Mr. George, "they sometimes do, I know; and sometimes, under peculiar circumstances, it is right for them to go; but as a general rule, it is not. That is the place for the sailors to occupy in working the ship. It is something like the kitchen in a hotel. What should you think of the guests at a hotel, if they went down into the kitchen to see what was going on there?"
Rollo laughed aloud.
"But we don't go to the forecastle to see what is going on there," said Waldron; "we go for a lookout—to see what is going on away ahead, on the water."
"True," said Mr. George, "and that is a very important difference, I acknowledge. I don't think my comparison holds good."
Mr. George was always very candid in all his arguing. It is of very great importance that all persons should be so, especially when reasoning with boys. It teaches them to be candid.
Just at this time Waldron's attention was attracted by the appearance of a very large steamer, which now came suddenly into view, with its great red funnel pouring out immense volumes of black smoke. Waldron ran over to the other side of the deck to see it. Rollo followed, and thus the explanation which Mr. George might have given, in respect to the arithmetical nature and relations of nothing were necessarily postponed to some future time.
About half an hour after this, while Rollo was sitting by the side of his uncle, looking at the map, and trying to find out how soon they should come in sight of the famous old Castle of Dunbarton, which stands on a rocky hill upon the banks of the Clyde, Mr. Kennedy came up to him to inquire if he knew where Waldron was.
Rollo said that he did not know. He had not seen him for some time.
"We can't find him any where," said Mr. Kennedy. "We have looked all over the ship. His mother is half crazy. She thinks he has fallen overboard."
So Rollo and Mr. George both rose immediately and went off to see if they could find Waldron. They went in various directions, inquiring of every body they met if they had seen such a boy. Several people had seen him half an hour before, when he was with Rollo; but no one knew where he had been since. At last, in about ten minutes, Rollo came running to Mrs. Kennedy, who was walking about through the cabins in great distress, and said, hurriedly, "I've found him; he is safe," and then ran off to tell Mr. Kennedy.
Mrs. Kennedy followed him, calling out eagerly, "Where is he? Where is he?" Rollo met Mr. Kennedy at the head of the cabin stairs, and he seemed very much rejoiced to learn that Waldron was found. Rollo led the way, and Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy followed him, until they came to a place on the deck, pretty well forward, where there was an opening surrounded by an iron railing, through which you could look down into the hold below. It was very far down that you could look, and at different distances on the way were to be seen iron ladders going from deck to deck, and ponderous shafts, moving continually, with great clangor and din, while at the bottom were seen the mouths of several great glowing furnaces, with men at work shovelling coal into them.
"There he is," said Rollo, pointing down.
Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy leaned over the railing and looked down, and there they beheld Waldron, hard at work shovelling coal into the mouth of a furnace, with a shovel which he had borrowed of one of the men. In a word, Waldron had turned stoker.
Mr. Kennedy hurried down the ladders to bring Waldron up, while Mr. George and Rollo went back to the deck.
About an hour after this Mr. Kennedy came and took a seat on a settee where Mr. George was sitting, and began to talk about Waldron.
"He is the greatest plague of my life," said Mr. Kennedy. "I don't know what I shall do with him. He is continually getting into some mischief. I have shut him up a close prisoner in the state room, and I am going to keep him there till we land. But it will do no good. It will not be an hour after he gets out before he will be in some new scrape. You know a great deal about boys; I wish you would tell me what to do with him."
"I think, if he was under my charge," said Mr. George, very quietly, "I should load him."
"Load him?" repeated Mr. Kennedy, inquiringly.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "I mean I should give him a load to carry."
"I don't understand, exactly," said Mr. Kennedy. "What is your idea?"
"My idea is," said Mr. George, "that a growing boy, especially if he is a boy of unusual capacity, is like a steam engine in this respect. A steam engine must always have a load to carry—that is, something to employ and absorb the force it is capable of exerting—or else it will break itself to pieces with it. The force will expend itself on something, and if you don't load it with something good, it will employ itself in mischief.
"Here now is the engine of this ship," continued Mr. George. "Its force is conducted to the paddle wheels, where it has full employment for itself in turning the wheels against the immense resistance of the water, and in carrying the ship along. This work is its load. If this load were to be taken off—for example, if the steamer were to be lifted up out of the water so that the wheels could spin round in the air—the engine would immediately stave itself to pieces, for want of having any thing else to expend its energies upon."
"Yes," said Mr. Kennedy. "I have no doubt of it."
"Now, I think," continued Mr. George, "that it is in some sense the same with a boy whose mental and physical powers are in good condition. These powers must be employed. They hunger and thirst for employment, and if they don't get it in doing good they will be sure to find it in some kind of mischief."
"Well," said Mr. Kennedy, with a sigh, "there is a great deal in that; but what is to be done? You can't employ such a boy as that. There is nothing he can do. I wish you would take him, and see if you can load him, as you call it. Take him with you on this tour you are going to make in Scotland. I will put money in your hands to cover his expenses, and you may charge any thing you please beyond, for your care of him."
"Perhaps his mother would not like such an arrangement," said Mr. George.
"O, yes," replied Mr. Kennedy; "nothing would please her more."
"And would Waldron like it himself?" asked Mr. George.
"I presume so," said Mr. Kennedy; "he likes any thing that is a change."
Mr. Kennedy went down to the state room to see Waldron, and ask him what he thought of this plan. Waldron said he should like it very much. So he was at once liberated from his confinement, and transferred to Mr. George's charge.
"Now, Waldron," said Mr. George, when Waldron came to him, "I shall want some help from you about getting ashore from the boat. Do you think you could go ashore with Rollo as soon as we land, and take a cab and go directly up to the hotel, and engage rooms for us, while I am looking out for the baggage, and getting it ready?"
"Yes, sir; yes, sir," said Waldron, eagerly. "I can do that. What hotel shall I go to?"
"I don't know," said Mr. George. "I don't know any thing about the hotels in Glasgow. You must find out."
"Well," said Waldron, "only how shall I find out?"
"I am sure I don't know," said Mr. George. "I leave it all to you and Rollo. I am busy forming my plans for a tour. You and Rollo can go and talk about it, and see if you can discover any way of finding out the name of one of the best hotels. If you can't, after trying fifteen minutes, come to me, and I will help you."
So saying, Mr. George began to study his map again, and Waldron, apparently much pleased with his commission, said, "Come, Rollo," and walked away.
Chapter II.
Districts of Scotland.