ears old he had his tiny sloops and
schooners, rigged by himself, on every duck-pond in the neighborhood.
And he could sail them with a skill remarkable in one so young. Indeed,
these duck-ponds were a source of great annoyance to Angeline, for
whenever one of Tite's crafts met with an accident he would wade to its
relief, no matter what the condition or color of the water.

Hanz shook his head, and felt that no good would come of this taste for
the sea on the part of Tite. He intended to bequeath him the farm, so
that he could spend his life like an honest man in raising good
vegetables for the New York market. Following the sea, Hanz urged, was a
very dangerous occupation, and where one man made any money by it, more
than a dozen lost their lives by storms. But Tite was not to be put off
by such arguments. The spirit of adventure was in the boy, and all other
objects had to yield to his natural inclinations. And now, at the age of
twelve, we find Tite a smart, sprightly cabin-boy, on board the good
sloop Heinrich, making the voyage to New York and back once a week, and
taking his first lessons in practical seamanship.

Wonderful changes had been developed along the beautiful Hudson during
these twelve years. People in the country said New York was getting to
be a very big, and a very wicked city. Already her skirmishers, in a
line of little houses, were pushed beyond the canal, and were
obliterating the cow-paths. The honest old Dutch settlers shrugged their
shoulders, and said it was not a good sign to see people get rich so
fast. Indeed, they declared that these fast and extravagant New Yorkers,
who were building great houses and sending big ships to all parts of the
world, would bring ruin on the country.

A ship of five hundred tons had been added to the old London line, and
her great size was an object of curiosity. But the man who projected her
was regarded by careful merchants as very reckless, and not a safe man
to trust.

That which troubled the minds of these peaceable old settlers most was
Mr. Fulton and his steamboat. Steam they declared to be a very
dangerous thing. And, as for this Mr. Fulton, he should be sent to an
insane asylum, before he destroyed all his friends, and lost all his
money in this dangerous undertaking. He might navigate the river with a
big tea-kettle in the bottom of his boat, but he would be sure to set
all the houses along the river on fire. And who was to pay the damages?
Steam