"Well!" said the mate. "He's a good one! Took a good shark hook with him
and pretty near a fathom of new chain!"

And when little Jacob had got his breath back again, he ran down into
the cabin to write all about the shark in the log-book.

And that's all.

THE CHRISTMAS STORY

Once upon a time there was a wide river that ran into the ocean, and
beside it was a little city. And in that city was a wharf where great
ships came from far countries. And a narrow road led down a very steep
hill to that wharf and anybody that wanted to go to the wharf had to go
down the steep hill on the narrow road, for there wasn't any other way.
And because ships had come there for a great many years and all the
sailors and all the captains and all the men who had business with the
ships had to go on that narrow road, the flagstones that made the
sidewalk were much worn. That was a great many years ago.

The wharf was Captain Jonathan's and Captain Jacob's and they owned the
ships that sailed from it; and, after their ships had been sailing from
that wharf in the little city for a good many years, they changed their
office to Boston. After that, their ships sailed from a wharf in Boston.

Once, in the long ago, the brig _Industry_ had sailed from Boston for
far countries, and she had been gone about three months. She was going
to Java, first, to get coffee and sugar and other things that they have
in Java; and then she was going to Manila and then back to India and
home again. It was almost Christmas time. Little Jacob and little Sol
were on board the _Industry_ on that voyage, and it seemed very strange
to them that it should be hot at Christmas time. But they were just
about at the equator, or a little bit south of it, and it is always hot
there; and besides, it is summer at Christmas time south of the equator.
So little Jacob and Sol had on their lightest and coolest clothes, and
they had straw hats on; but they didn't run about and play much, it was
so hot.

The two little boys were lying stretched out in the shadow of a great
sail, and they had their hands behind their heads, and they looked up at
the tall masts and the yards and the great white sails and once in a
while they saw a little hilly cloud, and they didn't say anything for a
long time. Finally little Jacob spoke to little Sol.

"What are you thinking about, Sol?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing, much," answered little Sol. "I was thinking it would be
fun to be