The Washington herald., 1915-07-25
The Boy Who Was
Born Sailor
By MARY MARSHALL.

When the little boy in this story
found out. when he was twelve years
Did. that he could never go to school
again because his father was too
door to send him. he made up his
mind to keep the few books he had
in school and teach himself by can
delight at night when it was too late
to be outdoors.
You aren't supposed to kno till the
end of the story who this boy was, but
his name was John and there are al
ways so many boys named John that
am sure you are none the wiser
John lived in little seaside cottage in
Scotland $50 years ago. His father was
a poor man who earned his meager liv-
ing tending the garden of rich man
and helping his poor neighbors. who
earned their living catching fish in the
great ocean.
1T may be just as well we didn't
send John to school any longer" said
obs mother to his father one day
when John was off with his playmates
at the seashore. He loves the sea like
born sailor. does that boy"
Yes" said the father. we couldn't
have got much school learning into a
boy like that. and maybe. Wife" he
said smiling hopefully. maybe if We
scrape and scrimp there might be
enough money when we are gone for
John to buy fishing yawl of his own"
Meantime. if YOU had been walking
along the seaside you would have seen
a little band of boys lined up like SOL
diers on review. and at their head.
shouting his orders against the inces-
SAINT pounding OF the ocean waves. you
would have seen a hardy little. snub-
nosed Scotch boy. That was John. They
were playing sailor in the royal navy.
and John, a. usual. was the command
er. John. somehow. knew just what
orders to give and just what to do
when they played this game; and he
could lead his band of play sailors I'M
scathed through the most violent naval
battles and through the attack of the
fercest pirates that ever roamed the
ocean.
John loved to play this game, but
when he had no playmates to make
into sailors he was just . as happy to
perch himself on a rock behind his
fathers cottage and watch the Won
derful ocean. The deep water reach
ed close to the shore here and the
sailing vessels-from Aemrica and the
West Indies-would sometimes come so
close that he could see the sailors faces
on board very plainly. 1t was a dam
serous coast for captains who did not
know the rocks. and. as John sat
perched on his high rock. he would
shout directions to the captain of the
boat he was watching. for. although he
was only l. years old. he knew every
rock and reef on the rock-bound coast
other boys learn to know the trees
and shrubs that grow around their
houses. As John would sit there and
shout directions. he could imagine that
he was commanding all the boats that
sailed by. Sometimes the captains
would listen for this shrill. little voice and
actually steer their vessels as he direct
ed. knowing that the child knew better
than they the treacheries of the coast
But before many months had passed
John had to go to work. and. being
very strong and muscular for his age.
he helped the fishermen in their boats.
steering them and hauling lines for
shilling or so a week.
1t was hard work. but what of that?
To a boy like John. just to have the
salt sea splashing in his face and to
feel the little boat move over the waves
as he wanted 1t to was enough to make
up for all the jolts and thumps he got
from it.
BY the time John was Is years old
people in the small town all knew of
Johns skill at sailing. and the fishermen,
as they gathered around the tavern fire
on an evening for a friendly chat be-
fore they turned into their little cot.
tages for the night. would agree that
John had the making Of "a right smart
fisherman" In him.