his possession. His father sickened and died before he had accomplished his object, and young Smith, being left with a competent estate for his support, was persuaded to remain at home and to prepare for a mercantile life. His guardian apprenticed him, at the age of fifteen years, to Thomas Sendall, of Lynn-Regis, on the southern shores of the Wash. Sendall was "the greatest merchant of all those parts."

The inactive life of the counting-room was distasteful to young Smith, and because his master would not send him to sea, as he desired, he left his service and entered into the train of Peregrine Barty, second son of Lord Willoughby, who was going to France. His conduct had been so offensive to his friends that they were glad of his departure, and gave him, "out of his own estate," he says, "ten shillings to get rid of him." He seems not to have pleased his new master, for, six weeks afterward, he was discharged from his service, at Orleans, and Barty gave him sufficient money to defray his expenses back to England. But the young adventurer, delighted with his gratified taste for travel, was unwilling to go back and bury himself in the solitudes of Willoughby. He lounged in Paris for a while, when David Hume, a benevolent Scotchman, who had perceived the talent and energy of the boy, gave him some money, and several letters to friends in Scotland, in which young Smith was recommended to the patronage of King James.

But the lad still lingered in Paris. At length his money was exhausted, and he went to Havre, where he began to learn the art of war. He finally enlisted under the flag of Captain Duxbury, and for three or four years he was a soldier in the Low Countries, aiding Prince Maurice against the Spaniards. In that struggle Maurice was successful, the Netherlands became independent of Spain, and Smith found himself out of employment. With David Hume's letter he started for Scotland. Shipwreck and sickness almost destroyed him. He survived both, and sought the favor of the Scotch court. His letters of introduction gave him kind friends among the hospitable Scots, but he found very little encouragement to become a courtier; so, after a brief tarry there, he made his way to his native place, and received a portion of his patrimony. Society there was too tame for his restless ambition, and he withdrew from it altogether. In the bosom of a great forest, by the side of a stream of pure water, he built for himself a comfortable lodge of boughs, and there he became devoted to the study of military tactics in the best authorities of the day. He amused himself with hunting and horsemanship, and his single servingman brought him whatever of life's comforts he needed. He became a wonder to the surrounding country, for rumor spread wide many tales of the young and accomplished hermit. The curiosity of Theodora Polaloga, an Italian gentleman, an accomplished horseman, and a highly esteemed attaché of the Earl of Lincoln, was excited, and he visited Smith in his retreat. They

became warm friends, and at length Polaloga enticed Smith back to society.

The ardent temperament of Smith would not allow him to bask long in the dreamy sunshine of commonplace society. His soul, full of aspirations to perform great deeds, was again aroused to action. He looked around for a theatre whereon he might gain personal renown. He saw it, broad and inviting, in the East. At that time Rudolph the Second, Emperor of Germany, was waging war against the Turkish Sultan, Mohammed the Third. The encroachments of the Ottomans in the direction of Central Europe had alarmed Christendom. Already the Turks had gained possession of Lower Hungary, and were moving steadily onward toward the heart of the country. There appeared to Western Europe a necessity for another crusade. The prospect delighted the quick mind and stout heart of Smith, and he resolved to make his way to the field of conflict, join the German army, and fight for Christianity and his own fame and fortune.

Our hero was now only nineteen years of age. His frame was strong, his health robust, and he had an iron will. He first went to the Low Countries, where he unfortunately became acquainted with four French rascals who planned a successful scheme to rob him. One pretended to be a nobleman and the others his attendants. They persuaded Smith to travel with them into France. The captain of the vessel in which they sailed became their accomplice in villainy, and on a dark night, while Smith was asleep, he sent a boat ashore with the four Frenchmen, who took the young adventurer's baggage with them, and the victim never saw them nor his property afterward. The passengers, suspecting the villainy of the captain, offered to assist Smith in killing him, and in taking possession of the vessel. He promptly rejected their proposal, for his sense of honor would not allow him to oppress the innocent to punish the guilty, by appropriating to his own use the property of others.

He landed at St. Valery, on the coast of Picardy, and by the kind aid of a fellow-passenger, he made his way to the town where he ascertained the robbers lived. But he sought for justice in vain. Poor, friendless, and a foreigner, his words had no weight with the authorities, but the story of his wrongs awakened the sympathies of several noble families in the vicinity, and they entertained him hospitably. His fine personal appearance, agreeable conversation, and chivalric ardor, made him a favorite among the young ladies, and love and valor had strong conflicts for a while. But a life of ease and a sense of dependence were unsuited to his spirit, and soon, with high resolves, a trusty sword, and a lean purse, he turned his face toward the field of conflict in the East.

The young adventurer's means were soon exhausted, and he suffered greatly from hunger, fatigue, and exposure. One day, when utterly overcome, he lay down on the margin of a spring to die. He was discovered by a wealthy farmer, who became his friend, and furnished him with

means to reach the Mediterranean coast. In a sea-port town he met one of the rascals who robbed him. Both drew their swords at the same moment, and a desperate fight occurred. Smith was victorious, and in the presence of a crowd he compelled the culprit to confess his villainy. The confession was all he obtained, yet it satisfied him.

Finding himself in the neighborhood of the seat of the Earl of Ployen, with whom he had formed an acquaintance in Paris, he went there and was very hospitably entertained. He did not tarry long. His purse was well filled by his noble friend, and in high spirits he journeyed to Marseilles. There he embarked for Italy, with a large crowd of Roman Catholics of all nations, bound on a pilgrimage to Rome. A heavy storm arose. They touched first at Toulon, and then cast anchor under shelter of St. Mary's Island,

off the coast of Savoy. The storm increased. The tempest howled terribly, and the superstitious pilgrims regarded Smith as the cause of their peril. Always bold in the utterance of his sentiments, he had not disguised the fact that he was a Protestant and an Englishman. They thought of the fugitive prophet on the voyage to Tarshish, and regarded the storm as a token of Heaven's displeasure at the presence of a heretic among them. They reproached him scornfully, spoke harshly of his "dread sovereign," Queen Elizabeth, and so ill-treated him that he fell upon and beat them with a cudgel. They had the advantage of numbers, and they cast him into the sea to appease the angry tempest. He swam to the island of St. Mary, and the next day he was taken on board a French vessel bound for Alexandria, in Egypt, commanded by a neighbor and friend of the Earl of Ployen.