voyages, and the majesty of their appearance excited his spirit of
adventure. He had also spent his evenings reading the works of
celebrated navigators and travellers; and these very naturally increased
his curiosity to know more of the world and see the things they had
seen. He had also looked out through the Narrows of New York harbor, and
his young heart had yearned to be on the broad ocean beyond. If he could
only master all the mysteries of Bowditch, be a skilful navigator, and
capable of sailing a ship to any part of the world, and see strange
things and people--that day might come, he thought to himself. He had
listened, too, for hours at a time, to the stories of old sailors who
had come on board the sloop while in port. One had been to India, and
another to Ceylon; and both told wonderful stories concerning the
voyages they had made and the people they had met. Another had seen
every port in the North Pacific, had been wrecked on Queen Charlotte's
Island, and told wonderful stories of his adventures in rounding Cape
Horn. His adventures among the South Sea Islands were of the most
romantic kind, and colored so as to incite the ambition of a venturesome
young lad like Tite to the highest pitch. There was another old sailor
who had sailed the South and North Pacific, had killed his score of
whales, and been as many times within an inch of losing his own life.

These stories so fired the young gentleman's imagination that he
resolved to try his fortune at a whaling voyage as soon as the people of
Hudson sent their first ship out. There was the wide world before him,
and perhaps he might find the means of making a fortune in some distant
land. But how was he to break this resolution to his kind parents, whom
he loved so dearly? What effect would it have on his mother, who doted
on him, and for whom he had the truest affection? His mind hung between
hope for the future and duty to his parents. Regularly every Saturday
afternoon Tite had come home, received his mother's blessing, and put