way from door to door in the town of Hartlepool; this lasted for about ten days, when I at length persuaded the captain of a vessel, called the Stokesley of Stockton, to give me a passage to London; but we had only just fairly got out to sea when I again fell a victim to sea-sickness." The ship being heavily laden, he had to lie about her decks both night and day, being cuffed and beaten by the sailors, who were anxious to get him out of the vessel altogether. When they had reached Gravesend, one of the sailors who thus desired to be rid of his company, seeing a "billy-buoy," or onemasted vessel, coming up the river, advised him to ask the captain to grant him a passage to London. This he did, and having gained permission, he was soon on board. "When I reached the deck of the 'billy-buoy,' her captain said that up to that very moment they had had a most beautiful passage; but it seemed to me that, from the day of my arrival on board, the ship was in constant trouble; for no sooner were we clear of one ship than we ran foul of another, and by high water, instead of being near London Bridge, we were only opposite the town of Woolwich; and then, turning to me, the captain said, 'If we never had a Jonah on board before, we have certainly got one now; for we haven't had a bit of luck since you reached the ship: and so the sooner you get upon the shore, the better I shall like it.'" Having picked up a small sailor's chest in the river, he resolved to take it ashore with him, to sell it at Woolwich; but before leaving the "billy-buoy," he put thirty of the captain's biscuits into it. At the arsenal gates he was stopped by several policemen, who demanded to know

what he had inside the chest upon his shoulder; but ultimately he was allowed to pass, and after selling the box in the town, he walked on to London, puzzling his brains as to how he could account for his return home. After sundry efforts of the imagination, and failures in rendering his story harmonious, he concocted the following excuse "We had a very fair passage to Hartlepool, where I joined another ship, agreeing with the captain for thirty shillings for the run home; we had not, however, been at sea more than two days and two nights, when I, being on the look-out, observed breakers ahead, and accordingly turned all the hands up; but before the ship could be brought about, she struck the rocks. The wind being at this time very fresh, she soon went to pieces, the captain and all the men were drowned, and I alone escaped to tell the tale." A very likely story, indeed! And yet, strange to say, it was believed, and Ned was sympathised with by his relatives and neighbours. It so happened that Ned's uncle, who was an old sailor, heard the yarn, and disproved it to every one's satisfaction but the mother's, who gave credit to her son; and thus he was permitted to remain at home. Work was procured for him with his father, and for some few weeks he conducted himself properly, bringing home the money he earned, and resolving to labour honestly and with diligence. His weakness was not idleness, nor can it be said that he ever lacked in industrial enterprise, but his love of mischief was ever a prevailing passion.

Chapter Second.

A BAD COMPANION.-ASSAULT AND

IMPRISONMENT.-ROBBING

THE DEAD.-APPRENTICED AS A WATERMAN.-HEARTLESS

ROBBERIES.-CHOLERA IN A

PHEMER TAKEN AT HIS WORD.

HAUNTED HOUSE."-A BLAS