The master complained of me; and Mr.
Masterman called and scolded me well. I became more disobedient, and
then I was punished. This irritated me, and I made up my mind that I
would run away to sea. You see, William, I was all in the wrong; and so
will all boys be who think they know better than those who have charge
of them; and now only see what I probably lost by my foolish conduct. I
say
probably, for no one can calculate or foresee what is to
take place; but, as far as appearances went, I had every prospect of
receiving a good education - of succeeding Mr. Masterman in his
business, and, very probably, of inheriting his large fortune; so that
I might have been at this time a rich and well-educated man, surrounded
with all the comforts and luxuries of life; perhaps with an amiable
wife and large family round me, to make me still happier, instead of
being what I now am, a poor, worn-out old seaman upon a desert isle. I
point this out to you, William, to show how one false and foolish step
in the young may affect their whole prospects in life; and, instead of
enabling them to sail down with the stream of prosperity, may leave
them to struggle against the current of adversity, as has been the case
with me.
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