A true history of three orphans

Front matter

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Contents

I— Early Life of Three Orphans 9

IT — An Attempt to Escape 23

III— My First Sea Voyage 33

Chapter II. An Attempt To Escape

Finally one beautiful Autumn day, when my classmate and I were working in the field, out of sight of the rest of the boys, we sneaked away and made for the woods. We had hardly reached the woods, when my chum began to slacken his pace and gradually slowed down from a trot to a walk and he was several rods behind me before I noticed him. When I had made the brush, I stopped and asked, "What is the matter, are you getting tired?" "No, I am not," he said, "But I was thinking it over and guess it would be better for us to go back and wait for a better opportunity and be better prepared than we are now." Such was his excuse and he offered a good many more, but the truth of it all was, my good friend, Pete got scared out and I either had to turn back or go on alone and I chose the latter, much to my sorrow.

I told Pete, before we parted, that I had an Aunt who lived in Groningen and if I could reach the City before the gates were closed, I would go to her house and perhaps she would take me in. I also told him to tell no one which road I took and with a handshake we parted.

As the wood was free from all underbrush, it did not take me long to get to a crossroad, which led to the main road and this I had traveled before often. However, in order to save time I changed my course about two points to my left, cutting off quite a distance by the time I came out of the wood.

The weather was fine and as the roads were in good condition for traveling, I put forth all my energy to reach the City before the gates should close for the night, getting there between eight and nine o 'clock in the evening, as I remember.

Once in the City, I soon found the street where my Aunt lived, as my brother and I had visited her several times while our mother was living. When I came to the house, I went up to the front door and rang the bell and a young girl came to the door. I asked her if Mrs. Soand-So lived there. She said "Yes" and went to call my Aunt. Presently my aunt came to the door and I knew here at once, as she looked so much like dear mother; she stood in the doorway and looked at me as I pleaded my cause and for a few minutes she hesitated, not knowing whether to slam the door in my face or to take me in as a poor wayward orphan of her unfortunate and departed sister. Much to my surprise, she chose the former, and as I had not expected such treatment my clogged brain began to stir itself; for the first time in my life I began to think a little as a man and I began to regret my folly and feel a little lonesome. However, as I had nobody to blame but myself for my predicament, I had to suffer the consequences and make the most of it.

When I left the house of my good relation. I changed my course and went to one of the City gates where there was a guard house ; when I was within a few feet of the sentry, I stopped and asked him if he thought the sergeant would let me stay at the guard house for the night. He said he did not know, but I could go in and ask the sergeant for himself. I went inside the guard house and turning to my right, I found myself in a little room with »the night officer, who was writing at a table. I stood there fully a minute, before he raised his head and giving

2^ me a surprised look, asked me what I wanted. I told my story briefly, for I had decided what I wanted to say before I went in. While I was talking to the sergeant, the corporal came in from the next room, who must have heard me talking before he entered, as there were only thin partitions between the rooms where the officers and guards slept and any loud conversation could be heard. When the corporal came in the sergeant asked, "What do you think of it, Bill? What shall I do with this young fellow?'' "If I were boss, I'd give that boy a night's lodging and give him something to eat and I know you will, sergeant," replied Bill. "As for being responsible for a runaway orphan who wants to see the country, we need have no fear, for if the authorities want him, they will get him in spite of all we could do." Thus, with the good corporal pleading in my favor, the sergeant let me stay for the night with the guards ; some were lying on the platform sleeping, and some smoking their pipes.

One of the soldiers asked me if I was hungry and I nodded my head that I was. He gave me some bread which I stowed away quicker than I ever did before or after. After many questions had been asked and answered I went to sleep and slept until they woke me at eight in the morning. After I had washed and was about ready to set out on the road again, they told me to wait a few minutes and they would give me some soup. I was no stranger to soup, for I had not forgotten when William and I lived near the barracks with our father and mother and were permitted to come and go as we pleased, for we had been born and spent a few years of happy childhood among the soldiers and thus were known by everyone from the highest officers down to the privates. At nine o'clock the soup appeared and I ate all I wanted and before I left they took up a collection for me. Thus after many thanks I started out once more with a lighter heart, but before I was a great distance from the city I met a constable who gave me a suspicions look and asked me where I was going and where my home was. I told the constable that I was looking for work and he smiled and said, "You must be the boy who run away from the orphan asylum Veenhuisen, for you answer to the description. You had better come along with me." He wondered why someone had not picked me up before, as it was an easy matter to identify me by my clothing, especially my knitted cap.

I was almost glad, however, when he took me to the first institution where my brother and I had lived. Much to my surprise no one came for me the next day and soon a week had passed and I was still in the home. I began to wonder if they were going to let me stay and if my guardian had anything to do with it. However, I was mistaken, as I have been a good many times since, after once becoming acquainted with people. The day before I was to go, the good old matron told me some one would come for me about seven o'clock the next morning. In the morning when I was eating my breakfast, the matron handed me twenty cents and I remember now it was all in pennies, then presto — in walked the policeman and without much ado took me along with him.

This gentleman of the peace was a tall, well-built person with a bearing that commanded respect and he was as kind to me as anyone I ever met, while I was under his charge. First he took me to the Courthouse, where he received orders to take me to a place about three miles outside the City; here a constable would meet us. We traveled a different road going out of the City, passing through the most beautiful and interesting parts of that wonderful, ancient city, one of the oldest citadels of the Netherlands; a city surrounded by those artificial mounts

2$ ~— | winch were thrown up in the Days of the Rise and Fall of the Dutch Republic, of which the great American historian. Motley, gave such a graphic account.

What pluck and perseverance those 'brave patriotic people must have had to struggle so many years to keep those human devils from invading the country they loved so well! What labor and skill it must have required to throw up those walls to such a height that when standing on top one could look over the whole city, to say nothing of the five draw-bridges that spanned the moat to meet the arches that pierced the wall, but at every entrance to the city, the moat was not as wide as the distance between them. On the side next to the mount, a solid brick wall, two or three feet wide kept back the earth from the mount and the ground behind it was covered with a thick growth of grass gradually sloping until it reached its center between the mount and the brick wall, thus forming a beautiful valley and charming playground for the children who liked to climb the sides of the sloping mount and slide down into the valley. There was also a place on top of the mount for the older people to walk and inhale the fresh air; the walks were lined with trees.

Many times William and I climbed the mount and slid down the sides into the valley and many times we walked on the terrace at the top. One day when we had strayed quite a distance from our usual playground, we met two men, walking backward, wearing aprons that were doubled up to their breasts and letting out the flakes from which they spun rope, they were turning back from their last pole, when we met them. We went on until we came to a wooden building and as we were curious to see everything, we stayed longer than we ought to have and before we got back to our play-ground it was quite dark, however there was no wind and nature was in her calmest mood. As we had never been out at night before, we were somewhat frightened sliding down the slope; soon we heard poor mother calling us at the top of her voice and we answered, when we got home she gave us both a good spanking and then sat down and cried, however we were only children and did not realize the anxiety we were causing her dear heart. But I must go on with my story without any more sentimentalism.

When the policeman and I were out of the city, he asked me if I liked cheese, I said "Yes'' "Well then come on in, ' ' he said when we reached a store, where they sold nothing but cheese. He gave me a good sized piece and said "Now you have something to nibble while we have a long distance to walk" He talked to me as we went along and gave me some good advice on many things, one thing in particular, I have never forgotten.

As we neared the place where he was to leave me and put me in the charge of another officer, he said to me, "Now boy, do not desert again, it won't be long before they let you go and give you a chance to look out for yourself and when that time comes, remember this advice, do not forget the teachings of your superiors, be honest and true to yourself and your fellowmen. What you do, do right, but do not believe everything you may be told or all you hear." He went on to say, "When I was young I had many fancy thoughts, but I tell you boy, all my castles tumbled as fast as I built them and I finally made up my mind to join the Army and served six years in the East Indies, then I got an honorable discharge and a good job, as long as I behave myself " When he stopped talking, I said, "When I am free, I would like to see as much of the world as you have,

Sir.'- He smiled and said "Well boy, I have seen a little of the world, but who knows but what you will see more than I ever heard about. ' '

By this time, we were near the hotel, where we were to stop and as we entered, we noticed two gentlemen at a table eating. I sat down to wait for the constable and one of the gentlemen asked me if I would like to have a cup of coffee, I nodded my head and when the waiter brought in some coffee and nice little cookies, I began to think the world wasn't quite so bad as I thought it was, especially when my Aunt slammed the door in my face ; that there were still some good people in this world and one 's relatives could not always be depended on.

By the time I was through drinking my coffee, the constable arrived and after shaking hands and giving me a few encouraging words, my good friend, the policeman left and the constable and I started for the City of Assen. It was a beautiful day, but the roads in those days were very hard to travel, being chiefly deep, sandy soil.

After we had walked for about an hour, my under-pinnings began to feel somewhat tired and I took off my wooden shoes and stockings. My guard, who was much taller than I, kept a steady gait and it made me hustle to keep up with him. By the time we had gone about three-fourths of the distance, I began to get very tired and hungry and I asked the constable are we not going to stop and get something to eat, so we stopped at the first inn. After staying at the inn for about a half hour, we started out again on a brisk walk and reached the prison gates of the city of Assen between five and six o'clock in the afternoon.

We went into the courtyard and while I stood there I noticed two prisoners walking up and down in their cells, which were made secure with iron bars. The whole atmosphere and surroundings of the place gave me an impression of prison life that I will never forget. One of the keepers put me in a cell with two young men, who had been locked up for drunkenness. The keeper let me out the next morning after breakfast and took me down the street to where another constable was waiting for me. As he walked toward me, he took a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket to slap on my hands. At that moment the warden said, " You are not going to put handcuffs on that boy, are you? He is not a criminal and I know he won't run away from you, even if he should attempt it, you ought to be able to take care of him." The constable looked at the keeper and said, "Well I guess I won't put them on him ;"sowe started off again. The weather was fine, the road run close to the canal, until it reached the Asylum, when it curved off in another direction.

My keeper turned out better than I had expected, he talked to me as we walked along and when we arrived at the Institution, he shook hands with me before he delivered me to the authorities. I was taken to the office and had to answer many questions, why I had deserted and etc., before the court that was made up of two directors, the school-master and some others. The sentence I got was eight days in the lock-up, which they all considered very light, except the school-master and the superintendent, who had spoken in my behalf.

On one side of the prison was a sloping platform about eighteen inches from the floor and with the exception of this there was absolutely nothing to which the lonely prisoner might turn his attention, nothing except the bare walls. While living in this place for eight days and nights, with nothing to do except to eat the food that was brought to me, I had ample time to reflect upon my foolish conduct and to think of my dear departed friends and I made a vow to never again disgrace their name I bore and never forget the good advice of my good friend, the policeman.

By and by the time came when my brother and several others were notified that their time was up at the institution. The reader must well understand that every orphan that left the Asylum was allowed three weeks board and if by that time he could not find employment, he could go back to the institution, however this rarely occured. It was a beautiful Spring morning, when I went as far as the gate with my brother, where we spoke a few parting words, shook hands and parted and once more I felt sad and lonely. However, sadness, as well as misery likes company and as many of the orphans were related, their sympathetic feelings for one another helped to brace them up and in a measure made them forget their loved ones, knowing that they could not always have them with them.

One of the young men who went away left a position that had to be filled immediately and one that no one cared very much for, as it required a person that could read and pray well. It fell to me to take the place, recommended by the school professor. This position put me at the head of the table, gave me more privileges and they began to have a better feeling towards me. Thus having more opportunities to meet and talk with the girl I begun to love so well, the days and months passed by leaving me more contented than I had been.

Sad and unfortunate as the history of my brother and I had been, this sudden change in my childhood was a great help to my natural, happy-go-lucky disposition. It directed my thoughts from the sorrowful past to the everyday doings of our simple life until the time came for me to look out for myself and work out my own salvation. The good opinion of Father Nyman, the superintendent, and his wife and the few extra privileges I had, gave me many chances to speak to my own Maria and made the time pass quicker than I really wished.

At last the time came for my departure and once more there was a change within my humble self, I felt very sad when I met her in the park, poor innocent orphan girl, whom I really loved so well, to whom I would have given most anything of this world's goods to help her along, when she came to leave the institution to go out and fight the battle of life in a hypocritical, deceiving &nd cold world, but I had nothing to give her and she knew it, dear soul. It would be useless to try to describe the feelings within me, as we embraced each other, the warm tears running down our cheeks. So we parted, hoping that we should meet again. With a new suit of clothing and a pair of leather shoes instead of wooden and about three dollars in my pocket, I started out.

Chapter III. My First Sea Voyage

I went down to the little canal boat, which was drawn by horses; when the wind was fair, the sail was set to help the horses along. There were no seats on deck, but below there were seats on both sides, room enough for thirty or forty people. The boat was well lighted, having little windows on both sides, also well painted and as she was built more on the plan of a pleasure boat, than an old-fashioned Dutch galliote, she would show up pretty well, even in our days. She had a sharp-nosed bow and her stern had well-shaped lines. As there were only three of the girls and two boys from the school besides a few outside passengers, there was plenty of room to move about the boat and as everyone had something pleasant to say, the day went quickly.

Toward evening we arrived at the little city of Mepple, situated near the Zuyder Zee. At this place, we changed boats and in the course of an hour started to go across the Zee, getting to Amsterdam early in the morning. As the three girls had their passage paid to some other town, the other young man and I left them and went to one of the Government offices, where we presented our cards to the officials in charge. He gave us a good looking over and after a few questions asked and answered, he told his servant to take us to a place where we could find lodging and look around for work.

We found lodging with a middle-aged lady, whose husband had died two years before; she had two children, a boy, who was her own son and not quite old

as enough to go to school, the other a little orphan girl, who was too young to send to the asylum, the place where Pete and I had lived so many years.

This little girl was like many other poor, unfortunate innocent mites of humanity who had to be taken care of by the Government, who were slighted by the different religious denominations if their parents were not members of any particular church or if their parents lived an army life. There were also many foundlings in those days and unless some gentle sister of charity took them in or some rich lady offered to adopt the poor orphan as her own for a companion, the Government was the only angel left to take care of the little sinner who was generally dropped very unceremoniously on the curb, or in a corner of some church or police station. This was all brought about by the uncontrollable forces of nature assisted by favorable circumstances. The worst of it all was that the institutions in which these foundlings were raised did not bear a very good reputation on their account, which was not very pleasant for the orphans who came from respectable parents — people of which any nation might be proud.

After staying in Amsterdam less than a week my friend joined the army and I went to work for a gardener who lived on the outskirts of the city. I congratulated myself on my good luck, for I liked the looks of the place and family and thought I would like to be a gardener. As I was still in the care of the kind man who had first taken my friend and me in charge and provided board and lodging for us, it was my duty to inform him of my intentions. When I had closed my bargain with the gardener, he gave me two florins as hand money and sent his son along with me to Mr. Beudiker 's. I left my employer's son in another room while I went in to talk to

Mr. B., who asked me how long I had hired myself out to the gardener and I answered, "For an indefinite length of time." He hummed, "For an indefinite time, that means that this man can let you go and do without your services any time he sees fit. There may be work enough for you this Summer, but will he have work for you this winter! If not, and the same thing has happened to many young men like you, you will have to look for other work, which you may or may not get. If you do not, you will not have any claim on the institution from which you came and would have to go out on the streets for you would not have any money for board and lodging. Under such conditions, you would have to beg and as paupers are not tolerated in Holland, you would be sent off to the poorhouse. ' ' Then he paused.

I was all attention to what he said and I am forced to admit that I lowered my head when this somewhat stern-looking man pronounced his sentence on the paupers of the country. I began to feel as little in comparison to Mr. B. as a mosquito to a rain barrel and began to look upon him as some sort of a little god who knew it all, and I acquiesced in whatever he said or proposed.

He went on to say, "Your guardian asked me to look after you and advise you about taking up a trade. You know you will soon be of age and I believe the best thing for you to do is to go on board a ship and become a sailor. Now don 't you think that would be better than becoming a gardener V 9 Once more he paused and gave me a sharp look and I said "Yes, but the gardener has given me two florins as hand money to bind the transaction. ' ' " Never •mind," he said, "you can keep that and I mil make it all right, I will try to get you on a small coaster and provide you with a sailor's outfit, so that you can start out in good shape/ 9

I left this kind man and went to the gardener; however I felt that he was disappointed in me. In about a week's time I received a notice to come to the office where I got a card directing me to go to a dry-goods store and get a sailor's outfit and by that time, I was beginning to feel as though I needed some dry-goods on my poor back. A few days afterwards I got a notice to get ready, as someone would take me to the vessel. As soon as I had deposited my dry-goods on the deck, I shook hands with the drayman.

At last I was put on my own footing to buck against a hard, cold world in which I was a stranger and had no one to direct me. When I started out I never thought nor dreamed that my lot would be one of many hardships, privations and sufferings coupled with many narrow escapes and notwithstanding, all — I would still stay on top of this beautiful earth of ours. However dear reader, are there not thousands in this world that have gone through the same things or even worse and still kept their heads above water and lived to grow old and gray?

As soon as I had changed my clothing the skipper set me to work, while the mate got everything in readiness for the trip. We had a fair wind and went along without any delays and by night reached the little city of Gouda ; we stayed there until early morning and then set sail for Rotterdam. Arriving at Rotterdam, we made fast at one of the piers alongside of a brigantine; she was a nice looking brig and much larger than ours and as I much preferred her to the one I was in, I made up my mind jthat if I had an opportunity towards evening I would see the captain of the larger vessel and ask him if he needed a young fellow. I didn't wait long until the captain came along; he listened to me for a few minutes and then ask-

M ed me if I had been to a shipping office and signed the articles, before T came on board. I said "No" and told him who I was shipping with. "I will see the skipper, he said, I am well acquainted with him and the mate, having come from the same town. If they are willing, you can come to the shipping office to-morrow and ship as my cook." Early the next morning, I went on board the Maria, an able-bodied seaman helping me with my chest and sailor bag. At the appointed time, I was at the shipping office and signed my name to the articles. I was to stay on board until the end of the voyage and was to have five florins a month. When I went back to the ship, the mate took me in charge, showing me all the kitchen utensils, what I had to do and how to do it; then lie walked with me from fore to aft, telling me the names of all the ropes and spars.

Next morning, towards noon, when the able seaman was getting dinner, we started on our little voyage with a load of sand ballast and by night were well on our way on the ocean. As there was not much wind, all went well with me until we got into the North Sea, then the clouds began to thicken and the blue waters of the deep put on their white caps and I began to experience a feeling that was a stranger to me until I got so sick at my stomach that I was forced to vomit, which made me sicker than a poisoned dog and made me wish I had never gone to sea- Early next morning as I was lying under one of the long boats, the mate came to me and handed me a cup of salt water and in a very harsh manner told me to get up and drink it — Neptune's own liquor. I was to get that in my stomach as soon as I could and then climb aloft. The mate stood and watched me drink the salt water, which didn't taste very good, but I could do nothing else for the condition I was in, made me as helpless as a babe.