is was done, and to their great surprise, when they got on board, they
found that the captain was their own older brother.

The two captains had been employed in different ports and on different
voyages, and had not met each other in fifteen years, and the oldest and
the youngest had never met before.

A Little Railway Experience.

By way of a change, I will tell you of a little railway experience I
once had. During the Civil War in America, I had occasion to go from New
York to Boston on important business, and I was there some days. When my
business was ended I decided on leaving Boston by the midnight train.

Each hotel had its coach to convey guests to the depot or railway
station. I took my seat in the coach, and was joined by a gentleman also
going to New York. We each got our railway tickets, and sat side by side
in the same carriage, or "car," and after some little time we got into
conversation, and when my companion found that I was a "seafaring man,"
no one could have been more astonished than he was.

He looked at me and said, "My dear sir, you look to be an intelligent
sort of man, and you tell me that you go to sea."

I said, "Yes, and why not?"

"Well," said he, "I don't see how any man possessed with any common
sense and reason could ever be such a fool as to go to sea."

I said that possibly that was the reason for my going to sea--just
simply a want of good sense on my part. But it suited me very well, and
I should like to know what objections he had against a sea life.

"Why, sir, supposing you are in a gale and a fire breaks out on board,
what are you going to do? You have no back door to escape through?"

"Well, we may be able to leave in the boats."

"But you can't do it in a terrible storm."

"Well, then, we will do the best we can, and do as sailors often are
compelled to do, trust in Providence. But for my part, I don't see that
we run more risks in a gale at sea than you do in the cities or than we
do now on the rail. What is to prevent us from having a smash-up before
morning?"

"Well, now, my good sir, I beg of you don't go to sea any more, but just
come out to Iowa and buy a nice farm and settle down ashore. You can buy
a nice farm with all improvements at from three thousand to five
thousand dollars."

I asked him what was the matter with the other man, that he wanted to
sell his farm and all improvements. I did not get any satisfactory
answer to this, as we had somet