He cut wicks, filled moulds, performed errands, and played the part of general waiter, in which there was much variety. And this was his work for successive weeks, very little of his time running to waste. Do you ask how he likes it? The following conversation with his mother will answer.
"I don't like it at all, mother,—no better than I thought I should," he said. "I wish I could do something else."
"What else is there for you to do, Benjamin?" replied his mother. "What would you like to do?"
"I would like to go to sea."
"Go to see what?" she inquired, as if she did not understand him at first.
"Go on a voyage to Europe, or the East Indies."
"What!" exclaimed his mother, exhibiting surprise, for she had not dreamed that her son had any inclination to go to sea. "Want to be a sailor? What put that into your head?"
"I have always thought I should like to go to sea," he answered; "and I am so tired of making candles that I want to go now more than ever."
"I am astonished, Benjamin. You might know that I should never give my consent to that. I should almost as lief bury you. And how can you want to leave your good home, and all your friends, to live in a ship, exposed to storms and death all the time?"
"It is not because I do not love my home and friends, but I have a desire to sail on a voyage to some other country. I like the water, and nothing would suit me so well as to be a cabin-boy."