Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, March 9, 1880, by Various

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Title: Harper's Young People, March 9, 1880
An Illustrated Weekly

Author: Various

Release Date: March 25, 2009 [EBook #28404]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, MAR 9, 1880 ***

Produced by Annie McGuire

[Illustration: HARPER'S

YOUNG PEOPLE

AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY.]

* * * * *

VOL. I.--NO. 19. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR
CENTS.

Tuesday, March 9, 1880. Copyright, 1880, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 per
Year, in Advance.

* * * * *

[Illustration]

ACROSS THE OCEAN; OR, A BOY'S FIRST VOYAGE.

A True Story.

BY

J. O. DAVIDSON.

CHAPTER I.

THE FIRST NIGHT AT SEA.

P.M. steam-ship _Arizona_ sails this day at 4.30 P.M. for China
and the East, _via_ Suez Canal. Freight received until 4 P.M. Hands
wanted.

"I guess that's what I want," muttered a boy, who was comparing the
printed slip in his hand with the above notice, conspicuously displayed
from the yard of a huge ocean steamer alongside one of the North River
piers at New York.

Not a very heroic figure, certainly, this young volunteer in the battle
of life: tired, seemingly, by the way in which he dragged his feet;
cold, evidently, for he shivered every now and then, well wrapped up as
he was; hungry, probably, for he had looked very wistfully around him as
he passed through the busy, well-lighted market, where many a merry
group were laughing and joking over their purchase of the morrow's
Christmas dinner. But with all this, there was something in his firm
mouth and clear bright eye which showed that, as the Western farmer
said, on seeing Washington's portrait, "You wouldn't git that man to
leave 'fore he's ready."

Picking up the bag and bundle which he had laid down for a moment, our
hero entered the wharf house.

"Clear the way there!"

"Look out ahead!"

"Stand o' one side, will yer?"

"Now, sir, hurry up--boat's jist a-goin!"

"Arrah, now, kape yer umbrelly out o' me ribs, can't ye? Su