Simon and I were aboard the same boat, but neither spoke during the short passage from the shore to the ship.
When we came over the rail the old gunner was standing near by and my heart warmed toward him as never before, because of the words which he spoke at that sad time:
“Find something with which to keep yourselves busy, lads,” he said, in a most friendly tone. “Having been through with this kind of business myself, I’ve got a pretty good idee of how you’re feelin’, an’ there’s nothin’ better calculated to make you worse than idleness. Hard work an’ plenty of it is what will do you a power of good for the next four an’ twenty hours.”
And hard work we got.
It was as if Master Josh racked his brains to set us task after task in rapid succession, one coming upon the heels of the other so rapidly that we absolutely had no time for thought, and afterward I understood how wholesome was his medicine.
As I have said, the shore was lined with people waiting for the America to get under way, and when finally the anchor was tripped, a shout went up from the throng which thrilled our hearts, and caused me for an instant to forget that in the town was a woman weeping,—a woman who loved me dearly, as I did her.
Well, we were off at last, and the first and worst wrench caused by the breaking of home ties was over, so far as I was concerned, save that it left my heart sore and bruised.
By noon we were off Baker’s Island heading due southeast, and I realised that the voyage was really begun, when the good ship rose and fell upon the ocean swell with a motion well calculated to upset the stomach of a landsman.
Simon Ropes and I considered ourselves fairly good sailormen, and yet, before night came, we were paying the same penalty, and in quite as severe a form, as the veriest landsman who ever ventured outside the harbour.
This sickness was, in a certain degree, a benefit, since it caused us to forget the loneliness which had come upon us with the parting, and not until eight and forty hours had passed did we venture to show ourselves above the gun-deck.