r mother's mouth.'

"`That's very true, so we'll be off, Andrew.'

"They walked down to the pier, and then they fell in with the captain of
a vessel going foreign, and they asked him whether he wanted any boys on
board.

"`Why,' says he, `I wouldn't care, but you've never been to sea before.'

"`No,' said Archy; `but there must be a beginning to everything.'

"`Well,' said the captain, `I suppose you've run away from your friends,
and, as I can't get apprentices now, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll
take you on board, and as soon as we get round to another port in the
Channel, I'll bind you as apprentices for three years. Will you agree
to that?'

"The boys said `yes,' and the captain told them that he should sail the
next morning about daylight, and that they must be down at the pier by
that time; so they went back again to their mother, and said nothing
about what had passed. There was no supper that night, which confirmed
them in their resolution; they kissed their mother, and went up to bed,
packed up all their clothes, and before she was downstairs the next
morning they were on board of the vessel.

"Well, they were duly apprenticed when the ship arrived at Weymouth, and
then off they went. The other men on board were, as usual, very much
afraid of being pressed, and every plan was hit upon for stowing away
when they were boarded by a man-of-war. Well, time passed, and after
many voyages they had both nearly served their time; they were tall
stout young men, and looked older than they really were. At last, one
day when off the Western Isles, they were boarded by a frigate, and the
officer who came in the boat asked Archy what he was, and he replied he
was an apprentice.

"`You an apprentice!' cried he; `that won't do.'

"`But here are the indentures.'

"`All forged,' cried the officer; `just get into the boat, my lad,' You
see that's a very common trick of officers; if a boy's grown up and fit
for service, they don't care about indentures. Well, Archy found it was
of no use, so he gets his kit and steps into the boat, shaking hands
with Andrew, who was shedding tears at the thoughts of parting with his
brother.

"`It's no use crying, Andrew,' says he; `I might have been second mate
in three months, as the captain promised me when my time was up, and
then I should have been protected, and might have risen from mate to
captain; but now it's all over with me. May you have better luck, and I
hope