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Although Seamus had gone be bed quite late Tuesday evening he found it hard to get any rest. All day friends and neighbors from across the Valley of Cummeragh had come by the Gilchrist cottage to say good-bye and to wish him well on his journey to America. He was especially grateful that Brian and Harry McGinty had come by.

"Well now, you don't think that we could let you slip away from us, do you?"

"Naw, thanks for coming by! The day's been something I could never have imagined. Here I am getting ready to leave this place, maybe forever. I mean, this is home, but I am going to America! I just do not know what to think, but I am glad you're here."

"Did you finish packing the satchel my mother brought over to you?"

"Harry, I have packed and re-packed that satchel. I figure that I have kept opening it and closing it so many times that pretty soon it is going to fall apart. And then I've been given so much food to take with me that I think I will burst if I try to eat it all. I guess that they'll have to eat it here."

With that, Seamus took Brian and Harry to his room so that they could personally see their mother's gift. While they were up in his room, Margaret called to them,

"Boys, come downstairs now and have something to eat. We've got enough food to feed all of Ireland down here!"

"Well, come on then, times a wasting! If we don't take care of ourselves, then maybe Brits will try to confiscate the food. And we can't let that happen, can we?"

Even though Seamus was not very hungry, he did come downstairs with Brian and Harry and sat with them. He ate a little bit of leftover Barley Soup, but finally had to tell Brian and Harry,

"My mind just isn't working today. I... I..."

Brian spoke up,

"You can't eat, right? Well, then I'll be eating for you, if that's all right with you!"

Seamus playfully slapped Brian on his arm and said,

"You do that!"

When Brian and Harry finally announced that they had to be getting back to their home, Seamus walked with them outside. Fighting off tears, Seamus told his friends,

"You can never know what you've meant to me these days. You two are the best friends anybody could ask for. I don't know what I am going to do when I'm over there in America and your over here."

Putting his arm on Seamus' shoulder, Brian gently told him,

"You are going to just be who you are and everything will be good. And you'll know we are here rooting for you and we are still your friends. And you won't forget us, will you?"

"How could I? I've got the rock with your names and ..."

With that Seamus could hold it in no longer and he began to cry. This time Brian and Harry were not able to hold it in either and they too began to cry. After what seemed like a eternity they finally took deep breaths and said to Seamus,

"Well, we've got to be off now. You take care of yourself, do you hear, and we will wait for your first letter from America! Good-bye, Seamus!"

"Good-bye, Brian. See you, Harry!"

Seamus wanted to say more, but he did not have the words right now. He just stood at his door and watched Brian and Harry as they headed home. He was grateful that he stayed there long enough to catch their last glance towards him as they turned the corner on the road towards their home.

Seamus waved a final good-bye and then turned to go inside.

"Ma, I'll be back in a short time. I've got something to do."

"Seamus, are you packed? Are you ready? Remember, we have to leave early tomorrow to go to Queenstown."

Laughing he replied, "At sparrowfart, Ma?"

With only a slight look of annoyance, Margaret answered,

"Yes, at sparrowfart. Are you ready?'

"Ma, I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I will be back soon."

With that Seamus went out the door and headed down to Old Dromod Cemetery for one last visit to his father's grave. As soon as he leaned his bicycle against the front wall, he hurried over to his father's grave and knelt down. He did nothing for several minutes. He just looked at the inscription over and over again,

Finally, he made the Sign of the Cross and prayed,

"Pa, I don't know what to say right now. Tomorrow we are going to Queenstown and I am leaving Ireland to go to America. I just want you to know that I won't forget you and I won't forget Ma and the rest of them. I'll be thinking of you all the time."

As he said this, he reached towards the gravestone and ran his fingers over the words "Pray for him and for his family!"

"Pa, does this mean that maybe someone will pray for me too while I am over there in America? I hope so! I'll need their prayers. And will you be with me too, Pa? I guess up there in heaven you know where America is and where California is. I guess you will hear my prayers and know they are from me, won't ya?

Again he fingered the words on the gravestone,

"Pa, you were, you are, a son of free Ireland! I'll make you proud of me even though I will be an American while I am also a son of free Ireland."

With that, Seamus took his rosary out of his pocket and began one last time to pray for his father on his grave. When he was finished his prayers, he inched towards the gravestone and hugged it all the while crying. Finally, he kissed the cross on the top of the gravestone, and said,

"Pa, I've got to go now! Thanks for everything and maybe the next time I talk to you I will be in America."

With that Seamus stood up, made the Sign of the Cross, and headed towards the gate of the Cemetery. He was almost there when he turned back to the grave. He knelt down before the gravestone and pulled the grass away from the base of the stone.

"Pa, I was just thinking, if you won't mind, I'm going to take a little bit of the dirt from here and take it with me to America. Is this ok with you?"

Seamus dug up a little bit of dirt and carefully folded it into a handkerchief. He again stood, made the Sign of the Cross, and headed on his bicycle back home.

For the rest of the day Seamus continued to greet friends and neighbors. He tried to help his mother as she prepared something for the family to eat that evening, but she would not let him help her.

"Seamus, you need to spend time with your friends and neighbors. Don't worry about me."

When night fell, Seamus was finally alone with just his family. Nobody talked about their trip the next morning and Seamus had the good sense not to be talking about getting up at sparrowfart. He knew that this would cause uncontrollable laughing on the part of his brothers and sisters and possible embarrassment for his mother. It just wasn't worth it. But really, sparrowfart!

When he went to his bed, his mind kept going over and over the events of the past few months and the past few hours. He could not imagine that is just a few more hours he would be on his way to the far distant shores of America, ready to start a new life in California.

When Seamus woke up after only four hours of sleep, he looked out the window and thought to himself, "So, this is what sparrowfart looks like!" He smiled as he quickly got dressed and brought his satchel and cloth bag downstairs. His mother was already preparing something for them to eat before Constable Ryan arrived to take them to Queenstown. Seamus looked out the door and could see in the light of the moon Constable Ryan heading down the road towards their house.

"Ma, the constable's coming."

Margaret smiled and this led Seamus to say to his mother,

"Ma, the constable's a widower, isn't he?"

Margaret glared at him and Seamus knew that this was not a topic that he would pursue at this time. He did think, however, that this would be a good match for his mother. "I'll have to be talking to Pa about this!"

Instead of saying anything about the constable, Margaret told her son to go upstairs and get his brothers and sisters downstairs immediately. Before too long, they would have to be off and on their way to Queenstown.

Just as Breda and Tomas came yawning into the room, Constable Ryan pulled up to the cottage. Margaret asked Breda to open the door for the constable.

"Good morning, Margaret. How are you think morning?"

Margaret smiled at the constable and said,

"Good morning to you too! How am I?"

She shrugged and said,

"Well, I'm as good as I can be what my oldest boy heading off to America. No, really, I am good today. Would you like something to eat before we head off to Queenstown?

"Maybe just a cup of good, strong tea. Thanks!"

Seamus then came downstairs followed by the rest of his family. They ate their early breakfast in silence. When they were finished, Margaret spoke up,

"All right now! We're off! Go and get the blankets off your beds so that you can be warm while we go to Queenstown. Maybe you can sleep some more in Constable Ryan's carriage. Be back here in just ten minutes, do you hear me?"

Her family, Seamus included, ran upstairs and fetched their blankets from their beds. Hurrying back downstairs they found her outside already getting things onto the carriage. Seamus carried his satchel. One last time he opened it to put the dirt from his father's grave in the bag with the stone from Dromid Church, the stone carved with the names of his four friends here the Valley of Cummeragh, Brian and Harry McGinty, Liam Crosby and Pat Fitzgerald. He didn't know what he would do without them, but he would never forget them.

When the entire Gilchrist family was safely inside the carriage, ready for their trip, Constable Ryan made one final inspection and said,

"Well, it looks like we're ready. Are you ready, Seamus?"

Wrapped in his blanket, Seamus shook his head and said,

"I'm ready! Let's get going!"

With that they headed down the road towards Queenstown. As they approached Old Dromod Cemetery Constable Ryan slowed down, knowing the Seamus would want one last look at the final resting place of his beloved father. As they passed the cemetery Seamus stood in the carriage, made the Sign of the Cross, and prayed in his heart,

"Good-bye, Pa! The next time I walk to you I will be in America! God rest your soul, Pa, and pray for me too, please!"

By the time they reached Waterville and turned towards Queenstown, the whole family, Seamus included, had fallen fast asleep. Even Margaret began to nod off. Constable Ryan smiled to himself and wondered,

"What else would you expect? It is sparrowfart after all!"

Soon enough the sun began to rise and finally Queenstown came into sight. Constable Ryan let the Gilchrists sleep as long as he could. Finally, he had to wake them saying,

"All right! We're here! This is Queenstown! Wake up all of you!"

Seamus was immediately awake. He stood looking ahead to the place that would be his final moments on Irish soil. All he could think was,

"It's really happening! It's really happening!"

As his family tried to see everything, Seamus just kept looking for the White Star sign and the American Flag. These were the landmarks that he remembered. As the constable turned onto the road leading to the waterfront, Seamus was finally able to see the White Star sign. He looked ahead and cried out,

"There it is! The American flag! We're here! It's really happening!"

Margaret looked with love at her son and then raised her eyes to heaven in a silent prayer that the angels would watch over him on his journey to America. Constable Ryan carefully steered his horse over to the fence near the iron gate leading to the Customs House. He hopped off the driver's seat, hitched the horse to the fence, and then helped Margaret down from her seat. By the time he went to the rear of the carriage Seamus had already jumped off the bed and was trying to find his satchel and cloth bag amidst the blankets they had only a moment before been silently and warmly sleeping in. Constable Ryan smiled and took the gate off the rear of the carriage. He helped Tomas and Breda down, but the rest of them assured him that they could take care of themselves. Once they were all assembled on the side of the carriage, Margaret sighed deeply and said,

"Seamus, we're here now. You are going to America and you are going to have a good life. I'll be praying for you and you be praying for us, will you? Give your mother a kiss now, please."

Seamus didn't know what to say or do and so his mother grabbed him and held him in a tight embrace. Finally she kissed him in the cheek and said,

"Seamus, my boy, my dear Seamus, may the angels watch over you and may our Blessed Lady herself take good care of you over there in America!"

She kissed him again and finally, his voice choking up, Seamus quietly said,

"Ma, I miss you and I love you. Good-bye! I'll make you proud of me for sure and I will write as soon as I can. I won't forget you!"

With that he kissed her on the cheek and then he turned to his brothers and sisters. He shuffled his feet and hemmed and hawed, not knowing what he should say to them. Finally Martin spoke up,

"Hey, Seamus, now that you're going away, can I have your bed?"

"Martin, you do what you like, but maybe you'd better talk to Ma and see what she says."

They all shared a good laugh at Martin's boldness in asking for Seamus' bed, even before he'd left Ireland. Oh well, thought Seamus, I can't blame him. I know that Paul tosses and turns all night. I don't know how Martin ever got any rest with the likes of that one!

After a minute of silence, Seamus finally spoke up and said,

"Well, I guess that it is time for me to go." Pointing toward the iron gate, he told his family, "I've got to go over there and go first to the Customs House and register and show them my papers that I have here in the satchel. Then they say that I have to see a doctor or someone and then I have to take a bath."

"Seamus, take a bath? Why? You did that last night?" Yvonne wondered.

Seamus shrugged his shoulders and said,

"Listen, I do not know what that is all about, but that is what they said. I have to take a bath and then they will put me on some kind of railroad car and we will go along this track right here. When we get to that grove of trees over there, over there by the small dock, then I have to get on a row boat just like the one that is tied to the dock. Then I will go out into the bay and somehow get on the Baltic."

Martin wondered,

"Where is the Baltic? I don't see any boats out there."

Seamus said,

"Well, I guess that it hasn't arrived yet. I think that it is coming somewhere in England and so maybe it is still out on the ocean. I hope it does get here on time."

Having said this, Seamus set his satchel down and rummaged through it looking for the papers that he had been given by the White Star agent. When he found them, he said,

"Let's see now...It says here that the Baltic will sail from Queenstown at 2:00 O'clock this afternoon."

"But it's only 8 O'clock in the morning! Why are we here so early?" Yvonne wondered.

Seamus told her,

"Well, they told me that all of the things that I had to do would take a long time so maybe we'd better get moving. I don't want to be late!"

With that Seamus and his brothers and sisters headed off to the iron gate in front of the Customs House. Margaret and Constable Ryan followed behind them, wondering what they were talking about. Constable Ryan just patted Margaret on the back and said,

"Don't worry about him, Margaret. You raised a good boy and he'll be ok. Don't you be worrying about him any more."

When they arrived at the iron gate Seamus set his satchel and cloth bag on the ground. He turned to his family and said,

"Well, I guess this is it. I love you all and I hope you will remember me."

Tomas popped up,

"Hey, Seamus, I will remember you because you are my 'merican brother!"

They all laughed with and at Tomas, but Seamus waved his hands for them to quiet down. He wiped a tear away from his eyes and went to each one and hugged them and whispered something into each of their ears. They all smiled and nodded their heads in agreement. After he shook Constable Ryan's hand and thanked him for bringing him to Queenstown, he came to his mother and said,

"Ma, I don't know what to say now so..."

With that he drew her close to him and softly cried. He kissed her on the cheek and simply said,

"Good-bye! I love you and will always remember you and Pa!"

With that he bent down and picked up his belongings and headed towards the iron gate. A policeman standing watch asked to see his papers and then motioned towards the Customs House and told Seamus to go through the main door. One last time he turned towards his family and mouthed to them "Good-bye! I love you!" They all kept waving at him until he passed through the doors of the Customs House. It really was happening.

Once inside the house Seamus saw a lady sitting at a desk. She looked up at him and said,

"Can I help you?"

Seamus' eyes lit up and he said,

"I'm going to America!"

You are, are you now? May I please see your papers?"

Seamus gave her the papers that he was still holding in his hands. She carefully looked over them and then looked at a list of passengers that were to board the Baltic that afternoon. Finding Seamus' name she said,

"Ah, here you are now! Very good! Will you please go down that hallway and the man will tell you where to go. Good luck in America!"

"Thank you, ma'am! Thanks much!"

Seamus headed down what seemed like a very long hallway. Finally he came across a man and asked him,

"Where do I go now, sir?"

"Are you going on the Baltic, boy?"

"Indeed I am, all the way to America!"

The man seemed pretty bored as he told Seamus to go to the next door where he would see the doctor. When Seamus went into the doctor's door he saw a bright white room with all kinds of little areas curtained off. There is a nursing sister at the desk. She smiled at him and told him to got to Number fourteen and take off all his clothes. The doctor, she added, will be there in a moment.

Seamus wondered if he'd heard the nursing sister right when she told him to take off all his clothes.

"Pardon, sister, but take off my clothes did you say? Why?"

"Yes, young man, go to Number fourteen and take off all your clothes. The doctor will see you soon and make sure that it is all right for you to go on the boat today. Off you go now!"

Seamus was totally confused. Nobody had ever seen him naked since his mother last changed his nappies when he was a little baby. He did not like this very much at all, but he was smart enough to know that he'd better not complain. He found Number fourteen and when inside the cubicle. He looked around the small space and then set his satchel and cloth bag on the floor. He hung his coat on the small hook and then took off his shirt and undershirt. As he unzipped his pants he was feeling very uncomfortable, but he would do what he had to do, no matter what. However, he decided that he would leave his drawers on. Sitting there naked as the day he was born did not make any sense to him at all.

Seamus must have sat in Number fourteen for at least forty-five minutes before the doctor finally came into the cubicle. He seemed to be a friendly enough man, about sixty years old. He had a book in his hand and when he looked at it he said,

"You must be Seamus Gilchrist. I'm Doctor Harnet. Are you going to America, young man? That's what my papers here say."

With great excitement, Seamus smiled and said,

"Yes, sir. I'm going to California, sir!"

The doctor smiled and motioned him to be seated on a small stool while he sat on a larger chair. He asked Seamus his full name, birthday, names of parents and brothers and sisters. He asked him if he'd ever been sick before. He asked so many questions that Seamus soon forgot that he was talking to a man clothed only in his drawers. Finally the doctor said,

"Good!"

With that he took a small stick out of a box and told Seamus to open his mouth wide. When he put the stick into Seamus' mouth, Seamus thought that he would throw up all over the doctor. Thankfully he didn't. The doctor then looked inside of Seamus ears and said,

"Well, they look good. C an you hear all right boy?"

Seamus told that doctor that his hearing was fine. Then the doctor said,

"Drop your drawers, boy!"

"Pardon, sir?"

"Drop your drawers! I need to make sure everything is all right there."

Seamus turned a deep red as he pulled his shorts off and stood completely naked in front of Doctor Harnet. This was not something he liked doing at all. Nobody, he thought, no body had ever asked him to do this before. The doctor, meanwhile, continued to make notes in his book. Finally he took a small metal circle with a rubber tube attached to it and held it to Seamus chest and put the rubber tubes in his ears. He told Seamus to breath deeply as he listened to something inside of Seamus. He told him to turn around and he did the same thing on his back. Again turning towards the doctor, Seamus was asked,

"Does the plumbing work all right?"

Seamus wondered what the doctor was talking about and do he said,

"Pardon, sir, I do not know what you mean."

The doctor replied,

"Young man, does the plumbing, your willy, work all right?"

Seamus again turned a deep red. Never before had anyone asked him questions like this. He finally answered,

"Uh, yes, it works fine, sir. Thank you."

The doctor made a few more notes and then in what was to Seamus the most embarrassing thing possible, the doctor stuck his fingers behind his "willy" and told him to cough. This was almost too much, thought Seamus, what kind of man is this? Seamus did not like being touched "down there" at all. He worked very hard, however, not to let the doctor know that he did not like what was being done to him. The doctor then told him to turn around, bend over, and spread his behind. Seamus hesitated for a moment and then the doctor then told him to hurry up. He had other patients to see before the Baltic arrived that afternoon. Very, very embarrassed, Seamus turned around and complied with the doctor's orders. Doctor Harnet made a few more notes in his book and then told him to again face him. He then inspected Seamus' hair and seemed satisfied with what he saw.

After writing in his book, he finally looked at Seamus' standing there naked in front of him and said,

"Good, young man! You seem to be in good health! Get dressed now and wait here until you hear your name called. They will then take you over to the bathhouse and soon enough you will be on your way to America. Good luck!"

Seamus thanked the doctor, though he did not enjoy this first medical exam. He quickly pulled on his clothes and sat down, waiting for his name to be called. He wondered what his family was doing as they waited outside the iron gate. He was there alone for so long that he started to doze off when he heard someone crying out,

"Seamus, Seamus Gilchrist! Seamus Gilchrist please come now!"

Seamus grabbed his satchel and bag and headed off to find the voice. At the side door in the room with the cloth cubicles he saw a man who looked at him and asked,

"Are you Seamus Gilchrist?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. Wait here and when you hear your name called outside, then you will go with the man and go over to the bathhouse. Do you understand?"

Seamus nodded and then he just stood there waiting to again hear his name be called. It was perhaps only a moment later when he heard his name be called and the man told him to go outside. The second man looked very official to Seamus and he asked him,

"Seamus Gilchrist?"

"Yes, sir."

"Wait over here for a moment until the other nine come out."

Seamus waited while the other nine people were called one by one out of the room with the cloth cubicles. When they were all together the official read their names to verify that all were accounted for. He then led them over to the bathhouse. As Seamus crossed the small field he heard his family yelling at him from outside the iron gate. He turned and waved to them. He wondered what they had been doing the past few hours, glad that they had stayed in Queenstown for his final hours in Ireland.

When they arrived at the bathhouse they were instructed to go in, get undresses and bath quickly and thoroughly. However, they were instructed not to get dressed until told to do so.

"And why not?" someone asked from the rear of the group.

Seamus turned to see who'd asked the question, but he could not tell who it was.

They were told that before they were able to board the Baltic that afternoon they had to have all of the hair on their bodies sprayed with powder that would prevent diseases from being spread.

Even though Seamus was annoyed with this he decided that he would not argue with the man at the door of the bathhouse. He was glad, however, when another person asked,

"What do they think we are, a bunch of pigs?"

The man at the door just shrugged his shoulders and told them to go in and get it over with. By this time Seamus was anxious to get onto the Baltic and so he was willing to do almost anything, just to get moving.

Once inside the bathhouse they were directed down the hall and told to go in the door marked "Gents." Inside they found a room with wooded boxes lining the walls and benches below them. Seamus went to the far end and put his satchel and cloth bag in one of the boxes, took off his clothes and went into a large room. There he found poles that had dishes with soap on them and chains next to them. He pulled on one of the chains and found that water fell on him from above. This was another new experience for Seamus since at home he'd only used a large tub to bath. He was not too sure how to do this, but he noticed that the others got themselves wet and then rubbed the soap all over themselves and pulled the chain again to rinse off the soapy mess. "Well," thought Seamus, "if they can do this, so can I." Having heard that they were going to put something on his hair, he took special care to make sure that his hair was as clean asa it could be.

When he was finished he went over to a table on the side where he took a towel and dried off. He tossed the towel in a bin and then heard someone call out to him,

"You, the red head, come over here."

Since Seamus was the only man in the bathhouse with red hair Seamus pointed to his chest and said, "Me?"

"Yes, you! Come here!"

Seamus went over to the man who was sitting in a small booth. He told Seamus to come in and stand with his legs spread apart and his arms held out. Feeling very foolish and uncomfortable, he did as directed and then the man sprayed some white powder all over him. As instructed, Seamus rubbed the powder into his hair and then asked,

"Now what do I do?"

"Go back to the changing room, get dressed, and then return to the front of the building. From there they will take you to the docks when they are ready."

Seamus was very glad to be able to go and get dressed. He did not feel comfortable walking around unclothed. He was sure that if his family could only see him now they would be roaring with laughter as they looked at his skinny frame.

Once Seamus was back in the front of the building, he asked the man at the desk when they would be going to the docks to get on the Baltic. He was told that they would be able to start moving in about thirty minutes. Glad to know that he would not have to wait too much longer, Seamus sat on a bench and patiently waited until it was his time to go to the docks.

He sat on a bench near another young man. He turned to him, extended his hand and said,

"Seamus Gilchrist from Kerry."

"Pat Mahon from Cork. Where are you going?"

"To someplace in California near San Francisco called Port Costa. You?"

"I have to go to San Francisco too, but I am going to a place called Santa Cruz. Have you ever heard of it?"

Seamus shook his head.

"No, I've never heard of it. Have you ever heard of Port Costa?"

"Nope. How old are you? I'm 18."

Seamus said that he was 16 and that his father had just died and that is why he was leaving Ireland so that he could make a better life for himself. Until their names were called to go to the docks Seamus and Pat talked about their old lives in Ireland what their new lives in California would be like.

At long last, so it seemed to them, they were very grateful to hear the man begin to call out names. Both Seamus and Pat were called in the first group and so they both gathered up their things and hurried out the door. Another official directed them to the first train car, a small platform surrounded by a kind of fence and lined with benches. They took their places towards the front of the car, carefully watching their things. Seamus made sure that he was on the right side. If his family hadn't gotten bored and returned home, he was hoping that he might see them one last time before he began his trip across the pond to America.

When his car and the one directly behind his were filled with passengers for the Baltic, the man on the ground waved his hands at the train master and the car began its journey a short ways along the water front towards the docks. As they passes the iron gate Seamus stood up and looked over the people gathered outside the gate. All of a sudden he heard his brother Martin cry out,

"Look! There he is! There goes Seamus!"

With that cry from Martin, the rest of his family began to shout,

"Seamus! Seamus! Good-bye, Seamus! Good luck, Seamus!"

He frantically waved to them and began to cry a little. This time he did not try to hide his tears as he waved good-bye to his family. He yelled to them,

"I love you all! Good-bye!"

He saw his mother make the Sign of the Cross as she waved her rosary at him. Seamus knew that she would be praying for him and he prayed for all of them. He did not know when or if he would ever see them again.

Pat asked,

"Is that your family then?"

"Yeah, that's the lot of them. Were yours able to come? Where are they?"

Pat had to explain that his mother just had a baby girl and that his father also had died a few months before. So, he was really all alone and that was it. Seamus decided that Pat did not want to talk about his family right then and so he just waved at his family for as long as he could.

When they got to the docks, the passengers were assigned two small row boats that would take them across the bay. The Baltic had by now come into the harbor at Queenstown and dropped anchor a short distance out in the bay. Pat and Seamus were happy to be in the same row boat for their trip to the Baltic. Once everyone was in their row boat, the man at the docks said,

"You're off! Get going!"

Seamus was not able to stand for a final farewell wave to his family on the land. He could see them waving at him and crying out his name. He waved to them as best as he could, until they seemed to be as tiny as field mice.

With a deep sigh he turned to his new friend Pat and said,

"I can't believe it. We're going to America! We are really going to America"

Pat smiled, lost in his own thoughts. Seamus settled in for the remaining distance to the Baltic, still thinking,

"It's really happening! I'm going to America! It's really happening!"