em.

It brought bonnets and pretty dresses for George's mother and sisters;
it brought perhaps a hat and a tailor-made suit for himself; it brought
tools and furniture, and once a yellow coach that had been made in
London, for his brother.

When all these things had been taken ashore, the ship would hoist her
sails and go on, farther up the river, to leave goods at other
plantations.

In a few weeks it would come back and be moored again at the same place.

Then there was a busy time on shore. The tobacco that had been raised
during the last year must be carried on shipboard to be taken to the
great tobacco markets in England.

The slaves on the plantation were running back and forth, rolling
barrels and carrying bales of tobacco down to the landing.

Letters were written to friends in England, and orders were made out for
the goods that were to be brought back next year.

But in a day or two, all this stir was over. The sails were again
spread, and the ship glided away on its long voyage across the sea.

George had seen this ship coming and going every year since he could
remember. He must have thought how pleasant it would be to sail away to
foreign lands and see the many wonderful things that are there.

And then, like many another active boy, he began to grow tired of the
quiet life on the farm, and wish that he might be a sailor.

He was now about fourteen years old. Since the death of his father, his
mother had found it hard work, with her five children, to manage her
farm on the Rappahannock and make everything come out even at the end of
each year. Was it not time that George should be earning something for
himself? But what should he do?

He wanted to go to sea. His brother Lawrence, and even his mother,
thought that this might be the best thing.

A bright boy like George would not long be a common sailor. He would
soon make his way to a high place in the king's navy. So, at least, his
friends believed.

And so the matter was at last settled. A sea-captain who was known to
the family, agreed to take George with him. He was to sail in a short
time.

The day came. His mother, his brothers, his sisters, were all there to
bid him good-bye. But in the meanwhile a letter had come to his mother,
from his uncle who lived in England.

"If you care for the boy's future," said the letter, "do not let him go
to sea. Places in the king's navy are not easy to obtain. If he begins
as a sailor, he will never