The boy travellers in the Far East : adventures of two youths ... - Library

52
THE BOY TRAVELLERS.
the conversation ended. Half an hour later dinner was on the table, and
the passengers sat down to it.
The company was not a large one, and there was abundant room and
abundant food for everybody. The captain was at the head of the table,
and the purser at the foot, and between them were the various passengers
in the seats which had been reserved for them by the steward. The pas-
sengers included an American consul on his way to his post in Cliina,
and an American missionary, bound for the same country. There were
several merchants, interested in commercial matters between the United
States and the Far East ; two clerks, going out to appointments in China
two sea-captains, going to take command of ships; a doctor and a min-
ing engineer in the service of the Japanese government; half a dozen
"globe-trotters," or tourists; and a very mysterious and nondescript in-
dividual, whom we shall know more about as W'e proceed. The consul
and the missionary were accompanied by their families. Their waves and
daughters were the only ladies among the passengers, and, according to
the usual custom on board steamers, they were seated next to the cap-
tain in the places of highest honor. Doctor Bronson and his young-
companions were seated near the purser, whom they found very amiable,
and they had on the opposite side of the table the two sea-captains alreadj'
mentioned.
Everybody appeared to realize that the voyage was to be a long one,
and the sooner the party became acquainted, the better. By the end of
dinner they had made excellent progress, and formed several likes and
dislikes that increased as time went on. In the evening the passengers sat
about the cabin or strolled on deck, continuing to grow in acquaintance,
and before the ship had been twenty-four hours at sea it was hard to real-
ize that the company had been assembled so recently. Brotherly friend-
ships as well as brotherly hati'eds grew with the rapidity of a beanstalk,
and, happily, the friendships were greatly in the majority.
Life on a steamship at sea has many peculiarities. The ship is a world
in itself, and its boundaries are narrow. You see the same faces day after
day, and on a great ocean like the Pacific there is little to attract the at-
tention outside of the vessel that carries you. You have sea and sky to
look upon to-day as you looked upon them yesterday, and will look on
them to-morrow. The sky may be clear or cloudy; fogs may envelop
you ; storms may arise, or a calm may spread over the waters ; the great
ship goes steadily on and on. The pulsations of the engine seem like
those of the human heart ; and when you wake at night, your first endeavor,
as you collect your thoughts, is to listen for that ceaseless throbbing. One
;