ts,
both of the passage-money and the guardianship of the farmer's man,
vanished from my thoughts; and I had come to the determination, with
full belief in being able to carry it out, that I _should_ start for
Peru to-morrow.

In what part of the world Peru lay, I knew no more than the man in the
moon; not near so much, since he has a good view of it on moonlight
nights, and must know very well where it is. My school learning had
extended no farther than to reading, writing, and arithmetic. In the
last I was quite an adept, for our village teacher was rather clever at
"ciphering," and took great pride in proving his accomplishment, by
communicating what he knew to his pupils. It was the leading branch of
study in his school. Geography, however, had been neglected, almost
untaught; and I knew not in what part of the world Peru lay, though I
had heard that there was such a country.

The returned sailors already mentioned had spoken much about Peru--that
it was a very hot country, and a very long way from England, a full six
months' voyage. I had heard, moreover, that it was a country of
wonderful gold mines, and blacks, and snakes, and palm-trees; and this
was enough for me. It was just the sort of place I desired to see. For
Peru, then, was I bound, and in the good ship _Inca_.

My next reflection was how I should act--how get over the difficulty
about the passage-money, and also escape from the guardianship of my
friend "John," the driver of the cart. The former would appear the
greater dilemma, though in reality it was no such thing; at least, so I
thought at the time. My reasons for thinking so were these: I had often
heard of boys running away to sea--of their being accepted on board
ships, and allowed to become boy-sailors and afterwards able seamen. I
was under the impression that there was not much difficulty about the
matter, and that almost any boy who was big enough and smart enough
would be taken aboard, if he was but willing to work for it.

My only apprehension at the time was about my own bigness, or rather
"littleness," for I knew that I was still but a very small shaver--
smaller even than my age would indicate--though I had a well-knit frame,
and was tolerably tight and tough. I had some doubt, however, about my
size, for I was often "twitted" with being such a very little fellow. I
was fearful, therefore, that this might be an obstacle to my being taken
as a boy-sailor; for I had really