In the morning of that day I attended the Presbyterian church, and it seemed to me my mother was beginning to think I was weaning myself from "Mormonism."
In the afternoon, Richard and I went to Sister Scott's. There we met some of her relatives from Shields. One of them, a young lady, not intending to return that day, gave me her ticket.
One or two acquaintances of Sister Scott were going to Shields, and we intended, on arriving there, to stay with them that night. Where our final destination would be we hardly knew, though we had been thinking of going to some part of Scotland. Richard had about £1.2s. ($5.50). I had no money, but had borrowed 5s. ($1.25) from Sister Scott.
About half past 4 o'clock we went down to a boat landing, accompanied by nearly all of the Scott family and visiting relatives, who were going to Shields. The steamer we intended to go by was timed to leave at 5 o'clock; a steamer for Stockton also started at the same time. Both the steamers were moored near each other. We were there a few minutes before 5 o'clock and went with our friends into a waiting room on the landing stage. Passengers were walking about the landing, awaiting the departure of the steamers. It was our intention to go aboard the Shields steamer; but before doing so we noticed a man named Brooks, a printer, going on the Stockton steamer. Being acquainted with him, we deemed it advisable to wait till the Stockton steamer should start, for fear Brooks would see us going on the other steamer. This placed us in a rather precarious situation, as both steamers having to start at the same time, we were afraid of being unable to get on the vessel without his seeing us. Anxiously we watched the two boats, wondering which would start first, when we saw the Stockton boat make the first move. How pleased we were! It had not got many feet away when, turning to Richard, I said quickly:
"Now, let us go!" (meaning, of course, for us to go on the Shield's steamer.)
No sooner had I spoken these words than a brother in the Church, named John Parish, hurriedly approached us and in a half whisper, said:
"Here's your mother!"
These words perplexed and astounded me. Was it a reality that we were stopped the second time in our attempt to leave home? To be positive that Parish was correct in his assertion I looked in the direction he pointed, and there, sure enough, was my mother gazing intently at the two steamers —one on its journey and the other just ready to start.
[CHAPTER X.]
PLANNING TO LEAVE HOME A THIRD TIME—LEAVE MIDDLESBROUGH—ARRIVAL AT NEWCASTLE—LEITH, EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW —A PECULIAR SITUATION: NO MONEY, NO FRIENDS—MAKE UP MY MIND TO GO TO NEW YORK—ARRIVAL AT LIVERPOOL.