foot of the mainsail came tight up against the foremain shroud before the sail filled, he got into grievous trouble.  If the vessel was at anchor in a roadstead, he had to keep his two-hour anchor watch the same as the rest of the crew.  In beating up narrow channels such as the Swin, he was put in the main-chains to heave the lead and sing the soundings, and the sweet child-voiced refrain mingled with the icy gusts, which oft-times roared through the rigging whilst the cold spray smote and froze on him.  Never a kind word of encouragement was allowed to cheer the brave little fellow, and his days and nights were passed in isolation until he was old enough and courageous enough to assert himself.  The only peace that ever solaced him was when his watch below came, and he laid his poor weary head and body in the hammock.  If the vessel was in port, and the shore easy of access, it was he who had to scull the captain ashore, and wait for him in the cold, still, small hours in the morning, until the pleasures of grog and the relating of personal experiences had been exhausted.  If the boy were asleep when the skipper came down, he got a knock on the head, and was entertained to a selection of oaths which poured forth until he got alongside the vessel.  He was then told with strong manifestations of dignity to pass the painter aft; this done, he was rope-ended for having slept.

If the vessel were anchored in a roadstead, and the captain had to be rowed ashore, he had to be one of the crew of four, he pulling the bow oar, and, as soon as the rest landed, he was left in charge of the boat.  The sequel to an incident of this kind is one of the most gruesome in the annals of maritime life.  The captain of a vessel, anchored in Elsinore Roads, was rowed into the harbour.  The crew of the boat were told that he would require them at 10.30 that night.  The cabin-boy was left in charge, and the two A.B.’s and the oldest apprentice proceeded to a grog-shop, where they became more or less intoxicated.  The captain had ordered a keg of gin to the boat, and at midnight he ordered the men to go off to the vessel with it, and come for him in the morning.  They did not wish to go, as there was a strong south wind and current in the sound, but the captain insisted, and they went, with the result that the boat was picked up the following day covered with ice, and four dead bodies were the ghastly occupants of it.

Well nigh two years had passed away since our young friend planted his feet for the first time aboard ship.  He had sailed far and learned much.  The treatment he had been accustomed to made strong impressions on him; and he determined to emancipate himself from such tyranny the first opportunity he had; so that, when his vessel glided into a lovely landlocked harbour on the north-west coast of Ireland one bleak winter morning, his plan of escape having been secretly formed and kept, he determined to put it into force as soon as it was discreet to do so.