of age, he made a voyage to Europeunder rather extraordinary circumstances. He went alone; that is to say, he had no one to take care of him. In fact, in addition to being obligedto take care of himself, he had also his little sister Jane to take careof; for she went with him. [A] The way it happened that two such childrenwere sent to sea on such a long voyage, without any one to have them incharge, was this. 

[Footnote A: It ought here to be stated, that Jane was not reallyRollo's sister, though he always called her and considered her so. Shewas really his cousin. Her father and mother had both died when she wasabout six years old, and then Mr. And Mrs. Holiday had adopted her astheir own child, so that ever since that time she had lived with Rolloand Nathan as their sister. She was very nearly of the same age withNathan. ]

Rollo's father and mother had gone to Europe to make a tour, a yearbefore this time, and had taken Rollo's brother Nathan, or _Thanny_, asRollo used most frequently to call him, with them. They had gone partlyfor pleasure, but more especially on account of Mr. Holiday's health, which was not good. It was thought that the voyage, and the recreationand pleasure of travelling in Europe, would be a benefit to him. Incertain cases where a person's health is impaired, especially when oneis slowly recovering from past sickness, nothing is found to have a morebeneficial effect upon the patient than for him to go away somewhere andhave a good time. It was determined to try the effect of this remedyupon Mr. Holiday, and so he went to Europe. Mrs. Holiday went with him. They took Thanny too, to be company for them on the way. Thanny was atthis time about seven years old. 

A child of that age, for a travelling companion, is sometimes a sourceof great pleasure, and sometimes, on the other hand, he is the means ofgreat annoyance and vexation. This depends upon whether he is obedient, patient, quiet, and gentle in his manners and demeanor, or noisy, inconsiderate, wilful, and intractable. A great many children act insuch a manner, whenever they take a journey or go out to ride with theirparents, that their parents, in self-defence, are obliged to adopt theplan of almost always contriving to leave them behind. 

It was not so, however, with Nathan. He was an excellent boy intravelling, and always made the ride or the journey more pleasant forthose who took him with them. This was the reason why, when it wasdetermined that Mr. And Mrs. Holiday should go to England, that Mrs. Holiday was very desirous that Nathan should go too. And so far asNathan was concerned, the voyage and the tour proved to be all that Mr. And Mrs. Holiday expected or desired. In regard to other points, however, it was less successful. Mr. Holiday did not improve in health, and he did not have a good time. Mrs. Holiday was anxious about herhusband's health, and she was uneasy too at being separated so long fromher other two children, --Rollo and little Jane, especially littleJane, --whom she had learned to love as if she were really her daughter. So, before the year was ended, they both heartily wished themselves backin America again. 

But now Mr. Holiday's health grew worse, and he seemed too ill toreturn. This was in the month of May. It was decided by the physician, that it would not be best for him to attempt to return until September, and perhaps not until the following spring. Mrs. Holiday was herselfvery much disappointed at this result. She, however, submitted to itvery cheerfully. "I must be as good as Thanny, " said she. "He submitspatiently to his disappointments, and why should not I submit to mine. His are as great, I suppose, for him to bear as mine are for me. "

When Mrs. Holiday found that she could not go to her children, she beganto be very desirous that her children should come to her. She was atfirst almost afraid to propose such a thing to her husband, as she didnot see how any possible plan could be formed for bringing Rollo andJane across the wide and boisterous Atlantic alone. She, however, atlength one day asked Mr. Holiday whether it would not be possible insome way to accomplish it. 

Mr. Holiday seemed half surprised and half pleased when he heard thisproposal. At first he did not appear to know exactly what to say, oreven to think. He sat looking into the fire, which was blazing in thegrate before him, lost apparently in a sort of pleasing abstraction. There was a faint smile upon his countenance, but he did not speak aword. 

"That is an idea!" he said, at length, in a tone of satisfaction. "Thatis really an idea!"

Mrs. Holiday did not speak. She awaited in silence, and with no littleanxiety, the result of her husband's meditations. 

"That is really quite an idea!" he said at length. "Let us get Rollo andJane here, and then we shall feel entirely easy, and can return toAmerica whenever we get ready, be it sooner or later. We shall be athome at once where we are. "

"I suppose it will cost something to have them come over, " said Mrs. Holiday. She was not so anxious to have the children come as to desirethat the question should be decided without having all the objectionsfully considered. Besides, she was afraid that if the question were tobe decided hastily, without proper regard to the difficulties that werein the way, there would be danger that it would be reconsidered aftermore mature reflection, and the decision reversed. So she wished thatevery thing that could be brought against the project should be fullytaken into the account at the outset. 

"I suppose, " said she, "that their expenses in coming out, and inreturning, and in remaining here with us, in the interim, would amountto a considerable sum. "

"Yes, " said Mr. Holiday; "but that is of no consequence. "

"I don't know what we should do about having them taken care of on thepassage, " added Mrs. Holiday. 

"O, there would be no difficulty about that, " said Mr. Holiday. "Georgecould easily find some passenger coming out in the ship, who would lookafter them while at sea, I have no doubt. And if he should not find anyone, it would be of no consequence. Rollo could take care of himself. "

"And of Jane, too?" asked Mrs. Holiday. 

"Yes, " replied Mr. Holiday, "and of Jane, too; that is, with the help ofthe chambermaids. They have excellent chambermaids on board the Atlanticsteamers. "

So it was concluded to send for Rollo and Jane to embark on board thesteamer at New York, and sail for Europe. Mr. Holiday wrote to Rollo'suncle George, requesting him to make the necessary arrangements for thevoyage, and then to take the children to New York, and put them onboard. He was to commit them, if possible, to the charge of some one ofthe passengers on board the ship. If, for any reason, he should notsucceed in finding any passenger to take care of them, he was to statethe case to the captain of the ship, that he might see to them a littlefrom time to time; and, in addition to this, he was to put them underthe special charge of one of the chambermaids, promising her that sheshould be well rewarded for her services, on the arrival of the ship inLiverpool. 

The important tidings of the determination which had been made, thatRollo and Jane should actually cross the Atlantic, were first announcedto the children one evening near the end of May. They were eating theirsupper at the time, seated on a stone seat at the bottom of the garden, where there was a brook. Their supper, as it consisted of a bowl ofbread and milk for each, was very portable; and they had accordinglygone down to their stone seat to eat it, as they often did on pleasantsummer evenings. The stone seat was in such a position that the settingsun shone very cheerily upon it. On this occasion, Rollo had finishedhis milk, and was just going down to the brook by a little path whichled that way, in order to see if there were any fishes in the water;while Jane was giving the last spoonful of her milk to their kitten. Onthe stone near where Jane was sitting was a small birdcage. This cagewas one which Jane used to put her kitten in. The kitten was of amottled color, which gave to its fur somewhat the appearance of spots;and so Jane called the little puss her _tiger_. As it was obviouslyproper that a tiger should be kept in a cage, Jane had taken a canarybirdcage, which she found one day in the garret, and had used it to putthe kitten in. As she took the precaution never to keep the prisonershut up long at a time, and as she almost always fed it in the cage, thekitten generally made no objections to going in whenever Jane desiredit. 

"Here comes uncle George, " said Rollo. 

Jane was so busy pouring the spoonful of milk through the bars of thecage into a little shallow basin, which she kept for the purpose within, that she could not look up. 

"He is coming down through the garden, " added Rollo; "and he has got aletter in his hand. It's from mother, I know. "

So saying, Rollo began to caper about with delight, and then ran off tomeet his uncle. Jane finished the work of pouring out the milk as soonas possible, and then followed him. They soon came back again, however, accompanying their uncle, and conducting him to the stone seat, wherethe children sat down to hear the letter. 

"Rollo, " said Mr. George, "how should you like to go to England?"

"To go to England?" said Rollo, in a tone of exultation; "_very muchindeed_. "

"Should you dare to go alone?" said Mr. George; "that is, with nobody totake care of you?"

"Yes, indeed!" said Rollo, emphatically. "I should not need any body totake care of me. "

"I don't know but you will have to go, " said Mr. George; "and not onlytake care of yourself, but of Jane besides. "

"Why, am I to go too?" asked Jane. As she said this, she began to lookquite alarmed. 

"How should you like the plan?" said Mr. George. 

"O, I should not _dare_ to go, " said Jane, shaking her head with a veryserious air. "I should not dare to go at all, unless I had somebody totake care of me bigger than Rollo. "

"Ha!" exclaimed Rollo, "I could take care of you perfectly well. I couldbuy the tickets and show you down to supper, and help you over the plankat the landings, and every thing else. "

Rollo's experience of steamer life had been confined to trips on LongIsland Sound, or up and down the Hudson River. 

"I suppose you would be dreadfully sick on the way, " said Mr. George. 

"O, no, " said Rollo, "I should not be sick. What's the use of beingsick? Besides, I never _am_ sick in a steamboat. "

"No, " said Jane, shaking her head and looking quite anxious; "I shouldnot dare to go with you at all. I should not _dare_ to go unless mymother were here to go with me; or my father, at least. "

"I am afraid you will have to go, " said Mr. George, "whether you areafraid to or not. "

"That I shall have to go?" repeated Jane. 

"Yes, " replied Mr. George. "Your father has written me that he is notwell enough to come home, and I am to send you and Rollo out in the nextsteamer. So that you see you have nothing to say or to do about it. Allyou have to do is to submit to destiny. "

Jane did not know very precisely what was meant by the phrase, _submitting to destiny_; but she understood very well that, in thiscase, it meant that she must go to England to join her father andmother, whether she liked the plan or not. She was silent a moment, andlooked very thoughtful. She then put forth her hand to her kitten, whichwas just at that moment coming out of the cage, having finished drinkingthe milk which she had put there for it, and took it into her lap, saying at the same time, --

"Well, then I will go; only you must let me take my Tiger with me. "

"That you can do, " said Mr. George. "I am very willing to compromise thematter with you in that way. You can take Tiger with you, if youchoose. "

"And the cage too?" said Jane, putting her hand upon the ring at the topof it. 

"Yes, " said Mr. George, "and the cage too. "

"Well!" said Jane, speaking in a tone of great satisfaction andjoyousness, "then I will go. Get into the cage, Tiger, and we'll go andget ready. "

 * * * * *

The steamer was to sail in about a week from this time. So Mr. Georgeproceeded immediately to New York to engage passage. When Rollo's aunt, who had had the care of him and Jane during the absence of Mr. And Mrs. Holiday, heard how soon the steamer would sail, she said that she didnot think that that would afford time enough to get the children ready. 

"O, it takes no time, " said Mr. George, "to get people ready to go toEurope. Put into a trunk plenty of plain common clothing for the voyage, and the work is done. As for the rest, people can generally find prettymuch every thing they want on the other side. "

Mr. George went to New York to engage the passage for the children. Andinasmuch as many of the readers of this book who reside in the countrymay never have had the opportunity of witnessing the arrangementsconnected with Atlantic steamers, they may perhaps like to know howthis was done. In the first place, it was necessary to get a _permit_ togo on board the ship. The crowds of people in New York, who are alwaysgoing to and fro, are so great, and the interest felt in these greatsteamships is so strong, that if every body were allowed free access andegress to them, the decks and cabins of the vessels would be always inconfusion. So they build a barricade across the great pier at which theships lie, with ponderous gates, one large one for carts and carriages, and another smaller one for people on foot, opening through it, and noone is admitted without a ticket. Mr. George went to the office in WallStreet and procured such a ticket, which one of the clerks in attendancethere gave him, on his saying that he wished to go on board to select astate room for some passengers. 

Provided with this ticket, Mr. George took an omnibus at Wall Street androde up to Canal Street. At Canal Street he took another omnibus, whichcarried him nearly to the East River. There he left the omnibus, andproceeded the rest of the way on foot. The crowd of people on thesidewalks going and coming, and of carts, drays, wagons, and coaches inthe street, was immense. There was one crossing where, for some time, Mr. George could not get over, so innumerable and closely wedgedtogether were the vehicles of all descriptions that occupied the way. There were many people that were stopped with him on the sidewalk. Amongthem was a servant girl, with a little boy under her charge, whom shewas leading by the hand. The girl looked very anxious, not knowing howto get across the street. 

"Let me carry the child across for you, " said Mr. George. 

So saying he took the child up gently, but quickly, in his arms, andwatching a momentary opening in the stream of carriages, he pressedthrough, the servant girl following him. He set the boy down upon thesidewalk. The girl said that she was very much obliged to him, _indeed_;and then Mr. George went on. 

Just then a small and ragged boy held out his hand, and with a mostwoe-begone expression of countenance and a piteous tone of voice, beggedMr. George to give him a few pennies, to keep him from starving. Mr. George took no notice of him, but passed on. A moment afterward heturned round to look at the boy again. He saw him take a top out of hispocket, and go to spinning it upon the sidewalk, and then, suddenlyseeing some other boys, the young rogue caught up his top and ran afterthem with shouts of great hilarity and glee. He was an impostor; Mr. George knew this when he refused to give him any money. 

[Illustration: THE PIER. ]

Mr. George then went on again. He came, at length, to the great gateswhich led to the pier. There was a man just within the gate, walking toand fro, near the door of a sort of office, or lodge, which he keptthere. Mr. George attempted to open the gate. 

"Please show your ticket, sir, " said he. 

Mr. George took out his ticket and gave it to the porter, whereupon theporter opened the gate and let him in. 

Mr. George found himself under an enormous roof, which spread itselflike a vast canopy over his head, and extended from side to side acrossthe pier. Under this vast shed laborers were wheeling boxes and bales ofmerchandise to and fro, while small steam engines of curious forms andincessant activity were at work hoisting coal on board the ships fromlighters alongside, and in other similar operations. There were twomonstrous steamships lying at this pier, one on each side. Mr. Georgeturned toward the one on the left. There was a long flight of stepsleading up from the pier to the decks of this ship. It was formed by astaging, which extended from the pier to the bulwarks of the ship, likea stair-case, with a railing on each side. Mr. George ascended thesesteps to the bulwarks, and thence descended by a short flight of stepsto the deck itself, and then went along the deck till he came to thedoor leading to the cabins. 

He found within quite a number of cabins, arranged on different floors, like the different stories of a house. These cabins were veryresplendent with gilding and carving, and were adorned with curtainsand mirrors on every side. They presented to Mr. George, as he walkedthrough them, a very imposing spectacle. Along the sides of them were agreat many little bed rooms, called state rooms. These state rooms wereall very beautifully finished, and were furnished with every conveniencewhich passengers could require. Mr. George selected two of these staterooms. They were two that were adjoining to each other, and they wereconnected by a door. There were two beds, or rather bed _places_, ineach state room, one above the other. Mr. George chose the lower berthin one state room for Rollo, and the lower one in the next state roomfor Jane. When he had chosen the berths in this manner, he wrote thename of each of the children on a card, and then pinned the cards upupon the curtains of the respective berths. 

"There!" said he. "That is all right. Now perhaps some lady will takethe other berth in Jane's room, and some gentleman that in Rollo's. Thenthey will both have company in their rooms. Otherwise I must findsomebody to take care of them both. "

Mr. George then left the ship and went back to the office in WallStreet, to engage the berths and pay the passage money. The office wasspacious and handsomely furnished, and there were several clerks in itwriting at desks. There were two rooms, and in the back room was atable, with large plans of the ship upon it, on which all the cabins andstate rooms of the several decks were represented in their properpositions. The names of the various passengers that had engaged passagein the ship were written in the several state rooms which they hadchosen. The clerk wrote the names, _Master Holiday_ and _Miss Holiday_, in the state rooms which Mr. George pointed out to him, and, when he haddone so, Mr. George looked over all the other names that had beenwritten in before, to see if there were any persons whom he knew amongthem. To his great gratification he found that there were several such. 

"Yes, " said he, as he rose up from the examination of the plan, "thereare several gentlemen there who will be very ready, under thecircumstances of the case, to do Mr. Holiday the favor of looking afterhis children during the voyage. "

Being thus, in a measure, relieved of all solicitude, Mr. George walkedabout the room a few minutes, examining the pictures of the severalsteamers of the line which were hanging on the walls, and then wentaway. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE EMBARKATION. 

The time fixed for the sailing of the steamer was on Tuesday morning;and Mr. George, in order to have time to communicate with some of thegentlemen to whose care he intended to intrust the two children, plannedhis journey to New York so as to arrive there in good season on Monday. He supposed that he should be able, without any difficulty, to find oneor the other of them in the afternoon or evening of that day. 

"And if worst comes to the worst, " added he to himself, in hisreflections on the subject, "I can certainly find them at the ship, bygoing on board an hour or two before she sails, and watching the plankas the passengers come up from the pier. "

Worst did come to the worst, it seems; for when Mr. George came home atnine o'clock in the evening, on Monday, and Rollo came up to him veryeagerly in the parlor of the boarding house, to ask him whom he hadfound to take charge of them, he was forced to confess that he had notfound any one. 

"I am glad of it!" exclaimed Rollo, joyfully. "I am glad of it! Ilike it a great deal better to take care of ourselves. "

He then began dancing about the room, and finally ran off in great glee, to inform Jane of the prospect before them. Rollo was very ambitious ofbeing considered a man. 

He found Jane sitting on the stairs with another child of her own age, that she had become acquainted with at the boarding house; for it was ata boarding house, and not at a hotel, that Mr. George had taken lodgingsfor his party. This child's name was Lottie; that is, she was commonlycalled Lottie, though her real name was Charlotte. She was a beautifulchild, with beaming black eyes, a radiant face, and dark glossy curls ofhair hanging down upon her neck. Jane and Lottie were playing togetherin a sort of recess at a landing of the stairs, where there was a sofaand a window. They had tiger and the cage with them. The door was openand tiger was playing about the cage, going in and out at her pleasure. 

"Jane, " said Rollo, "uncle George cannot find any body to take care ofyou, and so _I_ am going to take care of you. "

Jane did not answer. 

"Are you going to England?" asked Lottie. 

"Yes, " replied Jane, mournfully; "and there is nobody to go with us, totake care of us. "

"I went to England once, " said Lottie. 

"Did you?" asked Jane; "and did you go across the Atlantic Ocean?"

"Yes, " said Lottie. 

"Of course she did, " said Rollo; "there is no other way. "

"And how did you get along?" said Jane. 

"O, very well, " said Lottie; "we had a very good time playing about thedecks and cabins. "

Jane felt somewhat reassured by these declarations of Lottie, and sheeven began to think that if there was nothing to be done in crossing theAtlantic but to play about the decks and cabins all the way, there was apossibility that Rollo might be able to take care of her. 

"My uncle is going on a voyage, too, to-morrow, " added Lottie. 

"What uncle?" asked Jane. 

"My uncle Thomas, " said Lottie. "He lives in this house. He is packingup his trunk now. He is going to Charleston. I wish I were going withhim. "

"Do you like to go to sea?" asked Jane. 

"Yes, " said Lottie, "pretty well. I like to see the sailors climb upthe masts and rigging; and I like the cabins, because there are so manysofas in them, and so many places to hide. "

Little Jane felt much less uneasiness at the idea of going to sea afterhearing Lottie give such favorable accounts of her own experience. Stillshe was not entirely satisfied. As for Rollo, his eagerness to goindependent of all supervision did not arise wholly from vanity andpresumption. He was now twelve years of age, and that is an age whichfairly qualifies a boy to bear some considerable burdens ofresponsibility and duty. At any rate, it is an age at which it ought tobe expected that the powers and characteristics of manhood should, atleast, _begin_ to be developed. It is right, therefore, that a boy atthat age should begin to feel something like a man, and to desire thatopportunities should arise for exercising the powers which he finds thusdeveloping themselves and growing stronger every day within him. 

The fact that Lottie's uncle Thomas was going to embark for Charlestonon the same day that had been fixed for Rollo's embarkation for Europemight seem at first view a very unimportant circumstance. It happened, however, that it led, in fact, to very serious consequences. The casewas this. It is necessary, however, first to explain, for the benefitof those readers of this book who may never have had opportunities tobecome acquainted with the usages of great cities, that there are twoseparate systems in use in such cities for the transportationrespectively of baggage, and of persons, from place to place. Forbaggage and parcels, there are what are called _expresses_. The ownersof these expresses have offices in various parts of the city, wherebooks are kept, in which a person may go and have an entry made of anytrunk, or bag, or other package which he may wish to have conveyed toany place. He enters in the book what the parcel is, where it is, andwhere he wishes to have it taken. The express man then, who has a greatnumber of wagons employed for this purpose, sends for the parcel by thefirst wagon that comes in. 

For _persons_ who wish to be conveyed from place to place, there arecarriages all the time standing at certain points by the sides of thestreets, ready for any one who calls them, and there are also stableswhere carriages are always in readiness. Now, it so happened thatLottie's uncle Thomas had concluded to have his trunk taken down to theCharleston ship by the express, intending to walk to the pier himselffrom his office, which was in the lower part of the city not far fromthe pier where his ship was lying. So he went to an express office, andthere, at his dictation, the clerk made the following entry in hisbook:--

 Trunk at 780 Broadway, to steamer Carolina, Pier No. 4 North River. To-morrow, at half past nine o'clock. 

On the other hand, Mr. George, as he required a carriage to take thechildren down, did not go to the express office at all. He intended totake their trunk on the carriage. So he went to the stable, and there, at his dictation, the clerk made on the book there the followingentry:--

 Carriage at 780 Broadway. To-morrow, at half past nine o'clock. 

In accordance with this arrangement, therefore, a little after nineo'clock both the trunks were got ready at the boarding house, each inits own room. The chambermaid in Rollo's room, when she saw that thetrunk was ready, offered to carry it down, which, as she was a goodstrong Irish girl, she could very easily do. She accordingly took it upin her arms and carried it down stairs to the front entry, and put itdown near the door. One of the waiters of the house was standing bywhen she did this. 

"What is that, Mary?" said he. 

"It is a trunk to go to the steamer, " said Mary. "There is a man comingfor it pretty soon. "

She meant, of course, that it was to go to the Liverpool steamer, andthe man who was to come for it was the driver of the carriage that Mr. George had engaged. She knew nothing about any other trunk, as the roomwhich Lottie's uncle occupied was attended by another chambermaid. 

Mary, having deposited the trunk in its place, returned up stairs, toassist in getting Rollo and Jane ready. A moment afterward the expressman, whom Lottie's uncle had sent for _his_ trunk, rang the door bell. The waiter opened the door. 

"I came for a trunk, " said the man, "to take to the steamer. "

"Yes, " said the waiter. "Here it is, all ready. They have just broughtit down. "

So the express man took up the trunk, and carrying it out, put it on hiswagon; then, mounting on his seat, he drove away. 

Five minutes afterward, the carriage which Mr. George had engagedarrived at the door. Mr. George and the children came down the stairs. Mr. George, as soon as he reached the lower hall, inquired, --

"Where is the trunk?"

"The man has taken it, sir, " said he. 

"Ah, he has, has he? That is all right. "

So Mr. George and the children got into the carriage, the driver holdingthe door open for them as they did so. As the driver was about to shutthe door, Mr. George said, --

"Steamer Pacific, foot of Canal Street. "

The driver, taking this for his direction, mounted his box, and droverapidly away. 

When the party arrived at the gates which led to the pier, they found agreat concourse of people and a throng of carts and carriages blockingup the way. The great gate was open, and a stream of carriagescontaining passengers, and of carts and express wagons conveyingbaggage, was pouring in. Mr. George's carriage was admitted, at length, in its turn, and drove on until it came opposite the long stairway whichled on board the ship. Here it stopped, and Mr. George and the childrengot out. 

"Where is the trunk?" said Mr. George, looking before and behind thecarriage. "Why, where is the trunk? You have lost the trunk off of thecarriage, driver, in coming down. "

"No, sir, " said the driver; "there was no trunk. "

"There certainly was, " said Mr. George; "and they told me that you hadput it on. "

"No, sir, " said the driver. "This is the first time I have heard anything about any trunk. "

Mr. George was now quite seriously alarmed. He looked about this way andthat, and did not seem to know what to do. In the mean time the line ofcarriages from behind pressed on, and the drivers of them began to callout to clear the way. Mr. George found himself compelled to decide uponsomething very promptly. 

"Drive over to the other side of the pier, " said he, "and wait theretill I come. "

Then, taking the two children by the hand, he began to lead them up thelong plank by which the people were going on board. 

Mr. George said nothing, but continued to lead the children along, thethrong before and behind them being so dense that they could not see atall where they were going. When they reached the top of the stairway, they descended by a few steps, and so came on board. The children thenfound themselves moving along what seemed a narrow passage way, amidcrowds of people, until at length they came to a short and steep flightof steps, which led up to what seemed to Jane a sort of a roof. Thebalustrade, or what served as balustrade for these steps, was made ofrope, and painted green. By help of this rope, and by some lifting onthe part of Mr. George, Rollo and Jane succeeded in getting up, and, atlength, found themselves in a place where they could see. 

They were on what was called the promenade deck. There were masts, and agreat smoke-pipe, and a great amount of ropes and rigging rising upabove them, and there were many other curious objects around. Thechildren had, however, no time to attend to these things, for Mr. Georgeled them rapidly along to that part of the promenade deck which wasopposite to the long plank, where the people were coming up from thepier. Mr. George left the children here for a minute or two, while hewent and brought two camp stools for them to sit upon. He placed thesestools near the edge of the deck. There was a railing to keep them fromfalling off. 

"There, children, " said he. "Now you can sit here and see the peoplecome on board. It is a very funny thing to see. I am going after thetrunk. You must not mind if I don't come back for a long time. The shipwill not sail yet for two hours. You must stay here, however, all thetime. You must not go away from this place on any consideration. "

So saying, Mr. George went away. A moment afterward the children saw himgoing down the plank to the pier. As soon as he reached the pier heforced his way through the crowd to the other side of it, where thecarriage was standing. The children watched him all the time. When hereached the carriage, they saw that he stopped a moment to say a fewwords to the driver, and then hastily got into the carriage. The drivershut the door, mounted upon the box, and then drove out through thegreat gate and disappeared. 

What Mr. George said to the driver was this. 

"Now, driver, we have got just two hours to find that trunk. I pay youfull fare for the carriage for the two hours at any rate, and if we findthe trunk and get it on board that ship before she sails, I pay you fivedollars over. Now take me up to 780 Broadway as quick as you can go. "

When the children found themselves thus left, they could not helpfeeling for a moment a very painful sensation of loneliness, althoughthey were, in fact, surrounded with crowds, and were in the midst of ascene of the greatest excitement. Even Rollo found his courage andresolution ebbing away. He sat for a little time without speaking, andgazed upon the scene of commotion which he saw exhibited before him onthe pier with a vague and bewildered feeling of anxiety and fear. Presently he turned to look at Jennie. He saw that she was trying todraw her handkerchief from her pocket, and that tears were slowlytrickling down her cheek. 

"Jennie, " said he, "don't cry. Uncle George will find the trunk prettysoon, and come back. "

It might, perhaps, be supposed that Rollo would have been made to feelmore dispirited and depressed himself from witnessing Jennie'sdejection; but the effect was really quite the contrary of this. Infact, it is found to be universally true, that nothing tends to nervethe heart of man to greater resolution and energy in encountering andstruggling against the dangers and ills that surround him, than to havewoman near him and dependent upon him, and to see her looking up to himfor protection and support. It is true that Rollo was not a man, nor wasJennie a woman. But even in their early years the instincts andsympathies, which exercise so powerful a control over the human heart inlater periods of life, began to develop themselves in embryo forms. SoRollo found all his courage and confidence coming back again when he sawJennie in tears. 

Besides, he reflected that he had a duty to perform. He perceived thatthe time had now come for him to show by his acts that he was reallyable to _do_ what he had been so eager to undertake. He determined, therefore, that instead of yielding to the feelings of fear anddespondency which his situation was so well calculated to inspire, hewould nerve himself with resolution, and meet the emergencies of theoccasion like a man. 

The first thing to be done, as he thought, was to amuse Jane, and diverther attention, if possible, from her fears. So he began to talk to herabout what was taking place before them on the pier. 

"Here comes another carriage, Jennie, " said he. "Look, look! See what aparcel of trunks they have got on behind. That passenger has not losthis trunks, at any rate. See all these orange women, too, Jennie, standing on the edge of the pier. How many oranges they have got. Do yousuppose they will sell them all? O Jennie, Jennie, look there! See thatgreat pile of trunks going up into the air. "

Jane looked in the direction where Rollo pointed, and saw a large pileof trunks and boxes, eight or ten in all, slowly rising into the air, being drawn up by means of a monstrous rope, which descended from asystem of pulleys and machinery above. After attaining a considerableheight, the whole mass slowly moved over toward the ship, and afterreaching the centre of the deck it began to descend again, with a greatrattling of chains and machinery, until it disappeared from viewsomewhere on board. 

"That is the way they get the baggage on board, Jennie, " said Rollo. "Inever should have thought of getting baggage on board in that way;should you, Jennie? I wonder where the trunks go to when the rope letsthem down. It is in some great black hole, I have no doubt, down in theship. The next load of trunks that comes I have a great mind to go andsee. "

"No, no!" said Jane, "you must not go away. Uncle George said that wemust not move away from here on any account. "

"So he did, " said Rollo. "Well, I won't go. "

After a short time, Jennie became so far accustomed to her situation asto feel in some degree relieved of her fears. In fact, she began to findit quite amusing to watch the various phases which the exciting scenethat was passing before her assumed. Rollo endeavored still more toencourage and cheer her, by frequently assuring her that their unclewould soon come back. He did this, indeed, from the best of motives;but it was not wise or even right to do so, for he could not possiblyknow when his uncle would come back, or even whether he would come backat all. 

In the mean time, the crowd of carriages and people coming and going onthe pier was continually increasing as the time for the departure of theship drew nigh. There were more than one hundred passengers to come onboard, and almost every one of these had many friends to come with them, to bid them good by; so that there was a perpetual movement of carriagescoming and going upon the pier, and the long plank which led up to theship was crowded with people ascending and descending in continuousstreams. The paddle wheels were all the time in motion, though the ship, being yet fastened to the shore, could not move away. The wheels, however, produced a great commotion in the water, covering the surfaceof it with rushing foam, and at the same time the steam was issuing fromthe escape-pipe with a roaring sound, which seemed to crown and cover, as it were, without at all subduing the general din. 

Rollo had one very extraordinary proof of the deep and overwhelmingcharacter of the excitement of this scene, in an accident that occurredin the midst of it, which, for a moment, frightened him extremely. Thepier where the steamer was lying was surrounded by other piers anddocks, all crowded with boats and shipping. It happened that not veryfar from him there lay a small vessel, a sloop, which had come down theNorth River, and was now moored at the head of the dock. There was afamily on board this sloop, and while Rollo was by chance looking thatway, he saw a small child, perhaps seven or eight years old, fall offfrom the deck of the sloop into the water. The child did not sink, beingbuoyed up by her clothes; and as the tide was flowing strong at thattime, an eddy of the water carried her slowly along away from the slooptoward the shore. The child screamed with terror, and Rollo could nowand then catch the sound of her voice above the roaring of the steam. The sailors on board the sloop ran toward the boat, and began to let itdown. Others on the shore got ready with poles and boat hooks, andthough they were probably shouting and calling aloud to one another, Rollo could hear nothing but now and then the scream of the child. Atlength a man came running down a flight of stone steps which led fromthe pier to the water in a corner of the dock, throwing off his coat andshoes as he went down. He plunged into the water, swam out to the child, seized her by the clothes with one hand, and with the other swam backwith her toward the steps, and there they were both drawn out by thebystanders together. 

[Illustration: THE RESCUE. ]

This scene, however, exciting as it would have been under any othercircumstances, produced very little impression upon the great crowd thatwas engaged about the steamer. A few boys ran that way to see how theaffair would result. Some others, standing on the decks of the ship oron the pier, turned and looked in the direction of the child. Otherwiseevery thing went on the same. The carriages went and came, the peoplewalked eagerly about among each other, exchanging farewells. The paddlewheels continued their motion, the steam pipe kept up its deafeningroar, and the piles of trunks continued to rise into the air and swingover into the ship, without any interruption. 

The time passed rapidly on, and Mr. George did not return. At length butfew new carriages came, and the stream of people on the great plankseemed to flow all one way, and that was from the ship to the pier;while the crowd upon the pier had increased until it had become a mightythrong. At length the officer in command gave orders to rig the tackleto the great plank stair, with a view to heaving it back upon the pier. The last, lingering visitors to the ship, who had come to take leave oftheir friends, hastily bade them farewell and ran down the plank. Theship, in fact, was just on the point of casting off from the pier, whensuddenly Mr. George's carriage appeared at the great gate. It came inamong the crowd at a very rapid rate; but still it was so detained bythe obstructions which were in the way, that before it reached itsstopping-place the plank had begun slowly to rise into the air, and themen on the pier had begun to throw off the fastenings. 

"You are too late, sir, " said a man to Mr. George. "You cannot get onboard. "

"Put the trunk on board, " said Mr. George. "That's all. "

The man took up the trunk, which was by no means heavy, and justsucceeded in passing it through into a sort of porthole, near theengine, which happened to be open. Mr. George then looked up to theplace where he had left the children, and shouted out to them, --

"Good by, children; don't be afraid. Your father will come to the shipfor you at Liverpool. Good by, Jennie. Rollo will take excellent care ofyou. Don't be afraid. "

By this time the ship was slowly and majestically moving away from thepier; and thus it happened that Rollo and Jennie set out on the voyageto Europe, without having any one to take them in charge. 

[Illustration]

CHAPTER III. 

DEPARTURE. 

The moving away of the steamer from the pier had the effect of producinga striking illusion in Jane's mind. 

"Why, Rollo!" she exclaimed, looking up to Rollo, quite alarmed. "Thepier is sailing away from us, and all the people on it. "

"O, no, " said Rollo, "the pier is not sailing away. We are sailing awayourselves. "

Jane gazed upon the receding shore with a look of bewilderedastonishment. Then she added in a very sorrowful and desponding tone, --

"O Rollo! you told me that uncle George would certainly come back; andnow he is not coming back at all. "

"Well, I really thought he would come back, " said Rollo. "But nevermind, Jennie, we shall get along very well. We shall not have to get outof this ship at all till we get to Liverpool; and we shall find fatherat Liverpool. He will come on board for us at Liverpool, I am sure, before we land; and mother, too, I dare say. Just think of that, Jennie!Just think of that!"

This anticipation would doubtless have had considerable influence incalming Jennie's mind, if she had had any opportunity to dwell upon it;but her thoughts were immediately diverted to the spectacle which wasexhibiting itself on the pier. The great throng of people which hadassembled there seemed to be pressing on toward the end of the pier, accompanying the ship, as it were, in its motion, as it glided smoothlyaway. As they thus crowded forward, all those who had opportunity to doso climbed up upon boxes and bales of merchandise, or on heaps of woodor coal, or on posts or beams of wood, wherever they could find anyposition which would raise them above the general level of the crowd. This scene, of course, strongly attracted the attention both of Rolloand of Jane. 

And here it must be remarked, that there are three distinct scenes ofbidding farewell that an Atlantic steamer passes through in putting tosea. In the first place, the individual voyagers take leave of theirseveral friends, by words of good by and other personal greetings, onthe decks and in the cabins of the ship, before she leaves the pier. Then, secondly, the company of passengers, as a whole, give a good by tothe whole company of visitors, who have come to see the ship sail, andwho remain standing on the pier as the vessel goes away. This secondgood by cannot be given by words, for the distance is too great to allowof words being used. So they give it by huzzas, and by the waving ofhats and handkerchiefs. 

This second farewell was now about to be given. The gentlemen on thepier took off their hats, and, waving them in the air, shouted hurrah inconcert, three times, with great energy. The company of passengers onboard the ship then responded, by shouting and waving their hats inreturn. The ladies, both on the pier and in the ship, performed theirpart in this ceremony by waving their handkerchiefs and clapping theirhands. By this time the steamer, which had been rapidly increasing thespeed of its motion all the while, was now getting quite out into thestream, and was turning rapidly down the river. This change in thedirection in which the steamer was going carried the pier and all thepeople that were upon it entirely out of the children's view and theysaw themselves gliding rapidly along the shore of the river, which wasformed of a long line of piers, with forests of masts surmounting them, and long ranges of stores and warehouses beyond. Nearer to the steamer, on the water of the river, and on either hand, were to be seen sloops, ships, ferry boats, scows, and every other species of water craft, gliding to and fro in all directions. While gazing with great intereston this scene, as the steamer moved along, Jane was suddenly startledand terrified at the sound of a heavy gun, which seemed to be firedclose to her ear. It was soon evident that the gun had been fired fromon board the steamer, for a great puff of smoke rose up into the airfrom the bows of the vessel, and slowly floated away. Immediatelyafterward another gun was fired, louder than the first. 

I have said that there were three farewells. The first is that of theindividual passengers to their individual friends. The second is that ofthe whole company of passengers to the company of spectators on thepier. The third is the ship's farewell to the city. Of course, for aship to speak to a city, a very loud voice is required. So they provideher with a gun. In fact, a great steamer proceeding to sea may beconsidered as, in some respects, like a mighty animal. The engine is itsheart; the paddle wheels are its limbs; the guns are its voice; thecaptain is its head; and, finally, there is a man always stationed onthe lookout in the extreme forward part of the ship, who serves themonster for eyes. 

Jane was quite terrified at the sound of the guns. 

"O Rollo!" exclaimed she, "I wish they would not fire any more of thosedreadful guns. "

"I don't think they will fire any more, " said Rollo. "In fact, I am surethey will not, for they have fired two now, and they never fire morethan two. "

Rollo was mistaken in this calculation, though he was right in thegeneral principle that the number of guns usually discharged by asteamer going to sea, as its parting salute, is two. In this case, however, the steamer, in passing on down the river, came opposite to aplace in Jersey City, where a steamer of another line was lying mooredto her pier, waiting for her own sailing day. Now, as the Pacific passedby this other steamer, the men on board of the latter, having previouslymade every thing ready for the ceremony, fired two guns as a salute toher, by way of bidding her farewell and wishing her a good voyage. Ofcourse, it was proper to respond to the compliment, and this called fortwo guns more. This made, in fact, a fourth farewell, which having beenspoken, the firing was over. The Pacific, having thus taken leave of thecity, and also of her sister steamer on the Jersey shore, had nownothing to do but to proceed as fast as possible down the harbor andout to sea. 

The scenes which are presented to view on every hand in passing down NewYork Harbor and Bay are very magnificent and imposing. Ships, steamers, long ferry boats, tugs, sloops, sail boats, and every other species ofwater craft, from the little skiff that bobs up and down over the wavesmade by the steamboat swell to the man-of-war riding proudly at anchorin the stream, are seen on every hand. The shores, too, presentenchanting pictures of rich and romantic beauty. There are villas andcottages, and smooth grassy lawns, and vast fortifications, andobservatories, and lighthouses, and buoys, and a great many otherobjects, which strongly attract the attention and excite the curiosityof the voyager, especially if he has been previously accustomed only totravelling on land. 

While the children were looking at these scenes with wonder andadmiration, as the ship passed down the harbor, a young-looking man, whoappeared to belong to the ship, came to them and told them that, if theywished to remain on deck, they had better go and sit upon the settees. So saying, he pointed to several large and heavy-looking settees, whichwere placed near the middle of the deck, around what seemed to be asort of skylight. These settees were all firmly secured to their placeswith strong cords, by means of which they were tied by the legs to someof the fixtures of the skylights. In obedience to this suggestion, thechildren went and took their places upon a settee. Jane carried thecage, containing Tiger, which she had kept carefully with her thus far, and put it down upon the settee by her side. The man who had directedthe children to this place, and who was a sort of _mate_, as they callsuch officers at sea, looked at the kitten with an expression ofcontempt upon his countenance, but said nothing. He took the camp stoolswhich the children had left, and carried them away. 

"I am sure I don't know what we are to do next, " said Jane, mournfully, after sitting for a moment in silence. 

"Nor I, " rejoined Rollo, "and so I am going to follow uncle George'srules. "

Mr. George had given Rollo this rule, as a sort of universal directionfor young persons when travelling alone:--

1. Do as you see other people do. 

2. When you cannot find out in this or in any other way what to do, donothing. 

In accordance with this advice, Rollo concluded to sit still upon thesettee, where the ship's officer had placed him, and do nothing. In themean time, however, he amused himself in watching the ships and steamerswhich he saw sailing to and fro about the harbor, and in pointing out toJane all the remarkable objects which he observed from time to timealong the shores. 

[Illustration: THE PILOT ON THE PADDLE BOX. ]

Among other things which attracted his attention, he noticed and watchedthe movements of a man who stood upon the top of one of the paddle boxeson the side of the ship, where he walked to and fro very busily, holding a speaking trumpet all the time in his hand. Every now and thenhe would call out, in a loud voice, a certain word. Sometimes it was_port_, sometimes it was _starboard_, and sometimes it was _steady_. Rollo observed that it was always one or the other of those three words. And what was still more curious, Rollo observed that, whenever the manon the paddle box called out the word, the officer on the deck, who keptwalking about there all the time to and fro, would immediately repeat itafter him, in a loud but in a somewhat singular tone. While he waswondering what this could mean, a gentleman, who seemed to be one of thepassengers, came and sat down on the settee close by his side. Rollo hada great mind to ask him who the man on the paddle box was. 

"Well, my boy, " said the gentleman, "you are rather young to go to sea. How do you like it?"

"Pretty well, sir, " said Rollo. 

"We are going out in fine style, " said the gentleman. "We shall soon bedone with the pilot. "

"The pilot?" said Rollo, inquiringly. 

"Yes, " said the gentleman. "There he is, on the paddle box. "

"Is that the pilot?" asked Rollo. "I thought the pilot was the man whosteered. "

"No, " replied the gentleman, "he is the man who gives directions how tosteer. He does not steer himself. The man who steers is called thehelmsman. There he is. "

So saying, the gentleman pointed toward the stern of the ship wherethere was a sort of platform raised a little above the deck, with a rowof panes of glass, like a long narrow window, in front of it. Throughthis window Rollo could see the head of a man. The man was standing in arecess which contained the wheel by means of which the ship was steered. 

"The pilot keeps a lookout on the paddle box, " continued the gentleman, "watching the changes in the channel, and also the movements of thevessels which are coming and going. When he wishes the helm to be put tothe right, he calls out _Starboard_! When he wishes it to be put to theleft, he calls out _Port_! And when he wishes the ship to go straightforward as she is, he calls out _Steady_!"

Just then the pilot, from his lofty lookout on the paddle box, calledout, "_Port_!"

The officer on the deck repeated the command, in order to pass it alongto the helmsman, "_Port_!"

The helmsman then repeated it again, by way of making it sure to theofficer that he had heard it and was obeying it, "_Port!_"

There were two or three dashing-looking young men walking together upand down the dock, and one of them, on hearing these commands, calledout, not very loud, but still in such a manner as that all around himcould hear, and imitating precisely the tones in which the pilot's orderhad been given, "_Sherry!_"

Whereupon there was a great laugh among all the passengers around. Eventhe stern and morose-looking countenance of the officer relaxed into amomentary smile. 

"Now look forward at the bows of the ship, " said the gentleman, "and youwill see her change her course in obedience to the command of the pilotto port the helm. "

Rollo did so, and observed the effect with great curiosity and pleasure. 

"I thought the captain gave orders how to steer the ship, " said Rollo. 

"He does, " said the gentleman, "after we get fairly clear of the land. It is the captain's business to navigate the ship across the ocean, buthe has nothing to do with directing her when she is going in and out ofthe harbor. " The gentleman then went on to explain that at theentrances of all rivers and harbors there were usually rocks, shoals, sand bars, and other obstructions, some of which were continuallyshifting their position and character, and making it necessary that theyshould be studied and known thoroughly by some one who is all the timeupon the spot. The men who do this are called pilots. The pilots of eachport form a company, and have established rules and regulations forgoverning all their proceedings. They go out to the mouth of the harborin small vessels called pilot boats, where they wait, both in sunshineand storm, for ships to come in. When a ship approaches the coast andsees one of these pilot boats, it makes a signal for a pilot to come onboard. The pilot boat then sails toward the ship, and when they get nearenough they let down a small boat, and row one of the pilots on boardthe vessel, and he guides the ship in. In the same manner, in going outof port, the pilot guides the ship until they get out into deep water, and then a pilot boat comes up and takes him off the ship. The ship thenproceeds to sea, while the pilot boat continues to sail to and fro aboutthe mouth of the harbor, till another ship appears. 

"And will this pilot get into a pilot boat and go back to New York?"asked Rollo. 

"Yes, " replied the gentleman, "and the passengers can send letters backby him, if they wish. They often do. "

"And can I?" asked Rollo. 

"Yes, " replied the gentleman. "Write your letter, and I will give it tohim. "

Rollo had a small inkstand in his pocket, and also a pocket book withnote papers folded up and envelopes in it. This was an apparatus that healways carried with him when he travelled. He took out one of his sheetsof note paper, and wrote upon it the following letter:--

 DEAR UNCLE GEORGE:

 This is to inform you that we have found a good seat, and are getting along very well. 

 Your affectionate nephew, R. HOLIDAY. 

Rollo made his letter shorter than he otherwise would have done, onaccount of having been informed by the gentleman, when he had justwritten the first line, that the pilot boat was coming in sight. So hefinished his writing, and then folded his note and put it in itsenvelope. He sealed the envelope with a wafer, which he took out of acompartment of his pocket book. He then addressed it to his uncle Georgein a proper manner, and it was all ready. The gentleman then took itand carried it to the pilot, who was just then coming down from thepaddle box and putting on his coat. 

By this time the pilot boat had come pretty near to the ship, and waslying there upon the water at rest, with her sails flapping in the wind. The engine of the ship was stopped. A small boat was then seen comingfrom the pilot boat toward the ship. The boat was tossed fearfully bythe waves as the oarsmen rowed it along. When it came to the side of theship a sailor threw a rope to it, and it was held fast by means of therope until the pilot got on board. The rope was then cast off, and theboat moved away. The engine was now put in motion again, and the greatpaddle wheels of the ship began to revolve as before. Rollo watched thelittle boat as it went bounding over the waves, afraid all the time thatit would be upset, in which case his letter would be lost. At length, however, he had the satisfaction of seeing the skiff safely reach thepilot boat, and all the men climb up safely on board. 

"There!" exclaimed Rollo, in a tone of great satisfaction, "now he willgo up to the city safe, and I am _very_ glad he has got that letter foruncle George. "

In the mean time the captain mounted the paddle box where the pilot hadstood, and, with his speaking trumpet in his hand, began to give thenecessary orders for the vigorous prosecution of the voyage. The sailswere spread, the engines were put into full operation, the helmsman wasdirected what course to steer, and the ship pressed gallantly forwardout into the open sea. 

CHAPTER IV. 

GETTING SETTLED. 

The gentleman who had so kindly explained the pilot system to Rollo didnot return to the settee after having given the pilot the letter, butwent away, and for a few minutes Rollo and Jane were left alone. Theyobserved, too, that a great many of the passengers had disappeared, andnow there were very few about the deck. Rollo wondered where they hadgone. He soon received some light on the subject, by overhearing onegentleman say to another, as they passed the settee on theirpromenade, --

"Come, Charley, let us go down and get some lunch. "

"They are going to lunch, " said Rollo. "We will go too. I am beginningto be hungry. "

"So am I hungry, " said Jane. "I did not think of it before; but I am, and I have no doubt that Tiger is hungry too. "

So Jane took up her cage, and then she and Rollo, walking alongtogether, followed the gentlemen who had said that they were going downto lunch. They walked forward upon the promenade deck till they came tothe short flight of stairs, with the green rope balustrade, which leddown to the deck below. These stairs were so steep that the childrenwere obliged to proceed with great caution in descending them, in orderto get down in safety. They, however, at length succeeded; and then, passing along where they saw that the gentlemen went who preceded them, they entered into a long and narrow passage way, with doors leading tostate rooms on either hand. Following this passage way, they came atlength to a sort of entry or hall, which was lighted by a skylightabove. In the middle of this hall, and under the skylight, was a prettybroad staircase, leading down to some lower portion of the ship. As themen whom they were following went down these stairs, the children wentdown too. When they got down, they found themselves in a perfect maze ofcabins, state rooms, and passage ways, the openings into which wereinfinitely multiplied by the large and splendid mirrors with which thewalls were every where adorned. 

"Put Tiger down there, " said Rollo, pointing to a place near the end ofthe sofa, "and we will bring her something to eat when we come fromlunch. "

Jane was very anxious to take the kitten with her; but she knew that, under the circumstances in which she was placed, it was proper that sheshould follow implicitly all of Rollo's directions. So she put the cagedown, and then she and Rollo went on together through a door where thegentlemen who had preceded them had gone. 

They found themselves in another long and narrow passage way, which ledtoward the forward part of the ship. The passage way was so narrow thatthey could not walk together. So Rollo went first, and Jane came behind. The vessel was rocking gently from the motion of the waves, and Jane hadto put her hands out once or twice, first to one side and then to theother of the passage way, in order to steady herself as she passedalong. Presently they came to a place where they had to go up five orsix steps, and then to go immediately down again. It was the place wherethe main shaft passed out from the engine to the paddle wheel. Aftergetting over this obstruction, they went on a a little farther, and thencame into a large dining saloon, where several long tables were spread, and a great many passengers were seated, eating their luncheons. 

There were a number of waiters in different parts of the room, standingbehind the guests at the tables; and one of these waiters, as soon as hesaw Rollo and Jane come in, went to them, and said that he would showthem where to sit. So they followed him, and he gave them a good seat atone of the tables. As soon as the children were seated, the waiter said, addressing Rollo, --

"Will you have soup?"

"Yes, " said Rollo. 

"And will the young lady take soup, too?" he asked again. 

"Yes, " said Rollo; "both of us. "

While the waiter was gone to get the soup, Rollo and Jane had anopportunity of looking around the room and observing how very differentit was in its fixtures and furniture from a dining room on land. Insteadof windows, there were only round holes in the sides of the ship, abouta foot in diameter. For a sash, there was only one round and exceedinglythick and strong pane of glass, set in an iron frame, and openinginwards, on massive hinges. On the side of this frame, opposite thehinges, was a strong clamp and screw, by means of which the frame couldbe screwed up very tight, in order to exclude the water in case of heavyseas. The tables were fitted with a ledge all around the outside, tokeep the dishes from sliding off. Above each table, and suspended fromthe ceiling, was a long shelf of beautiful wood, with racks and socketsin it of every kind, for containing wineglasses, tumblers, decanters, and such other things as would be wanted from time to time upon thetable. Every one of these glasses was in a place upon the shelfexpressly fitted to receive and retain it; so that it might be heldsecurely, and not allowed to fall, however great might be the motion ofthe ship. 

There were no chairs at the tables. The seats consisted of handsomelycushioned settees, with substantial backs to them. It was upon one ofthese settees, and near the end of it, that Rollo and Jane were seated. 

When the soup was brought, the children ate it with great satisfaction. They found it excellent; and, besides that, they had excellentappetites. After the soup, the waiter brought them some roasted potatoesand butter, and also some slices of cold roast beef. When the roast beefcame, Jane exclaimed to Rollo, --

"Ah! I am very glad to see that. It is just the thing for Tiger. "

Then she turned round and said to the waiter, --

"Can I take a piece of this meat to give to my kitten?"

"Your kitten?" said the waiter. "Have you got a kitten on board?"

"Yes, " said Jane. 

"Where is she?" asked the waiter. 

"I left her in the cabin, " said Jane, "by the end of a sofa. She is inher cage. "

The waiter smiled to hear this statement. Jane had been, in fact, alittle afraid to ask for meat for her kitten, supposing it possible thatthe waiter might think that she ought not to have brought a kitten onboard. But the truth was, the waiter was very glad to hear of it. He wasglad for two reasons. In the first place, the monotony and dulness ofsea life are so great, that those who live in ships are usually glad tohave any thing occur that is extraordinary or novel. Then, besides, heknew that it was customary with passengers, when they gave the waitersany unusual trouble, to compensate them for it fully when they reachedthe end of the voyage; and he presumed, therefore, that if he had akitten to take care of, as well as the children themselves, theirfather, whom he had no doubt was on board would remember it in his fee. So, when Jane told him where the kitten was, he said he would go andbring her out into the dining saloon, and give her some of the meatthere, as soon as the passengers had finished their luncheon, so that hecould be spared from the table. 

Accordingly, when the proper time arrived, the waiter went aft, to thecabin, and very soon returned, bringing the cage with him. 

He seemed quite pleased with his charge; and several of the passengers, who met him as they were going out of the saloon, stopped a moment tosee what he had got in the cage, and Jane was much gratified at hearingone of them say, --

"What a pretty kitten! Whose is it, waiter?"

The waiter put the cage down upon a side table, and then carried a plateof meat to the place, and put it in the cage. Jane and Rollo went tosee. While the kitten was eating her meat, the waiter said that he wouldgo and get some milk for her. He accordingly went away again; but hesoon returned, bringing a little milk with him in a saucer. The kitten, having by this time finished eating her meat, set herself eagerly at thework of lapping up the milk, which she did with an air of greatsatisfaction. 

"There!" said the waiter, "bring her out here whenever she is hungry, and I will always have something for her. When you come at meal times, you will see me at the table. If you come at any other time, and youdon't see me, ask for Alfred. My name is Alfred. "

Jane and Rollo both said to Alfred that they were very much obliged tohim, and then, observing that nearly all the passengers had left thedining saloon and had returned to the cabin, they determined to go too. So they went back through the same passage way by which they had come. 

There were two principal cabins in the ship, the ladies' cabin and thegentlemen's cabin. The ladies' cabin was nearest to the dining saloon, the gentlemen's cabin being beyond. A number of ladies and gentlementurned into the ladies' cabin, and so Rollo and Jane followed them. Theyfound themselves, when they had entered, in quite a considerableapartment, with sofas and mirrors all around the sides of it, and agreat deal of rich carving in the panels and ceiling. Several splendidlamps, too, were suspended in different places, so hung that they couldmove freely in every direction, when the ship was rolling from side toside in rough seas. Rollo and Jane took their seats upon one of thesofas. 

"Well, Rollo, " said Jane, "I don't know what we are going to do next. "

"Nor I, " said Rollo; "but we can sit here a little while, and perhapssomebody will come and speak to us. It must be right for us to sit here, for other ladies and gentlemen are sitting in this cabin. "

Jane looked about the cabin on the different sofas to see if there wereany persons there that she had ever seen before. But there were none. 

Among the persons in the cabin, there were two who particularlyattracted Jane's attention. They were young ladies of, perhaps, eighteenor twenty years of age, but they were remarkably different from eachother in appearance. One was very beautiful indeed. Her hair waselegantly arranged in curls upon her neck, and she was dressed quitefashionably. Her countenance, too, beamed with an expression ofanimation and happiness. 

The other young lady, who sat upon the other end of the same sofa, wasvery plain in her appearance, and was plainly dressed. Her countenance, too, had a sober and thoughtful expression which was almost stern, andmade Jane feel quite disposed to be afraid of her. The beautiful girlshe liked very much. 

While the children were sitting thus upon the sofa, waiting to see whatwas next going to happen to them, several persons passed along that way, taking a greater or less degree of notice of them as they passed. Somemerely stared at them, as if wondering how they came there, and whatthey were doing. One lady looked kindly at them, but did not speak. Another lady, apparently about forty years of age, walked by them with ahaughty air, talking all the time with a gentleman who was with her. Jane heard her say to the gentleman, as soon as she had passed them, --

"What a quantity of children we have on board this ship! I hate childrenon board ship, they are so noisy and troublesome. "

Jane did not say any thing in reply to this, but she thought that sheand Rollo, at least, did not deserve such censures, for they hadcertainly not been noisy or troublesome. 

Presently Jane saw the beautiful girl, who has been already spoken of, rise and come toward them. She was very glad to see this, for now, thought she, we have a friend coming. The young lady came walking alongcarelessly toward them, and when she came near she looked at them amoment, and then said, in a pert and forward manner, --

"What are you sitting here for, children, so long, all alone? Where isyour father?"

"My father is in Liverpool, I suppose, " said Rollo. 

"Well, your mother, then, " said the young lady, "or whoever has the careof you?"

"My mother is in Liverpool, too, " said Rollo "and there is nobody whohas the care of us on board this ship. "

"Why, you are not going to cross the Atlantic all by yourselves, areyou?" said the young lady, in a tone of great astonishment. 

"Yes, " said Rollo, "unless we find somebody to be kind enough to helpus. "

"La! how queer!" said the young lady. "I am sure I'm glad enough that Iam not in your places. "

So saying, the beautiful young lady walked on. 

All the beauty, however, which she had before possessed in Jane's eyeswas entirely dissipated by this heartless behavior. Both Jane and Rollo, for all the rest of the voyage, thought her one of the ugliest girlsthey had ever seen. 

It was some minutes after this before any other person approached thechildren. Jane observed, however, that the other young lady--the one whohad appeared to her so plain--looked frequently toward her and Rollo, with an expression of interest and kindness upon her countenance. Atlength she rose from her seat, and came across the cabin, and sat downby Jane's side. 

"May I come and sit by you?" said she to Jane. "You seem to be allalone. "

"Yes, " said Jane; "we don't know any body in this ship. "

"Not any body?" said the young lady. "Then you may know me. My name isMaria. But your father and mother are on board the ship, are they not?"

"No, " said Rollo. "There is not any body on board this ship that belongsto us. "

Maria seemed very much astonished at hearing this, and she asked thechildren how it happened that they were sent across the Atlantic alone. Upon which Rollo, in a very clear and lucid manner, explained all thecircumstances of the case to her. He told her about his father beingsick in England, and about his having sent for him and Jane to go toEngland and meet him there. He also explained what Mr. George's plan hadbeen for providing them with a protector on the voyage, and how it hadbeen defeated by the accident of the loss of the trunk. He also told herhow narrowly they had escaped having the trunk itself left behind. Heended by saying that there were several of his father's friends onboard, only he did not know of any way by which he could find out whothey were. 

"Never mind that, " said Maria. "I will take care of you. You need notbe at all afraid; you will get along very well. Have you got any stateroom?"

"No, " said Rollo. 

"Well, I will go and find the chambermaid, and she will get you one. Then we will have your trunk sent to it, and you will feel quite at homethere. "

So Maria went away, and presently returned with one of the chambermaids. 

When the chambermaid learned that there were two children on boardwithout any one to take care of them, she was very much interested intheir case. Rollo heard her say to Maria, as they came up togethertoward the sofa where the children were sitting, --

"O, yes, I will find them a state room, if they have not got onealready. Children, " she added, when she came near, "are you sure youhave not got any state room?"

"Yes, " said Rollo. "I did not know where the captain's office was. "

"O, you don't go to the captain's office, " said the chambermaid. "Theypay for the passage and get the tickets in Wall Street. "

"Perhaps this is it, then, " said Rollo. And so saying, he took out hiswallet, and there, from one of the inner compartments, where his uncleGeorge had placed it away very carefully, he produced a paper. Thechambermaid opened it, saying, "Yes, this is all right. Berths sixteenand eighteen. Come with me, and I'll show you where they are. "

So the two children, accompanied by Maria, followed the chambermaid, wholed the way across the cabin, and there, entering a passage way, sheopened a door, by means of a beautiful porcelain knob which was upon it. They all went in. They found themselves in a small room, no bigger thana large closet, but they saw at a glance that it was very beautifullyfinished and furnished. On the front side was a round window like thosethey had seen in the dining saloon. Under this window was a couch, witha pillow at the head of it. On the back side were two berths, one abovethe other, with very pretty curtains before them. 

"There!" said the chambermaid, "sixteen. That lower berth is yours. "

"And whose is the upper berth?" asked Maria. 

"That is not taken, I think, " said the chambermaid. 

"Then I will take it, " said Maria. "I will come into this state room, and then I can look after Jennie all the time. But where is Rollo'sberth?"

"In the next state room, " said the chambermaid. 

So saying, she opened a door in the end of the room, and found anotherstate room communicating with the first, where she pointed out Rollo'sberth. There was another entrance to Rollo's state room from the passageleading into the cabin, on the farther side of it. 

"There, " said the chambermaid, "now you can settle yourselves here assoon as you please. Nobody can come in here to trouble you, for you havethese little rooms all to yourselves. I'll go and find a porter, and gethim to look up your trunk and send it in. "

So Rollo went into his state room, and Jane sat down upon the couch inhers, by the side of Maria, looking very much pleased. She opened thedoor of the cage, and let the kitten out. The kitten walked all aboutthe room, examining every thing with great attention. She jumped up uponthe marble washstand, and from that she contrived to get into the roundwindow, where she stood for a few minutes looking out very attentivelyover the wide sea. Not knowing, however, what to make of soextraordinary a prospect, she presently jumped down again, and, selecting a smooth place at the foot of the couch, she curled herself upinto a ring upon the soft covering of it, and went to sleep. 

CHAPTER V. 

ON DECK. 

As soon as Rollo and Jane found themselves thus established in theirstate rooms, they began to examine the furniture and fixtures aroundthem with great curiosity. They were particularly interested inobserving the precautions which had been taken in securing every thingwhich the state rooms contained, from the danger of being thrown aboutby the motion of the ship. The wash basin was made of marble, and wasfirmly set in its place, so as to be absolutely immovable. There was ahole in the bottom of it, with a plug in it, so that, by drawing out theplug, the water could be let off into a pipe which conveyed it away. There was a small chain attached to this plug, by means of which itcould be drawn up when any one wished to let the water off. The pitcherwas made broad and flat at the bottom, and very heavy, so that it couldnot be easily upset; and then there was a socket for it in the lowerpart of the wash stand, which confined it effectually, and preventedits sliding about when the ship was rolling in a heavy sea. 

The tumbler was secured in a more curious manner still. It was placed ina brass ring, which projected from the wall in a corner over the washstand, and which was made just large enough to receive it. The soap dishand the brush tray were also placed in sockets cut to receive them inthe marble slab, which formed the upper part of the wash stand. Thelooking glass was round, and was screwed to the wall by means of a stemand a ball or socket joint, in such a manner that it could be set in anyposition required, according to the height of the observer, and yet itcould not by any possibility fall from its place. There were very fewpegs or pins for hanging clothes upon, because, when clothes are thushung, they are found to swing back and forth whenever the ship isrolling in a heavy sea, in a manner that is very tiresome anddisagreeable for sick passengers to see. Nor were there many shelvesabout the state room; for if there had been, the passengers would belikely to put various articles upon them when the sea was smooth; andthen, when the ship came to pitch and roll in gales of wind, the thingswould all slide off upon the floor. So instead of shelves there werepockets made of canvas or duck, several together, one above another. These pockets formed very convenient receptacles for such loose articlesas the passengers might have in their state rooms, and were, of course, perfectly secure. 

There were _two_ shelves, it is true, in Jennie's state room, --one overeach of the two wash stands, --but they were protected by a ledge aboutthe edges of them, which would effectually prevent such things as mightbe placed upon them from sliding off. 

By the time that Rollo and Jane had examined these things, a porter cameinto the state room, bringing their trunk upon his shoulder. Maria toldthe children that they had better open the trunk and take out all thatthey would be likely to require while on board, and then stow the trunkitself away under the lower berth, in one of the state rooms. 

"Because, " said she, "as soon as we get out upon the heavy seas we shallall be sick, and then we shall not wish to move to do the least thing. "

"When will that be?" asked Jane. 

"I don't know, " replied Maria. "Sometimes we have it smooth for a goodmany days, and then there comes a head wind and makes it rough, and allthe passengers get sick and very wretched. "

"I don't think that I shall be sick, " said Rollo. 

"You can't tell, " said Maria. "Nobody can tell any thing about itbeforehand. "

In obedience to Maria's directions, Rollo opened the trunk and took outfrom it all the clothing, both for day and night, which he thought thathe and Jennie would require during the voyage. The night dresses he putunder the pillows in the berths. The cloaks, and coats, and shawls whichmight be required on deck in the day he placed on the couches. Thosewhich belonged to him he put in his state room, and those that belongedto Jennie in hers. While engaged in these operations, he pulled up fromone of the lower corners of his trunk a small leather purse or bag fullof money. 

"What shall I do with this?" he asked, holding it up to Maria. 

"What is it?" asked Maria. 

"Money, " said Rollo. 

"How much is there?" said Maria. 

"I don't know, " replied Rollo. "Uncle George put it in here. He said Iought to have _some_ money to carry with me, in case of accidents. Idon't suppose it is much. "

"You had better count it, then, " said Maria, "so as to ascertain howmuch it is. You and Jane may count it together. "

So Rollo and Jane sat down upon the couch, and Rollo poured out themoney into Jennie's lap. It was all gold. Maria said that the coins weresovereigns and half sovereigns. The large ones were sovereigns, and thesmall ones were half sovereigns. Rollo proposed that he should count thesovereigns, and that Jennie might count the half sovereigns. It proved, when the counting was completed, that there were thirty sovereigns andtwenty half sovereigns. 

"That makes forty sovereigns in all, " said Maria. "That is a great dealof money. "

"How much is it?" asked Rollo. 

"Why, in American money, " said Maria, "it makes about two hundreddollars. "

"Two hundred dollars!" repeated Rollo, with astonishment. "What coulduncle George think I could want of all this money?"

"It was in case of accidents, " said Maria. "For example, suppose thisship should be cast away on the coast of Nova Scotia, and all thepassengers and baggage be saved, what could you do there without anymoney. "

"Why, I should think that somebody there would take care of us, " repliedRollo. 

"Yes, " said Maria, "I suppose they would; but it is a great deal betterto have money of your own. Besides, suppose that when you get toLiverpool, for some reason or other, your father should not be there. Then, having plenty of money, you could go to a hotel and stay theretill your father comes. Or you could ask some one of the passengers whois going to London to let you go with him, and you could tell him thatyou had plenty of money to pay the expenses. "

"Yes, " said Rollo, "though I don't think there is any doubt that myfather will be in Liverpool when we arrive. "

"I hope he will be, I am sure, " said Maria. "But now, put up the moneyagain in the purse, tie it up securely, and replace it in the trunk. Then you must keep the trunk locked all the time, and keep the key inyour pocket. "

Rollo felt quite proud of being intrusted with so much money; so hereplaced the bag in the trunk with great care, and locked it safely. 

"Now, " said Maria, "this is your home while you are on board this ship. When you choose, you can come here and be alone; and you can lie downand rest here whenever you are tired. At other times you can rambleabout the ship, in all proper places. "

"How shall I know what the proper places are?" asked Rollo. 

"Why, you will see where the other passengers go, " replied Maria; "andwherever you see them go, you can go yourself. That is as good a rule asyou can have. "

"Well, " said Rollo. "And now, Jane, let us go up on deck and see what wecan see. "

Jane was pleased with this proposal; so she followed Rollo to the deck. Maria said that she would come by and by, but for the present she wishedto go and see her brother. She said that she had a brother on board whowas quite out of health. He was going to Europe in hopes that the voyagewould restore him. At present, however, he was very unwell, and wasconfined to his berth, and she must go and see him. 

So Rollo and Jane went to see if they could find their way up on deckalone. Rollo went before, and Jane followed. They ascended the steepstairs where they had gone up at first, and then walked aft upon thedeck until they came to the settees where they had been sitting beforethe luncheon. They sat down upon one of these settees, where they had afine view, not only of the wide expanse of sea on every hand, but alsoof the whole extent of the decks of the ship. They remained here nearlytwo hours, observing what was going on around them, and they saw agreat many things that interested them very much indeed. 

The first thing that attracted their attention was the sound of a bell, which struck four strokes very distinctly, and in a very peculiarmanner, near where the helmsman stood in steering the ship. This bellhas already been mentioned. It hung directly before the helmsman'swindow, and it had a short rope attached to the clapper of it. Thehelmsman, or _the man at the wheel_, as he is sometimes called, from thefact that he steers the ship by means of a wheel, with handles allaround the periphery of it, had opened his window just after Rollo andJane had taken their seats, and had pulled this clapper so as to strikefour strokes upon the bell, the strokes being in pairs, thus:--

Ding--ding! Ding--ding!

In a minute afterward, Rollo and Jane heard the sound repeated inprecisely the same manner from another bell, that seemed to be far inthe forward part of the ship. 

Ding--ding! Ding--ding!

"I wonder what that means?" said Rollo. 

"I expect it means that it is four o'clock, " said Jane. 

"I should not think it could be so late as four o'clock, " said Rollo. 

"I have a great mind to go and ask the helmsman what it means, " headded, after a moment's pause. 

"No, " said Jane, "you must not go. "

It is difficult to say precisely why Jane did not wish to have Rollo goand ask the helmsman about the bell, but she had an instinctive feelingthat it was better not to do it. So Rollo sat still. His attention wasvery soon turned away from the bell by Jane's calling out to him to seesome sailors go up the rigging. There were regular _shrouds_, as theyare called, that is, ladders formed of ropes, which led up on each sideof the masts part way to where the sailors seemed to wish to go. Abovethe top of the shrouds there were only single ropes, and Rollo wonderedwhat the sailors would do when they came to these. They found nodifficulty, however, for when they reached the top of the shrouds theycontinued to mount by the ropes with very little apparent effort. Theywould take hold of two of the ropes that were a little distance apartwith their hands, and then, curling their legs round them in a peculiarmanner below, they would mount up very easily. They thus reached the_yard_, as it is called, which is a long, round beam, extending alongthe upper edge of the sail, and, spreading themselves out upon it in arow, they proceeded to do the work required upon the sail, leaning overupon the yard above, and standing upon a rope, which was stretched forthe purpose along the whole length of it below. 

"I wonder if _I_ could climb up there, " said Rollo. "Do you suppose theywould let me try?"

"No, indeed!" said Jane, very earnestly; "you must not try, by anymeans. "

"I believe that I _could_ climb up there, " said Rollo; "that is, if thevessel would stop rocking to and fro, and hold still. "

Presently, however, a boy, who appeared to be about eighteen or nineteenyears of age, and who was upon another mast, accomplished a feat whicheven Rollo himself admitted that he should not dare to undertake. Itseemed that he had some operation to perform upon a part of the riggingdown some fifteen feet from where he was; so, with a rope hung over hisshoulder, he came down hand over hand, by a single rope or cable calleda _stay_, until he reached the place where the work was to be performed. Here he stopped, and, clinging to the rope that he had come down uponwith his legs and one hand, he contrived with the other hand to fastenone end of the short rope which he had brought with him to the stay, andthen, carrying the other end across, he fastened it to another cablewhich was near. He then seated himself upon this cross rope as upon aseat, and clinging to his place by his legs, he had his hands free forhis work. When he had finished his work he untied the cross rope, andthen went up the cable hand over hand a he had come down. 

[Illustration]

"I am sure I could not do that, " said Rollo. "And I should not thinkthat any body but a monkey could do it, or a spider. "

In fact, the lines of rigging, as seen from the place where Rollo andJane were seated, looked so fine, and the men appeared so small, thatthe whole spectacle naturally reminded one of a gigantic spider's web, with black spiders of curious forms ascending and descending upon them, so easily and adroitly did the men pass to and fro and up and down, attaching new lines to new points, and then running off with them, as aspider would do with her thread, wherever they were required. But afterall, in respect to the power of running about among lines and rigging, the spider is superior to man. She can not only run up and down far moreeasily and readily wherever she wishes to go, but she can make newattachments with a touch, and make them strong enough to bear her ownweight and all other strains that come upon them; while the sailor, asRollo and Jane observed on this occasion, was obliged in his fasteningsto wind his ropes round and round, and tie them into complicated knots, and then secure the ends with "spun yarn. "

While Rollo and Jane were watching the sailors, they saw them unfurl oneafter another of the sails, and spread them to the wind; for the windwas now fair, and it was fresh enough to assist the engines considerablyin propelling the ship through the water. Still, as the ship was goingthe same way with the wind, the breeze was scarcely felt upon the deck. The air was mild and balmy, and the surface of the sea was comparativelysmooth, so that the voyage was beginning very prosperously. Rollo lookedall around the horizon, but he could see no land in any direction. Therewas not even a ship in sight; nothing but one wide and boundless wasteof waters. 

"I should think that there would be some other ships going to Englandto-day, " he said, "besides ours. "

Jane did not know what to think on such a subject, and so she did notreply. 

"Let us watch for whales, " said Rollo. "Perhaps we shall see a whale. You watch the water all along on that side, and I will on this side; andif you see any whale spout, tell me. "

So they both kept watch for some time, but neither of them saw anyspouting. Jane gave one alarm, having seen some large, black-lookingmonsters rise to the surface not far from them on one side of the ship. She called out eagerly to Rollo to look. He did so, but he said thatthey were not whales; they were porpoises. He had seen porpoises oftenbefore, in bays and harbors. 

Just then the bell near the helmsman's window struck again, though in amanner a little different from before; for after the two pairs ofstrokes which had been heard before there came a single stroke, makingfive in all, thus:--

Ding--ding! Ding--ding! Ding. 

Immediately afterward the sound was repeated in the forward part of theship, as it had been before. 

Ding--ding! Ding--ding! Ding, "I wonder what that means, " said Rollo. 

Just then an officer of the ship, in his walk up and down the deck, passed near to where Rollo was sitting, and Rollo instinctivelydetermined to ask him. 

"Will you please tell me, sir, what that striking means?"

"It's five bells, " said the man; and so walked on. 

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VI. 

A CONVERSATION. 

Rollo at first felt quite disappointed that the officer seemed so littledisposed to give him information; but immediately after the officer hadgone another man came by, one of the passengers, as Rollo supposed, whoproved to be more communicative. He wore a glazed cap and a very shaggygreatcoat. He sat down by the side of Jennie, Rollo being on the otherside, and said, --

"He does not seem inclined to tell you much about the bells, does he, Rollo?"

"No, sir, " replied Rollo; "but how did you know that my name was Rollo?"

"O, I heard about you down in the cabin, " replied the stranger; "andabout _you_ too, Jennie, and your beautiful little kitten. But I willexplain the meaning of the bells to you. I know all about them. I belongon board this ship. I am the surgeon. "

"Are you?" said Rollo. "I did not know that there was any surgeon in theship. "

"Yes, " replied the gentleman. "It is quite necessary to have a surgeon. Sometimes the seamen get hurt, and require attendance; and thensometimes there are cases of sickness among the passengers. I have gotquite a little apothecary's shop in my state room. I will show it to youby and by. But now about the bells. 

"You must know, " continued the surgeon, "that people strike the time atsea in a very different manner from that which is customary on land. Inthe first place, they have a man to strike it; they cannot have aclock. "

"I do not see why not, " said Rollo. 

"Because at sea, " rejoined the surgeon, "the time changes every day, andno clock going regularly can keep it. Time depends upon the sun, andwhen the ship is going east she goes to meet the sun; and it becomesnoon, that is, midday, earlier. When the ship is going west, she goesaway from the sun, and then it becomes noon later. Thus noon has to befixed every day anew, and a clock going regularly all the time would becontinually getting wrong. Then, besides the rolling and pitching of theship would derange the motion of the weights and pendulum of the clock. In fact, I don't believe that a clock could be made to go atall--unless, indeed, it were hung on _gimbals_. "

"What are gimbals?" asked Rollo. 

"They are a pair of rings, " replied the surgeon, "one within the other, and each mounted on pivots in such a manner that any thing hung withinthe inner ring will swing any way freely. The lamps down in the cabinare hung on gimbals. "

"Yes, " said Rollo, "I saw them. "

"Then, besides, " continued the surgeon, "if the men strike the bellsthemselves, the sound, coming regularly every half hour, proves thatthey are at their posts and attending to their duties. So that, even ifa machine could be invented to strike the time on board ship ever sotruly, I do not think they would like to adopt it. 

"Another difference in striking the time on board ship, " continued thesurgeon, "is, that they strike it by half hours instead of by hours. Scarcely any of the ship's company have watches. In fact, watches are ofvery little use at sea, the time is so continually changing from day today. The sailors, therefore, and nearly all on board, depend wholly onthe bells; and it is necessary, accordingly, that they should be struckoften. Every two bells, therefore, means an hour; and a single bell atthe end means half an hour. Now, I will strike the bells for you, andyou may tell me what o'clock it is. We begin after twelve o'clock. 

"Ding!"

"Half past twelve, " said Rollo. 

"Ding--ding!" said the surgeon again, imitating the sound of the bellwith his voice. 

"One o'clock, " said Rollo. 

"Ding--ding! Ding!" said the surgeon. 

"Half past one o'clock. "

"Ding--ding! Ding--ding!"

"Two o'clock!"

"Ding--ding! Ding--ding! Ding!"

"Half past two. "

"Ding--ding! Ding--ding! Ding--ding!"

"Three!"

"Ding--ding! Ding--ding! Ding-ding! Ding!"

"Half past three. "

"Ding--ding! Ding--ding! Ding--ding! Ding--ding!"

"Four o'clock. "

"Yes, " said the surgeon, "that is eight bells, and that is the end. Nowthey stop and begin again with one bell, which means half past four; andso they go on to eight bells again, which makes it eight o'clock. Thenext eight bells is twelve o'clock at night, and the next is at fouro'clock in the morning, and the next at eight o'clock. So that eightbells means four o'clock, and eight o'clock, and twelve o'clock, by day;and four o'clock, and eight o'clock, and twelve o'clock, by night. "

"Yes, " said Rollo, "now I understand it. "

"Eight bells is a very important striking, " continued the surgeon. "Itis a curious fact, that almost every thing important that is done at seais done at some eight bells or other. "

"How is that?" asked Rollo. 

"Why, in the first place, " replied the surgeon, "at eight bells in themorning, the gong sounds to wake the passengers up. Then the watchchanges, too; that is, the set of men that have been on deck and hadcare of the ship and the sails since midnight go below, and a new watch, that is, a new set of men that have been asleep since midnight, taketheir places. Then the next eight bells, which is twelve, is luncheontime. At this time, too, the captain finds out from the sun whereaboutswe are on the ocean, and also determines the ship's _time_ for the nexttwenty-four hours. The next eight bells is at four o'clock, and that isdinner time. The next eight bells is at eight o'clock, and that is teatime. At all these times the watches change too; and so they do at theeight bells, which sound at midnight. "

"Yes, " said Rollo, "now I understand it. I wished to know very much whatit meant, and I had a great mind to go and ask the helmsman. "

"It was well that you did not go and ask him, " said the surgeon. 

"Why?" asked Rollo. 

"Because the officers and seamen on board ships, " replied the surgeon, "don't like to be troubled with questions from landsmen while they areengaged in their duties. Even the sensible questions of landsmen appearvery foolish to seamen; and then, besides, they commonly ask a greatmany that are absolutely very foolish. They ask the captain when hethinks they will get to the end of the voyage; or, if the wind is ahead, they ask him when he thinks it will change, and all such foolishquestions; as if the captain or any body else could tell when the windwould change. Sailors have all sorts of queer answers to give to thesequestions, to quiz the passengers who ask them, and amuse themselves. For instance, if the passengers ask when any thing is going to happen, the sailors say, 'The first of the month. ' That is a sort of proverbamong them, and is meant only in fun. But if it happens to be near theend of the month, the passenger, supposing the answer is in earnest, goes away quite satisfied, while the sailors wink at each other andlaugh. "

"Yes, " said Rollo. "I heard a lady ask the captain, a short time since, when he thought we should get to Liverpool. "

"And what did the captain say?" asked the surgeon. 

"He said, " replied Rollo, "that she must go and ask Boreas and Neptune, and some of those fellows, for they could tell a great deal better thanhe could. "

"The captain does not like to be asked any such questions, " continuedthe surgeon. "He cannot possibly know how the wind and sea are going tobe during the voyage, and he does not like to be teased with foolishinquiries on the subject. There is no end to the foolishness of thequestions which landsmen ask when they are at sea. Once I heard a manstop a sailor, as he was going up the shrouds, to inquire of him whetherhe thought they would see any whales on that voyage. "

"And what did the sailor tell him?" asked Rollo. 

"He told him, " replied the surgeon, "that he thought there would be somein sight the next morning about sunrise. So the passenger got up earlythe next morning and took his seat on the deck, watching every where forwhales, while the sailors on the forecastle, who had told the story toone another, were all laughing at him. "

Rollo himself laughed at this story. 

"These questions, after all, are not really so foolish as they seem, "said the surgeon. "For instance, if a passenger asks about seeingwhales, he means merely to inquire whether there are whales in that partof the ocean, and whether they are usually seen from the ships that passalong; and if so, how frequently, in ordinary cases, the sight of themmay be expected. All this, rightly understood, is sensible and properenough; but sailors are not great philosophers, and they generally seenothing in such inquiries but proofs of ridiculous simplicity andchances for them to make fun. 

"You can tell just how it seems to them yourself, Rollo, " continued thesurgeon, "by imagining that some farmer's boys lived on a farm wheresailors, who had never been in the country before, came by every day, and asked an endless series of ridiculous questions. For instance, onseeing a sheep, the sailor would ask what that was. The farmer's boyswould tell him it was a sheep. The sailor would ask what it was for. The boys would say they kept sheep to shear them and get the wool. Thenpresently the sailor would see a cow, and would ask if that was a kindof sheep. The farmer's boys would say no; it was a cow. Then the sailorwould ask if they sheared cows to get the wool. No, the boys would say;we milk cows. Then presently he would see a horse, and he would askwhether that was a cow or a sheep. They would say it was neither; it wasa horse. Then the sailor would ask whether they kept horses to milk themor to shear them and so on forever. "

Rollo laughed loud and long at these imaginary questionings. At last hesaid, --

"But I don't think we ask quite such foolish questions as these. "

"They do not seem so foolish to you, " replied the surgeon, "but they doto the sailors. The sailors, you see, know all the ropes and rigging ofthe ship, and every thing seen at sea, just as familiarly as boys wholive in the country do sheep, and cows, and wagons, and other suchobjects seen about the farm; and the total ignorance in regard to themwhich landsmen betray, whenever they begin to ask questions on board, seems to the sailors extremely ridiculous and absurd. So they often makefun of the passengers who ask them, and put all sorts of jokes uponthem. For instance, a passenger on board a packet ship once asked asailor what time they would heave the log. 'The log, ' said the sailor, 'they always heave the log at nine bells. When you hear nine bellsstrike, go aft, and you'll see them. ' So the passenger watched andcounted the bells every time they struck, all the morning, in the hopesto hear _nine_ bells; whereas they never strike more than eight bells. It was as if a man had said, on land, that such or such a thing wouldhappen at thirteen o'clock. "

Rollo and Jennie laughed. 

"So you must be careful, " continued the surgeon, "what questions you askof the officers and seamen about the ship; and you must be careful, too, what you believe in respect to the things they tell you. Perhaps it willbe the truth they will tell you, and perhaps they will be only makingfun of you. You may ask _me_, however, any thing you like. I will answeryou honestly. I am at leisure, and can tell you as well as not. Besides, I like to talk with young persons like you. I have a boy at home myselfof just about your rating. "

"Where is your home?" asked Rollo. 

"It is up on the North River, " said the surgeon, "about one hundredmiles from New York. And now I must go away, for it is almost eightbells, and that is dinner time. I shall see you again by and by. There'sone thing more, though, that I must tell you before I go; and that is, that you had better not go to any strange places about the ship whereyou do not see the other passengers go. For instance, you must not go upupon the paddle boxes. "

"No, " said Rollo. "I saw a sign painted, saying that passengers were notallowed to go up on the paddle boxes. "

"And you must not go forward among the sailors, or climb up upon therigging, " continued the surgeon. 

"Why not?" asked Rollo. 

"Because those parts of the ship are for the seamen alone, and forothers like them, who have duties to perform on shipboard. What shouldyou think, " continued the surgeon, "if some one who had come to make avisit at your house were to go up stairs, looking about in all thechambers, or down into the kitchen, examining every thing there to seewhat he could find?"

"I should think it was very strange, " said Jennie. 

"Certainly, " said the surgeon, "and it is the same on board ship. Thereare certain parts of the ship, such as the cabins, the state rooms, andthe quarter decks, which are appropriated to the passengers; and thereare certain other parts, such as the forecastle, the bows, and therigging, which are the domains of the seamen. It is true, that sometimesa passenger may go into these places without impropriety, as, forexample, when he has some business there, or when he is speciallyinvited; just as there may be circumstances which would render it properfor a gentleman to go into the kitchen, or into the garret, at a housewhere he is visiting. But those are exceptions to the general rules, andboys especially, both when visiting in houses and when they arepassengers on board ships, should be very careful to keep in properplaces. "

"I am glad I did not go climbing up the rigging, " said Rollo. 

"Yes, " replied the surgeon. "Once I knew a passenger go climbing up theshrouds on board an East Indiaman, and when he had got half way up tothe main top, and began to be afraid to proceed, the sailors ran upafter him, and, under pretence of helping him, they tied him there, handand foot, with spun yarn. "

"Ha!" said Rollo. "And what did he do?

"He begged them to let him down, but they would not. They said it wascustomary, whenever a landsman came up into the rigging, for him to payfor his footing by a treat to the sailors; and that they would let himdown if he would give them a dollar for a treat. "

[Illustration: THE PASSENGER ON THE RIGGING. ]

"And did he give it to them, " asked Rollo. 

"Yes, he said he would, " replied the surgeon "if they would untie one ofhis hands, so that he could get the dollar out of his pocket. So theyuntied one of his hands, and he gave them the dollar. Then they untiedhis other hand and his feet, and so let him go down. "

"Why did not he call the captain?" asked Rollo. 

"O, the captain would not have paid any attention to such a case, "replied the surgeon. "If he had been on deck at the time he would havelooked the other way, and would have pretended not to see what was goingon; but he would really have been pleased. He would have considered thepassenger as justly punished for climbing about where he had no businessto go. "

Rollo was greatly interested in this narrative. He thought what a narrowescape he had had in deciding that he would not attempt to climb up theshrouds, and he secretly determined that he would be very careful, notonly while he was on board the steamer, but also on all other occasions, not to violate the proprieties of life by obtruding himself into placeswhere he ought not to go. 

The surgeon now went away, leaving Rollo and Jane on the setteetogether. 

"I wish, " said Rollo, "that I had asked him what he meant by heaving thelog. "

"No, " said Jane, "you must not ask any questions. "

"Yes, " replied Rollo, "I may ask _him_ questions. He said that I mightask any questions that I pleased of him. "

"Well, " said Jane, "then you must ask him the nest time you see him. "

"I will, " said Rollo. "And now let us go down into our state room andfind Maria, and get ready to go to dinner. "

"Well, " said Jane, "only let me go first alone. I want to see if Icannot find my way to the state room alone. "

Rollo acceded to this proposal, and he accordingly remained on thesettee himself while Jane went down. Jane looked up toward him when sheturned to go down the steep flight of stairs which led from thepromenade deck, with a smile upon her countenance, which seemed to say, "You see I am right so far, " and then, descending the steps, --holding oncarefully all the time by the green rope, --she soon disappeared fromview. Rollo waited a proper time, and then followed Jane. He found hersafe upon the couch in her state room, with Maria seated by her side. 

In a very few minutes after Rollo came into the state room eight bellsstruck, and so they all went out to dinner. At first, Jennie said thatshe did not wish to go. She did not wish for any dinner. In fact, Rolloperceived, in looking at her, that she was beginning to be a littlepale. Maria told her, however, that she had better go and take somedinner. 

"The rule at sea, " said Maria, "always is, to go to the table if youpossibly can. "

So they all went out into the dining saloon through the long and narrowpassages that have been already described. They were obliged to puttheir hands up to the sides of the passage ways, first to one side andthen to the other, to support themselves, on account of the rolling ofthe ship, for there now began to be considerable motion. When theyreached the saloon they staggered into their places, and there satrocking gently to and fro on the long swell of the sea, and prepared toeat their dinner. 

The dinner was very much like a dinner in a fine hotel on land, exceptthat, as every thing was in motion, it required some care to prevent theglasses and plates from sliding about and spilling what they contained. Besides the ledges along the sides of the tables, there were also tworunning up and down in the middle of it, partitioning off the spacewhere the various dishes were placed, in the centre, from the spacealong the sides where the plates, and knives, and forks, and tumblers ofthe several guests were laid. This arrangement served, in some measure, to keep every thing in its place; but notwithstanding this, there was agood deal of sliding and jingling among the glasses whenever an unusualsea came rolling along. In one case, a tumbler, which the person whom itbelonged to had not properly secured, came sliding down toward him, while his hands were busy taking care of his soup plate; and when itcame to the ledge which formed the edge of the table, the bottom of itwas stopped, but the top went over, and poured all the water into thegentleman's lap. Upon this all the passengers around the place laughedvery heartily. 

"There, Rollo, " said Jane, "you had better be careful, and not let yourtumbler get upset. "

"Why, it is nothing but water, " replied Rollo. "It won't do any harm. Iwould as lief have a little water spilled on me as not. "

"I should not care about the water so much, " replied Jennie; "but Iwould not as lief have every body laughing at me as not. "

This was a very important distinction, and Rollo concluded that it was, after all, better to be careful. He watched the movements of the otherpassengers when the seas came, and observed the precautions which theytook to guard against such accidents, and by imitating these he soonbecame quite adroit. The dinner took a good deal of time, as there weremany courses, all served with great regularity. First, there was soup;then fish of various kinds; then all sorts of roasted meats, such asbeef, mutton, chickens, and ducks, with a great variety of vegetables. Then came puddings, pies, jellies, ice creams, and preserves; and, finally, a dessert of nuts, raisins, apples, almonds, and oranges. Infact, it was a very sumptuous dinner, and what was very remarkable, whenat last it was ended, and the party rose from the table to go back tothe cabin, Jennie said that she had a better appetite at the end of thedinner than she had had at the beginning. 

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VII. 

INCIDENTS. 

By the time that Rollo and Jennie had been two days at sea, they hadbecome accustomed to their novel position, and they began to feel quiteat home on board the ship. They formed acquaintance with several of thepassengers, and they went to and fro about the cabins and decks, andvisited their friends in their state rooms quite freely, sometimes aloneand sometimes together. The sky was clear, and the water wascomparatively smooth. It is true that there was a long swell upon thesurface of the sea, which produced a continual, though gentle, rockingof the ship, that made many of the passengers sick and uncomfortable. Rollo and Jane, however, felt for the most part quite well. Sometimes, for a short period, one or the other of them looked pale, and seemeddispirited. At such times they would lie down upon the couch in theirstate room, or upon a sofa in one of the saloons, and remain quietlythere an hour at a time. Jennie usually in such cases was accustomed tolie on the couch in her state room, on account of the seclusion of it;while Rollo, on the other hand, seemed to prefer the saloon. He, being aboy, did not care so much about the seclusion. On the contrary, itamused him to see the people going to and fro, and to watch thereflections of their forms in the mirrors about him. Sometimes, also, itwould happen that there were two or more of the passengers seated nearhim and engaged in conversation, that it entertained him to hear;especially when it related, as it often did, to adventures and incidentsthat they had met with at sea on former voyages. It was necessary, however, that persons thus conversing should be seated very near, inorder that Rollo should hear them; for the ship kept up a continualcreaking in all its joints, from the rolling of the sea, which made itvery difficult to hear what was said across the cabin. 

The mirrors, however, and the reflections in them, produced the mostsingular illusions, and were a source of continual interest to Rollo'smind, as he lay upon the sofa surrounded by them. There were so many ofthese mirrors that the saloon, and all that pertained to it, werereflected a great many times, and thus produced the most wonderfuleffects. Long passages were seen running off in all directions, andcabin beyond cabin, in an endless perspective. So bright and distinct, too, were the reflections, that it was difficult to tell whether whatyou were looking at was real, or only an imaged reflection of it. Sometimes Rollo would see, apparently at a great distance, a man walkingalong among carved columns in some remote passage way, and then, in aninstant, the man would pass directly by his sofa. He had been near allthe time, and it was only some third or fourth reflection of him thatRollo had seen. 

On the afternoon of the second day of Rollo's voyage, just before eightbells, which would be the time for dinner, as Rollo was lying on a sofain the saloon, feeling very miserably, and extremely disinclined tospeak or to move, two young men came along, talking in a loud andsomewhat noisy manner. They stopped opposite to him, and one of thembegan punching Rollo with the curved head of his cane, saying, --

"Well, Rollo, what's the matter with you? Sick? O, get up, boy, anddrive about. Don't lie moping here like a landlubber. Get up, and go andeat some dinner. It is almost eight bells. "

Rollo wished very much that these visitors would leave him alone. Hemade very little reply to them, only saying that he did not wish forany dinner. In fact, he felt sure that, if he were to go to the table, he could not eat any thing. 

The men, after laughing at him, and punching him, and teasing him alittle longer, went away. 

A few minutes after this, Maria and Jennie came into the saloon. Theywere ready to go to dinner, and so they came into the saloon to waitthere till the gong should sound. When they saw Rollo lying upon thesofa, they went up to him, but did not speak. Rollo opened his eyes andlooked at them. Maria smiled, but still did not speak. Rollo smiled inreturn, though somewhat faintly, and then shut his eyes again. ThenMaria led Jennie away, gently. 

"You see, " said Maria to Jennie, when they had gone out of Rollo'shearing, "he feels a little sick, and when persons feel seasick they donot like to talk. I am going to get him a bowl of broth. "

"Well, " said Jennie, "let me go and ask him if he would like some. "

"No, " said Maria. "If you were to ask him, he would say no. He wouldthink that he could not eat it; and yet, if I bring it to him, withoutsaying any thing about it, when he tastes it perhaps he will like it. In fact, when people are sick, it is always better not to ask them toomuch about what they would like. It is better to consider what we thinkthey would like, and bring it to them, without saying any thing about itbeforehand. "

So saying, Maria rang the saloon bell. The chambermaid came in answer tothe summons. Maria then sent the chambermaid to the dining saloon tobring a bowl of chicken broth to her. The chambermaid went out, andpresently returned, bringing the broth, just as the gong was soundingfor dinner. Maria carried the broth to Rollo. 

When she offered it to him, Rollo thought at first that he should not beable to take but two or three spoonfuls of it, but on tasting it hefound that he liked it very much. He ate it all, and, as he lay downagain upon his sofa, he said that he felt a great deal better. 

Maria then told him that he might lie still there as long as he pleased;adding, that she and Jennie were going to dinner. Maria and Jennie thenwent away, leaving Rollo alone again. 

Rollo felt so much better for the broth that he had taken, that prettysoon he rose from his recumbent position, and began to sit up. Presently he said to himself, "How much better I do feel. I believe Iwill go and get some dinner. "

So he rose from the sofa, and began to stagger along toward the door ofthe saloon. He found, however, that after all he felt somewhat giddy andlight headed; and he concluded, therefore, that, instead of going todinner, he would go up on deck and see how the wind was. He accordinglyturned to the staircase which led up to the main deck, and steadyinghimself by the hand rail as he ascended the steps, he went up. 

At the head of the stairs was a passage way, and at the end of thepassage way there was a space upon the deck, which was half enclosed; itbeing shut in by an awning on the windy side, and open on the other. This place was often resorted to by passengers who were sick, and whowished for more fresh air than they could have below. There was a row ofsettees on one side of this space, and, at the time that Rollo came upthere, there was a lady lying on one of these settees, apparently in avery forlorn condition. She looked very pale, and her eyes were shut. She was lying upon a mattress, which had been put upon the settee forher, and was covered up with blankets and shawls. 

A gentleman, who seemed to be her husband, was standing before her, attempting to persuade her to get up. He did this, however, as Rollothought, in rather a rough and heartless manner. 

"O, get up! get up!" said he. "You never will be well if you lie here. Come, go with me and get some dinner. "

The lady said, in a mournful tone, that she could not get up, and thatshe had no appetite for dinner. 

"Well, " said her husband, "_I_ am going. "

"I wish you could tell me something about Hilbert, " said the lady. "Ifeel very anxious about him. I am afraid that he will get into sometrouble. He is so careless. "

"O, no, " said her husband. "Don't disturb yourself about him. He's safeenough somewhere, I dare say. "

So saying, the gentleman went away. 

Rollo immediately conceived the idea of performing for this lady thekind service which Maria had so successfully performed for him. So, without speaking to her at all, he went immediately down into the cabinagain, and thence followed the long passages which led to the diningsaloon, until he came to the door of it. He looked in, and saw that thepeople were all seated at the table, eating their dinners. He went toone of the waiters, and asked him if he would bring him a bowl ofchicken broth, to carry to a lady who was sick. 

The waiter said that he would do so, and immediately went to get thebroth. When he came back with it, he said to Rollo, --

"You had better let me take it to the lady. "

"No, " said Rollo, "I can take it myself. I know exactly where she is. "

So Rollo took the bowl, and began to carry it along. He did this withoutmuch difficulty, for it was not by any means full. Bowls of brothintended to be carried about ship at sea are never entirely full. 

When, finally, he came to the place where the lady was lying on thesettee, he stood there a moment holding the bowl in his hand, withoutspeaking, as he thought the lady was asleep; for her eyes were shut. Ina moment, however, she opened her eyes. Rollo then said to her, --

"Would not you like a bowl of broth, lady? I have brought some for you. "

The lady gazed at Rollo a moment with a sort of bewildered look, andthen, raising herself up upon the settee, she took the broth, and beganto eat it with the spoon. At first, she seemed to take it cautiously andwith doubt; but presently, finding that she liked it, she took spoonfulafter spoonful with evident pleasure. Rollo was extremely delighted atthe success of his experiment. The lady said nothing to him all thetime, though she looked up at him repeatedly with a very earnest gazewhile she was taking the broth. At length she finished it, and then gaveRollo back the bowl, saying, as she did it, --

"Did my husband send you with that bowl of broth to me?"

"No, " said Rollo, "I brought it myself. "

"And what put it into your head to do that?" added the lady. 

"Why, Maria brought some to me when I was sick, " replied Rollo, "and itdid me good; and so I thought it would do you good. "

The lady looked at him a moment more with an earnest gaze, and then laydown again, and shut her eyes. 

Presently she opened them a moment, and said, --

"Do you know my son Hilbert?"

"I have seen a boy about the ship, " said Rollo, "not quite so big as Iam. Is that he?"

"With a blue jacket?" said the lady. 

"Yes, " said Rollo, "and a bow and arrows. "

"That's he, " said the lady. "If you will go and find out where he is, and ask him to come to me, you will do me a great deal of good. "

Rollo had seen this boy several times in different places about theship; but as he seemed to be rather rude and boisterous in his manners, and very forward and free withal in his intercourse with the passengerswho chanced to speak to him from time to time, Rollo had not felt muchdisposed to form an acquaintance with him. The boy had a bow and arrows, with which he had often amused himself in shooting about the decks. Hedid this with so little consideration, that at last, one of the officersof the ship told him that he must not shoot any more in those parts ofthe ship where the ladies were, but that he must go forward, among thesailors, if he wished to practise archery. So the boy went forward, andfrom that time he spent most of his time on the forward deck among thesailors, and in the midst of the ropes and the rigging. 

Rollo now went in pursuit of him, and after looking for him in manyplaces, both before and aft, he finally went down into the diningsaloon, and there he found Hilbert seated at the table, eating dinner, with his father. His bows and arrows were on the seat by his side. 

Rollo went up to the place where Hilbert was sitting, and in a timid andcautious manner informed him that his mother wished to see him. 

"My mother!" repeated Hilbert, looking up surprised. 

"Yes, " replied Rollo; "she asked me to tell you. But I suppose that shecan wait until you have finished your dinner. "

"O, no, " said Hilbert, "I can't go at all. Go tell her I can't come. "

Rollo was greatly astonished at receiving such a message as this from aboy to his mother. 

"Hilbert, " said his father, in a very stern and threatening manner, "goto your mother directly. "

"No, " said Hilbert, in a sort of begging and whining tone. "No. If I do, she'll make me stay there all the afternoon. "

"No matter for that, " said his father; "go directly. "

Hilbert did not move, but went on eating his dinner. 

"At least, " said his father, "you must go immediately when you have doneyour dinner. "

Hilbert muttered something in reply, but Rollo did not hear what it was. In fact, he did not wish to hear any more of such a dialogue as thisbetween a child and his father. So he went away. He was not at allinclined to go back to the lady and inform her what Hilbert had said;but he thought that he ought at least to go and tell her that he hadfound Hilbert, as he had been taught that it was always his duty to goback with a report when sent on a message. So he went back to the lady, and told her that he had found Hilbert, and that he was at dinner withhis father. 

"And what did he say about coming to me?" asked the lady. 

"His father told him that he must come as soon as he had finished hisdinner, " replied Rollo. 

"Very well, " said the lady, "that will do. "

So saying, she turned her head away and shut her eyes again, and soRollo withdrew. 

It would be a very nice and delicate point to determine whether Rollo'sanswer in this case was or was not as full as strict honesty required. He certainly did not state any thing that was not true; nor did he, inwhat he said, convey any false impression. He, however, withheld a veryimportant part of what the lady must have desired to know. It isundoubtedly sometimes right for us to conceal or withhold the truth. Sometimes, indeed, it is our imperious duty to do so. Rollo's motive fordoing as he did in this case was to avoid giving a sick mother pain, byreporting to her the undutiful conduct of her son. Whether it would orwould not have been better for him to have communicated the whole truth, is a point which must be left for the readers of this book to discussand settle among themselves. 

After dinner, Hilbert, instead of going to his mother, went up upon thedeck, leaving his bow and arrows, however, down in the cabin. As Rolloand Jennie were, at that time, seated near the after part of thepromenade deck, he came and sat down near them. Rollo had a great desireto get up and go away, taking Jennie with him; but he feared that itwould be impolite for him to do so; and while he was considering what heshould do, the surgeon came along that way, and said to them, --

"Children, have you seen the little bird?"

"What bird?" exclaimed the children, all together. 

"Why, there has a bird come on board, " replied the surgeon. "He belongsin Nova Scotia, I suppose. That is the nearest land. He is forward, somewhere, among the sailors. "

The children immediately hurried out to the most forward part of thepromenade deck, near the great smoke pipe, to a place from which theycould look down upon the forward deck. There they saw the little birdperched upon a coil of rigging. He was perfectly still. Some sailorswere standing near, looking at him. The bird, however appeared to takeno notice of them. 

"Poor little thing!" said Rollo. "I expect he is tired flying so far. Iwonder how far it is to Nova Scotia. "

Rollo turned round as he said this, to see if the surgeon was near, inorder to ask him how far the poor bird was from home. The surgeon wasnot there, but he saw that both Jennie and Hilbert had suddenly startedtogether to go back toward the stairway, as if they were going below. 

"Jennie, " said Rollo, "where are you going?"

Jennie did not answer, but hurried on. Hilbert seemed equally eager. Infact, it was evident that they had both been seized with some new idea, though Rollo could not at first imagine what it was. At length, hesaid, --

"Ah! I know. They are going down where the bird is, to see it nearer. I'll go with them. "

So saying, Rollo hurried away too. 

He was mistaken, however, in supposing that Hilbert and Jennie weremerely going to the forward deck so as to get nearer the bird. Jenniewas going down into the cabin to shut up her kitten. The instant thatshe saw the bird she was reminded of Tiger, having sometimes seen Tigerrun after little birds in the yards and gardens at home. _They_ couldescape from her by flying away, but this poor bird seemed so tired thatJennie was afraid the kitten would catch it and kill it, if she camenear; and so she ran off very eagerly to shut the kitten up. 

She found the kitten asleep on a sofa in the cabin. She immediatelyseized her, waking her up very suddenly by so doing, and hurried her offat once to her cage. Jennie put the kitten into the cage, and then shutand fastened the door. 

"There, Tiger, " said she, "you must stay in there. There is something upstairs that you must not see. "

Then Jennie took the cage up, by means of the ring which formed thehandle at the top, and carried it into her state room. She pushed asidethe curtains of the lower berth, and, putting the cage in, she depositedit upon a small shelf in the end of the berth. Then, drawing thecurtains again very carefully, she came out of the state room and shutthe door. 

"Now, Tiger, " said she, as she tried the door to see if it was fast, "you are safe; and you must stay there until the little bird goes away. "

The kitten, when she found herself thus left alone in such a seclusion, stood for a moment on the floor of the cage, looking toward thecurtains, in an attitude of great astonishment; then, knowing well, frompast experience, that it was wholly useless for her to speculate on thereasons of Jennie's doings, she lay down upon the floor of the cage, curled herself into a ring, and went to sleep again. 

[Illustration]

As for Hilbert, who had set off from the smoke pipe deck at the sametime with Jennie, and in an equally eager manner, his going below hadbeen with an entirely different intent from hers. He was going to gethis bow and arrows, in order to shoot the little bird. He found them onthe seat where he had left them. He seized them hastily, and ran up bythe forward gangway, which brought him out upon the forward deck notvery far from where the bird was resting upon the coil of rigging. Hecrept softly up toward him, and adjusted, as he went, his arrow to hisbow. Several of the sailors were near, and one of them, a man whom theycalled Hargo, immediately stopped the operation that he was engaged in, and demanded of Hilbert what he was going to do. 

"I am going to pop one of my arrows into that bird, " said Hilbert. 

"No such thing, " said the sailor. "You pop an arrow into that bird, andI'll pop _you_ overboard. "

Sailors will never allow any one to molest or harm in any way the birdsthat alight upon their ships at sea. 

"Overboard!" repeated Hilbert, in a tone of contempt and defiance. "Youwould not dare to do such a thing. "

So saying, he went on adjusting his arrow, and, creeping up toward thebird, began to take aim. 

Hargo here made a signal to some of his comrades, who, in obedience toit, came up near him in a careless and apparently undesigned manner. Hargo then, by a sudden and unexpected movement, pulled the bow andarrow out of Hilbert's hand, and passed them instantly behind him toanother sailor, who passed them to another, each standing in such aposition as to conceal what they did entirely from Hilbert's sight. Thething was done so suddenly that Hilbert was entirely bewildered. His bowand arrow were gone, but he could not tell where. Each sailor, theinstant that he had passed the bow and arrow to the next, assumed acareless air, and went on with his work with a very grave and unmeaningface, as if he had not been taking any notice of the transaction. Thelast man who received the charge was very near the side of the ship, andas he stood there, leaning with a careless air against the bulwarks, heslyly dropped the bow and arrow overboard. They fell into the water justin advance of the paddle wheel. As the ship was advancing through thewater all this time with tremendous speed, the paddle struck both thebow and the arrow the instant after they touched the water, and brokethem both into pieces. The fragments came out behind, and floated offunseen in the foam which drifted away in a long line in the wake of thesteamer. Hilbert was perfectly confounded. He knew nothing of the fatewhich his weapons had met with. All he knew was, that they had somehowor other suddenly disappeared as if by magic. Hargo had taken them, hewas sure; but what he had done with them, he could not imagine. He wasin a great rage, and turning to Hargo with a fierce look, he demanded, in a loud and furious tone, --

"Give me back my bow and arrow. "

"I have not got your bow and arrow, " said Hargo. 

So saying, Hargo held up both hands, by way of proving the truth of hisassertion. 

Hilbert gazed at him for a moment, utterly at a loss what to do or say, and then he looked at the other sailors who were near, first at one, andthen at another; but he could get no clew to the mystery. 

"You have got them hid behind you, " said Hilbert, again addressingHargo. 

"No, " said he. "See. "

So saying, he turned round and let Hilbert see that the bow and arrowwere not behind him. 

"Well, you took them away from me, at any rate, " said Hilbert; andsaying this, he turned away and walked off, seemingly very angry. He wasgoing to complain to his father. 

He met his father coming up the cabin stairs, and began, as soon as hecame near him, to complain in very bitter and violent language of thetreatment that he had received. Hargo had taken away his bow and arrow, and would not them back to him. 

"Very well, " replied his father, quietly, "you had been doing somemischief with them, I suppose. "

"No, " said Hilbert, "I had not been doing any thing at all. "

"Then you were _going_ to do some mischief with them, I suppose, " saidhis father. 

"No, " said Hilbert, "I was only going to shoot a little bird. "

"A little bird!" repeated his father, surprised. "What little bird?"

"Why, a little bird that came on board from Nova Scotia, they said, "replied Hilbert. "He came to rest. "

"And you were going to shoot him?" said his father, in a tone ofsurprise. Then, after pausing a moment, he added, "Here, come with me. "

So saying, Hilbert's father turned and walked down the cabin stairsagain. He led the way to his state room, which, as it happened, was onthe opposite side of the cabin from that which Jennie occupied. When hereached the door of the state room, he opened it, and standing on oneside, he pointed the way to Hilbert, saying, sternly, --

"Go in there!"

Hilbert went in. 

"You will stay there, now, " said his father "as long as that bird seesfit to remain on board. It won't do, I see, for you both to be on decktogether. "

So saying, Hilbert's father shut the state room door, and locked it; andthen, putting the key in his pocket, went away. 

The bird was now safe, his two enemies--the only enemies he had on boardthe steamer--being shut up in their respective state rooms, asprisoners, one on one side of the cabin, and the other on the other. Hedid not, however, rest any the more quietly on this account; for he hadnot at any time been conscious of the danger that he had been in, eitherfrom the kitten or the boy. He went on reposing quietly at theresting-place which he had chosen on the coil of rigging, until at last, when his little wings had become somewhat reinvigorated, he came downfrom it, and went hopping about the deck. Jennie and Maria then wentdown below and got some bread for him. This they scattered in crumsbefore him, and he came and ate it with great satisfaction. In about twohours he began to fly about a little; and finally he perched upon thebulwarks, and looked all over the sea. Perceiving that he was now strongenough to undertake the passage home to his mate, he flew off, andascending high into the air, until he obtained sight of the coast, hethen set forth with great speed in that direction. 

It was several hundred miles to the shore, and he had to rest two orthree times on the way. Once he alighted on an English ship-of-war thatwas going into Halifax; the next time upon a small fishing boat on theBanks. He was not molested at either of his resting-places; and so indue time he safely reached the shore, and joined his mate at the nest, in a little green valley in Nova Scotia. He was very glad to get home. He had not intended to have gone so far to sea. He was blown off by astrong wind, which came up suddenly while he was playing in the air, about five miles from shore. 

The two prisoners were liberated from their state rooms after havingbeen kept shut up about two hours. Tiger did not mind this confinementat all; for her conscience being quiet, she did not trouble herselfabout it in the least, but slept nearly the whole time. It was, however, quite a severe punishment to Hilbert; for his mind was all the timetormented with feelings of vexation, self-reproach, and shame. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE STORM. 

The navigation of the Atlantic by means of the immense sea-goingsteamers of the present day, with all its superiority in most respects, is attended with one very serious disadvantage, at least for allromantic people, and those who particularly enjoy what is grand andsublime. To passengers on board an Atlantic steamer, a storm atsea--that spectacle which has, in former times, been so often describedas the most grand and sublime of all the exhibitions which the course ofnature presents to man--is divested almost entirely of that imposingmagnificence for which it was formerly so renowned. 

There are several reasons for this. 

First, the height of the waves appears far less impressive, when seenfrom on board an Atlantic steamer, than from any ordinary vessel; forthe deck in the case of these steamers is so high, that the spectator, as it were, looks _down_ upon them. Any one who has ever ascended amountain knows very well what the effect is upon the apparent height ofall smaller hills, when they are seen from an elevation that is farhigher than they. In fact, a country that is really quite hilly is madeto appear almost level, by being surveyed from any one summit that risesabove the other elevations. The same is the case with the waves of thesea, when seen from the promenade deck of one of these vast steamers. 

The waves of the sea are never more than twelve or fifteen feet high, although a very common notion prevails that they run very much higher. It has been well ascertained that they never rise more than twelve orfifteen feet above the general level of the water; and if we allow thesame quantity for the depth of the trough, or hollow between two waves, we shall have from twenty-five to thirty feet as the utmost altitudewhich any swell of water can have, reckoning from the most depressedportions of the surface near it. Now, in a first-class Atlantic steamer, there are two full stories, so to speak, above the surface of the sea, and a promenade deck above the uppermost one. This brings the head ofthe spectator, when he stands upon the promenade dock and surveys theocean around him, to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet above thesurface of the water. The elevation at which he stands variesconsiderably, it is true, at different portions of the voyage. When theship first comes out of port she is very heavily laden, as she has onboard, in addition to the cargo, all the coal which she is to consumeduring the whole voyage. This is an enormous quantity--enough for thefull lading of what used to be considered a large ship in former days. This coal being gradually consumed during the voyage, the steamer islightened; and thus she swims lighter and lighter as she proceeds, beingfour or five feet higher out of the water when she reaches the end ofher voyage than she was at the beginning. 

Thus the height at which the passenger stands above the waves, whenwalking on the promenade deck of an Atlantic steamer, varies somewhatduring the progress of the voyage; but it is always, or almost always, so great as to bring his head above the crests of the waves. Thus helooks down, as it were, upon the heaviest seas, and this greatlydiminishes their apparent magnitude and elevation. On the contrary, toone going to sea in vessels as small as those with which Columbus madethe voyage when he discovered America, the loftiest billows would riseand swell, and toss their foaming crests far above his head, as he clungto the deck to gaze at them. They would seem at times ready tooverwhelm him with the vast and towering volumes of water which theyraised around him. Then, when the shock which was produced by theencounter of one of them was passed, and the ship, trembling from theconcussion, rose buoyantly over the swell, being small in comparisonwith the volume of the wave, she was lifted so high that she seemed tohang trembling upon the brink of it, ready to plunge to certaindestruction into the yawning gulf which opened below. 

All this is, however, now changed. The mighty steamer, twice as long, and nearly four times as massive as the ship, surpasses the seas now, asit were, in magnitude and momentum, as well as in power. She not onlytriumphs over them in the contest of strength, but she towers above andovertops them in position. The billow can now no longer toss her up solightly to the summit of its crest; nor, when the crest of it is passed, will she sink her so fearfully into the hollow of the sea. Thespectator, raised above all apparent danger, and moving forward throughthe scene of wild commotion with a power greater far than that which thefoaming surges can exert, surveys the scene around him with wonder andadmiration, it is true, but without that overpowering sensation of awewhich it could once inspire. 

Then there is another thing. A sailing vessel, which is always in agreat measure dependent upon the wind, is absolutely at its mercy in astorm. When the gale increases beyond a certain limit, she can no longermake head at all against its fury, but must turn and fly--or bedriven--wherever the fury of the tempest may impel her. In such cases, she goes bounding over the seas, away from her course, toward rocks, shoals, breakers, or any other dangers whatever which may lie in theway, without the least power or possibility of resistance. She goeshowling on, in such a case, over the wide waste of waters before her, wholly unable to escape from the dreadful fury of the master who isdriving her, and with no hope of being released from his hand, until hechooses, of his own accord, to abate his rage. 

All this, too, is now changed. This terrible master has now found _his_master in the sea-going steamer. She turns not aside to the right handor to the left, for all his power. Boreas may send his gales from whatquarter he pleases, and urge them with whatever violence he likes todisplay. The steamer goes steadily on, pointing her unswerving prowdirectly toward her port of destination, and triumphing easily, andapparently without effort, over all the fury of the wind and the shocksand concussions of the waves. The worst that the storm can do is toretard, in some degree, the swiftness of her motion. Instead of drivingher, as it would have done a sailing vessel, two or three hundred milesout of her course, away over the sea, it can only reduce her speed inher own proper and determined direction to eight miles an hour insteadof twelve. 

Now, this makes a great difference in the effect produced upon the mindby witnessing a storm at sea. If the passenger, as he surveys the scene, feels that his ship, and all that it contains, has been seized by theterrific power which he sees raging around him, and that they are allentirely at its mercy, --that it is sweeping them away over the sea, perhaps into the jaws of destruction, without any possible power, ontheir part, of resistance or escape, --his mind is filled with the mostgrand and solemn emotions. Such a flight as this, extending day afterday, perhaps for five hundred miles, over a raging sea, is reallysublime. 

The Atlantic steamer never flies. She never yields in any way to thefury of the gale, unless she gets disabled. While her machinery stands, she moves steadily forward in her course; and so far as any idea ofdanger is concerned, the passengers in their cabins and state roomsbelow pay no more regard to the storm than a farmer's family do to thewhistling and howling of the wind among the chimneys of their house, ina blustering night on land. 

So much for the philosophy of a storm at sea, as witnessed by thepassengers on board an Atlantic steamer. 

 * * * * *

One night, when the steamer had been some time at sea, Rollo awoke, andfound himself more than usually unsteady in his berth. Sometimes heslept upon his couch, and sometimes in his berth. This night he was inhis berth, and he found himself rolling from side to side in it, veryuneasily. The croaking of the ship, too, seemed to be much more violentand incessant than it had been before. Rollo turned over upon his otherside, and drew up his knees in such a manner as to prevent himself fromrolling about quite so much, and then went to sleep again. 

His sleep, however, was very much broken and disturbed, and he was atlast suddenly awakened by a violent lurch of the ship, which rolled himover hard against the outer edge of his berth, and then back against theinner edge of it again. There was a sort of cord, with large knobs uponit, at different distances, which was hung like a bell cord from theback side of the berth. Rollo had observed this cord before, but he didnot know what it was for. He now, however, discovered what it was for, as, by grasping these knobs in his hands, he found that the cord was anexcellent thing for him to hold on by in a heavy sea. By means of thissupport, he found that he could moor himself, as it were, quite well, and keep himself steady when a heavy swell came. 

He was not long, however, at rest, for he found that his endeavors to goto sleep were disturbed by a little door that kept swinging to and fro, in his state room, as the ship rolled. This was the door of a littlecupboard under the wash stand. When the door swung open, it would strikeagainst a board which formed the front side of the couch that hasalready been described. Then, when the ship rolled the other way, itwould come to, and strike again upon its frame and sill. Rollo enduredthis noise as long as he could, and then he resolved to get up and shutthe door. So he put his feet out of his berth upon the floor, --which hecould easily do, as the berth that he was in was the lower one, --and satthere watching for a moment when the ship should be tolerably still. When the right moment came, he ran across to the little door, shut it, and crowded it hard into its place; then darted back to his berthagain, getting there just in time to save a tremendous lurch of theship, which would have perhaps pitched him across the state room, if ithad caught him when he was in the middle of the floor. 

Rollo did not have time to fasten the little door with its lock; andthis seemed in fact unnecessary, for it shut so hard and tight into itsplace that he was quite confident that the friction would hold it, andthat it would not come open again. To his great surprise, therefore, afew minutes afterwards, he heard a thumping sound, and, on turning overto see what the cause of it was, he found that the little door was looseagain, and was swinging backward and forward as before. The fact was, that, although the door had shut in tight at the moment when Rollo hadclosed it, the space into which it had been fitted had been opened widerby the springing of the timbers and framework of the ship at the nextroll, and thus set the door free again. So Rollo had to get up oncemore; and this time he locked the door when he had shut it, and so madeit secure. 

Still, however, he could not sleep. As soon as he began in the leastdegree to lose consciousness, so as to relax his hold upon the knobs ofhis cord, some heavy lurch of the sea would come, and roll himviolently from side to side, and thus wake him up again. He tried tobrace himself up with pillows, but he had not pillows enough. He climbedup to the upper berth, and brought down the bolster and pillow thatbelonged there; and thus he packed and wedged himself in. But theincessant rolling and pitching of the ship kept every thing in such astate of motion that the pillows soon worked loose again. 

After making several ineffectual attempts to secure for himself a quietand fixed position in his berth, Rollo finally concluded to shift hisquarters to the other side of the state room, and try the couch. Thecouch had a sort of side board, which passed along the front side of it, and which was higher somewhat than the one forming the front of theberth. This board was made movable, so that it could be shifted from thefront to the back side, and _vice versa_, at pleasure. By putting thisside board back, the place became a sort of sofa or couch, and it wasusually in this state during the day; but by bringing it forward, whichwas done at night, it became a berth, and one somewhat larger and morecomfortable than the permanent berths on the other side. 

So Rollo began to make preparations for a removal. He threw the bolsterand pillows across first, and then, getting out of the berth, andholding firmly to the edge of it, he waited for a moment's pause in themotion of the ship; and then, when he thought that the right time hadcome, he ran across. It happened, however, that he made a miscalculationas to the time; for the ship was then just beginning to careen violentlyin the direction in which he was going, and thus he was pitched headforemost over into the couch, where he floundered about several minutesamong the pillows and bolsters before he could recover the command ofhimself. 

At last he lay down, and attempted to compose himself to sleep; but hesoon experienced a new trouble. It happened that there were some cloaksand coats hanging up upon a brass hook above him, and, as the shiprolled from side to side, the lower ends of them were continuallyswinging to and fro, directly over Rollo's face. He tried for a time toget out of the way of them, by moving his head one way and the other;but they seemed to follow him wherever he went, and so he was obliged atlast to climb up and take them all off the hook, and throw them awayinto a corner. Then he lay down again, thinking that he should now beable to rest in peace. 

At length, when he became finally settled, and began to think at lastthat perhaps he should be able to go to sleep, he thought that he heardsomething rolling about in Jennie's state room, and also, at intervals, a mewing sound. He listened. The door between the two state rooms wasalways put open a little way every night, and secured so by thechambermaid, so that either of the children might call to the other ifany thing were wanted. It was thus that Rollo heard the sound that camefrom Jennie's room. After listening a moment, he heard Jennie's voicecalling to him. 

"Rollo, " said she, "are you awake?"

"Yes, " said Rollo. 

"Then I wish you would come and help my kitten. Here she is, shut up inher cage, and rolling in it all about the room. "

It was even so. Jennie had put Tiger into the cage at night when shewent to bed, as she was accustomed to do, and then had set the cage inthe corner of the state room. The violent motion of the ship had upsetthe cage, and it was now rolling about from one side of the state roomto the other--the poor kitten mewing piteously all the time, andwondering what could be the cause of the astonishing gyrations that shewas undergoing. Maria was asleep all the time, and heard nothing of itall. 

Rollo said he would get up and help the kitten. So he disengaged himselffrom the wedgings of pillows and bolsters in which he had been packed, and, clinging all the time to something for support, he made his wayinto Jennie's state room. There was a dim light shining there, whichcame through a pane of glass on one side of the state room, near thedoor. This light was not sufficient to enable Rollo to see any thingvery distinctly. He however at length succeeded, by holding to the sideof Jennie's berth with one hand, while he groped about the floor withthe other, in finding the cage and securing it. 

"I've got it, " said Rollo, holding it up to the light. "It is the cage, and Tiger is in it. Poor thing! she looks frightened half to death. Would you let her out?"

"O, no, " said Jennie. "She'll only be rolled about the rooms herself. "

"Why, she could hold on with her claws, I should think, " said Rollo. 

"No, " said Jennie, "keep her in the cage, and put the cage in some safeplace where it can't get away. "

So Rollo put the kitten into the cage, and then put the cage itself in anarrow space between the foot of the couch and the end of the stateroom, where he wedged it in safely with a carpet bag. Having done this, he was just about returning to his place, when he was dreadfully alarmedat the sound of a terrible concussion upon the side of the ship, succeeded by a noise as of something breaking open in his state room, and a rush of water which seemed to come pouring in there like atorrent, and falling on the floor. Rollo's first thought was that theship had sprung a leak, and that she was filling with water, and wouldsink immediately. Jennie, too, was exceedingly alarmed; while Maria, whohad been sound asleep all this time, started up suddenly in greatterror, calling out, --

"Mercy on me! what's that?"

"I'm sure I don't know, " said Rollo, "unless the ship is sinking. "

Maria put out her hand and rung the bell violently. In the mean time, the noise that had so alarmed the children ceased, and nothing was heardin Rollo's room but a sort of washing sound, as of water dashed to andfro on the floor. Of course, the excessive fears which the children hadfelt at first were in a great measure allayed. 

In a moment the chambermaid came in with a light in her hand, and askedwhat was the matter. 

"I don't know, " said Maria. "Something or other has happened in Rollo'sstate room. Please look in and see. "

The chambermaid went in, and exclaimed, as she entered, --

"What a goose!"

"Who's a goose?" said Rollo, following her. 

"I am, " said the chambermaid, "for forgetting to screw up your light. But go back; you'll get wet, if you come here. "

Rollo accordingly kept back in Jennie's state room, though he advancedas near to the door as he could, and looked in to see what had happened. He found that his little round window had been burst open by a heavysea, and that a great quantity of water had rushed in. His couch, whichwas directly under the window, was completely drenched, and so was thefloor; though most of the water, except that which was retained by thebedding and the carpet, had run off through some unseen opening below. When Rollo got where he could see, the chambermaid was busy screwing uphis window tight into its place. It has already been explained that thiswindow was formed of one small and very thick pane of glass, of an ovalform, and set in an iron frame, which was attached by a hinge on oneside, and made to be secured when it was shut by a strong screw andclamp on the other. 

"There, " said the chambermaid. "It is safe now; only you can't sleepupon the couch any more, it is so wet. You must get into your berthagain. I will make you up a new bed on the couch in the morning. "

Rollo accordingly clambered up into his berth again, and the chambermaidleft him to himself. Presently, however, she came back with a dry pillowand bolster for him. 

"What makes the ship pitch and toss about so?" said Rollo. 

"Head wind and a heavy sea, " said the chambermaid; "that's all. "

The chambermaid then, bidding Rollo go to sleep, passed on into Jennie'sstate room, on her way to her own place of repose. As she went by, Mariaasked if there was not a storm coming on. 

"Yes, " said the chambermaid, "a terrible storm. "

"How long will it be before morning?" asked Jennie. 

"O, it is not two bells yet, " said the chambermaid. "And you had betternot get up when the morning comes. You'll only be knocking about thecabins if you do. I'll bring you some breakfast when it is time. "

So saying, the chambermaid went away, and, left the children and Mariato themselves. 

Rollo tried for a long time after this to get to sleep, but all was invain. He heard two bells strike, and then three, and then four. Heturned over first one way, and then the other; his head aching, and hislimbs cramped and benumbed from the confined and uncomfortable positionsin which he was obliged to keep them. In fact, when Jennie on oneoccasion, just after four bells struck, being very restless and wakefulherself, ventured to speak to him in a gentle tone, and ask him whetherhe was asleep, he replied that he was not; that he had been trying veryhard, but he could not get any thing of him asleep except his legs. 

At length the gray light of the morning began to shine in at his littleround window. This he was very glad to see, although it did not promiseany decided relief to his misery; for the storm still continued withunabated violence. At length, when breakfast time came, the chambermaidbrought in some tea and toast for Maria and for both the children. Theytook it, and felt much better for it--so much so, that Rollo said hemeant to get up and go and see the storm. 

"Well, " said the chambermaid, "you may go, if you must. Dress yourself, and go on the next deck above this, and walk along the passage way thatleads aft, and there you'll find a door that you can open and look out. You'll be safe there. "

"Which way is aft?" asked Rollo. 

"That way, " replied the chambermaid, pointing. 

So Rollo got up, and holding firmly to the side of his berth with onehand, and bracing himself between his berth and the side of his washstand cupboard with his knees, as the ship lurched to and fro, hecontrived to dress himself, though he was a long time in accomplishingthe feat. He then told Jennie that he was going up stairs to look out atsome window or door, in order to see the storm. Jennie did not make muchreply, and so Rollo went away. 

The ship rolled and pitched so violently that he could not stand alonefor an instant. If he attempted to do so, he would be thrown against oneside or the other of the cabin or passage way by the most sudden andunaccountable impulses. He finally succeeded in getting up upon the maindeck, where he went into the enclosed space which has already beendescribed. This space was closely shut up now on all sides. There were, however, two doors which led from it out upon the deck. In order to goup upon the promenade deck, it was necessary to go out at one of thesedoors, and then ascend the promenade deck stairway. Rollo had, however, no intention of doing this, though he thought that perhaps he might openone of the doors a little and look out. 

While he was thinking of this, he heard steps behind him as of some onecoming up stairs, and then a voice, saying, --

"Halloo, Rollo! Are you up here?"

Rollo turned round and saw Hilbert. He was clinging to the side of thedoorway. Rollo himself was upon one of the settees. 

Just then one of the outer doors opened, and a man came in. He was anofficer of the ship. A terrible gust of wind came in with him. Theofficer closed the door again immediately, and seeing the boys, he saidto them, --

"Well, boys, you are pretty good sailors, to be about the ship suchweather as this. "

"I'm going up on the promenade deck, " said Hilbert. 

"No, " said the officer, "you had better do no such thing. You will getpitched into the lee scuppers before you know where you are. "

"Is there any place where we can look out and see the sea?" said Rollo. 

"Yes, " replied the officer; "go aft, there, along that passage way, andyou will find a door on the lee quarter where you can look out. "

So saying, the officer went away down into the cabin. 

Hilbert did not know what was meant by getting pitched into the leescuppers, and Rollo did not know what the lee quarter could be. Hehowever determined to go in the direction that the man had indicated, and see if he could find the door. 

As for Hilbert, he said to Rollo that he was not afraid of the leescuppers or any other scuppers, and he was going up on the promenadedeck. There was an iron railing, he said, that he could cling to all theway. 

Rollo, in the mean time, went along the passage way, bracing his armsagainst the sides of it as he advanced. The ship was rolling over fromside to side so excessively that he was borne with his whole weightfirst against one side of the passage way, and then against the other, so heavily that he was every moment obliged to stop and wait until theship came up again before he could go on. At length he came into a smallroom with several doors opening from it. In the back side of this roomwas the compartment where the helmsman stood with his wheel. There wereseveral men in this place with the helmsman, helping him to control thewheel. Rollo observed, too, that there were a number of large rocketsput away in a sort of frame in the coil overhead. 

He went to one of the doors that was on the right-hand side of thisroom, and opened it a little way; but the wind and rain came in soviolently that he thought he would go to the opposite side and try thatdoor. This idea proved a very fortunate one, for, being now on thesheltered side of the ship, he could open the door and look out withoutexposing himself to the fury of the storm. He gazed for a time at theraging fury of the sea with a sentiment of profound admiration and awe. The surface of the ocean was covered with foam, and the waves weretossing themselves up in prodigious heaps; the crests, as fast as theywere formed, being seized and hurled away by the wind in a mass ofdriving spray, which went scudding over the water like drifting snow ina wintry storm on land. 

After Rollo had looked upon this scene until he was satisfied, he shutthe door, and returned along the passage way, intending to go down andgive Jennie an account of his adventures. As he advanced toward thelittle compartment where the landing was, from the stairs, he heard asound as of some one in distress, and on drawing near he found Hilbertcoming in perfectly drenched with sea water. He was moaning and cryingbitterly, and, as he staggered along, the water dripped from his clothesin streams. Rollo asked him what was the matter; but he could get noanswer. Hilbert pressed on sullenly, crying and groaning as he went downto find his father. 

[Illustration]

The matter was, that, in attempting to go up on the promenade deck, hehad unfortunately taken the stairway on the weather side; and when hehad got half way up, a terrible sea struck the ship just forward of thepaddle box. A portion of the wave, and an immense mass of spray, dashedup on board the ship, and a quantity equal to several barrels of watercame down upon the stairs where Hilbert was ascending. The poor fellowwas almost strangled by the shock. He however clung manfully to the roperailing, and as soon as he recovered his breath he came back into thecabin. 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE PASSENGERS' LOTTERY. 

One morning, a few days after the storm described in the last chapter, Rollo was sitting upon one of the settees that stood around the skylighton the promenade deck, secured to their places by lashings of spun yarn, as has already been described, and was there listening to a conversationwhich was going on between two gentlemen that were seated on the nextsettee. The morning was very pleasant. The sun was shining, the air wassoft and balmy, and the surface of the water was smooth. There was solittle wind that the sails were all furled--for, in the case of asteamer at sea, the wind, even if it is fair, cannot help to impel theship at all, unless it moves faster than the rate which the paddlewheels would of themselves carry her; and if it moves slower than this, of course, the steamer would by her own progress outstrip it, and thesails, if they were spread, would only be pressed back against the mastsby the onward progress of the vessel, and thus her motion would only beretarded by them. 

The steamer, on the day of which we are speaking, was going on verysmoothly and rapidly by the power of her engines alone, and all thepassengers were in excellent spirits. There was quite a company of themassembled at a place near one of the paddle boxes where smoking wasallowed. Some were seated upon a settee that was placed there againstthe side of the paddle box, and others were standing around them. Theywere nearly all smoking, and, as they smoked, they were talking andlaughing very merrily. Hilbert was among them, and he seemed to belistening very eagerly to what they were saying. Rollo was very stronglyinclined to go out there, too, to hear what the men were talking about;but he was so much interested in what the gentlemen were saying who werenear him, that he concluded to wait till they had finished theirconversation, and then go. 

The gentlemen who were near him were talking about the rockets--the samerockets that Rollo had seen when he went back to the stern of the shipto look out at the sea, on the day of the storm. One of the men, who hadoften been at sea before, and who seemed to be well acquainted with allnautical affairs, said that the rockets were used to throw lines fromone ship to another, or from a ship to the shore, in case of wrecks orstorms. He said that sometimes at sea a steamer came across a wreckedvessel, or one that was disabled, while yet there were some seamen orpassengers still alive on board. These men would generally be seenclinging to the decks, or lashed to the rigging. In such cases the seawas often in so frightful a commotion that no boat could live in it; andthere was consequently no way to get the unfortunate mariners off theirvessel but by throwing a line across, and then drawing them over in someway or other along the line. He said that the sailors had a way ofmaking a sort of _sling_, by which a man could be suspended under such aline with loops or rings, made of rope, and so adjusted that they wouldrun along upon it; and that by this means men could be drawn across fromone ship to another, at sea, if there was only a line stretched acrossfor the rings to run upon. 

Now, the rockets were used for the purpose of throwing such a line. Asmall light line was attached to the stick of the rocket, and then therocket itself was fired, being pointed in such a manner as to godirectly over the wrecked ship. If it was aimed correctly, it would falldown so as to carry the small line across the ship. Then the sailors onboard the wrecked vessel would seize it, and by means of it would drawthe end of a strong line over, and thus effect the means of making theirescape. It was, however, a very dreadful alternative, after all; for therope forming this fearful bridge would of course be subject all the timeto the most violent jerkings, from the rolling and pitching of thevessels to which the two extremities of it were attached, and theunhappy men who had to be drawn over by means of it would be perhapsrepeatedly struck and overwhelmed by the foaming surges on the way. 

While Rollo was listening to this conversation, Hilbert's father andanother gentleman who had been walking with him up and down the deckcame and sat down on one of the settees. Very soon, Hilbert, seeing hisfather sitting there, came eagerly to him, and said, holding out hishand, --

"Father, I want you to give me half a sovereign. "

"Half a sovereign!" repeated his father; "what do you want of half asovereign?"

A sovereign is the common gold coin of England. The value of it is apound, or nearly five dollars; and half a sovereign is, of course, invalue about equal to two dollars and a half of American money. 

"I want to get a ticket, " said Hilbert. "Come, father, make haste, " headded, with many impatient looks and gestures, and still holding out hishand. 

"A ticket? what ticket?" asked his father. As he asked these questions, he put his hand in his pocket and drew out an elegant little purse. 

"Why, they are going to have a lottery about the ship's run, to-day, "replied Hilbert, "and I want a ticket. The tickets are half a sovereignapiece, and the one who gets the right one will have all the halfsovereigns. There will be twenty of them, and that will make tenpounds. "

"Nearly fifty dollars, " said his father; "and what can you do with allthat money, if you get it? O, no, Hibby; I can't let you have any moneyfor that. And besides, these lotteries, and the betting about the run ofthe ship, are as bad as gambling. They are gambling, in fact. "

"Why, father, " said Hilbert, "you bet, very often. "

Mr. Livingston, for that was his father's name, and his companion, thegentleman who was sitting with him, laughed at hearing this; and thegentleman said, --

"Ah, George, he has you there. "

Even Hilbert looked pleased at the effect which his rejoinder hadproduced. In fact, he considered his half sovereign as already gained. 

"O, let him have the half sovereign, " continued the gentleman. "He'llfind some way to spend the ten pounds, if he gets them, I'll guaranty. "

So Mr. Livingston gave Hilbert the half sovereign, and he, receiving itwith great delight, ran away. 

The plan of the lottery, which the men at the paddle box were arranging, was this. In order, however, that the reader may understand itperfectly, it is necessary to make a little preliminary explanation inrespect to the mode of keeping what is called the _reckoning_ of shipsand steamers at sea. When a vessel leaves the shore at New York, andloses sight of the Highlands of Neversink, which is the land thatremains longest in view, the mariners that guide her have then more thantwo thousand miles to go, across a stormy and trackless ocean, withnothing whatever but the sun and stars, and their own calculations oftheir motion, to guide them. Now, unless at the end of the voyage theyshould come out precisely right at the lighthouse or at the harbor whichthey aim at, they might get into great difficulty or danger. They mightrun upon rocks where they expected a port, or come upon some strangeand unknown land, and be entirely unable to determine which way to turnin order to find their destined haven. 

The navigators could, however, manage this all very well, provided theycould be sure of seeing the sun every day at proper times, particularlyat noon. The sun passes through different portions of the sky everydifferent day of the year, rising to a higher point at noon in thesummer, and to a lower one in the winter. The place of the sun, too, inthe sky, is different according as the observer is more to the northwardor southward. For inasmuch as the sun, to the inhabitants of northernlatitudes, always passes through the southern part of the sky, if oneperson stands at a place one hundred or five hundred miles to thesouthward of another, the sun will, of course, appear to be much higherover his head to the former than to the latter. The farther north, therefore, a ship is at sea, the lower in the sky, that is, the fartherdown toward the south, the sun will be at noon. 

Navigators, then, at sea, always go out upon the deck at noon, if thesun is out, with a very curious and complicated instrument, called asextant, in their hands; and with this instrument they measure exactlythe distance from the sun at noon down to the southern horizon. This iscalled making an observation. When the observation is made, the captaintakes the number of degrees and minutes, and goes into his state room;and there, by the help of certain tables contained in books which healways keeps there for the purpose, he makes a calculation, and findsout the exact latitude of the ship; that is, where she is, in respect tonorth and south. There are other observations and calculations by whichhe determines the longitude; that is, where the ship is in respect toeast and west. When both these are determined, he can find the preciseplace on the chart where the vessel is, and so--inasmuch as he hadascertained by the same means where she was the day before--he caneasily calculate how far she has come during the twenty-four hoursbetween one noon and another. These calculations are always made atnoon, because that is the time for making the observations on the sun. It takes about an hour to make the calculations. The passengers on boardthe ship during this interval are generally full of interest andcuriosity to know the result. They come out from their lunch at halfpast twelve, and then they wait the remaining half hour with greatimpatience. They are eager to know how far they have advanced on theirvoyage since noon of the day before. 

In order to let the passengers know the result, when it is determined, the captain puts up a written notice, thus:--

Latitude, 44° 26'. Longitude, 16° 31'. Distance, 270. 

The passengers, on seeing this notice, which is called a _bulletin_, know at once, from the first two items, whereabouts on the ocean theyare; and from the last they learn that the distance which the ship hascome since the day before is 270 miles. 

This plan of finding out the ship's place every day, and of ascertainingthe distance which she has sailed since the day before, would beperfectly successful, and amply sufficient for all the purposesrequired, if the sun could always be seen when the hour arrived formaking the observation; but this is not the fact. The sky is oftenobscured by clouds for many days in succession; and, in fact, itsometimes happens that the captain has scarcely an opportunity to get agood observation during the whole voyage. There is, therefore, anotherway by which the navigator can determine where the ship is, and how fastshe gets along on her voyage. 

This second method consists of actually measuring the progress of theship through the water, by an instrument called the log and line. Thelog--which, however, is not any log at all, but only a small piece ofboard, loaded at one edge so as to float upright in the water--has along line attached to it, which line is wound upon a light windlasscalled a reel. The line, except a small portion of it at the beginningis marked off into lengths by small knots made in it at regularintervals. There are little rags of different forms and colors tied intothese knots, so that they may easily be seen, and may also bedistinguished one from the other. 

When the time comes for performing the operation of _heaving the log_, as they call it, the men appointed for the purpose bring the log and thereel to the stern of the ship. One man holds the log, and another manthe reel. There are two handles, one at each end of the reel, by whichthe man who serves it can hold it up over his head, and let the line runoff from it. Besides the two men who hold the log and the reel, there isa third, who has a minute glass in his hand. The minute glass is like anhour glass, only there is but just sand enough in it to run a minute. The man who has the minute glass holds it upon its side at first, so asnot to set the sand to running until all is ready. 

[Illustration: HEAVING THE LOG. ]

At length the man who holds the log throws it over into the water, andthe ship, sailing onward all the time, leaves it there, floating edgeupwards. The man who holds the reel lifts it up high, so that the linecan run off easily as the ship moves on. As soon as the first rag runsoff, which denotes the beginning of the marked point of the line, hecalls out suddenly, --

"Turn!"

This is the command to the man who holds the minute glass to turn it soas to set the sand to running. He accordingly instantly changes theposition of the glass, and holds it perpendicularly, and immediatelysets himself to watching the running out of the sand. The instant it isgone, he calls out, --

"Stop!"

The man who is holding the reel, and another who stands by ready to helphim, instantly stop the line, and begin to draw it in. They observe howmany knots have run out, and they know from this how many miles an hourthe ship is going. Each knot goes for a mile. 

They do not have to count the knots that have run out. They can alwaysdetermine, by the form and color of the last one that passed, what knotit is. One of the men goes immediately and reports to the captain thatthe ship is going so many knots, and the captain makes a record of it. The other men at once begin to draw in the line, which brings the log inalso at the end of it. This line comes in very hard, for the friction ofso long a cord, dragged so swiftly through the water, is very great. Itgenerally takes four or five men to pull the line in. These men walkalong the deck, one behind the other, with the line over theirshoulders; and at first they have to tug very hard. The reel man windsthe line upon the reel as fast as they draw it in. It comes in more andmore easily as the part that is in the water grows shorter; and atlength the log itself is soon skipping through the foam in the wake ofthe ship, until it comes up out of the water and is taken on board. 

They heave the log every two hours, --that is, twelve times for everytwenty-four hours, --and from the reports which the captain receives ofthe results of those trials, it is easy for him to calculate how far theship has come during the whole period. As he knows, too, exactly how farthe pilot has been steering by the compass all this time, he has boththe direction in which the ship has been sailing, and the distance towhich she has come; and, of course, from these data he can calculatewhere she must now be. This mode of determining the ship's place iscalled _by the reckoning_. The other is called _by observation_. 

The intelligent and reflecting boy who has carefully read and understoodthe preceding explanations will perceive that the two operations whichwe have been describing are in some sense the reverse of each other. Bythe former, the navigator ascertains by his measurements where the shipactually is to-day, and then calculates from that how far, and in whatdirection, she has come since yesterday. Whereas, by the latter method, his measurements determine directly how far, and in what direction, theship has come; and then he calculates from these where she now is. Eachmethod has its advantages. The former, that by observation, is the mostsure and exact; but then it is not always practicable, for it may becloudy. On the other hand, the latter--that is, by the reckoning--neverfails, for the log can always be thrown, be the weather what it may; butit cannot be fully relied upon, on account of the currents in the waterand the drifting of the vessel. Consequently, on board all ships theykeep the reckoning regularly every day. Then, if they get a goodobservation, they rely upon that. If they do not, they go by thereckoning. 

We now return to the story. And here, I suppose, is the place wherethose sagacious children, who, when they are reading a book in whichentertainment and instruction are combined, always skip all theinstruction, and read only the story, will begin to read again, afterhaving turned over the leaves of this chapter thus far, seeing theycontain only explanations of the mode of navigating a ship, and sayingnothing about Hilbert and Rollo. Now, before going any farther, I wishto warn all such readers, that they will not be able to comprehend atall clearly the complicated difficulties which Hilbert and the othersgot into in respect to the lottery without understanding all that hasbeen explained in the preceding pages of this chapter. I advise them, therefore, if they have skipped any of it, to go back and read it all, and to read it slowly too, and with the utmost attention. And I advisethem, moreover, if they do not perfectly understand it all, to ask someolder person to read it over with them and explain it to them. If theyare not willing to do this, but insist on skipping the first part of thechapter, I advise them to make complete work of it, and skip the lasthalf too; for they certainly will not understand it. 

When Hilbert went back to the paddle box with his half sovereign, it wasabout eleven o'clock. The observation was to be made at twelve; and theresults, both in respect to the observation and the reckoning, were tobe calculated immediately afterward. The lottery which the men weremaking related to the number of miles which the ship would have madeduring the twenty-four hours. The men were just making up the list ofsubscribers to the tickets when Hilbert went up to them. He gave hishalf sovereign to the man who had the list. This man whom they calledthe Colonel, took the money, saying, "That's right, my lad, " and put itin a little leather purse with the other half sovereigns. 

"What's your name, Bob?" said he. 

"Livingston, " said Hilbert. 

"Bobby Livingston, " said the Colonel, writing down the name on his list. 

"No, " said Hilbert, contemptuously, "not Bobby Livingston. HilbertLivingston. "

"O, never mind, " said the Colonel; "it's all the same thing. Bobby meansboy. "

The plan of the lottery was this: It was generally supposed that theship's run would be about 270 miles; and it was considered quitecertain, as has already been stated, that it would not be more than 280, nor less than 260. So they made twenty tickets, by cutting five of theColonel's visiting cards into quarters, which tickets were to representall the numbers from 261 to 280, inclusive. They wrote the numbers uponthese cards, omitting, however, the first figure, namely, the 2, inorder to save time; for as that figure came in all the numbers, it wasconsidered unnecessary to write it. When the numbers were written thusupon the cards, the cards themselves were all put into a cap[B] andshaken up, and then every one who had paid a half sovereign drew outone, the colonel holding the hat up high all the time, so that no onecould see which number he drew. This operation was performed in themidst of jokes and gibes and loud shouts of laughter, which made thewhole scene a very merry one. When Hilbert came to draw, the merrimentwas redoubled. Some called on the Colonel to hold down the cap lower, sothat Bob could reach it. Others said that he was sure to get the luckynumber, and that there was no chance at all for the rest of them. Others, still, were asking him what he would take for his ticket, or forhalf of it, quarter of it, and so on. Hilbert was half pleased and halfashamed at being the object of so much coarse notoriety; while Rollo, who had drawn up toward the place, and was looking on from a safedistance as the proceedings that were going on, was very glad that hewas not in Hilbert's place. 

[Footnote B: Gentlemen always wear caps on board ship. Hats are in theway, and would, moreover, be in danger of being blown off by the wind;in which case, as they would go overboard at once, there would be nopossibility of recovering them. ]

The ticket that Hilbert drew was marked 67. It denoted, of course, thenumber 267; and that, being pretty near to the number of miles which itwas thought the ship would probably make, was considered quite avaluable ticket. The owners of the several tickets, as soon as thedrawing was completed, began to compare them and talk about them, and topropose bargains to one another for buying and selling them, orexchanging them. In these negotiations each man was endeavoring tooutwit and circumvent his friend, in hopes of buying his ticket for amoderate sum, and drawing the whole prize with it. Others were engagedin betting on particular tickets. These bets, when they were made, theyrecorded in little memorandum books kept for the purpose. In fact, avery noisy and tumultuous scene of bargaining, and betting, and barterensued. 

Hilbert was very much pleased with his ticket. He went to show it toRollo. He said he verily believed that he had got the exact ticket todraw the prize. He did not think the ship would go quite 270 miles. 

"And if she does not, " said he, "and should happen to go only 267 miles, then I shall have ten pounds; and that is almost fifty dollars. "

So saying, Hilbert began to caper about the deck in the exuberance ofhis joy. 

His antics were, however, suddenly interrupted by the Colonel, who justthen came up to him and asked to see his ticket. Hilbert held it up sothat the Colonel could see the number upon it. 

"Sixty-seven, " said the Colonel. "That is not worth much. Nobody thinksshe'll go less than 270. However, " he added, in a careless tone, "I'llgive you twelve shillings for it. That is two shillings over what youpaid for it--nearly half a dollar. [C] You'd better make sure of half adollar than run the risk of losing every thing on such a poor ticket asthat. "

[Footnote C: The Colonel meant English shillings, which are twenty-fourcents each in value. ]

"Would you?" said Hilbert, turning to Rollo. 

"I don't know, " replied Rollo, shaking his head. "I don't know any thingabout it. "

"No, " said Hilbert, turning to the Colonel again; "I believe I will keepmy ticket, and take my chance. "

The Colonel said, "Very well; just as you please;" and then went away. Hilbert had, after this, several other offers, all which he declined;and in about a quarter of an hour the Colonel met him again, as ifaccidentally, and began to talk about his ticket. He said that all thetickets under 270 were selling at a low price, as almost every bodybelieved that the ship's run would be more than that; but still, hesaid, he would give a pound for Hilbert's ticket, if he wished to sellit. "Thus, " said he, "you'll get back the half sovereign you paid, andanother half sovereign besides, and make sure of it. "

But the more the people seemed to wish to buy Hilbert's ticket, the lessinclined he was to part with it. So he refused the Colonel's offer, andput the card safely away in his wallet. In one sense he was right inrefusing to sell his chance; for as the whole business of making such alottery, and buying and selling the tickets afterward, and betting onthe result, is wrong, the less one does about it the better. Every newtransaction arising of it is a new sin. It could easily be shown, byreasoning on the philosophy of the thing, why it is wrong, if there weretime and space for it here. But this is not necessary, as every man hasa feeling in his own conscience that there is a wrong in suchtransactions. It is only bad characters, in general, that seek suchamusements. When others adventure in them a little, they make apologiesfor it. They say they are not in the habit of betting, or of venturingin lotteries, or that they don't approve of it--but will do it thisonce. Then, when people lose their money, the chagrin which they feel isalways deepened and imbittered by remorse and self-condemnation; whilethe pleasure which those feel who gain is greatly marred by a sort ofguilty feeling, which they cannot shake off, at having taken the moneyof their friends and companions by such means. All these indications, and many others which might be pointed out, show that there is adeep-seated and permanent instinct in the human heart which condemnssuch things; and nobody can engage in them without doing violence tothis instinct, and thus committing a known wrong. 

In regard to most of the men who were engaged in the lottery, they hadso often done such things before that their consciences had becomepretty well seared and hardened. There was one man, however, who decidedto take a ticket against considerable opposition that was made to it bythe moral sentiments of his heart. This was Maria's brother. He had beenconfined to his berth most of the voyage, but was now better; and he hadbeen walking up and down the deck with a friend. He looked pale anddejected, however, and seemed still quite feeble. 

His friend, whom he called Charles, seeing that they were going on witha lottery near the paddle boxes, proposed that they should both go andbuy tickets. 

"Come, " said he, "Chauncy, that will amuse you. "

"O, no, " said Mr. Chauncy. 

"Yes, come, " said Charles. "Besides, we ought to do our part to assistin entertaining one another. "

So saying, Charles led Mr. Chauncy along, and partly by persuasion, andpartly by a little gentle force, he made him take out his purse andproduce a half sovereign, too. He also subscribed himself, and then drewboth the tickets. He gave one of them to Mr. Chauncy, and the other hekept himself; and then the two friends walked away. Mr. Chauncy's ticketwas 66, the number immediately below that which Hilbert had drawn. 

Mr. Chauncy, being now tired of walking, went to sit down upon one ofthe settees next to where Hilbert and Rollo had just gone to take aseat. Mr. Chauncy was next to Hilbert. He immediately began to talk withHilbert about the lottery. 

"Have you got a ticket in this lottery?" he asked. 

"Yes, " said Hilbert; "mine is 267. What is yours?"

"I don't know, " said Mr. Chauncy; "I did not observe. " As he said this, however, he took his ticket out of his pocket, and said, reading it, "Ninety-nine. "

He was holding it wrong side upward, and so it read 99. 

"Ho!" said Hilbert, "that will not get the prize. We shall not go 299miles. I would not exchange mine for yours on any account. "

"No, " said Mr. Chauncy, "nor would I exchange mine for yours. "

"Why?" said Hilbert. "Do you think there is any chance of the ship'smaking 299?"

"No, " replied Mr. Chauncy; "and that is the very reason I like myticket. If I had yours, I should be afraid I might get the prize. "

"Afraid?" repeated Hilbert. 

"Yes, " said Mr. Chauncy. 

"Why should you be afraid?" asked Hilbert, much surprised. 

"Because, " said Mr. Chauncy, "I should not know what to do with themoney. I would not put it in my purse; for I don't let any thing go inthere but honest money. I don't know who I could give it to. Besides, Ishould not like to ask any body to take what I should be ashamed to keepmyself. I should really be in a very awkward situation. "

As he said this, Mr. Chauncy held his ticket between his thumb andfinger, and looked at the number. Neither he nor Hilbert suspected for amoment that there was any mistake in reading it; for, not having paidany attention to the _scheme_, as it is called, of the lottery, they didnot know how high the numbers went. 

"There is a possibility that I may get it, after all, " said Mr. Chauncyat length, musing. "We have had fine weather, and have been coming onfast. The best thing for me to do is to get rid of the ticket. Have_you_ got a ticket, Rollo?" said he, turning to Rollo. 

"No, sir, " said Rollo. 

"I have a great mind to give it to you, then. "

"No, sir, " said Rollo; "I would rather not have it. "

"That is right, " said Mr. Chauncy. "I like you the better for that. Iknow what I will do with it. Do you remember an Irishwoman that you seesitting on the forward deck sometimes with her two children?"

"Yes, " said Rollo; "she is there now. "

"Very well, " said Mr. Chauncy; "carry this to her, and tell her it is aticket in a lottery, and it may possibly draw a prize. Have you anyconscientious scruples about doing that?"

"No, sir, " said Rollo. 

"Then take the ticket and go, " added Mr. Chauncy. "Tell her she hadbetter sell the ticket for two shillings, if she gets a chance. Theremay be somebody among the gamblers that will buy it. "

So Rollo took the ticket and carried it to the Irishwoman. She was awoman who was returning to Ireland as a deck passenger. She was quitepoor. When Rollo tendered her the ticket, she was, at first, muchsurprised. Rollo explained the case fully to her, and concluded byrepeating Mr. Chauncy's advice--that she should sell the ticket, if shecould get a chance to sell it for as much as two shillings. The woman, having been at sea before, understood something about such lotteries, and seemed to be quite pleased to get a ticket. She asked Rollo to tellsuch gentlemen as he might meet that she had 99 to sell for twoshillings. This, however, Rollo did not like to do; and so he simplyreturned to the settee and reported to Mr. Chauncy that he had given thewoman the ticket and delivered the message. 

Mr. Chauncy said he was very much obliged to him; and then, rising fromhis seat, he walked slowly away, and descended into the cabin. 

[Illustration]

CHAPTER X. 

THE END OF THE LOTTERY. 

In almost all cases of betting and lotteries, the operation of thesystem is, that certain persons, called the knowing ones, contrive tomanage the business in such a way, by secret manoeuvres and intrigues, as to make the result turn out to their advantage, at the expense ofthose parties concerned who are ignorant and inexperienced, or, as theyterm it, "green. " Very deep plans were laid for accomplishing thisobject in respect to the lottery described in the last chapter; though, as it happened in this case, they were fortunately frustrated. 

The principal of these manoeuvres were the work of the man whom theycalled the Colonel. He had formed the plan, with another man, ofsecretly watching the operation of heaving the log every time it wasperformed, and making a note of the result. By doing this, he thought hecould calculate very nearly how many miles the ship would make, whileall the other passengers would have nothing to guide them but suchgeneral estimates as they could make from recollection. He accordinglyarranged it with his confederates that one or the other of them shouldbe on deck whenever the men were called to heave the log, and, withoutappearing to pay any particular attention to the operation, carefully toobtain the result, and make a memorandum of it. This plan was sufficientfor the daytime. For the night--inasmuch as it might excite suspicionfor them to be up at unseasonable hours to watch the operation--theyresorted to another method. They bribed one of the seamen of each watchto find out the result of each trial during his watch, and to give themthe answers in the morning. When the last time for heaving the log, previous to making up the accounts for the day, came, which was at teno'clock, they took that result, and then, shutting themselves up intheir state room, they made a calculation, and ascertained prettycertainly, as they thought, that the distance would be about 267 miles. It might possibly be 266, or 268; but they thought that they were surethat it would be one of those three numbers. The next thing was tocirculate statements, and to express opinions in private conversationhere and there among the passengers, in a careless sort of way, toproduce a general impression that the rate of the ship would be notless than 270 miles. This was to lead the owners of the tickets, and thebetters generally, not to attach a high value to the numbers below 270. By doing this, they expected to depress the value of these tickets inthe general estimation, so that they could buy then easily. Theycalculated that, if their plans succeeded, they could buy 266, 267, and268 for about a sovereign apiece--the holders of them being made tosuppose, by their manoeuvres that those numbers would have very littlechance of obtaining the prize. 

The plan was very deeply laid, and very skilfully executed; and the menwere so far successful in their efforts that they did produce a generalimpression that the ship's run could not be below 270. They also boughtticket 268, though they had to give two sovereigns for it. It hasalready been shown how their attempts to get possession of 267 failed, by Hilbert's refusal to sell it. They of course also failed to get 266, for that ticket was not to be found. They could not make any very openand public inquiries for it, as it was necessary that every thing whichthey did should be performed in a very unconcerned and careless manner. They, however, made repeated inquiries privately for this ticket butcould not get any tidings of it. A certain sailor told some of thebetters that an Irishwoman on the forward deck had a ticket which sheoffered to sell for two shillings; but when, on being asked what thenumber was, he answered 99, they laughed at him, supposing that somebodyhad been putting a hoax upon the poor Irishwoman, as there was no suchnumber as that in the lottery. 

Besides the manoeuvres of these two confederates, there was anotherman who was devising a cunning scheme for obtaining the prize. This wasthe mate of a merchant ship that had put into the port of New York in adamaged condition, and had there been sold. The mate, being thus leftwithout a vessel, was now returning as a passenger in the steamer, toScotland, where he belonged. 

This man was accustomed to navigation; and he had the necessary booksfor making the computations in his trunk. He conceived the idea of beingpresent on deck at twelve o'clock, when the captain made hisobservation, and of learning from him, as it were accidentally, what thesun's altitude was observed to be. This he could very easily do, for itwas customary to have the observation made not only by the captain, butby one or two of the chief officers of the ship also, at the same time, who are all always provided with sextants for the purpose. The results, when obtained, are compared together, to see if they agree--eachobserver telling the others what altitude he obtains. Thus they are moresure of getting the result correctly. Besides, it is important thatthese officers should have practice, so that they may be able to takethe observation when the captain is sick, or when they come to commandships themselves. 

Now, the mate above referred to thought that, by standing near thecaptain and his officers when they made the observations, he couldoverhear them in comparing their results, and then that he could go downinto his state room immediately; and that there, by working verydiligently, he could ascertain the run of the ship before it should bereported on the captain's bulletin, and so know beforehand what ticketwould gain the prize. Or, if he could not determine absolutely what theprecise ticket would be, --since his computation might not agreeprecisely with that made by the captain, --he could determine within twoor three of the right one, and then buy three tickets--that is, the onewhich agreed with his calculation, and also the one above and belowit--for perhaps a sovereign or so apiece: he would thus get the tensovereigns by an expenditure of three or four. His plan, in fact, wassimilar to that of the Colonel; only his estimate was to be based on theobservation, while that of the Colonel was based on the dead reckoning. They both performed their computations in a very skilful manner, andthey came to nearly the same result. The mate came to the conclusionthat the run of the ship would be 266 miles; while the Colonel, as hasalready been stated, made it 267. While, therefore, the Colonel, to makesure of the prize, wished to buy tickets 266, 267, and 268, the matewished to secure 265, 266, and 267. The mate, after making some inquiry, found who had 265; and, after some bargaining, succeeded in buying itfor two sovereigns and a half. But he could not hear any thing of 266. As for 267, he discovered that Hilbert had it, just as the bell rang forluncheon. He told Hilbert that if he wished to sell his ticket he wouldgive him thirty shillings for it, which is a sovereign and a half. ButHilbert said no. 

It is, however, time that this story of the lottery should draw to aclose; were it not so, a great deal more detail might have been given ofthe manoeuvres and contrivances which both the Colonel and the materesorted to, to induce Hilbert to sell his ticket. These effortsattracted no special attention, for all the others were buying andselling tickets continually, and making offers for those which theycould not buy. Some were put up at auction, and sold to the highestbidder, amid jokes, and gibes, and continual shouts of laughter. 

At length, when the time drew nigh for the captain's bulletin to appear, the mate offered Hilbert _three pounds_ for his ticket, and Hilbert wentand asked his father's advice about accepting this offer. His fatherhesitated for some time, but finally advised him not to sell his ticketat all. Hilbert was satisfied with this advice, for he now began to bequite sure that he should get the prize. 

At length, about fifteen minutes after the party had come up fromluncheon, and were all assembled around the paddle-box settee, agentleman came up one of stairways with a slip of paper in his hands, and, advancing to the group, he attempted to still the noise they weremaking, by saying, --

"Order, gentlemen, order! I've got the bulletin. "

Every body's attention was arrested by these words, and all began tocall out "Order!" and "Silence!" until at length something like quietwas restored. The persons assembled were all very much interested inlearning the result; for, in addition to the prize of the lottery, therewere a great many bets, some of them quite large, pending, all of whichwere to be decided by the bulletin. 

When, at length, the gentleman found that he could be heard, he began toread in a very deliberate voice, --

"Latitude forty-eight, thirty-one. "

"Never mind the latitude, " exclaimed the company. "The _distance_. Let'shave the _distance_. "

"Longitude, " continued the reader, "ten, fourteen. "

"Nonsense!" said the company. "What's the distance?"

"Distance, " continued the reader, in the same tone, "two hundred and_sixty-six_. "

"Sixty-six!" they all exclaimed together; and great inquiries wereimmediately made for the missing ticket. But nobody knew any thing aboutit. At last, Mr. Chauncy's companion, Charles, who happened to be there, said, --

"Why, Chauncy had 66, I believe. " Then calling out aloud to Mr. Chauncy, who had come up on the deck after luncheon, and was now sitting on oneof the settees that stood around the skylight, he added, --

"Chauncy! here! come here! Where is your ticket? You have got theprize. "

"No, " said Mr. Chauncy, in a careless tone, without, however, movingfrom his seat. "I have not any ticket. "

Two or three of the gentlemen, then, headed by Charles, went to theplace where Mr. Chauncy was sitting, to question him more particularly. 

"Where's your ticket?" said Charles. 

"I gave it to one of the deck passengers, " said Mr. Chauncy. 

"You did!" said Charles. "Well, it has drawn the prize. What was thenumber of it?"

"Ninety-nine, I believe, " said Mr. Chauncy. 

"Ninety-nine!" repeated Charles, contemptuously. "Nonsense! There was noninety-nine. It was sixty-six. "

Then, shouting with laughter, he said, "O, dear me! that's so exactlylike Chauncy. He gives half a sovereign for a ticket, then reads itupside down, and gives it away to an Irishwoman. O Gemini!"

So saying, Charles, and those with him, went away, laughing vociferouslyat Chauncy's expense. 

The remainder of the adventurers in the lottery had in the mean timedispersed, having slunk away, as is usual in such cases, to concealtheir mortification and chagrin. It was not merely that they had eachlost a half sovereign; but they had all calculated, with greater or lesscertainty, on getting the prize; and the vexation which they experiencedat the disappointment was extreme. Some of them had bought up severaltickets, in order to make sure of the prize. These were, of course, doubly and trebly chagrined. Some had been offered good prices for theirtickets, but had refused to accept them, hoping, by keeping the tickets, to get the prize. These persons were now vexed and angry with themselvesfor not accepting these offers. Then there was a feeling of guilt andcondemnation which mingled with their disappointment, and made it verybitter and hard to bear. 

The Colonel and the mate, when they learned that the Irishwoman held thewinning ticket, both immediately began to saunter slowly along towardthe stairways that led down to the forward deck, each having formed theplan of going and buying the ticket of the woman before she should hearthat it had gained the prize. They moved along with a careless andunconcerned air, in order not to awaken any suspicion of their designs. They were suspected, however, both of them, by Mr. Chauncy. Heaccordingly walked forward, too; and he reached a part of the promenadedeck that was near the smoke pipe, where he could look down upon theplace where the woman was sitting. He reached the spot just as the twomen came before her, one having descended by one staircase, and theother by the other. When they met each other, close before where thewoman was sitting, they each understood in an instant for what purposethe other had come. They knew, too, that it would defeat the objectaltogether if they both attempted to buy the ticket; and yet there wasno time or opportunity to make any formal stipulation on the subjectbetween them. Such men, however, are always very quick and cunning, andready for all emergencies. The mate, without speaking to the woman, gavea wink to the Colonel, and said in an undertone, as he sauntered slowlyalong by him, --

"Colonel! half!"

"Done!" said the Colonel. 

So the mate passed carelessly on, leaving the Colonel to manage thenegotiation, with the understanding that they were to share the profitsof the transaction between them. 

Just at this moment, Mr. Chauncy, who was looking down upon this scenefrom above, called out to the woman, --

"My good woman, your ticket has drawn the prize. The Colonel has come topay you the money. "

The Colonel was overwhelmed with astonishment and vexation at thisinterruption. He looked up, with a countenance full of rage, to see fromwhom the sound proceeded. There were one or two other gentlemen standingwith Chauncy as witnesses of the scene; and the Colonel saw at once thathis scheme was defeated. So he made a virtue of necessity, and, takingout the purse, he poured the ten sovereigns into the poor woman's lap. She was overwhelmed and bewildered with astonishment at finding herselfsuddenly in possession of so much money. 

As for Hilbert, there were no bounds to the vexation and anger which heexperienced in the failure of all his hopes and expectations. 

"What a miserable fool I was!" said he. "I might have had that veryticket. He as good as offered to exchange with me. Such a stupid dolt asI was, not to know when it was upside down! Then, besides, I was offeredtwo pounds for my ticket, sure--and I believe I should have taken it, ifmy father had not advised me not to do it. That would have come toalmost fifteen dollars, and that I should have been sure of. So muchfor taking my father's advice. I hope they'll get up another lotteryto-morrow, and then I'll buy a ticket and do just as I please with it, and not take _any body's_ advice. I shall be sure to make fifteendollars, at least, if I don't do any better than I might have doneto-day. "

The rest of the company felt very much as Hilbert did about their lossesand disappointments, though the etiquette of gambling, which theyunderstood better than he, forbade their expressing their feelings sofreely. In fact, one source of the illusion which surrounds this viceis, that the interest which it excites, and the hilarity and mirth whichattend it during its progress, are all open to view, while thedisappointment, the mortification, the chagrin, and the remorse are allstudiously concealed. The remorse is the worst ingredient in the bittercup. It not only stings and torments those who have lost, but it alsospoils the pleasure of those who win. That is, in fact, always thenature and tendency of remorse. It aggravates all the pain and sufferingthat it mingles with and poisons all the pleasure. 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE ARRIVAL. 

Day after day of the voyage thus glided away, the time being beguiled bythe various incidents which occurred, until at length the ship began todraw near toward the land. As the time passed on, the interest which thepassengers felt in their approach toward the land began to be verystrong. Some of them were crossing the Atlantic for the first time; andthey, of course, anticipated their first view of the shores of the oldworld with great anticipations of delight. The first land to be "made, "as the sailors say, that is to be seen, was Cape Clear--the southernpoint of Ireland. There is a lighthouse on this point; and so well hadthe captain kept his reckoning, and so exact had been his calculationsin his progress over the mighty waste of waters, that on the morning ofthe last day he could venture to predict to an hour when the light wouldcome into view. He said it would be between nine and ten. When Mariaand the two children went to their berths, Maria asked the chambermaidto come and tell them when the light was in sight. She accordingly didso. Rollo, in order to know how near the captain was in hiscalculations, asked her what o'clock it was. She said twenty-fiveminutes after eight. How astonishing must be the accuracy of theinstruments and the calculations which can enable a man to guide a shipacross so utterly trackless a waste, aiming at a lighthouse threethousand miles away, and not only come out exactly upon it, but comethere, too, so exactly at the time predicted by the calculation!

When the children went on deck the next morning, the southern coast ofIreland was all in full view. Those who feel an interest in seeing thetrack of the ship, will find, by turning to a map of Great Britain andIreland, that her course in going in from the Atlantic toward Liverpoollay at first along the southern coast of Ireland, and then along thewestern coast of Wales. This route, though it seems but a short distanceon the map, requires really a voyage of several hundred miles, and morethan a day in time, for the performance of it. The voyage of the shipis, therefore, by no means ended when she reaches the land at CapeClear. There is still a day and a night more for the passengers tospend on board the vessel. The time is, however, very much beguiledduring this last day's sail by the sight of the land and the variousobjects which it presents to view--the green slopes, the castle-coveredhills, the cliffs, the lines of beach, with surf and breakers rolling inupon them; and sometimes, when the ship approaches nearer to the shorethan usual, the pretty little cottages, covered with thatch, and adornedwith gardens and shrubbery. 

The children stood by the railing of the deck for some time after theycame up from below, gazing at the shores, and admiring the variouspictures of rural beauty which the scene presented to the eye. Atlength, becoming a little tired, they went and sat down upon one of thesettees, where they could have a more comfortable position, and stillenjoy a good view. Not long afterward, the captain, who had been walkingup and down the deck for some time, came and sat down by them. 

"Well, children, " said he, "are you glad to get to the end of thevoyage?"

"Yes, sir, " replied Jennie. "I am glad to get safe off of the greatsea. "

"And I suppose that you must be very glad, sir, " added Rollo, "to get tothe end of your responsibility. "

"Ah, but I have not got to the end of my responsibility yet, by anymeans, " said the captain. 

As he said this, he rose from his seat, and looked out very attentivelyforward for a minute or two. At length he seemed satisfied, and sat downagain. 

"Well, you have got through all the danger, at any rate, " said Rollo, "now that we are inside the land. "

"On the contrary, " said the captain, "we are just coming into thedanger. There is very little danger for a good ship, whether it is asailing ship or a steamer, out in the open sea. It is only when shecomes among the rocks, and shoals, and currents, and other dangers whichthicken along the margin of the land, that she has much to fear. Shipsare almost always cast away, when they are cast away at all, near orupon the land. "

"Is that the way?" replied Rollo. "I thought they were cast away at sea. I am sure it _looks_ a great deal safer here than it does out in themiddle of the ocean. "

"I suppose so, to your eyes, " replied the captain. "But you will see, byreflecting on the subject, that it is, in fact, just the contrary. If avery violent storm comes up when the ship is out in the open sea, it canordinarily do no harm, only to drive the ship off her course, orperhaps carry away some of her spars or sails. If there is no land inthe way, she is in very little danger. But it is very different if agale of wind comes up suddenly in such a place as this. "

"And how is it here?" asked Rollo. 

"Why, in the case of a good steamer like this, " said the captain, "itmakes no great difference here; for we go straight forward on ourcourse, as long as we can see, let it blow as it will. But a sailingvessel would very probably not be able to stand against it, but would bedriven off toward any rocks, or sand banks, or shores that might happento be in the way. "

"And so she would certainly be wrecked, " said Rollo. 

"No, not certainly, " replied the captain. "As soon as they found thatthe water was shoaling, they would anchor. "

"How do they know when the water is shoaling?" asked Rollo. 

"By the lead, " replied the captain. "Did you never sound with the leadand line?"

"No, sir, " replied Rollo. 

"Well, they have a lead, and a long line, " rejoined the captain, "andthey let the lead down to the bottom by means of the line, and so learnhow deep the water is. The lead is round and long. It is about as largeround, and about as long, as Jennie's arm, from her elbow to her wrist, and there is a small cavity in the lower end of it. "

"What is that for?" asked Rollo. 

"That is to bring up some of the sand, or mud, or gravel, or whatever itmay be, that forms the bottom, " replied the captain. "They put somethinginto the hole, before they let the lead down, to make the sand or gravelstick. When they see the nature of the bottom in this way, it oftenhelps them to determine where they are, in case it is a dark night, or afoggy day, and they have got lost. It is very easy to measure the depthof the sea in this way, where it is not over a few hundred fathoms. "

"How much is a fathom?" asked Rollo. 

"Six feet, " replied the captain; "that is as far as a man can reach bystretching out both hands along a wall. If the water is only a fewhundred fathoms deep, " continued the captain, "we can sound; but if itis much deeper than that, it is very difficult to get the lead down. "

"Why, I should think, " said Rollo, "that the lead would go down to thebottom of itself, no matter how deep the water was. "

"It would, " said the captain, "were it not for the line. But the linehas some buoyancy; and, besides, it makes a great deal of friction inbeing drawn through the water; so that, when the line begins to get verylong, it becomes very difficult for the lead to get it down. As they letout the line from the ship, it goes more and more slowly, until at lastit does not seem to move at all. "

"Then the lead must be on the bottom, " said Rollo. 

"No, that is not certain, " said the captain. "It may be only that thequantity of line that is out is sufficient to float the lead. Besidesthat, the currents in the water, which may set in different directionsat different depths, carry the line off to one side and the other, sothat it lies very crooked in the water, and the weight of the lead isnot sufficient to straighten it. "

"Then they ought to have a heavier lead, I should think, " said Rollo. 

"Yes, " said the captain; "and for deep-sea soundings they do use veryheavy sinkers. Sometimes they use cannon balls as heavy as a man canlift. Then they take great pains, too, to have a very light and smallline. Still, with all these precautions, it is very difficult, aftersome _miles_ of the line are run out, to tell when the shot reaches thebottom. In some of the deepest places in the sea, the line, when theyattempt to sound, is _all day_ running out. I knew one case where theythrew the shot overboard in the morning, and the line continued to runout, though slower and slower, of course, all the time, until night. Itchanged its rate of running so gradually, that at last they could nottell whether it was running or not. It seemed to float idly in thewater, sinking slowly all the time; and yet they could not tell whetherit was drawn in by the drifting of the portion of the line already down, or by the weight of the shot. So they could not tell certainly whetherthey had reached bottom or not. 

"There is another thing that is curious about it, " added the captain;"and that is, that, when a line is let out to such a length, they cannever get it back again. "

"Why not?" asked Rollo. 

"It is not strong enough, " said the captain, "to bear the strain ofdrawing such an immense length out of the water. There is a veryconsiderable degree of friction produced in drawing a line of any kindthrough the water; and when the line is some miles in length, and has, besides, a heavy ball at the end of it, the resistance becomes enormous. Whenever they attempt to draw up a sounding line of such a length, italways parts at a distance of a few hundred fathoms from the surface, sothat only a small part of the line is ever recovered. "

"I should not suppose it would be so hard to draw up the line, " saidRollo. "I should have thought that it would come up very easily. "

"No, " said the captain. "If you draw even a whiplash through the water, you will find that it draws much harder than it does on the grass; andif a boy's kite were to fall upon a pond at a great distance from theshore, I don't think he could draw it in by the string. The string wouldbreak, on account of the friction of the string and of the kite in thewater. Sometimes, in naval battles, when a ship is pretending to try toescape, in order to entice another ship to follow her, away from therest of the fleet, they tow a rope behind, and this rope, dragging inthe water, retards the ship, and prevents her from going very fast, notwithstanding that all the sails are set, and she seems to be sailingas fast as she can. "

"That's a curious way of doing it, " said Rollo; "isn't it, Jennie?"

Jennie thought that it was a very curious way indeed. 

"There is no difficulty, " said the captain, resuming his explanations, "in finding the depth of the sea in harbors and bays, or at any placenear the shore; for in all such places it is usually much less than ahundred fathoms. So when in a dark night, or in a fog, the ship isdriven by the wind in a direction where they know there is land, theysound often; and when they find that the water is shoal enough, they letgo the anchor. "

"And so the anchor holds them, " said Jennie, "I suppose, and keeps themfrom going against the land. "

"Yes, " said the captain, "generally, but not always. Sometimes thebottom is of smooth rock, or of some other hard formation, which theflukes of the anchor cannot penetrate, and then the ship drifts ontoward the land, dragging the anchor with her. "

"And what do they do in that case?" asked Rollo. 

"Very often there is nothing that they can do, " said the captain, "except to let out more cable, cautiously, so as to give the anchor abetter chance to catch in some cleft or crevice in the bottom. Sometimesit does catch in this manner, and then the ship is stopped, and, for atime, the people on board think they are safe. "

"And are they safe?" asked Rollo. 

"Perhaps so, " replied the captain; "and yet there is still some danger. The anchor may have caught at a place where the cable passes over theedge of a sharp rock, which soon cuts it off, in consequence of themotion. Then the ship must go on shore. 

"At other times, " continued the captain, "the ground for the anchor istoo soft, instead of being too hard; and the flukes, therefore, do nottake a firm hold of it. Then the anchor will drag. Every sea thatstrikes the ship drives her a little in toward the shore, and she is, ofcourse, in great danger. "

The captain would, perhaps, have gone on still further in hisconversation with the children, had it not happened that just at thistime, on rising to look out forward, he saw a large ship, under fullsail, coming down the channel. So he rose, and went up upon one of thepaddle boxes, to see that a proper lookout was kept, to avoid acollision. 

The seas which lie between England and Ireland are so wide, and they areso provided with lighthouses and buoys, that no pilot is necessary forthe navigation of them; and the pilot boats, therefore, which containthe pilot who is to take the vessel into port, generally await thearrival of the ship off the month of the Mersey, at a place which thesteamer reaches about twenty-four hours after making Cape Clear. Whenthe steamer in which Rollo made his voyage arrived at this place, almostall the passengers came on deck to witness the operation of taking thepilot on board. There were ships and steamers to be seen on every side, proceeding in different directions--some going across to Ireland, somesouthwardly out to sea; and there were others, still, which were, likethe steamer, bound in to Liverpool. Among these, there was a smallvessel at a distance from the steamer, with a certain signal flying. This signal was to show that this boat was the one which contained thepilot whose turn it was to take the steamer in. The captain gave theproper orders to the helmsman, and the steamer gradually turned from hercourse, so as to approach the spot where the pilot boat was lying. Asshe came near, a little skiff was seen at the stern of the pilot boat, with men getting into it. In a moment more, the skiff pushed off androwed toward the steamer. A sailor stood on a sort of platform abaft thewheel house to throw the men in the skiff a rope when they came near. The engine was stopped, and the monstrous steampipe commenced blowingoff the steam, which, being now no longer employed to work the engine, it would be dangerous to keep pent up. The steam, in issuing from thepipe, produced a dense cloud of smoke and a terrific roaring. 

In the mean time, the skiff approached the ship, and the men on boardof it caught the rope thrown to them by the sailor on the platform. Bythis rope they were drawn up to the side of the ship at a place wherethere was a ladder; and then the pilot, leaving the skiff, clambered upand came on board. The men in the skiff then pushed off and turned to goback toward the pilot boat. The roaring of the steam suddenly ceased, the paddle wheels began again to revolve, and the ship recommenced hermotion. The pilot went up upon the paddle box and gave orders to thehelmsman how to steer, while the captain came down. His responsibilityand care in respect to the navigation of the ship for that voyage wasnow over. 

In fact, the passengers began to consider the voyage as ended. They allwent to work packing up their trunks, adjusting their dress, changingtheir caps for hats, and making other preparations for the land. 

As the time drew nigh for going on shore, Jennie began to feel someapprehension on the subject, inasmuch as, judging from all theformidable preparations which she saw going on around her, she inferredthat landing in Liverpool from an Atlantic steamer must be a verydifferent thing from going on shore at New York after a voyage down theHudson. As for Rollo, his feelings were quite the reverse fromJennie's. He not only felt no solicitude on the subject, but he began tobe quite ambitious of going ashore alone--that is, without any one totake charge of him. 

"We shall get along, Jennie, very well indeed, " said Rollo. "I asked oneof the passengers about it. The custom-house officers will come and lookinto our trunks, to see if we have got any smuggled goods in them. Theywon't find any in ours, I can tell them. Then all I have got to do is, to ask one of the cabmen to take us in his cab, and carry us to ahotel. "

"To what hotel?" asked Jennie. 

"Why--I don't know, " said Rollo, rather puzzled. "To the best hotel. I'll just tell him to the best hotel. "

"Well, " said Jennie, "and what then?"

"Well, --and then, "--said Rollo, looking a little perplexed again, andspeaking rather doubtingly, --"then, --why, I suppose that father willsend somebody there to find us. "

Jennie was not convinced; but she had nothing more to say, and so shewas silent. 

Rollo's plan, however, of taking care of himself in the landing seemednot likely to be realized; for there were not less than three differentarrangements made, on the evening of the arrival, for taking care ofhim. In the first place, his father and mother were at the AdelphiHotel, in Liverpool, awaiting the arrival of the steamer, and intendingto go on board as soon as the guns should announce her coming. In thesecond place, Mr. Chauncy, Maria's brother, said that they should gowith him and Maria. He would take the children, he said, to a hotel, andthen take immediate measures to find out where Mr. Holiday was. In thethird place, the captain came to Rollo just after sunset, and made asimilar proposal. 

Rollo, not knowing any thing about his father's plan, accepted Mr. Chauncy's offer; and then, when the captain came, he thanked him for hiskindness, but said that he was going with Mr. Chauncy and Maria. 

"Then you will go in the night, " said the captain; "for Mr. Chauncy isthe bearer of despatches. "

Rollo did not understand what the captain meant by this, though it wasafterward explained to him. The explanation was this: Every steamer, besides the passengers, carries the mails. The mails, containing all theletters and papers that are passing between the two countries, areconveyed in a great number of canvas and leather bags, and sometimes intin boxes; enough, often, to make several cartloads. Besides thesemails, which contain the letters of private citizens, the government ofthe United States has always a bag full of letters and papers which areto be sent to the American minister in London, for his instruction. These letters and papers are called the government despatches. They arenot sent with the mails, but are intrusted usually to some one of thepassengers--a gentleman known to the government as faithful andtrustworthy. This passenger is called the bearer of despatches. 

Now, the steamers, when they arrive at Liverpool, cannot usually godirectly up to the pier, because the water is not deep enough there, except at particular states of the tide. They accordingly have to anchorin the stream, at some distance from the shore. As soon as they anchor, whether it is by day or by night, a small steamer comes alongside to getthe mails and the despatches; for they must be landed immediately, so asto proceed directly to London by the first train. The bearer ofdespatches, together with his family, or those whom he has directlyunder his charge, are, of course, allowed to go on shore in the smallsteamer with the despatch bag, but the rest of the passengers have towait to have their trunks and baggage examined by the custom-houseofficers. If the vessel gets to Liverpool in the night, they have towait until the next morning. This was what the captain meant by saying, that, if the children went on shore with Mr. Chauncy, they would go inthe night; for he then expected to get to his anchoring ground so thatthe boat for the mails would come off to the ship at about half pasttwelve. 

Accordingly, that evening, when bedtime came, Maria and the children didnot go to bed, but they lay down upon the couches and in their berths, in their dayclothes, awaiting the summons which they expected to receivewhen the small steamer should come. In the mean time, the ship went on, sometimes going very slowly, and sometimes stopping altogether, in orderto avoid a collision with some other vessel which was coming in her way. The night was foggy and dark, so that her progress, to be safe, wasnecessarily slow. At length, Maria and the children, tired of waitingand watching, all three fell asleep. They were, however, suddenlyaroused from their slumbers about midnight by the chambermaid, who cameinto their state room and told them that Mr. Chauncy was ready. 

They rose and hurried up on deck. Their trunks had been taken up beforethem. When they reached the deck, they found Mr. Chauncy there and thecaptain, and with them two or three rather rough-looking men, in shaggycoats, examining their trunks by the light of lanterns which they heldin their hands. The examination was very slight. The men merely liftedup the things in the corners a little, and, finding that there appearedto be nothing but clothing in the trunks, they said, "All right!" andthen shut them up again. All this time the steampipe of the littlesteamer alongside kept up such a deafening roar that it was almostimpossible to hear what was said. 

The way of descent to get down from the deck of the great steamer to thelittle one was very steep and intricate, and it seemed doubly so onaccount of the darkness and gloom of the night. In the first place, youhad to climb up three or four steps to get to the top of the bulwarks;then to go down a long ladder, which landed you on the top of the paddlebox of the steamer. From this paddle box you walked along a little wayover what they called a bridge; and then there was another flight ofstairs leading to the deck. As all these stairs, and also the sides ofboth the steamers, were painted black, and as the water looked black andgloomy too, the whole being only faintly illuminated by the lurid glareof the lanterns held by the men, the prospect was really verydisheartening. Maria said, when she reached the top of the bulwark andlooked down, that she should never dare to go down there in the world. 

She was, however, a sensible girl, and as she knew very well that therecould not be any real danger in such a case, she summoned all herresolution and went on. Men stood below, at the differentlanding-places, to help her, and her brother handed her down from above. Mr. Chauncy, as soon as he saw that she had safely descended, was goingto attend to the children, but just at that instant he missed hisdespatch bag. He asked where it was. Some said they believed it had gonedown the slide. There was a sort of slide by the side of the ladder, where the mails and trunks had been sent down. Some said it had gonedown this slide; others did not know. So he directed the children towait a moment while he went down to see. He accordingly descended theladder, and began to look about in a hurried manner to see if he couldfind it. The men on board the steamer, in the mean while, were impatientto cut loose from the ship, the mail agent having called out to them tomake haste, or they would be too late for the train. Accordingly, someof them stood by the ladder, ready to take it down; while others seizedthe ropes and prepared to cast them off at a moment's notice, as soonas they should hear that the despatch bag was found. They did not knowthat the children were at the top of the ladder, waiting to come onboard; for it was so dark that nothing could be seen distinctly exceptwhere the lanterns were directly shining, and the noise made by theroaring of the steamer was so great that very little could be heard. 

Mr. Chauncy found the despatch bag very soon in the after part of thevessel, where somebody had put it in a safe place. As soon as he saw it, he said, "Ah, here it is. All right!"

"All right! all right!" said the sailors around him, repeating his wordsin a loud tone, when they heard him say that the despatch bag was found. Mr. Chauncy immediately hurried back to go up the ladder to thechildren; but he was too late. On hearing the words "all right!" the menhad immediately drawn down the ladder, and cast off the fastenings, sothat, by the time that Mr. Chauncy reached the paddle box, the noise ofthe steampipe had suddenly stopped, the paddle wheels were beginning torevolve, and the little steamer was gliding rapidly away from the vastand towering mass under which it had been lying. 

"The children!" exclaimed Mr. Chauncy, "the children!"

"Never mind, " said the captain, in a very quiet tone. "It's too latenow. I'll take care of them to-morrow morning. "

The captain spoke in a manner as calm and unconcerned as if the childrenbeing left in this way was not a matter of the slightest consequence inthe world. In fact, the commanders of these steamships, being accustomedto encounter continually all sorts of emergencies, difficulties, anddangers, get in the habit of taking every thing very coolly, which is, indeed, always the best way. 

Then, turning to the children, he said, --

"It's all right, children. Go below and get into your berths again, andI will send you on shore to-morrow morning when the rest of thepassengers go. "

So Rollo and Jennie went below again. The chambermaid was surprised tosee them coming back; and when she heard an explanation of the case, sheadvised them to undress themselves and go to bed regularly. This theydid, and were soon fast asleep. 

The next morning, very soon after sunrise, another steamer came off fromthe shore, bringing several custom-house officers to examine thepassengers' baggage. By the time that this steamer had arrived, a greatmany of the passengers were up, and had their trunks ready on deck tobe examined. Among the rest was Hilbert with his trunk, though hisfather and mother were not yet ready. Hilbert was very anxious to get onshore, and so he had got his trunk up, and was all ready on the deckhalf an hour before the steamer came. 

When the tug[D] came alongside, Hilbert, who was looking down upon herfrom the promenade deck, observed a neatly-dressed looking man on boardof it, who seemed to be looking at him very earnestly. This was Mr. Holiday's servant. His name was Alfred. When Mr. Holiday had gone to bedthe night before, he had given Alfred orders that in case the steamershould come in in the night, or at a very early hour in the morning, before it would be safe for him, as an invalid, to go out, he, Alfred, was to go on board, find the children, and bring them on shore. Accordingly, when Alfred saw Hilbert, and observed that he was of aboutthe same size as Rollo had been described to him to be, he supposed thatit must be Rollo. Accordingly, as soon as the tug was made fast, he cameup the ladder, and immediately made his way to the promenade deck, tothe place where Hilbert was standing. As he approached Hilbert, hetouched his hat, and then said, in a very respectful tone, --

[Footnote D: They often call these small steamers that ply about harbors_tugs_, from the fact that they are employed in towing vessels. Sometimes they are called _tenders_. ]

"Beg pardon, sir. Is this Master Holiday?"

"Rollo, do you mean?" said Hilbert. "No. Rollo went ashore last nightwith the bearer of despatches. "

Hilbert knew that this was the arrangement which had been made, and hesupposed that it had been carried into effect. 

Alfred, who was a very faithful and trustworthy man, and was accustomedto do every thing thoroughly, was not fully satisfied with thisinformation, coming as it did from a boy; but he waited some littletime, and made inquiries of other passengers. At last, one gentlemantold him that he was sure that Rollo had gone on shore, for he saw himand his sister pass up out of the cabin when the mail tug came. He wassitting up in the cabin reading at the time. Alfred was satisfied withthis explanation, and so he called a small boat which was alongside, andengaged the boatman to row him ashore. 

Thus the second plan for taking care of Rollo and Jennie, in thelanding, failed. 

All this time Rollo and Jennie were both asleep--for the chambermaid, thinking that they must be tired from having been up so late the nightbefore, concluded to let them sleep as long as possible. While they weresleeping, the waiters on board the ship were all employed in carrying uptrunks, and boxes, and carpet bags, and bundles of canes and umbrellas, from all the state rooms, and spreading them about upon the decks, wherethe custom-house officers could examine them. The decks soon, of course, presented in every part very bustling and noisy scenes. Passengers werehurrying to and fro. Some were getting their baggage together forexamination; some were unstrapping their trunks; and others, havingunstrapped theirs, were now fumbling in their pockets, in greatdistress, to find the keys. It is always an awkward thing to lose atrunk key; but the most unfortunate of all possible times for meetingwith this calamity is when a custom-house officer is standing by, waiting to examine what your trunk contains. Those who could not findtheir keys were obliged to stand aside and let others take their turn. As fast as the trunks were inspected, the lid of each was shut down, andit was marked with chalk; and then, as soon as it was locked andstrapped again, a porter conveyed it to the tug, where the ownerfollowed it, ready to go on shore. 

In the midst of this scene the captain came on deck, and began to lookaround for the children whom he had promised to take care of. He madesome inquiries for them, and at length was told that they had goneashore. 

"At least, I _think_ they have gone, " said his informant. "I saw Mr. Holiday's coachman here, inquiring for them, a short time ago. And heseems to be gone. I presume he has taken them ashore. "

"He can't have taken them ashore, " said the captain. "There is nothingto go ashore till this tug goes. However, I presume he has got themunder his charge somewhere. "

So the captain dismissed the subject from his mind; and after remaininga few minutes on deck, and seeing that every thing was going on well, hewent below into his state room, in order to write a letter to the ownersof the ship, to inform them of the safe termination of the voyage. 

It was about this time that the chambermaid waked Rollo and Jennie. Theyrose immediately, and were soon dressed. On going up upon the deck, theywere somewhat surprised to witness the bustling scenes that wereenacting there; and they stood for a few minutes surveying the variousgroups, and watching with great interest the process of examining thebaggage. At length, after following the process through in the case ofone of the passengers, who was just opening his trunk when they came up, Rollo turned to Jennie, and said, --

"It is nothing at all, Jennie. I can do it as well as any body. "

So he looked about till he found his trunk, and, leading Jennie there, he took his station by the side of it, and immediately proceeded tounstrap and unlock it. He took out some of the largest things from thetop of the trunk and put them on a settee near, so that the officercould easily examine the rest. By the time he had done this, an officerwas ready. 

"Is this your trunk, my lad?" said the officer, at the same time liftingup the clothes a little at the corners. 

"Yes, sir, " said Rollo. 

"All right, " said the officer; and he shut down the lid, and marked thetop with a P. 

Rollo opened his trunk again to put the other things in, and then lockedand strapped it. A porter then took it and carried it on board thetender. Rollo and Jennie followed him. 

In about half an hour the tender put off from the steamer and went tothe shore. On the way, Jennie, who could not help feeling some anxietyabout the result of these formidable proceedings, said, timidly, --

"I don't see what we are going to do, Rollo, when we get to the shore. "

"We will do what the rest do, " said Rollo. 

As soon as the steamer touched the pier and began to blow off her steam, a terrific scene of noise and confusion ensued. Rollo and Jennie stoodnear their trunk, overawed and silenced; but yet Rollo was not, afterall, much afraid, for he felt confident that it would all come out rightin the end. He was right in this supposition; for as soon as some fiftyof the most impatient and eager of the passengers had got their baggage, and had gone ashore, the tumult subsided in a great measure. At length, a porter, after taking away a great many trunks near Rollo, asked him ifthat trunk, pointing to Rollo's, was to go on shore. Rollo said that itwas. So the porter took it up and went away, Rollo and Jennie followinghim. 

They made their way through the crowd, and across the plank, to thepier. When they had got upon the pier, the porter turned and said, "Doyou want a carriage?" Rollo answered, "Yes;" and then the porterimmediately put the trunk upon the top of a small carriage which wasstanding there in a line with many others. He then opened the door, andRollo and Jennie got in. 

"How much to pay, sir?" said Rollo. 

"Sixpence, if you please, sir, " said the porter. 

Rollo, who had had the precaution to provide himself with silver change, so as to be ready, gave the man a sixpence. Of course, it was an Englishsixpence. 

"Thank you, sir, " said the porter. "Where shall he drive?"

"To the hotel, " said Rollo. 

"To what hotel?" said the porter. 

"Why--I don't know, " said Rollo. "To--to the best hotel. "

"To the Adelphi, " said the porter to the coachman. So saying, he shutthe door, and the coachman drove away. 

When they arrived at the door of the hotel, the landlord, who came outto see who had come, supposed at once that his new guests must be Mr. Holiday's children; so he sent them up immediately to their father'sparlor, where the breakfast table had been set, and their father, andmother, and Thanny were waiting for them. The joy of their parents atseeing them was unbounded, and they themselves were almost equallyrejoiced in finding their long voyage brought thus to a safe and happytermination. 

In respect to Tiger, however, the end of the voyage was unfortunatelynot so propitious. In the confusion of the landing she was forgotten, and left behind; and Jennie was so excited and overjoyed at meeting hermother, that it was nearly noon before she thought of the kitten at all. Her father then sent Alfred on board the ship to see if he could gether. He came back with the cage, but he said that the kitten was nowhereto be found. He made diligent inquiry, but he could obtain no tidings ofher--and no tidings were ever afterward heard. Whether she felloverboard and was drowned; or whether the waiters on the ship took afancy to her, and hid her away somewhere in the forecastle, in order tokeep her for their pet and plaything in future voyages; or whether shewalked over the plank to the pier, when the ship came alongside of it, and there got enticed away by the Liverpool cats into the variousretreats and recesses which they resort to among the docks andsewers, --could never be known. At all events, neither Jennie nor Rolloever saw or heard of her again. 

 * * * * *

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ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE. 

Ten volumes, 16mo, cloth. Being a new series of Rollo Rooks. By REV. JACOB ABBOTT. Beautifully illustrated. Rollo on the Atlantic--Rollo inParis--Rollo in Switzerland--Rollo on the Rhine--Rollo in London--Rolloin Scotland--Rollo in Geneva--Rollo in Holland--Rollo in Naples--Rolloin Rome. Price per vol. 50 cts. 

MY UNCLE TOBY'S LIBRARY. 

By FRANCIS FORRESTER, ESQ. , consisting of twelve volumes, elegantlybound, and illustrated with upwards of SIXTY beautiful engravings. Eachbook is printed in large and splendid type, upon superior paper. Priceper vol. 25 cts. 

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This series is designed to sketch attractively and simply the wonders ofreptile and insect existences, the changes of trees, rocks, rivers, clouds, and winds. This is done by a family of children writing letters, both playful and serious, which are addressed to all children whom thebooks may reach. 

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The object of these stories is the inculcation, in a quiet, simple way, of the principles of good nature, kindness, and integrity amongchildren. They consist of the usual pathetic and mirthful incidents thatconstitute boy and girl life. 

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By FRANCIS FORRESTER, author of "My Uncle Toby's Library. " Five vols. 16mo, cloth. Beautifully illustrated. Price per vol. 63 cts. 

The purpose of the "Glen Morris Stories" is to sow the seed of pure, noble, manly character in the mind of our great nation's childhood. Theyexhibit the virtues and vices of childhood, not in prosy, unreadableprecepts, but in a series of characters which move before theImagination, as living beings do before the senses. 

PICTURES FROM THE HISTORY OF THE SWISS. 

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PICTURES FROM THE HISTORY OF SPAIN. 

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In addition to the above. B. & T. Publish a great variety of Toy andJuvenile Books, suited to the wants of children of all ages. 

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THE UNIVERSAL SPEAKER:

CONTAINING A COLLECTION OF

SPEECHES, DIALOGUES, AND RECITATIONS, ADAPTED TO THE USE OF SCHOOLS, ACADEMIES, AND SOCIAL CIRCLES. 

Edited by N. A. Calkins and W. T. Adams. 

The excellences of this work consist, in part, of its entireoriginality, of its more than usual adaptation to the wants of our HighSchools and Academies, and of the systematic arrangement of itsselections for declamation and for elocutionary practice. Those in PartSecond were prepared by Prof. Wm. Russell, the eminent elocutionist, expressly for this work. The publishers feel assured that in presentingthis work to Teachers and Scholars, they are offering them no revisionof old matter with which they have long been familiar, but an originalwork, full of new, interesting, and instructive pieces, for the variedpurposes for which it is designed. 

In 1 vol. 12mo. Price $1. 

The instructions in declamation are so complete and accompanied by suchample illustrations relative to position and gestures of the student, that the "Universal Speaker" needs only to be seen to become what itsname indicates--universal. --Rochester Repository. 

The pieces are judiciously selected, and the book is very attractive inits appearance--Connecticut School Journal. 

We find, upon close inspection, that the work contains much freshmatter, which will be acceptable to schools and students, particularlyin the department of dialogues of which there is a great dearth ofreally good and FIT matter in most speakers. --United States Journal. 

They are all school-like, the dialogues being illustrative of scenes incommon life, including some first-rate conversations pertinent toschool-room duties and trials. The speeches are brief and energetic. Itwill meet with favor. --R. I. Schoolmaster. 

The selection has been made with a great deal of foresight and taste, bymen who are highly esteemed as elocutionists, writers, or teachers. Thenotation, the directions and cuts appended to the pieces, will be founduseful to those who use them. --Mass. Teacher. 

Looking it over hastily, we notice many admirable selections from thebest authors, and as the book is entirely fresh, the matter never havingappeared in previous readers or speakers, it cannot fail to be a welcomeaddition to the books of its class. --Springfield Republican. 

In this they have succeeded, and have also been fortunate in theselection. The book contains a larger number of dialogues than any wehave seen, and they are mostly relative to school children and schoolaffairs. --Penn. School Journal. 

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INSTRUCTION AND AMUSEMENT. 

PICTURES

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HISTORY OF THE SWISS. 

In 1 vol. 16mo. 262 pages. Price 75 cents. 

WITH CHARACTERISTIC ILLUSTRATIONS, DESIGNED BY HAMMETT BILLINGS

It is not generally known that the early history of the Swiss abounds inthe most thrilling and interesting stories, of which that of Wm. Tellshooting the apple from the head of his son, by order of the tyrantGessler, so familiar to every child, is but a specimen. The presentvolume, while it introduces the youthful reader to many of the scenesthrough which the brave Swiss passed in recovering their liberty, alsonarrates many stories of peculiar interest and romance, every way equalto that of Tell. Among those we may name, The Thievish Raven, and the Mischief he caused. 

How the Wives and Daughters of Zurich saved the City. 

How the City of Lucerne was saved by a Boy. 

The Baker's Apprentice. 

How a Wooden Figure raised Troops in the Valois. 

Little Roza's Offering. 

A Little Theft, and what happened in consequence. 

The Angel of the Camp. 

With twenty-one other similar stories. 

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A NEW SERIES OF JUVENILES. 

THE SUMMER-HOUSE SERIES. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF "VIOLET, " "DAISY, " ETC. 

The first volume of what the publishers sincerely believe will be themost popular series of Juvenile Books yet issued, is now ready, entitled

OUR SUMMER-HOUSE, AND WHAT WAS SAID AND DONE IN IT. 

In 1 vol. 16 mo. Price 62 cents. 

Handsomely Illustrated by HAMMETT BILLINGS. 

From the author's Preface:--

"The Summer-House Series of children's books, of which the presentvolume is the first, is an attempt to sketch attractively and simply thewonders of reptile and insect existence, the changes of trees, rocks, rivers, clouds and winds. 

"To this end a family of intelligent children, of various ages, collectedin a garden summer-house, are supposed to write letters and stories, sometimes playful, sometimes serious, addressing them to all childrenwhom the books may reach. 

"The author has hoped, by thus awakening the quick imagination and readysympathies of the young, to lead them to use their own eyes, and hearts, and hands, in that plentiful harvest-field of life, where 'the reapersindeed are few. '"

Among the stories in the present volume are the following:--

Bessie's Garden, One of the most touching and affecting stories we have read for many aday. 

The Lancers. 

A most humorous story, with a never-to-be-forgotten moral, inculcatingcontentment. 

The Working Fairies. 

In this story Industry is held up for attainment, and Idleness receivesa severe rebuke. The style and language, though perfectly intelligibleto children, are worthy of a Beecher. 

The Princess. 

A story of wrong and suffering. 

Little Red-Head. 

A true story of a bird. 

The Little Preacher. 

A sweet story, introducing bird and insect life, and conveying moretruth and instruction to children, than can be found in a dozen ordinarysermons. 

TAGGARD & THOMPSON, Publishers, 29 CORNHILL, BOSTON.