I LEARN AND DO SOME TEACHING I lay in a bunk in one of the two little forward cabins next the stable, shivering and sobbing, a pitiful picture of misery, I suppose, as any one ever saw.

I began bawling as soon as the captain commenced putting arnica on my back--partly because it smarted so, and partly because he was so very gentle about it; although all the time he was swearing at John Rucker and wishing he had skinned him alive, as he pretty nearly did.

To feel a gentle hand on my shredded back, and to be babied a little bit--these things seemed to break my heart almost, though while Rucker was flogging me I bore it without a cry or a tear.

The captain dressed my back, and said, "There, there, Bubby!" and went away, leaving me alone.
I could hear the ripple of the water against the side of the boat, and once in a while a gentle lift as we passed another boat; but there was nothing much in these things to cheer me up.

I was leaving John Rucker behind, it was true, but I was also getting farther and farther from my mother every minute.