“I never was sick in my life.”

“But your guardian told me he was sending you on a sea voyage for your health.”

“Did Mr. Waring say that?”

“Yes; didn’t you know the object of your sea trip?” asked Capt. Barnes, in surprise.

“No.”

“There may be some tendency to disease in your system—some hereditary tendency,” said the captain, after a pause.

“Were your parents healthy?”

“They—died young,” answered Dodger, hesitatingly.

“That accounts for your guardian’s anxiety. However, you look strong enough, in all conscience; and if you’re not healthy, you will be before the voyage ends.”

“I don’t know what I am to do for clothes,” said Dodger, as a new source of perplexity presented itself. “I can’t get along with one shirt and collar for five months.”