Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/33

 THE APPRENTICE. I9 success in everythîng he undertook, that he might almost be supposée to be one of those gifted mortals who hâve two right hands and two left feet Until he was four years old the little orphan had found a home in one of those institutions in America where for- saken children are sure of an asylum, and he was subse- quently sent to an industrial school supported by charitablç aid, where he learnt reading, writing, and arithmetic. From the days of infancy he had never deviated from the ex- pression of his wish to be a sailor, and accordingly, as soon as he was eight, he was placed as cabin-boy on board one of the ships that navigate the Southern Seas. The officers ail took a pecuh'ar interest in him, and he received, in con- séquence, a thoroughly good grounding in the duties and discipline of a seaman's life. There was no room to doubt that he must ultimately rise to eminence in his profession, for when a child from the very first has been trained in the knowledge that he must gain his bread by the sweat of his brow, it is comparatively rare that he lacks the will todoso. Whilst he was still acting as cabin-boy on one of those trading-vessels, Dick attracted the notice of Captain Hull, who took a fancy to the lad and introduced him to his employer. Mr. Weldon at once took a lively interest in Dick's welfare, and had his éducation continued in San Francisco, taking care that he was instructed in the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, to which his own family belonged. Throughout his studies Dick Sands' favourite subjects were always those which had a référence to his future profession ; he mastered the détails of the geography of the world ; he applied himself diligently to such branches of mathematics as were necessary for the science of navigation ; whilst for récréation in his hours of leisure, he would greedily devour every book of adventure in travel that came în his way. Nor did he omit duly to combine the practical with the theoretical ; and when he was bound apprentice on board the " Pilgrîm," a vessel not only belonging to his benefactor, but under the command of his kind friend Captain Hull, he congratulated himself most heartily, and C 2