It was very
hard for me to leave without seeing my brother; but I decided that, as
he was very well contented in his situation, I had best go away quietly,
so that, whatever might befall me, I should not be the means of bringing
trouble to him. I had decided to leave my master the first opportunity
that should offer for so doing. He one day gave me a sharp and, as I
thought, unmerited rebuke, and ended by striking me a blow. That blow
caused me to form the decision of leaving him at once, and that very
night I left Philadelphia. I made my way to the city of New York, where
I managed to live for a time by selling newspapers; but my profits were
so small that I soon became disgusted with the employment, and I
obtained the situation of waiter in a large hotel, where I remained for
some time. I often thought of writing to my brother; but I was aware
that the knowledge of my employment would be painful to him, for he was
of a proud and sensitive nature. Time passed on, and I at length sailed
as cabin-boy in a vessel bound for Liverpool, in England. I followed the
sea for many years; and, in the bustle and turmoil of a sailor's life, I
almost forgot my brother, from whom I had been so long separated.
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