they said the ship was going to sail, I got aboard and hid on the
lower deck.

"Two days after that I thought the ship was going to the bottom of the
sea, and I didn't care very much, for I had been vomiting, and it
seemed as if my heart was breaking, and I was sick--so sick that I
didn't care whether I was dead or alive. One of the sailors heard me
groaning and pulled me out by the leg. Then he looked at me and swore;
caught me by the neck and dragged me before the captain. I was so sick
I could not stand; but the captain was not angry. He was very funny,
for he laughed very loudly, and said:

"'Put the kid to work, and if he doesn't do it, put a ten-inch hose on
him!'

"Four of us altogether had stowed away on that ship. The other boys
laughed a good deal at me because I got the easiest job of them all.
When I was able to stand on my feet, they made me clean a little
brass cannon. I could clean it sitting down, and I liked the job when
I was not sick. Every one was good to me, and I had a happy time the
last few days of the voyage. Then I came to New York and met you."

This, in briefest outline, is the story of Johnnie Walker. I met him
at a mission on the edge of the North River, and was as touched by his
story as others had been before me. So I took him to my home,
introduced him to the bathroom and to a new suit of clothes, and
Johnnie entered upon the happiest days of his life. After a few weeks
I handed him over to the Children's Aid Society, and they sent him out
West. He has always called me "father."