{"product_id":"2940013580046","title":"Ran Away To Sea","description":"CHAPTER ONE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI was just sixteen when I ran away to sea.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI did not do so because I had been treated unkindly at home.  On the\u003cbr\u003econtrary, I left behind me a fond and indulgent father, a kind and\u003cbr\u003egentle mother, sisters and brothers who loved me, and who lamented for\u003cbr\u003eme long after I was gone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut no one had more cause to regret this act of filial disobedience than\u003cbr\u003eI myself.  I soon repented of what I had done, and often, in after life,\u003cbr\u003edid it give me pain, when I reflected upon the pain I had caused to my\u003cbr\u003ekindred and friends.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom my earliest years I had a longing for the sea--perhaps not so much\u003cbr\u003eto be a sailor, as to travel over the great ocean, and behold its\u003cbr\u003ewonders.  This longing seemed to be part of my nature, for my parents\u003cbr\u003egave no encouragement to such a disposition.  On the contrary, they did\u003cbr\u003eall in their power to beget within me a dislike for a sea life, as my\u003cbr\u003efather had designed for me a far different profession.  But the counsels\u003cbr\u003eof my father, and the entreaties of my mother all proved unavailing.\u003cbr\u003eIndeed--and I feel shame in acknowledging it--they produced an effect\u003cbr\u003edirectly opposite to that which was intended; and, instead of lessening\u003cbr\u003emy inclination to wander abroad, they only rendered me more eager to\u003cbr\u003ecarry out that design!  It is often so with obstinate natures, and I\u003cbr\u003efear that, when a boy, mine was too much of this character.  Most to\u003cbr\u003edesire that which is most forbidden, is a common failing of mankind; and\u003cbr\u003ein doing this, I was perhaps not so unlike others.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCertain it is, that the thing which my parents least desired me to feel\u003cbr\u003ean interest in--the great salt sea--was the very object upon which my\u003cbr\u003emind constantly dwelt--the object of all my longings and aspirations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI cannot tell what first imbued me with a liking for the sea, for I had\u003cbr\u003esuch a liking almost from the years of childhood.  I was born upon the\u003cbr\u003esea-shore, and this fact might explain it; for, during my early life,\u003cbr\u003ewhen I was still but a mere child, I used to sit at the window and look\u003cbr\u003ewith admiring eyes on the boats with their white sails, and the\u003cbr\u003ebeautiful ships with their tall tapering masts, that were constantly\u003cbr\u003epassing and repassing.  How could I do otherwise than admire these grand\u003cbr\u003eand glorious structures--so strong and so graceful?  How could it be\u003cbr\u003eotherwise, than that I should imbibe a longing to be on board of them,\u003cbr\u003eand be carried afar over yonder bright blue water?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs I grew older, certain books had chanced to fall into my hands, and\u003cbr\u003ethese related to the sea--they told of lovely lands that lay upon its\u003cbr\u003eshores--of strange races of men and animals--of singular plants and\u003cbr\u003etrees--of palms and broad-leaved figs--of the banyan and the baobab--of\u003cbr\u003emany things beautiful and wonderful.  These books strengthened the\u003cbr\u003einclination I already felt to wander abroad over the ocean.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47180438339824,"sku":"2940013580046","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013580046_p0.jpg?v=1763582993","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013580046","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}