discernible in the grey dawn. I thought of Mr. Cornwall, and Miss Brown, some of whose teaching again came into my mind. I remembered that I had so often repeated the words, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want," and "I will lay me down in peace and take my rest, for it is Thou, O Lord, that makest me to dwell in safety." I now began to make tracks for Weymouth, thirty-three miles distant, and beyond the first seven miles I did not know an inch of the way.

I trudged on, however, like a snail, carrying all I possessed on my back. After about nine or ten hours' sharp walking I arrived at the quaint old town of Dorchester, where I walked leisurely through the streets, looking at the old-fashioned houses, and such things as took my attention. Just as I was going to turn into a shop to get some bread and cheese, a smart recruiting sergeant came striding up the street towards me. He clapped his hand upon my shoulder and said, "Here, young man, will you enlist?" I do not know whether the perversity I showed is a characteristic of human nature, or whether it belonged to me individually, but if he had asked me to take a dose of poison, I could not have felt more vexed and annoyed; and when he showed me the shilling, the disgust I felt was beyond description. Perhaps the fact of my being very hungry had something to do with it, but at any rate the idea of being a soldier went entirely out of my head for ever.

After an hour's rest in Dorchester, I travelled forward I still had about eight miles to go, and my feet were already blistered. I scarcely felt it, however, as I had often had them blistered when ploughing, with Jim's ill-usage into the bargain; but now I had freed myself for ever from his cruelty, and I went along with a light heart.

I reached Weymouth about five o'clock in the afternoon. I had done the thirty-three miles, including stoppages, in fourteen hours. I walked round the harbour and asked every skipper I could find if he would take me on board his vessel in any capacity, but from all came the same answer, "No." So I began to think that the world and its inhabitants were not exactly what I had always thought or fancied they were. All the sea-songs I had heard, "The poor Sailor Boy," "The Cabin Boy," and others, had led me to believe that the skippers of vessels were only too glad to get hold of a boy when the chance offered; but now I found out my mistake. But one man told me that a shipowner in Jersey was in want of hands. I made inquiries and soon found out that a steamer would start for Jersey at nine o'clock the same evening.

I went on board, paid ten shillings for my passage, and was soon off towards Jersey.

I cannot describe how much I enjoyed the view of the sea, especially when we began to lose sight of Portland. The moon was shining and I could look around and see a great expanse of water. The sea was not rough, although there was a swell which was sufficient to toss the vessel up and down in what I soon found to be a very disagreeable manner. I soon began in right earnest to feel what the French call "mal de mer."

After a twelve-hours' passage, which was considered good work at that time, we landed in Jersey. I at once found my way to the shipowner, and he set me to work there and then unloading salt from a ship at one shilling and sixpence a day. The salt was not in lumps, but in the form of small grain. It was at that time used in England for manure; but in Jersey and France it was used for salting butter, meat and fish. To any whose shoes have been worn off their feet, and their feet blistered and made sore with walking, I need hardly say that the salt soon found its way into my boots and made me nearly faint with pain. However, it was soon over, and in a couple of days I believe my feet were hard enough to walk upon flints without any inconvenience.

Sunday soon came round, and I brushed myself up and went to St. James' Church. As I glanced over my person I found that my only suit was very much the worse for wear after unloading, but I had no idea of staying away from church on this account. In the afternoon I went to the town church and saw the soldiers walk down from Fort Regent, with their fife and drum band playing "The girl I left behind me" right down to the church door. As soon as they were out again the band struck up "The Irish Washerwoman." I thought it was very wicked, and wondered what my father would have said about it. On the Monday morning, the judge of the island, who was my employer, came into the stores, where I was at work, racking brandy, and adding water and logwood and a drug, the name of which I do not remember, by which means we made three hogsheads out of two. Now the judge was one of the richest merchants in the island, and therefore thought it his duty to set a good example to the other merchants, and to all seafaring men. He was a large importer of wine, rum, brandy, and gin, and was always very particular to see that we did not put too much water and logwood into the brandy, and water and sulphuric acid into the gin. So that his spirits were always considered the best in the island. The judge went regularly to church, and as he was walking round the stores on this particular Monday morning he came up to me and said, "Young man, I was much pleased to see you at church yesterday. Are those the only clothes you have?" I confess that these remarks about my clothes did not please me, because on the Sunday I had gone to church feeling unhappy at not being able to change my garments, and hoped that no one would notice me; and when I found that the judge had noticed me, I must say I felt seriously annoyed. I answered him civilly, however, that it was my only suit, but that I should get a new one at the first opportunity. The judge raised my wages there and then to two shillings a day, and in the afternoon called me into his private office and told me to go to his house as his wife would like to see me.

During the rest of the day I was nearly beside myself, wondering what on earth such a great lady could want with a poor boy like me; therefore I was twisting and turning the thing over in my mind, wondering whether she could speak English, and what she would say to me and how I should answer her. At length evening came, and I went to the house and was presented to her. She was exceedingly plain in her dress, as all Jersey ladies were, and I could scarcely believe it was the wife of the judge. However, she soon told me what she wanted me for. She said, "J'ai some clothes for de garçon; de coat was too much big, go to de tailor and have one gros cossack too make little from fit for yourself. Reste vous one little minute, je donne vous some-sing for to mange." The drift of all this was that she gave me a meal and a left-off suit of the judge's. He was one of the largest men in the island. I was a mere stripling, and I believe I could have stood in one of the legs of the trousers. I could not get a tailor to do anything with such a suit unless I paid him more than a new suit of clothes, and I did not go to church for several Sundays, until I had saved enough to buy myself a decent suit.

Now the judge was known to be a very pious man. He would take hold of little dirty urchins in the street when he heard them using bad language and reprimand them. His own people had to pull a long face and assume a virtue if they had it not. And when the postman came round with a petition to get off his Sunday duty, everybody in the district signed it except the judge. He could not forego the pleasure of receiving and reading a few letters and allow the poor postman to go free on a Sunday. I have been greatly amused more than once on going into an Assize Hall and seeing the judge sitting in his chair, looking as grave and solemn as only a