“I will give you an order for money to cover your expenses,” Mr. Brown continued, “and we can send your salary to your family while you are away, if you like. You will be able to give us some good letters from Cuba and Mexico.” Dick was sure of that. Summer had changed to fall, and fall was rapidly turning into winter; and to visit the tropics in winter, to go out of the cold and slush of New York into a region of eternal summer, was something that he had dreamed of, but hardly hoped ever to realize. “President Diaz speaks English fluently,” Mr. Harding told him when he arrived, “so you will have no trouble on that score. Of course the language of the country is Spanish. Here is a letter of introduction to the American minister in Mexico that will open the way for you.” The good night’s sleep that Dick had arranged to have did not come. A large part of the night was spent in packing and making ready, and when at length he got to bed he had too many things to think of to fall asleep. “Remember that you are all we have, Dick,” his mother sobbed when she bade him good-by in the morning; “don’t be rash, for I do not see what we should do if anything should happen to you.” “It’s hardly more than a picnic, mother,” he replied as gayly as he could. “In four or five weeks I’ll be with you again; and won’t I have great stories to tell you about what I’ve seen!” Florrie and Darling went to the wharf with him, and their waving handkerchiefs were the last impression that Dick had of New York as the steamship Alameda drew out from her pier and crept down the Hudson River. The upper and lower bays, the Narrows, the Quarantine islands, the forts, and big summer hotels along shore were all familiar sights to him, but life aboard ship was like being in a new world. It was his first ocean voyage, and he was prepared to enjoy every novelty and make the most of it. It was a surprise to him that the ship was more Spanish than English. The officers all spoke English and so did four or five of the passengers; but the waiters spoke Spanish, the bills of fare were printed in both Spanish and English, the cooking was Spanish, and in the cabins and staterooms were posted notices from which he learned his first Spanish sentence:-- _Aquí no se permite fumar_--“Smoking is not permitted here.” It was a necessary warning, for nine tenths of the passengers were Cubans, dark-skinned little fellows with cigarettes forever between their lips. All these things Dick noticed before the ship passed Sandy Hook, for after that there was an unpleasant period of two days when he lay in his berth seasick and forlorn. When he appeared on deck again the steamer was below Hatteras, and a school of porpoises were playing antics in front of the bow.