“You don’t know what a longing I have for life on the ocean,” added James. “For ever so long I have been thinking of the matter; but mother never gave her consent till lately, and then, only to ship on Lake Erie.”

“There’s where your mother is right. She knows your abilities, and wants you should follow what your abilities fit you to become. I shouldn’t think she would ever consent to such a wild project as your goin’ to sea. To be a sailor, when you might be a teacher or governor, is the most foolish thing in the world.”

“Now, captain,” replied James, as if doubting his sincerity, “do you really think that my talents promise any such result as that?”

“Certainly I do; I shouldn’t say it if I didn’t think so. I would go to school in the autumn, and teach school next winter, if I were in your place. You’ll earn money enough this summer, nearly, to pay your way.”

The conversation ceased; but James’s thoughts ran on. He began to wonder whether he was such a fool as would appear from the captain’s remarks. It was quite evident that Captain Letcher had set him to thinking in the right direction. If he did possess talents for some high position, he was a fool, surely, to throw them away for nothing. He began to see it in that light. What his cousin had said tallied very well with what several other people had told him, and he began to think that all of them could not be wrong. “In the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established.”