



Produced by Annie R. McGuire








[Illustration: HARPER'S ROUND TABLE]

Copyright, 1897, by HARPER & BROTHERS. All Rights Reserved.

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PUBLISHED WEEKLY. NEW YORK, TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 1897. FIVE CENTS A COPY.

VOL. XVIII.--NO. 907. TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.

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[Illustration]

A BOAT AND A BOY.

BY JOHN HABBERTON.


Some boys, like some men, have greatness thrust upon them. Bruce Marvel
became one of these boys one day to his own great surprise.

Bruce was a good shot with either rifle or shot-gun; he could pitch,
catch, or strike a ball as well as any other boy of his age, and he
could handle a horse better than some men who travel with circuses.
Still, he had spent most of his life in an inland village where the
largest body of water was a brook about six feet wide. It stands to
reason, therefore, as boys are very like men in longing most for what
is farthest from their reach, that Bruce's consuming desi