Excerpt from The Boy Tar, or a Voyage in the Dark Strictly speaking, I am not entitled to it. I have never been a captain of soldiers, nor have I held that rank in the navy. I have only been the master of a merchant vessel, - in other words, a skipper But the villagers are courteous, and by their politeness I am styled Captain. They know that I live in a pretty cottage about half a mile from the Village, up shore they know that I live alone - for my old housekeeper can scarce be accounted as company; they see me each day pass through the place with my telescope under my arm they note that I walk out on the pier, and sweep the offing with my glass, and then, perhaps, return home again, or wander for an hour or two along the Shore. Beyond these facts, my fellow-villagers know but little of myself, my habits, or my history. They have a belief among them that I have been a great traveller. They know that I have many books, and that I read much; and they have got it into their heads that I am a wonderful scholar. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.