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He intended to bequeath him the farm, so
that he could spend his life like an honest man in raising good
vegetables for the New York market. Following the sea, Hanz urged, was a
very dangerous occupation, and where one man made any money by it, more
than a dozen lost their lives by storms. But Tite was not to be put off
by such arguments. The spirit of adventure was in the boy, and all other
objects had to yield to his natural inclinations. And now, at the age of
twelve, we find Tite a smart, sprightly cabin-boy, on board the good
sloop Heinrich, making the voyage to New York and back once a week, and
taking his first lessons in practical seamanship.
Wonderful changes had been developed along the beautiful Hudson during
these twelve years. People in the country said New York was getting to
be a very big, and a very wicked city. Already her skirmishers, in a
line of little houses, were pushed beyond the canal, and were
obliterating the cow-paths. The honest old Dutch settlers shrugged their
shoulders, and said it was not a good sign to see people get rich so
fast.


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