Tommy were broken up. He was no longer
dependent on me for protection, but felt himself a _man_, with other
and more suitable associates. In childhood, he scarcely considered me
inferior to himself certainly, as good as any other boy with whom he
played; but the time had come when his _friend_ must become his _slave_.
So we were cold, and we parted. It was a sad thing to me, that, loving
each other as we had done, we must now take different roads. To him, a
thousand avenues were open. Education had made him acquainted with
all the treasures of the world, and liberty had flung open the gates
thereunto; but I, who had attended him seven years, and had watched over
him with the care of a big brother, fighting his battles in the street,
and shielding him from harm, to an extent which had induced his mother
to say, "Oh! Tommy is always safe, when he is with{238} Freddy," must be
confined to a single condition. He could grow, and become a MAN; I could
grow, though I could _not_ become a man, but must remain, all my life,
a minor--a mere boy. Thomas Auld, Junior, obtained a situation on board
the brig "Tweed," and went to sea. I know not what has become of him; he
certainly has my good wishes for his welfare and prosperity. There were
few persons to whom I was more sincerely attached than to him, and there
are few in the world I would be more pleased to meet.

Very soon after I went to Baltimore to live, Master Hugh succeeded in
getting me hired to Mr. William Gardiner, an extensive ship builder on
Fell's Point. I was placed here to learn to calk, a trade of which I
already had some knowledge, gained while in Mr. Hugh Auld's ship-yard,
when he was a master builder. Gardiner's, however, proved a very
unfavorable place for the accomplishment of that object. Mr. Gardiner
was, that season, engaged in building two large man-of-war vessels,
professedly for the Mexican government. These vessels were to be
launched in the month of July, of that year, and, in failure thereof,
Mr. G. would forfeit a very considerable sum of money. So, when I
entered the ship-yard, all was hurry and driving. There were in the yard
about one hundred men; of these about seventy or eighty were regular
carpenters--privileged men. Speaking of my condition here I wrote, years
ago--and I have now no reason to vary the picture as follows:

There was no time to learn any thing. Every man had to do that which he
knew how to do. In entering the ship-yard, my orde