AT SEA My first few days on the ocean were so miserable that I oftentimes repented of having left my native land.

I was, as my new friend Tom Lokins said, as sick as a dog.

But in course of time I grew well, and began to rejoice in the cool fresh breezes and the great rolling billows of the sea.
Many and many a time I used to creep out to the end of the bowsprit, when the weather was calm, and sit with my legs dangling over the deep blue water, and my eyes fixed on the great masses of rolling clouds in the sky, thinking of the new course of life I had just begun.

At such times the thought of my mother was sure to come into my mind, and I thought of her parting words, "Put your trust in the Lord, Robert, and read His Word." I resolved to try to obey her, but this I found was no easy matter, for the sailors were a rough lot of fellows, who cared little for the Bible.

But, I must say, they were a hearty, good-natured set, and much better, upon the whole, than many a ship's crew that I afterwards sailed with.
We were fortunate in having fair winds this voyage, and soon found ourselves on the other side of the _line_, as we jack-tars call the Equator.
Of course the crew did not forget the old custom of shaving all the men who had never crossed the line before.