"SAILOR JACK." 



TOLD ye this morning 

 tliat that little cloud in 

 the west boded no 

 good, and it's me own 

 opinion that there'll 

 be a gale blowing be- 

 fore we're many min- 

 utes older. One o' 

 you lads skip aloft 

 and take in them sails, 

 and be quick about 

 it, too, before they 



get so heavy with the rain that Til have to 



come and do it myself." 



"I'll do it," eagerly cried twelve-year- 

 old Jack, who was 



heart and soul wraj)- 



ped up in anything 



that smacked of nau- 

 tical adventure, and 



was always the firet 



to offer to undertake 



any seaman's duty, 



especially if it had a 



spice of danger 



about it. So he did 



"skip aloft," sing- 

 ing and whistling 



snatches of sailors' 



songs as he went. 



He soon stopped 



this, however, as it 



took all his breath 



and strength to face 



the biting wind, and 



cling to the wet and 



slip[)ery spars. 

 The little black 



cloud had spread 



itself like a great 



heavy curtain over half the sky by this 



time, and large drops of rain were falling 



fast and thick. The gale had come, sure 



enough, and was here in all its force now, 



lashing the waves into great breakers, and 

 nearly blowing the little sailor off his perch. 

 Far off across the angry waters he could 

 see a line of trees which fringed the coast, 

 and just beyond lay the farm house of his 

 dearest and best boy friend, with whom he 

 had often hunted squirrels and possums in 

 those very woods. 



It was hard work for a boy of twelve to 

 haul in the heavy, wet sail, but he rather 

 pitied his friend Harry for not being able 

 to share the fun and danger; and as he 

 looked down, far below, at the surging 

 breakers and the dashing spray, he felt a 

 thrill of delight and an exultant sense of 

 freedom, together 

 wilh a little pride, 

 as he thought that 

 he, little as he was. 

 could do something 

 toward managing 

 the little craft, and 

 helping her to battle 

 with the fierce ele- 

 ments. 



Perhaps you think 

 that Jack was a run- 

 away sailor boy T 

 Oh, nothing of the 

 kind. A life on the 

 sea was his own free 

 choice, to be sure, 

 or rather, it would 

 have been had he 

 had to choose, but 

 this little vessel had 

 been his only home 

 since he could re- 

 member, and he 

 wouldn't have ex- 

 changed it for any place on earth.^ 



When his work was done, he turned to 

 come down the mast again, but alas! there 

 was no ship after all, it was only a fancy 



