penny, and two fine boys of the names of Archibald and Andrew.  Well, the widow struggled on, how she lived no one knew, but she fed the boys and herself, and was just as stately as ever.  Her relations did offer to educate the boys and send them to sea, but she refused all assistance.  There was a foundation or chartered school at Greenock, to which she was entitled to send her children to be educated without expense, and to that school they went.  I don’t know why, but they say the master had had a quarrel with their father when he was alive, and the master had not forgotten it now he was dead, and in consequence he was very severe upon these two boys, and used to beat them without mercy; at all events it did them good, for they learned faster than any of the others who were at all favored, and they soon proved the best boys in the school.  Well, time ran on till Archibald was thirteen and Andrew twelve years old, and, being very tired of school, they asked their mother what profession they were to be of, and she answered, ’Anything except going to sea, for there you will never get on.’  But times became harder with the widow; she had not enough to give the boys to eat, and they complained bitterly; but it was of no use, so they got on how they could, until one day Archy says to Andrew, ’Why, brother, we have nothing but ferrule for breakfast, dinner, and supper, and I see little chance of our getting anything more.  Mother, poor soul! has not enough for herself to eat, and she very often gives us her dinner and goes without.  I can’t stand it any longer; what shall we do? shall we seek our fortunes?’

“‘Yes,’ says Andrew, ’and when we are gone mother will have enough for herself.’

“’Well, they say anything is better than going to sea, but I don’t know how we can do anything else.’

“’Well, Archy, going to sea may be the worst of all, but it’s better than taking the victuals out of poor mother’s mouth.’

“‘That’s very true, so we’ll be off, Andrew.’

“They walked down to the pier, and then they fell in with the captain of a vessel going foreign, and they asked him whether he wanted any boys on board.

“‘Why,’ says he, ’I wouldn’t care, but you’ve never been to sea before.’

“‘No,’ said Archy; ‘but there must be a beginning to everything.’

“‘Well,’ said the captain, ’I suppose you’ve run away from your friends, and, as I can’t get apprentices now, I’ll tell you what I’ll do.  I’ll take you on board, and as soon as we get round to another port in the Channel, I’ll bind you as apprentices for three years.  Will you agree to that?’

“The boys said ‘yes,’ and the captain told them that he should sail the next morning about daylight, and that they must be down at the pier by that time; so they went back again to their mother, and said nothing about what had passed.  There was no supper that night, which confirmed them in their resolution.  They kissed their mother, and went up to bed, packed up all their clothes, and before she was downstairs the next morning they were on board of the vessel.