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“Well, sir, my mother is ill, and I wish to have the doctor go and see her, and sell the ship to get the money to pay him and buy medicines with.”

“Well, lad, in spite of your fancy rig, your heart lies in the right place, I see; but what do you want for the craft?”

“It ought to be worth fifteen dollars, sir.”

“It is worth more, and I wish I had the money to buy it; but if the landlord don’t buy it, I’ll see what I can do.”

“I thank you, sir,” and the lad was going on, when the group of youths, who had heard all that had passed, laughed rudely, while one said: “Let me see your boat, sea cub?”

The lad’s face flushed, but he knew that the speaker was the son of a rich shipping merchant of the town, and was a spendthrift, who might pay him a fancy price for his toy, if he wished to do so, and he, therefore, handed the ship to him without reply.

It was the same youth who had suggested to the others to tease the lad, and looking critically at the ship, he said:

“It looks fairly well to a landsman, but whoever saw such a rig on a ship?”