and dirty, and looked like habitual drinkers--probably James would not
have fancied becoming like one of these, but he gave little thought to
their appearance. He only thought how delightful it would be to have
such a floating home.

"Is the captain on board?" the boy ventured to ask.

"He's down below," growled the sailor whom he addressed.

"Will he soon come up?"

He was answered in the affirmative.

So James lingered until the man he inquired for came up.

He was a brutal-looking man, as common in appearance as any of the
sailors whom he commanded, and the boy was amazed at his bearing. Surely
that man was not his ideal of a ship-captain. He thought of him as a
sort of prince, but there was nothing princely about the miserable,
bloated wretch before him.

Still he preferred his application.

"Do you want a new hand?" asked James.

His answer was a volley of oaths and curses that made James turn pale,
for he had never uttered an oath in his life, and had never listened to
anything so disgusting as the tirade to which he was forced to listen.

[Illustration: THE CANAL BOY]