CHAPTER I.
It has often struck me as being a remarkable circumstance that, in nine cases out of ten, a man's success in life is not found in the career he originally chose for himself, but in another and totally different one.
That mysterious power, "force of circumstances," is doubtless responsible for this, and no better illustration for my argument could be found than my own case.

I believe my father intended that I should follow the medical profession, while my mother hoped I would enter the Church.

My worthy uncle, Clutterfield, the eminent solicitor of Lincoln's Inn Fields, offered me my Articles, and would possibly have eventually taken me into partnership.

But I would have none of these things.

My one craving was for the sea.