The captain of this ship--the same one that loved little George so
well--was drowned not long after that. My little friends, I cannot
help crying when I think that this good captain, who used to be so
kind to the sailors, was lost at sea. I was not in the ship at the
time. I was in another ship. I got sick of catching whales, so I did
not want to go in a whale-ship any more.
The ship in which this captain was sailing was very near the shore,
and there were some high rocks that stood quite down to the edge of
the water. It was foggy at the time. The captain did not know that
the ship was so near the rocks, because he could not see through the
fog. The wind blew very hard, and blew the ship upon the rocks. In
a minute the ship broke in pieces, and all but two or three of the
men who were in it were lost. The captain was lost among the rest.
So was little George. When the storm was over, and the wind stopped
blowing, that dear boy was found on the shore, dead. There was a smile
on his face, just such a smile as he used to have when he was living.
There was a little Bible in his pocket. It was all wet with salt water.
But there was some writing on one of the leaves which anybody could
read. It said, "This book was given to little George by his dear
mother."
[Illustration: The Pyramids and the Sphynx.]