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    The Life of a Ship
    The Life of a Ship
    The Life of a Ship
    Ebook44 pages34 minutes

    The Life of a Ship

    By R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

    ()

    Read preview
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 26, 2013
    The Life of a Ship

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      Book preview

      The Life of a Ship - R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

      The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of a Ship, by R.M. Ballantyne

      This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

      almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

      re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

      with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

      Title: The Life of a Ship

      Author: R.M. Ballantyne

      Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21745]

      Language: English

      *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF A SHIP ***

      Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

      R.M. Ballantyne

      The Life of a Ship

      Chapter One.

      The Life of a Ship from the Launch to the Wreck.

      Song of the Sailor Boy.

      Oh! I love the great blue ocean,

          I love the whistling breeze,

      When the gallant ship sweeps lightly

          Across the surging seas.

      I watched my first ship building;

          I saw her timbers rise,

      Until her masts were towering

          Up in the bright blue skies.

      I heard the cheers ascending,

          I saw her kiss the foam,

      When first her hull went plunging

          Into her ocean home.

      Her flags were gaily streaming,

          And her sails were full and round,

      When the shout from shore came ringing,

          Hurrah! for the Outward-bound!

      But, alas! ere long a tempest

          Came down with awful roar

      And dashed our ship in pieces

          Upon a foreign shore.

      But He who holds the waters

          In His almighty hand,

      Brought all the sailors safely

          Back to their native land.

      Davy was a fisher boy; and Davy was a very active little boy; and Davy wanted to go to sea. His father was a fisherman, his grandfather had been a fisherman, and his great-grandfather had been a fisherman: so we need not wonder much that little Davy took to the salt water like a fish. When he was very little he used to wade in it, and catch crabs in it, and gather shells on the shore, or build castles on the sands. Sometimes, too, he fell into the water neck and heels, and ran home to his mother, who used to whip him and set him to dry before the fire; but, as he grew older, he went with his father in the boat to fish, and from that time forward he began to wish to go to sea in one of the large ships that were constantly sailing away from the harbour near his father’s cottage.

      One day Davy sat on a rock beside the sea, leaning on his father’s boathook, and gazing with longing eyes out upon the clear calm ocean, on which several ships and boats were floating idly, for there was not a breath of wind to fill their sails.

      Oh, how I wish my father would let me go to sea! said Davy, with a deep sigh. "I wonder if I shall ever

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