A 'Thousand- Mile JValk 
was resolved to face it, confident in the strength 
of his all-oak little schooner. 
Vessels leaving the harbor are stopped at the 
Morro Castle to have their clearance papers 
examined; in particular, to see that no runa- 
way slaves were being carried away. The offi- 
cials came alongside our little ship, but did not 
come aboard. They were satisfied by a glance 
at the consul’s clearance paper, and with the 
declaration of the captain, when asked whether 
he had any negroes, that he had “not a d — -d 
one.” “All right, then,” shouted the officials, 
“farewell! A pleasant voyage to you!” As my 
name was not on the ship’s papers, I stayed 
below, out of sight, until I felt the heaving of 
the waves and knew that we were fairly out on 
the open sea. The Castle towers, the hills, the 
palms, and the wave-white strand, all faded in 
the distance, and our mimic sea-bird was at 
home in the open stormy gulf, curtsying to 
every wave and facing bravely to the wind. 
Two thousand years ago our Saviour told 
Nicodemus that he did not know where the 
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