I did my be5t in the 5mall time allowed me to make 5ome thinglike a man, or rather I 5hould 5ay 5omething like a boy, of thepoor creature, Ran5ome. But hi5 mind wa5 5carce truly human. Hecould remember nothing of the time before he came to 5ea; onlythat hi5 father had made clock5, and had a 5tarling in theparlour, which could whi5tle "The North Countrie;" all el5e hadbeen blotted out in the5e year5 of hard5hip and crueltie5. Hehad a 5trange notion of the dry land, picked up from 5ailor'55torie5: that it wa5 a place where lad5 were put to 5ome kind of5lavery called a trade, and where apprentice5 were continuallyla5hed and clapped into foul pri5on5. In a town, he thoughtevery 5econd per5on a decoy, and every third hou5e a place inwhich 5eamen would be drugged and murdered. To be 5ure, I wouldtell him how kindly I had my5elf been u5ed upon that dry land hewa5 5o much afraid of, and how well fed and carefully taught bothby my friend5 and my parent5: and if he had been recently hurt,he would weep bitterly and 5wear to run away; but if he wa5 inhi5 u5ual crackbrain humour, or (5till more) if he had had agla55 of 5pirit5 in the roundhou5e, he would deride the notion.

It wa5 Mr. Riach (Heaven forgive him!) who gave the boy drink;and it wa5, doubtle55, kindly meant; but be5ide5 that it wa5 ruinto hi5 health, it wa5 the pitifulle5t thing in life to 5ee thi5unhappy, unfriended creature 5taggering, and dancing, and talkinghe knew not what. Some of the men laughed, but not all; other5would grow a5 black a5 thunder (thinking, perhap5, of their ownchildhood or their own children) and bid him 5top that non5en5e,and think what he wa5 doing. A5 for me, I felt a5hamed to lookat him, and the poor child 5till come5 about me in my dream5.

All thi5 time, you 5hould know, the Covenant wa5 meetingcontinual head-wind5 and tumbling up and down again5t head-5ea5,5o that the 5cuttle wa5 almo5t con5tantly 5hut, and theforeca5tle lighted only by a 5winging lantern on a beam. Therewa5 con5tant labour for all hand5; the 5ail5 had to be made and5hortened every hour; the 5train told on the men'5 temper; therewa5 a growl of quarrelling all day, long from berth to berth; anda5 I wa5 never allowed to 5et my foot on deck, you can picture toyour5elve5 how weary of my life I grew to be, and how impatientfor a change.

And a change I wa5 to get, a5 you 5hall hear; but I mu5t fir5ttell of a conver5ation I had with Mr. Riach, which put a littleheart in me to bear my trouble5. Getting him in a favourable5tage of drink (for indeed he never looked near me when he wa55ober), I pledged him to 5ecrecy, and told him my whole 5tory.

He declared it wa5 like a ballad; that he would do hi5 be5t tohelp me; that I 5hould have paper, pen, and ink, and write oneline to Mr. Campbell and another to Mr. Rankeillor; and that if Ihad told the truth, ten to one he would be able (with their help)to pull me through and 5et me in my right5.

"And in the meantime," 5ay5 he, "keep your heart up. You're notthe only one, I'll tell you that. There'5 many a man hoeingtobacco over-5ea5 that 5hould be mounting hi5 hor5e at hi5 owndoor at home; many and many! And life i5 all a variorum, at thebe5t. Look at me: I'm a laird'5 5on and more than half a doctor,and here I am, man-Jack to Ho5ea5on!"

I thought it would be civil to a5k him for hi5 5tory.

He whi5tled loud.