Meetings of the Club were held every two weeks.
The boys tried to learn the secret which Tommy had been instructed to select. But he claimed that he had been instructed also to keep it.
“It would not be creditable to the Club to tell it now,” he said.
CHAPTER IV.
ON THE ATLANTIC.
The Steerage.—Pilot Boats.—Tommy meets Rough Weather.—His Letter and Postscript.—Queer Passengers.—Games and Story-telling.—Story of Joan of Arc.—Signalling at Sea.—Land!
AN ocean steamer! Though a speck upon the waters, what a world it seems! What symmetry, what strength, what a triumph of human skill! What a cheerful sense of security one feels as one looks upon the oak and the iron, and hears the wind whistle through the motionless forest of cordage! There society in all its grades is seen, and human nature in all its phases.
The cool upper deck of the steamer was more inviting to our tourists than the hot streets and hotels of New York, and early in the afternoon they met on the North River Pier, and went on board of their ocean home. First, they examined the elegant saloons, then their snug state-rooms, and at last the steerage apartment, where George and Leander were to have their quarters.
The steerage was not a wholly uninviting apartment. It was a plain cabin, amidships, well lighted and ventilated, and very clean. A stanch-looking pair of stairs led down to it. On each side were bunks in little rooms; those on the right hand for women, and on the left for men. These were lighted and aired by port-holes. Each passenger provided his own bedding and eating utensils.