The boy cried
softly to himself as he trudged along, and at last his uncle said to
him in a mild tone of voice, "Willy, stop your crying. See, all the
passersby are looking at you. If I were a boy like you, I would be
only too happy to get out of such a tiresome old place where you just
learn and pray all day long. I am going to take you into quite a
different school, one in which all is bright and gay. On board the
ship you won't have any old exercises to do."

"Oh, but I liked everything at the College so much, and in the new
school there won't anybody know me," wailed Willy. "And you--are you
really my uncle?"

"Most assuredly. How can you doubt if? Just look at me! Have I not
the same hooked nose that your father had?"

"Yes, but you have no such friendly eye. And my father always had so
much reverence for the Father Prefect."

"While I speak to the Father Prefect only compliments in which all the
i's are dotted and all the t's are crossed most punctiliously--ha!
ha!--not so bad. But now see here: let us strike a bargain. You
recognize me as your uncle to whom you owe obedience, and everything
will be all right. If you go on in this obstinate, defiant way, you
shall, so sure as my name is John Brown, this very day make the
acquaintance of the cat-o'-nine-tails, and take a diet of bread and
water in the company of the rats in the hold of the ship for awhile."

Willy had once seen a cabin boy flogged with a cat-o'-nine-tails, and
there was nothing in the world which he feared more than rats, so he
thought it best to make peace with his uncle. After a pause he said:

"If you really are my uncle, I must obey you, but don't whip me, and
don't shut me up with the rats, please.--If you wish me to love you
very much indeed, send me back to the College."

"Don't say another word about that College," snarled the Captain with a
dark look. "Now dry your eyes. Here we are on the shore, and here is
our boat. Get in, obey--else--"

The Captain sprang into the boat and Willy followed without more ado.
He looked back toward the city to seek among the domes that of the
Cathedral of the Holy Saviour, and soon recognized it by the
scaffolding. At sight of the glittering crosses tears came to his
eyes, but the thought that those he had left behind would pray for him
comforted him. Unmoved he gazed while the boat glided in and out
between the great ships at anchor in the harbor, and at last, far out,
they reac