He had spoken to several people, but they, full of their own affairs, had pushed him rudely on one side, as if a small boy was too insignificant to pay attention to. There was no hope of his getting on shore now, for the only place where they might have landed him was Quarantine, and that was out of sight. The tears trickled down his face still, and a strange fear that the captain might beat or imprison him took possession of his mind. He had heard of people being put in irons and confined in some dark place for a trifling offense. Suppose they asked him for his passage ticket, what could he say? It was not likely that the captain would take him a journey of three thousand miles for nothing. He had no money, his knowledge of the sea and of seamanship was so meager that he did not think he could work at anything. Then, again, if they did not throw him overboard, which he regarded as a possible contingency, what would he do at Liverpool without a friend or a cent in the world? The more he thought over the situation the more grave did it appear. He was standing nearly amidships on the side of the rope which divides the steerage and the saloon passengers. It was no use to look imploringly at people who passed him; he was nobody's child, as it were. The huge ship seemed like a town to him, it was so vast, and held such a number of people. After a while the crowd on deck decreased, as the land receded from view, for everyone wished to put his state-room in order, and get ready for dinner. They neared the Hook, Coney Island was on the left, and the Highlands of Navesink, vested in a blue mist, were lying gracefully on the right. A slight swell began to be perceptible in the motion of the vessel, which showed that there was a stiff breeze and a rising swell in the Atlantic. A bell rang. The deck was soon deserted by the few who had remained up to the last minute to enjoy the breeze and get an appetite for dinner. A lad about sixteen came up to Tommy and exclaimed: "Now, then, captain, you'd best be going below to get your grub." "Thank you," replied Tommy, rubbing his eyes. "I'm not hungry, only miserable." "How's that?" The lad was fair-haired, blue-eyed and good-natured, if his face could be trusted, and he stared curiously at Tommy. "Are you saloon or steerage?" he asked; "because, if you're steerage, you'll get bounced if you come this side of that rope." "I don't know what I am, and that's a fact." "Come, don't guy me! Where do you belong? You must know who you came aboard with." "So I do." "Who was it?" "I came with the corpse," replied Tommy, with the utmost seriousness. The fair-haired lad laughed. "They call me Wild Charley!" he exclaimed, "and what my other name is don't matter to anybody, since I left home without asking permission to go; but in all my experience, I never traveled with a corpse."