that pretty well. And they went, by queer streets, to the office of
Captain Jonathan's and Captain Jacob's agent, who sold the things for
them. And after that they went about among the shops and saw all the
things that the men had to sell, and Captain Solomon went with them. And
the men were very polite to Captain Solomon because they thought he
might buy some of their things, but he didn't. And so they did all that
day, and, late in the afternoon, they were rowed back to the ship.
Little Jacob and little Sol were very tired, and went to sleep right
after supper.
The next morning the boat was waiting for them, and in it were bundles
for little Jacob and little Sol. And, after breakfast, they were rowed
ashore again to the stone steps. And, at the head of the steps, two
bullock carts were waiting for them. Little Jacob was surprised, and he
asked Captain Solomon if they were going to see the elephants that his
grandfather had spoken of. And Captain Solomon said that they were going
to that place, but he didn't know whether the elephants that Captain
Jonathan had spoken of had been obliging enough to wait thirty years or
not. And little Jacob smiled and got into the bullock cart.
The bullocks went very slowly indeed; and the little boys saw the
villages that they passed through on the way, and they saw the women
washing the clothes in the water of the river, and they saw the
crocodiles that looked like so many old logs. And, in time, the bullocks
got to the place where the elephants were. It was late one afternoon
that they got there, so that Captain Solomon thought that they wouldn't
go to see the elephants that night. And, just as Captain Solomon said
that, they heard a great gong ring. And Captain Solomon said that it
wouldn't be any use to go to see them then, anyway, for the elephants
stopped work when that gong rang, and nobody could get them to do
anything after that. And the little boys thought that was queer.
So, early the next morning, they went to the elephant place. It was a
great big place, and a high, strong fence was around it on three sides,
and on the fourth side was the river. And, next to the river, were
great piles of teak-wood logs, and the logs were piled very nicely and
evenly, so that the piles wouldn't fall down. And, far off at the back
of the great yard, next to the forest, were a lot of the logs which were
not piled, but were just as they had been dumped there, pell-mell, when
they had been brought in from the forest. The logs that were all piled
up nicely were to be sent down the river.
Little Jacob and little Sol had just time to see all that, when the
great gong rang. Then the elephants began to come out of a big shed that
was in the back of the yard, and the little boys saw that some of the
elephants had mahouts, or drivers, on them but the most of them didn't
have any drivers. And the mahouts sat on the necks of their elephants,
just back of the heads, and each mahout had an elephant-goad, something
like an ox-goad, only that it was shorter and the end that was sharp was
bent around so that it was something like the claws of a hammer, but the
claws were sharp.
And the elephants that knew their business walked slowly over to the
logs that were piled pell-mell, and they made the elephants that didn't
know their business go there too; and if any elephant, that didn't know,
tried to go another way, the old elephants would butt him and jab him
with their tusks. And then there was great squealing and noise. And when
the elephants got to the logs, each one knelt down and put his tusks
under a log and curled his trunk over and around it, and then he got up
and walked slowly to the place where the logs were piled so nicely. And
he put his log on the pile so that it wouldn't fall down, and when the
pile was so high that he couldn't reach then he began to make a new
pile. But some of the elephants didn't have any tusks and they just
curled their trunks around the logs and carried them that way.
Little Jacob and little Sol were very much interested in watching the
elephants and in seeing how wise they were; for they piled the logs just
as well as if a man had told them where to put each one. And Captain
Solomon said that they piled the logs better than any man there could
have done it. And little Jacob caught sight of one elephant that had his
ears torn and had only one tusk.
When he caught sight of that elephant, little Jacob called out. "Look,
Captain Solomon!" he cried. "See! There is the elephant that grandfather
told about, that will let little boys ride him."
And the elephant was pretty near and he heard little Jacob, but he
couldn't understand what he said, for those elephants only understand
the language that they speak in India. But the old elephant stopped and
turned his head as far as he could, which wasn't very far, for elephants
haven't any neck worth mentioning, so he had to turn his whole body
before he could see the little boys. And, when he saw them, he began to
walk up to the place where they were. And little Jacob was a little bit
scared, for the elephant was very big and he didn't know what he might
do. But little Jacob didn't run or look scared, and little Sol wasn't
frightened at all.
And, when the old elephant had got near the little boys, he stopped and
stretched out his trunk toward them. And little Sol gave him a lump of
sugar that he had in his pocket, and the elephant ate the sugar and
stretched out his trunk again, but he didn't move.
"I know what he wants," cried little Jacob. And he got up from the log
where he was sitting, and raised his arms, and the old elephant curled
his trunk about little Jacob and put him up high on his back, very
gently. And little Jacob grabbed hold of a sort of harness that the
elephant had on, and he laughed. Then the elephant stretched out his
trunk for little Sol and put him up behind little Jacob. And little Sol
held on to the harness, too.
Captain Solomon didn't know what to do while the elephant was putting
the little boys up on his back, but then he made up his mind that the
boys were well enough off; and the old elephant walked away, very
carefully, and he walked all around the great yard with the boys on his
back. And the boys laughed and said that it was fun. But Captain Solomon
called to them to hold on tight. And they held on tight. And when they
had been all around the great yard, the old elephant came back to the
place where Captain Solomon was sitting. And he reached up with his
trunk and took the boys down, first little Sol and then little Jacob,
and he set them down on the ground very carefully. And the boys gave
him some more sugar and stroked his trunk, and then he went away to his
log piling again.
[Illustration: "HE WALKED ALL AROUND THE GREAT YARD WITH THE BOYS ON HIS
BACK."]
And when they had been watching a long while, the gong rang. And the
elephants all stopped their work at once and went into the shed. And
that amused the boys very much, and the gong reminded them that they
were very hungry, so they went away to get their dinner. And, after
dinner, they watched the elephants again all the long afternoon, and by
that time they were tired of watching elephants.
So, the next morning, they got into the bullock carts again, and they
went back to the ship. And the boat was waiting for them at the stone
steps, and the sailors rowed them to the _Industry_. And they were very
tired and glad to get back, and they went to bed right after supper.
And that's all.
THE STOWAWAY STORY
Once upon a time there was a wide river that ran into the ocean, and
beside it was a little city. And in that city was a wharf where great
ships came from far countries. And a narrow road led down a very steep
hill to that wharf, and anybody that wanted to go to the wharf had to go
down the steep hill on the narrow road, for there wasn't any other way.
And because ships had come there for a great many years, and all the
sailors and all the captains and all the men who had business with the
ships had to go on that narrow road, the flagstones that made the
sidewalks were much worn.
That wharf and all the ships that sailed from it belonged to Captain
Jonathan and Captain Jacob; and after they had moved their office to
Boston the ships sailed from a wharf in Boston. And once, in the long
ago, the brig _Industry_ had sailed from the wharf in Boston, and she
had got to that far country and all the things that she had brought
there had been taken out of her and sold. And Captain Solomon had bought
the things that she would carry back to Boston, but they were not loaded
on the _Industry_ yet. And Captain Solomon had gone off with little
Jacob and little Sol to see some elephants, for he thought the mate
could attend to loading the ship.
After Captain Solomon had gone off, the sailors who had rowed him ashore
stood there for a few minutes looking after the dust that the bullocks
kicked up, and then they turned to get into the boat again. And one of
the sailors, who was named Ephraim, saw a man coming toward them, and he
knew the man, for the man was a sailor, too, and he and Ephraim had
sailed together a long while before, but not in the _Industry_. So he
waited for the man to come, and the man and Ephraim were glad to see
each other and Ephraim asked him where he came from and what ship he was
on. For no other ship was in the river at that time.
Then the man said that he had sailed in a ship from England, but the
ship had gone off without him while he was ashore; and he wanted to get
back to Boston, for he hadn't been there for several years. And he asked
Ephraim if there was a chance to be a sailor on the _Industry_. But
Ephraim said that they had a full crew and there wasn't any chance, for
the old man was very strict. He called Captain Solomon the old man, but
he wasn't an old man at all, for he wasn't quite forty years old; but
sailors always call the captain the old man. And Ephraim was afraid of
Captain Solomon, but he needn't have been afraid, for Captain Solomon
was a kind man, although he was rather gruff and stern to the sailors.
And so Ephraim advised the man to try to stow himself away on the
_Industry_ until she was clear of the land and on blue water, and then
to come out and see what would happen. For he knew that Captain Solomon
wouldn't go back just to land the man, and he couldn't throw him
overboard. And the man said that he would do that, and he thought he
should be able to stow away when the ship was loading, but he would have
to depend upon Ephraim to feed him for a few days. And Ephraim said that
he would, and the man went away and the sailors rowed the boat back to
the _Industry_.
So the sailors began to load the ship with all the things that Captain
Solomon had bought, and many little boats began to go back and forth and
there was a good deal of confusion. And in the confusion of the loading
the man managed to stow himself away on the _Industry_; and he was in
the hold of the ship, as far forward as he could get, so that Ephraim
could bring him food and water without much trouble. And the sailors got
all the things aboard, and Captain Solomon came back with little Jacob
and little Sol. And they got the things to eat on board, and the water
that they would drink, and when everything was ready they hoisted up the
anchor from the bottom of the river, and they hoisted the sails, and
they sailed away down the river and out into the great ocean. And on the
second day out, the stowaway came out and worked with the other sailors.
And Captain Solomon was on the quarter deck, looking out over the ocean
and at the ship and at the sailors, and he saw the stowaway.
[Illustration: "HE WAS IN THE HOLD OF THE SHIP"]
"Who is that man and where did he come from?" he said to the mate.
And the mate looked and saw the man, and he didn't know. "I'm sure I
don't know, sir," answered the mate.
"Call him up," said Captain Solomon.
So the mate called him and he came and stood at the foot of the steps
that led to the quarter deck, and Captain Solomon stood at the head of
the steps with his hand upon the railing. And the man stood first upon
one foot and then upon the other and he looked very uncomfortable.
"Aye, aye, sir," said the man; and he touched his cap.
And Captain Solomon didn't say anything for a long time, but he looked
the man over from head to foot, and he looked very fierce and stern, so
that the man was more uncomfortable than ever. And little Jacob and
little Sol stood just behind Captain Solomon.
"Who are you, and where did you come from?" asked Captain Solomon. "Give
an account of yourself."
Then the man began to tell that he was a sailor and had been a sailor
for many years. And he had shipped, last on an English vessel bound to
India, and she had got there all right, but had sailed away without him
while he was ashore on leave.
Captain Solomon had to smile at that, though he didn't mean to. And the
man went on to say that he wanted to get a passage to Boston and he
would have been glad to ship as one of the crew, but he understood that
the ship had a full crew and that the captain didn't want any more
sailors, and so he had stowed away. But he was an able seaman and would
be only too grateful for a chance to work with the other sailors if
Captain Solomon pleased, sir.
Then Captain Solomon was very angry, and asked how he heard that he had
a full crew and didn't want any more sailors; and who told him that an
able seaman who wanted to get back to Boston couldn't get a passage on
that ship. And the man wouldn't tell, but Captain Solomon saw that
Ephraim looked very uneasy, so he knew it was Ephraim. And he called
Ephraim, and blew him up sky high, and he said that he had a good mind
to put him and the stowaway both on bread and water for a month. When
little Jacob heard Captain Solomon say that, he stepped forward to
speak, for he couldn't bear to think that men should be put on bread and
water for a month just for that. But little Sol gave him a nudge and
whispered to him not to say anything, for he knew well enough that his
father hadn't any idea of doing it.
And Ephraim and the stowaway both turned pale and looked as if they were
going to be seasick, but they weren't. And after everybody had stood
there without speaking for a good while, Captain Solomon spoke to the
whole crew, who had all come near, and told them that he didn't want any
such actions on his ship again; and if they ever heard of any such case,
he wanted them to come right to him, and he would inquire into it. For
he didn't want them to think that he would ever refuse a passage home to
a good sailor. And he told Ephraim and the stowaway that he would think
about putting them on bread and water, but he wouldn't do it yet. And if
the stowaway did his duty well and proved himself an able seaman he
would try to get pay for him when he got back to Boston and saw his
owners. But if the man wasn't what he said he was, or didn't attend to
his duty, he would be put on bread and water, as sure as his own name
was Solomon, and so would Ephraim.
Then the sailors all went about their business, and Captain Solomon blew
up the mate for letting a man stow away on the _Industry_. And when
Captain Solomon had blown everybody up that he could, he felt very
pleasant indeed, and he played with little Sol and little Jacob.
And that's all.
THE ALBATROSS STORY
Once upon a time there was a wide river that ran into the ocean, and
beside it was a little city. And in that city was a wharf where great
ships came from far countries. And a narrow road led down a very steep
hill to that wharf, and anybody that wanted to go to the wharf had to go
down the steep hill on the narrow road, for there wasn't any other way.
And because ships had come there for a great many years, and all the
sailors and all the captains and all the men who had business with the
ships had to go on that narrow road, the flagstones that made the
sidewalk were much worn. That was a great many years ago.
The wharf was Captain Jonathan's and Captain Jacob's and they owned the
ships that sailed from it; and, after their ships had been sailing from
that wharf in the little city for a good many years, they changed their
office to Boston. After that their ships sailed from a wharf in Boston.
Once, in the long ago, little Jacob and little Sol had gone in the brig
_Industry_ on a voyage to far countries; and they had been to the
countries and had sailed again for home, but they had not got out of the
warm oceans. And one morning little Jacob and little Sol came on deck
together. They didn't race through their breakfast as they had been
used to doing, because Captain Solomon had put a stop to that. And, as
soon as they got on deck, they looked all around to see what was up that
morning. Far away they saw the upper sails of a ship that was going the
same way they were, but they didn't see anything else except the blue
water, although they looked very carefully out ahead and on both sides.
But, right astern of the ship, and pretty near, was a great, enormous
bird.
The bird was so near that the little boys could see it very well, and
they could see what color it was, and the shape of its bill, but they
couldn't see its back nor the top of its head, because the bird was
above them. If they had climbed up on the mast they could have seen its
back, but they didn't think of that then. The bird was all white, so
far as they could see, and it had a bill that was rather long and
straight, and was hooked at the end. And the bird just sailed along and
waved a little, up and down, but it didn't move its wings, so far as the
boys could see, and they watched it for a long time.
[Illustration]
Its wings were enormous. Little Sol thought they were almost as long as
the main-top-gallant yard if you could measure them spread out, as the
bird was sailing. And little Jacob looked very wise and he said that he
didn't know how long the main-top-gallant yard was, but he should think
they might measure two fathom and a half from tip to tip. And little
Jacob felt rather proud when he had said that, because he had guessed in
fathoms.
Little Sol looked rather scornful and said "Huh!" And then little Jacob
asked him what kind of a bird it was, and little Sol didn't know. Then
little Jacob said "Huh!" So they went to ask Mr. Steele or Captain
Solomon. Captain Solomon was standing right behind them, and he was
smiling because he had heard what the boys said. And he said that the
bird was an albatross, and that little Jacob was pretty nearly right
about the length of its wings. Little Sol was taken down a peg and
didn't say anything.
Then Captain Solomon went on to say that albatrosses often followed
ships for days together, and the sailors never could see that they had
to move their wings, but they sailed along just as fast as the ship
sailed. He had seen lots of them in his time, but he had never seen them
do anything else but sail, just as that one was doing then. And how they
managed it, he didn't know, and nobody else knew, so far as he had ever
heard.
Then little Sol asked what the bird was following the ship for. And
Captain Solomon said that he supposed that the albatross was following
the ship to get the scraps that the cook threw overboard. At least, he
didn't know any other reason, and the albatross took the scraps,
anyway. They were like sharks in that way.
Then little Sol asked him if they couldn't catch the albatross with a
hook and a piece of pork, as they had caught the shark. And Captain
Solomon said that they could, but that Sol had better not try it, if he
knew what was good for him; for the sailors thought that it always
brought the worst kind of luck to a ship to kill an albatross, and he
didn't know but they were right. And little Jacob was glad Captain
Solomon said that, for he didn't want the albatross killed, but he would
rather watch it sailing along with the ship.
[Illustration]
So nobody tried to do any harm to the albatross, but the men were all
glad that it was there. And the little boys watched it almost all of
that day. And the next day it was there, and they watched it, and they
watched it the day after the next, too; but the morning after that it
wasn't there.
Little Jacob was sorry that it had gone, and the sailors were sorry, and
they said that there would be a change of weather. And little Jacob went
down into the cabin to write all about the albatross in the log-book and
to see the barometer, to see whether it said that the weather would
change. The barometer was what Captain Solomon called "the glass," and
people could tell, by looking at it, whether it was going to be stormy
or not.
And that's all.
THE DERELICT STORY
Once upon a time there was a wide river that ran into the ocean, and
beside it was a little city. And in that city was a wharf where great
ships came from far countries. And a narrow road led down a very steep
hill to that wharf, and anybody that wanted to go to the wharf had to go
down the steep hill on the narrow road, for there wasn't any other way.
And because ships had come there for a great many years, and all the
sailors and all the captains and all the men who had business with the
ships had to go on that narrow road, the flagstones that made the
sidewalk were much worn. That was a great many years ago.
The wharf was Captain Jonathan's and Captain Jacob's, and they owned the
ships that sailed from it; and, after their ships had been sailing from
that wharf in the little city for a good many years, they changed their
office to Boston.
Once, in the long ago, the brig _Industry_ was tied up at a wharf in
Boston. The wharf was much longer than any wharf in Boston is now, for
they have filled up the dock that was there with stones and dirt, and
they have put more stones and dirt on the top of the old wharf and under
it, and they have built a street there, so that the wharf is not half so
long as it used to be. And Captain Jonathan and Captain Jacob had their
office on India Street, not very far from the head of the wharf, as it
used to be, so that they could go to their ships easily and the captains
could go to them.
The _Industry_ had aboard all the things that the sailors would eat and
the water that they would drink; and the cargo was all stowed, and the
sailors were all on the ship and the sails were loosed. And Captain
Solomon came from the office of Captain Jonathan and Captain Jacob, and
he walked down the wharf and he went aboard the ship. Then the sailors
cast off the ropes that had held her, and they hoisted the sails and
sailed away. They sailed out of the harbor and past the islands and into
the bay and then into the great ocean, and Boston was left far astern.
And, when they had been gone from Boston nearly a week, the sailors
fixed the sails so that the wind would blow on them the right way, and
then they didn't have to change them for a long time, for they were in
the part of the ocean that the trade winds blow over. In this part of
the ocean the winds blow nearly always from about north-east, so that
they are fair winds for a ship that is going south. That is one reason
why ships don't always go the way that you would think would be the
shortest, for it may be that, by going a way that is a little longer,
they will be helped so much by the winds that they will get to the place
where they are going sooner than if they went a shorter way.
And there is another reason why ships do not always go the shortest way.
In some parts of the ocean the ocean water is moving in one direction
and in other parts of the ocean the water is moving in another
direction. So, if a captain knows about these ocean currents, he can
sail in that part of the ocean where the water is moving in the
direction that he wants to go, and the ocean and the winds will both
help the ship. Every captain of a ship knows about these ocean currents
and these winds, and chooses the part of the ocean where they will help
his ship along. Captain Solomon knew all about them.
[Illustration: "CAPTAIN SOLOMON ... WAS WATCHING THE MOON"]
So the _Industry_ sailed along, and she had got almost to the place
where she would be past the trade winds; and it had got to be the
evening of that day, and the sun had set a long time, but the moon
had just risen. And Captain Solomon was standing by the rail, and he was
watching the moon and the reflection of the moonlight on the water, and
he was thinking that he wished the _Industry_ could sail right up that
broad path of moonlight forever; for it was very beautiful. Captain
Solomon had such thoughts sometimes, but he didn't tell anybody about
them, for they would think he was crazy, and the mates and the sailors
wouldn't like to sail in any ship that he was the captain of. And while
he was thinking these thoughts he was startled by the cry of the lookout
who was on the forecastle near the bow.
"Hard a-port! Hard a-port!"
And Captain Solomon gave one great jump for the wheel. "Hard a-port,
you lubber!" he cried. "Can't you hear?"