Go-Ahead Or, The Fisher-Boy's Motto

Go-Ahead; Or, The Fisher-Boy's Motto

"Bad luck again to-day," said Bob Jennings, as he reluctantly drew in his line and glanced at his empty basket, which he had hoped to take home full of fish, "I've been here since seven o'clock this morning, and haven't had a single bite. If it is true that 'Fortune favors the brave', it seems to me she is a long time in finding out that there is such a fellow as Bob Jennings in the world, for the harder I work, the worse I get along." As the fisher-boy spoke, he pulled up his anchor, hoisted a small tattered sail in the bow of his boat, and filled away for home, as poor as when he set out in the morning. It was no wonder that Bob felt somewhat disheartened, for he was but twelve cents better off at that moment than he had been the day before. He had ferried six ship-carpenters across the harbor that morning, and[6] then pulled five miles up the bay, to his fishing-grounds, only to return empty-handed. And that was not the worst of it, for a "streak of bad luck," as he called it, had attended him during the entire week. It was then Friday; and since Monday morning he had earned just a dollar and a quarter. Fishing had been unprofitable, and the ship-carpenters seemed to have taken a sudden dislike to his boat, for, of late, he had never been able to secure more than half a load, and his ferrying did not yield him twenty cents a day. He had worked hard, but luck was against him, and, in spite of all his exertions, he had not been able to earn enough to pay the week's expenses; and that morning his mother had told him that she would soon be obliged to use a portion of the fifteen dollars which Bob had managed to save as part of the sum necessary to support the family while he was gone on his first voyage at sea. Bob had been expecting this; and it was the worst part of his week's "streak of bad luck," for that fifteen dollars had been saved for a special purpose, and he did not want to see it used for any thing else. He had staked all his hopes upon the result of this day's work, and thus far he had earned but twelve cents. Some boys, perhaps, would have thought fifteen dollars a very insignificant sum to be troubled about, but Bob looked upon it as quite a respectable fortune. There were not many fisher-boys about Newport who could boast that, during the last six months, they had fed and clothed a family of four persons, and saved money besides. Bob was the only one among them who ever laid by a penny for a rainy day; but, unless his luck soon changed, he would be as poor as the rest of themhis fortune would melt away,[7] and his first voyage be indefinitely postponed. The fisher-boy was not in the habit of grumbling because every thing did not work as smoothly as he desired, but, under such circumstances, he found it almost impossible to keep up a cheerful heart. He was willing to work, but he wanted to see that he was making some headway in the world. When fortune favored him, and he could give his mother fifty, or even twenty-five, cents every evening, there was not a happier boy in Newport than Bob Jennings. He felt rich; and it is probable that he would even have hesitated about changing places with his friend Tom Newcombe, whom he sometimes envied. But when luck went against himas had been the case during the week that had just passedBob could not help getting downhearted, for it seemed to him that every failure he made placed the object of his ambition farther beyond his reach. He wanted to become the master of a fine vessel, but he could not go to sea leaving his mother unprovided for; and thirty dollars would be sufficient to insure her against want during his absence. After nearly six months' hard work, he had saved half the amount required, and he had begun to hope that, by the time the spring arrived, he could give up fishing and ferrying, turn his scow over to his brother, and enter upon his career as a sailor. But Bob's hopes had been ruined more than once by a "streak of bad luck," and now it seemed as if misfortune was again about to overtake him. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 55683
Author: Castlemon, Harry
Release Date: Oct 6, 2017
Format: eBook
Language: English