l. Among the
passengers was an English ship captain who had just been wrecked
off the coast of Newfoundland, and had the saved remnant of his crew
with him. On the morning of our departure the weather was stormy,
so that our vessel did not put to sea--a precaution for which the
captain passenger expressed great contempt. He did not understand
how a vessel should delay going to see on account of a little storm.

The walk of one hundred miles from St. John to Moncton was for me,
at that time, a much less formidable undertaking than it would appear
in our times and latitude. A thirty-mile tramp was a bagatelle,
and houses of entertainment--farmhouses where a traveler could rest
or eat for a few pennies--were scattered along the road. But there
was one great difficulty at the start. My instructions had been to
follow the telegraph wires. I soon found that the line of telegraph
came into the town from one direction, passed through it, and then
left, not in the opposite direction, but perhaps at right angles
to it. In which direction was the line to be followed? It was
difficult to make known what I wanted. "Why, my boy, you can't
walk to Moncton," was one answer. In a shop the clerks thought I
wanted to ride on the telegraph, and, with much chuckling, directed
me to the telegraph office where the man in charge would send me on.
I tried in one direction which I thought could not be right, then
I started off in the opposite one; but it soon became evident that
that branch led up the river to Frederickton. So I had to retrace
my steps and take the original line, which proved to be the right one.

The very first night I found that my grandfather's name was one to
conjure with. I passed it with a hearty old farmer who, on learning
who I was, entertained me with tales of Mr. Prince. The quality
which most impressed the host was his enormous physical strength.
He was rather below the usual stature and, as I remember him, very
slightly built. Yet he could shoulder a barrel of flour and lift
a hogshead of molasses on its end, feats of strength which only the
most powerful men in the region were equal to.

On reaching my destination, I was not many days in learning that my
grandfather was a believer in the maxims of "Poor Richard's Almanac,"
and disapproved of the aimless way in which I had been bred. He began
to suggest the desirableness of my learning to do something to make
a living. I thought of certain mechani