Born to Wander: A Boy's Book of Nomadic Adventures

"After the sea-ship, after the whistling winds, After the white-grey sails, taut to their spars and ropes, Below a myriad, myriad waves hastening, lifting up their necks, Tendin...

"The upper air burst into life, And a hundred fire-flags sheen, To and fro they were hurried about, And to and fro and in and out The war stars danced between."

"Meanwhile some rude Arion's restless hand Wakes the brisk harmony that sailors love; A circle there of merry listeners stand, Or to some well-known measure featly move, Thought...

Scene: A prettily-furnished room in a building that forms part and parcel of a lighthouse, on a small lonely island on the coast. The island is little else save a sea-girt rock,...

"Moon the shroud shall lap thee fast, And the sleep be on thee cast, That shall ne'er know waking. Haste thee, haste thee to be gone! Earth flits fast, and time draws on-- Gasp...

If my young reader took an ordinary sized map or chart of the world he could follow with eye or finger the route, _en voyage_, taken by our wanderers for the next few months, ti...

"Forth from the dark recesses of the cave The serpent came With searching eye, and lifted jaw and tongue, Quivering and hissing as a heavy shower Upon the summer woods."

And when the chrysanthemums opened their great eyes, and turned their faces upwards to meet the light, they felt quite put about to see those flowers still in bloom. They would...

Scene: The lighthouse island on the morning after the storm. The sea all around it, still covered with foam-capped waves. The wind dying away, but rising every now and then in u...

Yes, everything they saw in this voyage and in these seas was indeed very new to Leonard and Douglas. They certainly were pleased they had come. It was like being in a new world.

Scene: A green hill or knoll rising with a gentle sweep from the woods near Grayling House, on one side gigantic elm trees, with rooks busy nest-making. On the other, at the roc...

"And now the storm-blast came, and he Was tyrannous and strong; He struck with his o'ertaking wings And chased us north along. And the ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, An...

"Far in the west there lies a desert land, where the mountains Lift through perpetual snows their lofty and luminous summits; Billowy bays of grass, ever rolling in shadow and s...

"Oh! who can tell save he whose heart hath tried, And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide, The exalting sense--the pulse's maddening play, That thrills the wanderer of that t...

"I asked a glad mother, just come from the post, With a letter she kissed, from a far-away coast, What heart-thrilling news had rejoiced her the most, And--gladness for mourning...

Scene: The interior of a cave on a lonely hillside; a huge fire of wood and peat is burning in a kind of recess hewn from the solid rock. A large cauldron is boiling over it, an...

"How sweet it is when mother fancy rocks The wayward brain, to saunter through a wood; An old place full of many a lovely brook, Tall trees, green arbours, and ground flowers in...

"I foraged all over this joy-dotted earth, To pick its best nosegay of innocent mirth, Tied up with the bands of its wisdom and worth,-- And lo! its chief treasure, Its innermos...

"But yonder comes the powerful king of day Rejoicing in the east. The lessening cloud, The kindling azure, and the mountain's brow Illumed with gold, his near approach Betoken g...

door, and a porch, around which summer roses and honeysuckle are entwined. The occupants are three. They are out of doors now, seated on the lawn which stretches down to the shi...

Morning broke grey and hazily; the wind, as if it had done its worst and spent its fury, went down, but the sea still ran very high, dashing in cold spray over the bergs on whic...

"Yon wild mossy mountains sae lofty and wide, That nurse in their bosom the youth of the Clyde, Where the grouse lead their coveys thro' the heather to feed, And the shepherd te...

north of Cumberland Gulf. Yet not all Indian, for then; are houses here now as well as Eskimo huts, and white men are moving about busy at work, in company with the little brown...

Scene: Glen Lyle in spring time. The larch trees already green and tasselled with crimson buds. The woods alive with the song of birds. The rooks busy at work on the tall, swayi...