“Mother, I must go to sea. I can’t, indeed, I can’t stay at home.”
“But only think what you suffered, and how near you were to death.”
“But I didn’t die, mother. I’m all right now, and heavier than I ever was in my life. I was weighed in Mr. Williams’s store the day before I left, and weighed ten pounds more than I ever did before, without my coat or waistcoat. Only think of that.”
“But only think what you suffered!”
“Don’t people suffer at home, mother? Just see what Will Webb has suffered, all tied up in knots with rheumatism; and Tom Savage, with the spine complaint. I do believe, if I knew I should go through all I have been through the next voyage, I should have to go. Ain’t I a fool, mother?”
“I think you are very foolish to leave a good home and kind parents without any necessity for such hardships. Only think of your cousin, poor James Ross, who fell from the main-mast and was killed, the very first day out.”
“Well, mother, perhaps he would have died if he had been at home. Captain Rhines says, when God wants a man, he’ll call him; and anybody is just as safe on the royal yard as on deck, or at home in his bed. Isn’t that so, mother?”
“I don’t know, my dear; I think I should a great deal rather have you at home in this bed. Suppose you are sick at sea. There is no one to take care of you.”
“Yes, mother, Captain Brown and Walter will.”