019 - Sailors' Yarns by Pierre Loti

At some point in our lives, many of us have yearned to be a daring rover, a swashbuckling buccaneer, or perhaps just a sailor at heart. The dream of running away to sea has captured the imaginations of countless youngsters, with some daring souls eventually chasing that dream—only to find it comes with its own set of challenges. If a boy hasnt felt a deep love for ships and the salty embrace of the ocean at some stage in his youth, he might just be destined for the shore—a fate that no true sailor would wish upon anyone! (From the introduction, by Cyrus Townsend Brady)