st be
done "now or never."

During the day the little merchant attended to the packing of his
stock, and to such other preparations as were required for his journey.
He must take the steamer that evening for Bath, and when the time for
his departure arrived, he was attended to the wharf by Mr. Bayard and
Ellen, with whom he had passed the afternoon. The bookseller assisted
him in procuring his ticket and berth, and gave him such instructions
as his inexperience demanded.

The last bell rang, the fasts were cast off, and the great wheels of
the steamer began to turn. Our hero, who had never been on the water
in a steamboat, or indeed any thing bigger than a punt on the river at
home, was much interested and excited by his novel position. He seated
himself on the promenade deck, and watched with wonder the boiling,
surging waters astern of the steamer.

How powerful is man, the author of that mighty machine that bore him so
swiftly over the deep blue waters! Bobby was a little philosopher, as
we have before had occasion to remark, and he was decidedly of the
opinion that the steamboat was a great institution. When he had in
some measure conquered his amazement, and the first ideas of sublimity
which the steamer and the sea were calculated to excite in a poetical
imagination, he walked forward to take a closer survey of the
machinery. After all, there was something rather comical in the
affair. The steam hissed and sputtered, and the great walking beam
kept flying up and down; and the sum total of Bobby's philosophy was,
that it was funny these things should make the boat go so like a race
horse over the water.

Then he took a look into the pilot house, and it seemed more funny that
turning that big wheel should steer the boat. But the wind blew rather
fresh at the forward part of the boat, and as Bobby's philosophy was
not proof against it, he returned to the promenade deck, which was
sheltered from the severity of the blast. He had got reconciled to the
whole thing, and ceased to bother his head about the big wheel, the
sputtering steam, and the walking beam; so he seated himself, and began
to wonder what all the people in Riverdale were about.

"All them as hasn't paid their fare, please walk up to the cap'n's
office and s-e-t-t-l-e!" shouted a colored boy, presenting himself just
then, and furiously ringing a large hand bell.

"I have just settled," said Bobby, alluding to his comfortable seat.

But t