too timid to make himself known, before being discovered, and then came
near being put ashore as a stowaway. It seems that the captain had made
no mention to any one on the ship that his nevy was expected, and, in
fact, had probably forgotten the matter himself.

And so Horatio Nelson, slim, slight, slender, fair-haired and
hollow-eyed, was made cabin-boy, with orders to wait on table, wash
dishes and "tidy up things." And he set such a pace in tidying up the
captain's cabin that that worthy officer once remarked, "Dammittall, he
isn't half as bad as he might be."

Finally, Horatio was given the tiller when a boat was sent ashore. He
became an expert in steering, and was made coxswain of the captain's
launch. He learned the Channel in low tide from Chatham to the Tower,
making a map of it on his own account. He had a scent for rocks and
shoals, and knew how to avoid them--for good pilots are born, not made.

A motherless boy with a discouraged father is very fortunate. If he ever
succeeds, he knows it must be through his own exertions. The truth is
pressed home upon him that there is nothing in the universe to help him
but himself--a great lesson to learn.

Young Nelson soon saw that his uncle's patronage, no matter how well
intentioned, could not help him beyond making him coxswain of the
longboat. And anyway, if he was promoted, he wanted it to be on account
of merit, and not relationship. So he got himself transferred to
another boat that was about to sail for the West Indies, and took the
rough service that falls to the lot of a jack-tar. His quickness in
obeying orders, his alertness and ability to climb, his scorn of danger,
going to the yardarm to adjust a tangled rope in a storm, or fastening
the pennant to the mainmast in less time than anybody else on board ship
could perform the task, made him a marked man. He did the difficult
thing, the unpleasant task, with an amount of good-cheer that placed him
in a class by himself. He had no competition. Success was in his
blood--his silent, sober ways, intent only on doing his duty, made his
services sought after when a captain was fitting out a dangerous
undertaking.

Nelson made a trip to the Arctic, and came back second mate at nineteen.
He went to the Barbadoes and returned lieutenant. He was a
lieutenant-commander at twenty, and at twenty-one was given charge of a
shipyard. Shortly after, he was made master of a schoolship, his
business being to give boys th