The Captain took his nephew directly to the harbor. The boy cried softly to himself as he trudged along, and at last his uncle said to him in a mild tone of voice, "Willy, stop your crying. See, all the passersby are looking at you. If I were a boy like you, I would be only too happy to get out of such a tiresome old place where you just learn and pray all day long. I am going to take you into quite a different school, one in which all is bright and gay. On board the ship you won't have any old exercises to do."
"Oh, but I liked everything at the College so much, and in the new school there won't anybody know me," wailed Willy. "And you—are you really my uncle?"
"Most assuredly. How can you doubt if? Just look at me! Have I not the same hooked nose that your father had?"
"Yes, but you have no such friendly eye. And my father always had so much reverence for the Father Prefect."
"While I speak to the Father Prefect only compliments in which all the i's are dotted and all the t's are crossed most punctiliously—ha! ha!—not so bad. But now see here: let us strike a bargain. You recognize me as your uncle to whom you owe obedience, and everything will be all right. If you go on in this obstinate, defiant way, you shall, so sure as my name is John Brown, this very day make the acquaintance of the cat-o'-nine-tails, and take a diet of bread and water in the company of the rats in the hold of the ship for awhile."
Willy had once seen a cabin boy flogged with a cat-o'-nine-tails, and there was nothing in the world which he feared more than rats, so he thought it best to make peace with his uncle. After a pause he said:
"If you really are my uncle, I must obey you, but don't whip me, and don't shut me up with the rats, please.—If you wish me to love you very much indeed, send me back to the College."
"Don't say another word about that College," snarled the Captain with a dark look. "Now dry your eyes. Here we are on the shore, and here is our boat. Get in, obey—else—"
The Captain sprang into the boat and Willy followed without more ado. He looked back toward the city to seek among the domes that of the Cathedral of the Holy Saviour, and soon recognized it by the scaffolding. At sight of the glittering crosses tears came to his eyes, but the thought that those he had left behind would pray for him comforted him. Unmoved he gazed while the boat glided in and out between the great ships at anchor in the harbor, and at last, far out, they reached the ship they sought. The "St. George" was a beautiful boat with three masts, and as we have said Willy had made more than one trip on it with his father. He was then the darling of the crew. Now as he climbed the ladder behind the Captain strange faces peered down at him over the railing; there were new officers, and officers and crew alike seemed rough fellows. Late in the evening as he stood on the rear deck watching the golden crosses of the Church of the Holy Saviour in the light of the setting sun, he heard a well-known voice behind him speak his name.
"Oh, it is you, Tommy Green!" said Willy looking around in a friendly manner. "So there really is after all one old friend on board. Are you still the second mate? Where are James and John and all the rest?"