"I'm palsied grown with mortal pains, My withered limbs are useless now; My voice is almost gone, you see, And I can hardly make my bow. "Perhaps you'll lead me to a shed Where I may find some friendly straw On which to lay my aching limbs, And rest my helpless broken paw. "Stranger, excuse this story long, And pardon, pray, my last appeal: You've owned a dog yourself, perhaps, And learned that dogs, like men, can _feel_." Yes, poor old Rover, come with me; Food, with warm shelter, I'll supply-- And Heaven forgive the cruel souls Who drove you forth to starve and die! THE CRUISE OF THE "GHOST." BY W. L. ALDEN, AUTHOR OF "THE MORAL PIRATES," ETC. CHAPTER I. The boys had talked all winter of the cruise which they hoped to take in a sail-boat during the coming summer, and they spent a great many Saturday afternoons at boat yards and places in New York, Jersey City, and Brooklyn, where sail-boats are laid up for the winter. They found several cat-boats that suited them very well, and that could be bought at a low price; but they did not find it so easy to convince Uncle John that a sail-boat cruise would be a safe enterprise for boys so young as Tom Schuyler, Jim and Joe Sharpe, and Harry Wilson. They did not say much about it to Mr. Schuyler, Mr. Sharpe, or Harry's father, for, as Joe pointed out, when Uncle John Wilson gave his consent, it would be time enough to speak to them. "If I go now," he said, "and ask father if I can go cruising in a cat-boat, he'll say, 'Most certainly not, my son; boys have no business with sail-boats.' But if Uncle John goes to him, and tells him all about it, he'll be perfectly satisfied, and say, 'My son, I think you had better do as Mr. Wilson suggests.'" Joe was quite right, for Mr. Sharpe, while he knew nothing about boats, had entire confidence in Mr. John Wilson's prudence and judgment; and though he would have been very apt to refuse to give his sons permission to go sailing--on any ordinary occasion--he would have consented to any plan proposed by so careful and trustworthy a man as Uncle John was known to be. When the sail-boat cruise was first proposed to Uncle John, he was not inclined to think well of it. "You've been Moral Pirates in a row-boat," said he, "and now you want to try Moral Piracy in a sail-boat. To tell you the truth, boys, I don't half like the idea. To manage a sail-boat requires more coolness and judgment than boys generally have, so I don't think the Department will be able to put a sail-boat in commission this year."