Young Matthew was walking down the sidewalk on one cold, dark night. His feet were tired and he was about to pass out from exhaustion. Just as he was about to shut his eyes, he heard a man call out to him. “You okay, squirt?”

Matthew looked to his right and saw a man sitting on top of a barrel with a lit lantern in his hand. He was wearing a blue coat and sailors hat, with brown pants and two thick, black boots.

“Who are you?” Matthew asked, hoping the man would help him.

“Tory, Captain Tory. What are you doing out here boy? Where are your mother and father at?”

“I left them,” Matthew replied.

“Now what kind of a barnacle head are you?! A young squirt such as yourself can’t possibly survive out here by himself!”

“I prefer to be out here, then spend another moment in that house.”

Captain Tory looked at the kid with a realized expression after seeing the bruised marks on his left arm. He stood up, walked towards the boy, knelt down in front of him and put his hand on his shoulder.

“You hungry, boy?” Captain Tory asked, with a change in attitude. Matthew shook his head with a slight amount of effort. “Well, then, come along with me. I’ll take you somewhere to get some food and rest.”

Captain Tory held the boy in his arms as they walked about a mile down the road. He put the boy down on a bench and walked over to a railing facing a bay. He swung his lantern three times and slowly the schooner appeared. Mathew woke up and walked over to see the ship. It was beautiful; a long, massive boat with at least seven people on board.

Captain Tory took the boy on the boat and brought him to a small dining area below the deck. He ate enough food to last two grown men an entire day. Then he slept in a nice bed from midnight to ten in the morning.

By the time he woke up, the boat stopped at an orphanage. It was in great condition, with five floors. “Here you are, boy. A nice place for you to stay.”

“I don’t want to go. I want to stay here.”

Captain Tory gave a heavy sigh. “Boy, this isn’t the place for you to stay. You will be better off here.”

Matthew looked like he was about to cry. Tears were filling his eyes.

“How about this? I promise to come back here, when you are a grown man. And if you truly want to come work with us, we will offer you a spot on this crew.”

Matthew accepted this offer and spent many years, until he was eighteen, in that church. A few days after he became a man, Captain Tory returned. The two didn’t say a word to each other when they finally saw each other. Tory just held up a vice captain’s hat and Matthew accepted it.