A few years later I entered the academic department of the State University, and I can say without blushing that I worked faithfully that year both in my studies and in athletics. When the summer came and the vacation months set in, I returned home and began work on one of the dailies as a reporter, which position I held until college opened the following fall.

During my sophomore year I succeeded in making the 'varsity football and track teams, and as a consequence I was pretty much the man by the end of the season. The same year I was elected athletic editor of the Tar Heel, the college weekly, which I held down fairly well, as I had had some previous training in the newspaper field.

Spring came, and in due time summer and vacation days would follow, but before the spring had fairly set in I began to formulate plans for the summer months. There are numerous ways by which a young man may spend a pleasant summer, but I think by far the most interesting and adventurous one is a trip across the Atlantic on a regular old cattle boat. I decided to make the trip across with two college chums. Arriving at Newport News, Va., two days after we had finished our examinations, we were not long in completing our arrangements for a trip on the cattle boat. The cattle exporter agreed to give us each one pound, English money, and a return passage on one of the company's boats. This being satisfactory, we were instructed to be on board early the following morning, as the ship was due to sail by seven o'clock sharp. The night previous to our sailing we slept very little, so anxious were we for the morrow.

Awaking about four o'clock on the morning of our sailing, we immediately proceeded to don the rough and ready clothes for this occasion. By the time our dress was completed we looked like graduated tramps or some other creatures of the same sort with the degree "Hell from Texas." Brownie with his blue bandanna. Dug with his old football jersey and corduroy trousers, and I with my boots and a sweater which had seen service for several years.

My headgear was most becoming, an old brown felt hat from which all the brim had been torn with the exception of a small part in front which served as a protection for the eyes. Each and every one of us realized that we were booked for a "rough and ready, lookout for number one" trip. We gathered up suit cases and made our way rapidly to the dock where the ship was lying in readiness. Seven o'clock found us safely aboard. After walking around the deck several times in search of an officer, we found the second mate, who, for the asking, readily permitted us to store our suit cases in his cabin. Three hours later we were gliding along the Virginia coast bound due northward, and by twelve o'clock land could no longer be sighted.

Our foreman, that is, the foreman of the cattle squad, Dave Smith, came on deck in the forenoon and informed us that we need not come below till four bells that afternoon, as the other fellows who were experienced cattlemen, would attend to the stalling and roping of the steers, a tough job. At noon our dinner was issued, but having eaten an unusually good breakfast we "really didn't care for anything," especially since the food was not over appetizing. After having examined the food, we pitched it over the side of the boat, telling the second cook that our dinner was enjoyed immensely,—and so it was, I presume, by the fish.

The Shenandoah was some three hundred and sixty feet in length by fifty in breadth. She had two decks, which were respectively the main deck and the cattle deck. The main deck was used for various purposes, the fore part being used as a promenade for the officers and passengers; the rear part was on this trip used as a sheep deck, while in the central part of the deck were the cabins. Directly underneath the main deck was the cattle deck. This is divided up into stalls, and in every stall there were four cattle. The stalls run along the side of the ship parallel to each other, and the intervening space is termed the alley way. This main alley was divided by more cattle stalls in the hatchways, consequently making two alley ways. Underneath the cattle deck in the big holes was stored our cargo, which was principally hay and corn. This being a slow steamer, she made about twelve knots an hour, but during rough weather her speed was diminished by something like five knots.

That afternoon all the cattlemen were ordered up to the steward's room, where we were each issued a blanket, tin cup, plate, knife, fork and spoon. This completed our kit. As for food, we were each issued two pounds of brown sugar and two pounds of margerine; this was supposed to last one week. When eight bells sounded we three went below and there were put to work feeding cattle. First we rolled the bales of hay down the alleyway from one hatchway to another; then, after having cut the wires on the bales, we would shake it apart and scatter the hay along the edges of the stalls in the alley way. When the cattle had eaten about half of the hay we then began to "fork in," that is, to fork the hay out of the alley way into the troughs, and after this was properly done we swept clean the alleys. It was fearfully hot and stifling down there with the cattle; even with nothing on our bodies except armless gymnasium jackets, it was beastly warm. It was not a great while before the ship began to roll and rock, and we soon began to feel a little touch of seasickness, which was brought on so early by the heat and dust in which we were compelled to work. Before the setting of the sun I was leaning over the rail of the ship, deathly sick, and humming in my mind the tune of "Home, Sweet Home."

All the cattlemen are supposed to sleep in the forecastle, situated in the rear end of the ship, on the cattle deck, just over, or, rather, to the left of the stern. This was a dark, damp, forbidding little room, with only a few small portholes to admit the light. It was fitted up with wooden bunks on either side, and in the centre of the room stood a greasy wooden table on which the cattlemen ate. Besides being dark, damp and dingy, it was in the very part of the ship where the rolling was most perceptible, and if we had attempted to sleep there, we would, most assuredly, have had to tie ourselves in for fear of being rolled out of the bunks.

There were seven other cattlemen on the boat, and they did not seem to mind at all where they bunked or ate. We had investigated the forecastle that afternoon and found that we could not endure it. So, when darkness came and we had completed our day's labor, we quietly rolled up in our blankets with the ship's main deck for a mattress and our coats for pillows. It was not the least trouble for us to sleep, for we had slept none the night before, and, besides, we were weary from toil and sick from the sea.

The following morning at a quarter to six I was aroused from my peaceful slumber by Mike, a great big, strapping young Irishman, who was beating on my boot soles with a wooden paddle and bidding us "Git up," as it was time to begin watering the cattle. I was no sooner on my feet when I knew that my seasickness was still with me, nor did I recover from it for several days to come.

We usually finished watering the cattle about seven o'clock. The job of watering is the hardest and most tedious of all. Every head of stock has to be watered from a bucket, placed in the trough.

Each bullock will drink on an average three or four buckets of water every morning, so carrying from one hundred to two hundred buckets of water from a spot some thirty or forty feet away is no snap. Brownie always fed the hay while Dug and I did the watering. In watering one often loses one's temper, for the cattle will sometimes upset the water and, in consequence, drench the tender; and when the water is being placed in the trough they will very often butt over the bucket. After watering, we were always wringing wet, and would have to wait for hours before we could get a chance to lie in the sun and dry our drenched clothes.

When the watering was finished, the next thing was to get up, out of the ship, forty-eight bales of hay and fifty bags of shelled corn.

Generally Dug and I stood below and lifted the hay up to the cattle deck, while the other fellows rolled the bales along the alley to the hatchways, where they were to be used. We had about the hardest job of all, for lifting two hundred and twenty-five pound bales of hay is not an easy job by any means.

At eight o'clock breakfast was issued, which always consisted of a stale loaf of bread for each man, a piece of salted horse meat, and a bitter drink substituting tea or coffee.

We three fellows always ate on deck, or on a box in the alleyway when the weather was raw. For breakfast we were allowed half an hour, and as soon as that time was up we were set to work sweeping the alleyways and cleaning out the troughs.

For the noon meal we had only one dish, which was "scouse," a mixture of meat and potatoes, thoroughly boiled in water. This dish is a favorite one with seamen, but I never cultivated a taste for it. We were allowed a rest of three hours after the noon meal, and that particular time was looked forward to with pleasure, for, not being used to hard labor with such a small and unappetizing amount of food, a nap in the sun was, as might be expected, much appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed.

At three o'clock we began salting the cattle, and oh! how I used to hate that, for I knew the salt would make the cattle drink more water the morning following. After salting, we fed hay, forked in, and then swept out the alleyways. By the time we had this finished it was nearing the supper hour, and this meal was just as bad as the rest, everlasting bread and coffee.

More hay was forked in after supper, and we usually completed our day's work about seven o'clock, making in all about ten hours slavish work. When this was finished we never spent any time loafing, but retired to our quarters, ready to sleep.

For three days I remained deathly sick, taking neither food nor water, and yet I held up through it all, doing my share of the work.

On the fourth day out I felt better, and ate a little, which strengthened me considerably. At one time during my fast I was actually so feeble that I almost weakened under the small bags of corn. Mike and his little clay pipe filled with "Sensation Tobacco," used to keep everybody on the ship in bad humor, for the odor of that pipe was enough to sicken any one. When I regained my appetite, I ate everything in sight. I did finally come to "scouse."

Well, crossing the banks of Newfoundland, the weather became intensely cold, and had we not discovered the "donkey room," I hardly know what we would have done. The "donkey room," a little place situated directly over the engines from which all the good warm air comes. This hovel was about half filled with coal, and every spare moment we spent in this room drying our clothes and warming our shivering bodies. We were no sooner dry when the spray would again drench us to the skin, and only one night during the entire trip did we sleep in dry clothes; luckily we were not subject to colds.

The fourth day out the weather began to change for the worse, and on the fifth day we witnessed a most fearful storm in which Branner and I came near losing our lives; had it not been for the life-lines we would have been lost.

We were working on the main deck with some sheep. The wind was blowing a terrific gale, and the waves were angrily dashing some fifteen or twenty feet above the deck of the ship. It was pouring rain and lightning was playing fantastically on the black, treacherous looking clouds in the distance. The ship was pitching in every direction, and we could only keep our positions by holding tightly to the life lines which were stretched across the deck. We had been working there about half an hour when the ship gave a tremendous lurch, followed by a most savage plunge into the water; a huge wave swept the deck, carrying off fifty-two sheep, pens and all, right out from under our feet, while we held frantically to the line.

The sheep and pens were carried over with such force that the iron railings which surround the deck were mashed and torn to pieces; part of it being carried into the sea with the sheep and the pens. The weather became so very bad that we were compelled to change our sleeping quarters.

Nights thereafter we lowered ourselves through one of the hatches to the bottom of the ship by means of a rope, and there on the bales of hay we made our beds.

We slept in the bottom of the ship for eight nights. Every morning at a quarter of four the night watchman would open up the hatch and yell in a deep voice, "Hello, down there, quarter of four, time to water," and we would invariably reply with the question, "How is the weather to-day?"

The answer would usually be, "Bad, the sky's still foaming."

The bad weather continued for five days, raining all the time, the ship tossing from side to side. After we had fully cleared the banks the weather began to get better and three days before we landed it was again calm. During clear weather, on afternoons when work was finished we used to go up on deck, strip, and then turn the hose on one another. It was a trifle cold but after we had given ourselves a friction bath with a rough towel, we felt like new beings and were ready for our beds of hay and a good night's rest, to be followed by another day's labor.

Often we would amuse ourselves on deck by a wrestle or a round or two with some of the sailors, who thought themselves the best men on the ship. Three rounds in the ring with a husky sailor is positively guaranteed to remedy any case of indigestion.

There were some great characters on our boat besides Mike Johnson, the big Irish foreman. There was old man Dunn, "the locator." I believe he sometimes went by the name of Colonel Dunn, but he was generally known among the cow-punchers as the "Locator," for at every available opportunity he applied the word "Locate," generally humorously inappropriate.

Colonel Dunn was a man of sixty-seven years, born in Scotland, near Edinburgh. At the age of ten he ran away and joined a ship bound for Australia. On his arrival there he spent several months on a ranch some hundred miles in the bush. Soon tiring of this, he embarked for England where he enlisted in the English cavalry. He subsequently served in the French cavalry for three years and in Uncle Sam's cavalry for six years. He was in the West with General Custer, but just a few days before Custer made his last stand Dunn was taken ill, consequently not participating in that historic fight. He had crossed the Atlantic over twenty times and had been around the world more than once; besides he had traveled in almost every land of the world.

The winter before I met him, he had spent on a ranch in the range country of Montana, and the spring he passed trapping fur bearing animals in the wildest parts of the Rocky Mountains. Even in his old age he could, it was said, handle a rifle and pistol to perfection and could sit a bronco as long as the next man. Such was the Honorable Colonel Dunn.

The three cattlemen were "Yorky Kid," "Cockney," and "Willie off the Yacht." "Yorky Kid" was a young fellow of twenty, born in New York and who took to beating trains at the early age of twelve. Before he was sixteen he had traveled in every state and territory of the Union; and while with us he was making his fourth voyage across the Atlantic. He was a fairly decent looking chap, big hearted and generous.

"The Cockney" was, without a doubt, the most broken down piece of humanity I have ever seen. Born in England, he emigrated to the States in the early seventies, since then he had been in Baltimore, begging, and, I presume, stealing whatever came in his way. He was a bony, puny, yellow complexioned fellow, with black piercing eyes and dark hair. He was an inveterate cigarette smoker, besides being death on any kind of intoxicating drinks, from the raw alcohol down.

"Willie off the Yacht" was a character worthy of study. I knew by his speech and manners that he was not an ordinary individual. By close questioning I found out something of his past, though he was extremely shy about referring to anything concerning the bygone days. Born in a little inland town of Maryland, the son of a poor man, he prepared for college by push and perseverance.

Believing that New York offered many opportunities for a lawyer, he decided to practice there. Within ten years he had a law practice which brought him annually a comfortable income. Seven years later he drew from his bank a sum which represented the savings of years, and with this he began to play the wheel of chance. As fate would have it, he lost. Disappointed and heart sick, he drifted to the bad, and from bad to worse until he became nothing but a mere hobo with an alcoholic brain and parched lungs.

On the thirteenth day out we sighted land on the Irish coast, and I can truthfully say it looked good to me and was a welcome sight to all aboard. As we traveled onward we could see the land more plainly until at last we were able to sight distinctly three mountains, in bold outline against the sky, the Calf, the Cow, and the Bull.

We steamed along the Irish coast for several hundred miles and old castles dotted along the hilltops and sides overlooking the sea were refreshing sights. In the afternoon, about five o'clock, we unloaded our cattle three miles from Liverpool and by eleven we were docked.

In Europe! Goodness, it seemed like a dream to think that what we had always longed for had become a reality. At Liverpool we rested a few days, and "stall fed" till we were in trim; then we put out to see what there was to be seen on the other side of the pond.

It would be useless for me to attempt to describe everything of interest we saw for the sights have been described half a hundred times over by others. At any rate, there was very little we missed, for we were all very energetic, and if there was anything to see we certainly were not going to miss it.

In short, we spent some months in Europe, prowling around in England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Russia, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Holland. We had the grandest time of our fair young lives, and after the tramp we were ready to return to our native land.

A few months later found me back in the States, penniless from my sojourn in Europe, eager to get home in contemplation of a hurried preparation for the University. The return trip was not so disagreeable in that there were no cattle to care for and an occasional bask in the sun on deck, with an abundance of literature in my bunk, the time was whiled away very pleasantly. The day after arriving in Newport News found me in Norfolk.

I waited till night for the purpose of swinging the nine o'clock blind baggage. I loitered around the station in the afternoon, in the mean time finding out all I possibly could concerning the different trains that leave Norfolk. Along about half after eight it began to rain and by nine o'clock it was pouring. I was sitting on the inside of the station when the "train yeller" announced the departing train.

The rain was coming down in torrents, and the night was a fearfully dark one, so I had no trouble whatever in getting on the blind baggage without being observed.

I crawled up on the platform and lay flat, keeping as close to the baggage door as I could for the rain had already drenched me to the skin even in the few moments I had lain there waiting for the train to pull out.

We were soon off and I lay on the platform, drenched to the skin. It was rather late, and then, too, on account of the inclemency of the weather, there were only a few people around the country stations so I felt secure in my position.

About an hour after we had departed from Portsmouth we steamed into the little town of Wilson, and there I would have been caught had I not been just a bit faster than that rural constable.

It had not rained at Wilson and there were a great many people gathered at the station. As the train pulled up to the station people were walking on either side of the track, up and down, and it was almost impossible for me to escape observance as the lamps from the station were shining brightly, thus bringing me in full view of the people loitering thereabouts.

The train had hardly arrived when a young fellow and his girl came walking along and on seeing me he remarked, "Oh, look at the tramp." I could have pounded him, but under the circumstances I thought it best for me to keep quiet and say nothing. This I did, but before I knew what had happened a policeman came up by the side of the train and made an attempt to nab me. I was too fast for the old boy; just as he was aiming to lay hands on me, I scrambled for the other side and jumped from the platform. I made a bee line down the dark track and plunged off into the bushes. He pursued, but all in vain for I was a little too fleet of foot for him. I lay there in the bushes for only a few minutes, and when the train came by I swung the blind baggage and was again on my way. This time the engineer saw me swing aboard and at the next station I was ejected from my position by the flagman. The train was so closely watched I found it quite impossible to gain my seat again. I was put off, away out in the lonely woods and everything around was as dark as pitch. The only thing looming up in the darkness was a little station building which sat by the side of the track.

After feeling my way around in the darkness for some time I finally found a flat car loaded with big sewer pipes, and into one of these I crawled, where I remained for the night. Shortly after I had taken up my abode in this peculiar sleeping quarter it began to rain furiously, but I was protected from the terrific downpour, happier in my tunnel than Jonah in his whale. I did not sleep much for my clothes had been drenched in the early part of the evening, and I was shivering from cold throughout the night.

It was a broken rest, but when I emerged from my quarters the following morning, I must confess I did feel just a wee bit better.

On examining the contents of my purse, I found that I was the possessor of exactly forty cents. Nearby was a small country store, and there I purchased breakfast, which consisted of apples and sweet cakes. This left me with the fabulous sum of thirty cents, so I began to figure out how I could manage to get home on that. I walked into the station and purchased a ticket to the next stop, a distance of seven miles. The express was due at ten forty so I had only a few moments to wait. When the train came to a standstill I entered the coach, took my seat, and sat there awaiting the conductor.

I had purchased a ticket for only seven miles, but it was my intention to stay on just as long as the conductor did not notice it, so presently he came in, collected my ticket, and at the same time remarked, "I believe this ticket carries you to Roundville." I did not speak, but merely nodded a reply. The station master had evidently put him wise to my game, so I saw the jig was all up for me. When we reached the next station, the conductor looked in the coach and yelled, "All out for Roundville." I immediately arose from my seat and before the train had fairly stopped I jumped from the platform, on the side opposite the station, and ran along the track unobserved to the baggage car, where I boarded the blind.

There I rode for several miles and at the next stop I alighted.

In this village I spent the day. I passed the time chopping wood for an old lady, who gave me food in recompense for my work. That night I caught the nine o'clock local. Everything went well until we struck a big grade going down the mountain side, and when descending at a rapid speed the fire box of the engine fell out, and I was almost literally covered with coals from the engine as they were positively sifted on me.

As soon as the engineer discovered what had taken place he brought the big monster to a standstill on the side of the slope.

As fate would have it, it had been raining considerably that night, and there were great pools of water by the side of the track, so before the train came to a full stop I jumped from my position and rolled over by the side of the track in the cold water, for already my garments had begun to burn, and in two or three places the coals had eaten through the clothing and blistered the flesh, which was horribly tormenting.

This drenching in the water soon put out the fire on my clothes, but I lay there to make certain. When the train halted I was lying in the gully by the side of the last coach, so near that I could plainly hear the inquiries of the passengers as to the cause of the delay. There in the water I remained some five minutes, and then I got up and stole quietly along the side of the coaches to the engine. The men were still working on the fire bin, so, to avoid discovery, I concealed myself in the bushes by the side of the track. We were there fully half an hour, and during that time I thought I would surely freeze, for my clothes were drenched, and there was no possible means to dry them.

The engineer and the fireman soon adjusted the bin and it was not long before we were on our way. It was now about midnight and there was only the station master at each of the little stations, so I was not so likely to be discovered. I rode on quietly until the flagman came to give the engineer some orders, and he could not help seeing me, for I was stretched across the platform, over which he had to pass on his way to the engine.

He saw me when he opened the door of the baggage car. I raised up and as I did he told me that I would have to get off at the next stop. I assured him that I would, and at the next station, before the train had come to a standstill, and before he came out to see that I did get off, I jumped from the train and ran along by the side of the track in front of the engine. I ran down the track for about one hundred yards, and concealed myself in the bushes.

I waited only a moment when the train rolled by. With one grand plunge I grabbed the rail of the baggage car and swung myself to position. The baggage clerk was standing in the door of the car and he saw me get on, so within a few moments the conductor came out and said that I would have to get off. He added that if I did not get off he would place me under arrest and turn me over to authorities at the next station. I told him that I would, but before we reached the next station I crawled up on the coal car and buried myself in the coal, out of the view of anyone. I literally buried myself in the bin and dropped off to sleep, for I was so exhausted I could hardly hold open my eyes. How long I slept I knew not, but when I awoke I know that everything around was just as hard black as could be.

On awaking, I felt a horrible sensation of not being able to move, and I was not long in discovering that I had been buried deeper in coal, which had been emptied in on top of me from an elevated shoot at a station where we had stopped to take on coal and water.

There must have been a pretty good coat of coal covering me for I scrambled and fought for some time before I was able to free myself from the uncomfortable position.

We arrived at Danville at daybreak and as the engine pulled into the yards I dropped off and walked down the track where I found a water spigot and there I bathed face and hands. Half an hour I spent trying to get the coal dust out of the pores of my skin, eyes and ears.

A river runs right through the railroad centre of the town, thus dividing the passenger and the freight yards. A hugely constructed bridge spans this stream, so I proceeded to the freight yards and there I was successful in getting one of the local freight conductors to allow me to work my way to Greensboro, a town en route home. I was informed the train would not leave till nine thirty.

Two hours at my disposal, I decided to spend it as profitably and pleasantly as possible. Walking over to the bank of the river, where there were tied scores of little boats, I unfastened one and shortly was smoothly gliding down the river. When I had floated to the outskirts of the town, I pulled into the bank and hitched my boat, undressed and took a cool plunge. I dried myself on the underclothes and then threw them to the currents. Realizing it was too much of a job to paddle that boat back up the stream, I left it tied fast and hit up a lively pace for the freight yards.

Before leaving Danville, I placed a note in one of the neighboring boats advising the owner of the whereabouts of the borrowed one.