CHAPTER XVIII
I left New York the same evening for Boston. All glad to see me home once more. My brothers and sisters were much pleased with their little presents. Soon visited the National Theater and saw the officer, "Old Dexter." He gave me some good advice. A few days afterward, met with Father Taylor, who gave me one of the best lectures I ever listened to. He advised me to sail with a good Christian captain, so I next shipped in the bark Laura, Captain Leach, bound to New Orleans, thence to London, then to return to some port in the United States. This trip was put into a sailor’s ditty by one of the crew.
"From old Boston city we did set sail
In what appeared to be a fine craft, —
It was the Laura, a bark
Which looked neat and handy from forward to aft.
"Our captain’s name is Leach, by the way,
A moral man he’s thought to be;
But salt water has his conscience stretched
In a manner strange to see,
"As you’ll perceive, if you but hark
And listen to what I say;
For he had all hands trimming his bark
The first Sabbath at sea.
