The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-04-01
BEING A SAILOR.
How a Runaway Lad Fared on
the Ocean.


HOW a Runaway Lad Fared on
the Ocean.
ILL had just re-
EEK cciycd sound
~ M III whipping. TWAS
~ L. by no means the
Nm Nv first time tha3
Sr.,:A such an event
YHE1TN had befallen
EEN5grY " him; but he de-
A%ffM J III. termined on this
j., ,JyYlANESt ~ ILL., occasion that this
s EWVIy VIZ y|IlIV should be the
MVLV( 35ESEANlll last time it
WHy| A\Ey%SNe should happen,
MM SSNESSi at least at the
WHH NS hands of his stop
'HH INK N\ father, WI no
4 MlWiN MINlt seems to have
u I.EkWR been of rough
<zAa&\zSS&F ish temper.
Bill knew a
good deal about ships. The larger part
of somewhat useless boyhood had
thus far been idled away on the old
docks of his native town. What moro
natural, then, than that he should now
think of running away to sea?
&c When Bill got down to the wharf he
saw the ship Golden Fleece getting
READY to sail. Amid the confusion at
tending the hustle and hurry of deparl
ture it was not difficult for this hopeful
young runaway to slip aboard and con-
ceal himself between decks. But it
was great risk he was taking, and he
began to realize it when he felt the
ship at last moving down the harbor.
More than once he was on the point of
coming on deck and begging the cap
tain to send him ashore with the pilot.
But he was resolute little fellow. and
having once decided he no longer hesi1
tated. He knew what to expect if ho
went home; sea life, he thought could
not be worse. But Bill little knew,
by experience, the hardships of life on
a ship.
For the first few hours Bill satisfied
his hunger with n few biscuits and
ginger cookies he had bought for two
,or three pennies of the fat old woman
who kept stand at the head of tho
wharf But when the great ship began
to pitch on the hugo swell of the At
lantic Bill lost all his appetite for bis,
cults or anything else. 1t was SO warm.
and stuffy also behind the barrels of
beef and pork and salt mackerel, to.
gether with the smell of tar and bilge-
water, that it seemed to him he never
before knew what it was to feel badly
If only he could be put on shore again
he would have been willing to take a
beating every day for month.
1t was the second day out, and tho
ship was heading to the southwark,
staggering under a heavy breeze that
threatened to blow UP storm Tho
mate came down the BOBBY hatch to
see that everything was we'll slowed
and fast Some curious sounds behind
the pork barrels arrested his attention
On making search he discovered poor
Bill, suffering from q most violent at
Z tack of seasickness-
$50 it's you, is it, that's making oil
this row, you pig-headed SLOUGH! Come
out of there!' growled the mate, in tho
tone OF hungry bear
Suiting the action to the word the
mate grabbed the young stowaway,
dragged him from his hiding place and
planted him on his feet Bill was too
weak to stand up steadily. Just then
the ship gave lurch; the boy frantic
ally clutchcd hold of the mate, who in
turn lost his balance, and the two
rolled down to leeward and brought up
TN heap amid Il coil of ropes.
Furious with modification and rage
the mate picked himself up; and, Civ
ing Bill n kick, roarcd: go on deck,
you lubberr'
Bill did not wait another bidding,
but crawled up the hatchway white as
sheet and shaking all over. The first
person he met there was Cant Draw
who was waiting to get sight of the
sun for the midday observation.
Capt Drew saw at a glance that thc
boy was a runaway. "Whats you