The Adventures of a Boy ReporterMorrison, Harry Steele
General
The Adventures of a Boy Reporter
Morrison, Harry Steele
Reporters and reporting -- Juvenile fiction
He was again successful in getting the vegetables finished in time for
the evening meal, and then he had an idea that he might be allowed to
rest for awhile, but he soon realised his mistake. He was advised to
begin work on the potatoes for breakfast if he didn’t want to get up at
two o’clock in the morning and pare them, so once more he took up the
knife and began to clean and scrape. It was ten o’clock before he
had finished, and he found himself too tired to spend any time on the
after-deck with the crew, but went at once down into the small, stuffy
room where he was to sleep with some of the stewards. His back ached
from bending over, and his hands were all sore from being scraped.
Things were not very pleasant in this bedroom, but poor Archie was glad
enough to be able to lie down on the hard straw tick and go to sleep.
He slept soundly until he was awakened at four o’clock in the morning by
the second cook, who ordered him up-stairs to work. There was no time to
wash, and no place where he could wash, so the boy was obliged to go up
just as he was, much as he disliked doing so. And once up-stairs there
were various chores which were waiting for him in the galley, so that
he was kept running until breakfast was served. And then it was time
to begin paring vegetables again. This turned out to be the invariable
daily programme, and Archie became rather discouraged. Had it not been
for the thought that by doing this he was saving money to send home, he
would have been miserable indeed, but this idea kept him hopeful. He was
seasick, too, for a time, and was obliged to keep cleaning vegetables
in the galley during the whole period of his suffering. The days when he
was ill in this way were the most disagreeable ones of the voyage, and
Archie often described afterward his feelings as he sat peeling potatoes
with a bucket standing beside him. Each night he slept like a log, and
each morning he was obliged to get up at four o’clock and start work
again. It was the same thing day after day, tiresome and monotonous, so
that Archie wasn’t sorry when the beautiful island hove in sight, and
they anchored in the picturesque bay of Honolulu.
Once at Honolulu, Archie’s term of service on board the liner was
over, and he was glad, indeed, to get ashore, where he learned that the
transport had not yet arrived, but was expected in two or three days’
time. These two or three days Archie determined to spend in sightseeing,
and he spent his time to excellent advantage in visiting every quarter
of Honolulu and seeing every side of life in the Hawaiian capital. He
found it a delightful place. There was much that was interesting to see,
the people were pleasant to meet, and the climate was perfect. He was
almost sorry when he learned that the transport had anchored in the bay!
CHAPTER XIV.
THE VOYAGE ON THE TRANSPORT--A STORM AT SEA--ARRIVAL IN MANILA.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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