Outward Bound - Frontispiece.

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YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD

By

OLIVER OPTIC

OUTWARD BOUND

BOSTON

LEE & SHEPARD.

YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD.

BY OLIVER OPTIC.

A Library of Travel and Adventure in Foreign Lands. First
and Second Series; six volumes in each Series. 16mo.
Illustrated.

First Series.

Second Series.

PREFACE.

Outward Bound is the first volume of "A Library of
Travel and Adventure in Foreign Lands," and contains the
voyage of the Academy Ship "Young America" across the
Atlantic. The origin and progress of this aquatic institution
are incidentally developed, and the plan is respectfully submitted
to the consideration of those who are interested in
the education and moral training of the class of young men
who are the characters in the scenes described in this work.
Besides a full description of the routine and discipline of the
ship, as an educational and reformatory institution, the volume
contains a rather free exposé of the follies and frailties
of youth, but their vices are revealed to suggest the remedy.

The story includes the experience of the officers and crew
of the Young America, eighty-seven in number, though, of
course, only a few of them can appear as prominent actors.
As the ship has a little world, with all the elements of good
and evil, within her wooden walls, the story of the individual
will necessarily be interwoven with that of the mass; and
the history of "The Chain League," in the present volume,
of which Shuffles is the hero, will, it is hoped, convey an
instructive lesson to young men who are disposed to rebel
against reasonable discipline and authority.

{6}
In the succeeding volumes of this series, the adventures,
travels, and "sight-seeing," as well as the individual and
collective experience of the juvenile crew of the Academy
Ship, will be narrated. They will visit the principal ports
of Europe, as well as penetrate to the interior; but they
will always be American boys, wherever they are.

The author hopes that the volumes of the series will not
only be instructive as a description of foreign lands, and
interesting as a record of juvenile exploits, but that they
will convey correct views of moral and social duties, and
stimulate the young reader to their faithful performance.

HARRISON SQUARE, MASS.,

November 2, 1866.

{7}

CONTENTS

{8}

List of Illustrations

Footnotes

OUTWARD BOUND.

{11}

OR,

YOUNG AMERICA AFLOAT

CHAPTER I.

THE IDEA SUGGESTED.

Return to Table of
Contents

"There are no such peaches this side of New
Jersey; and you can't get them, for love or
money, at the stores. All we have to do is, to fill
our pockets, and keep our mouths closed—till the
peaches are ripe enough to eat," said Robert Shuffles,
the older and the larger of two boys, who had just
climbed over the high fence that surrounded the fine
garden of Mr. Lowington.

"What will Baird say if he finds it out?" replied
Isaac Monroe, his companion.

"Baird," the gentleman thus irreverently alluded
to, was the principal of the Brockway Academy, of
which Shuffles and Monroe were pupils in the boarding
department.

"What will he say when he finds out that the King
of the Tonga Islands picks his teeth with a pitch
{12}fork?"
added Shuffles, contemptuously. "I don't intend
that he shall find it out? and he won't, unless
you tell him."

"Of course, I shall not tell him."

"Come along, then? it is nearly dark, and no one
will see us."

Shuffles led the way down the gravelled walk, till
he came to a brook, on the bank of which stood the
peach tree whose rich fruit had tempted the young
gentlemen to invade the territory of Mr. Lowington
with intent to plunder.

"There they are," said the chief of the young
marauders, as he paused behind a clump of quince
bushes, and pointed at the coveted fruit. "There's
no discount on them, and they are worth coming
after."

"Hark!" whispered Monroe. "I heard a noise."

"What was it?"

"I don't know. I'm afraid we shall be caught."

"No danger; no one can see us from the house."

"But I'm sure there's some one near. I heard
something."

"Nonsense! It was only a dagger of the mind,
such as Baird talks about," answered Shuffles, as he
crawled towards the peach tree. "Come, Monroe,
be quick, and fill your pockets."

This peach tree was a choice variety, in whose
cultivation the owner had been making an elaborate
experiment. Mr. Lowington had watched it and
nursed it with the most assiduous care, and now it
bore about a dozen remarkably large and beautiful
peaches. They were not quite ripe enough to be
{13}
gathered, but Shuffles was confident that they would
"mellow" in his trunk as well as on the tree. The
experiment of the cultivator had been a success, and
he had already prepared, with much care and labor, a
paper explanatory of the process, which he intended
to read before the Pomological Society, exhibiting
the fruit as the evidence of the practicability of his
method. To Mr. Lowington, therefore, the peaches
had a value far beyond their intrinsic worth.

Shuffles gathered a couple of the peaches, and urged
his companion to use all possible haste in stripping
the tree of its rich burden.

"Hallo, there! What are you about?" shouted
some one, who hastened to make his presence known
to the plunderers.

Monroe began to retreat.

"Hold on!" interposed Shuffles. "It's no one but
Harry Martyn."

"He can tell of us just as well as anybody else."

"If he does, he will catch it."

"What are you doing?" demanded Harry Martyn,—who
was a nephew of Mr. Lowington, and lived
with him,—as he crossed the rustic bridge that
spanned the brook.

"Don't you see what I'm doing?" replied Shuffles,
with an impudent coolness which confounded Harry.

"Stop that, Shuffles!" cried Harry, indignantly.
"My uncle wouldn't take ten dollars apiece for those
peaches."

"That's more than he'll get for them," added Shuffles,
as he reached up and gathered another peach.

"Stop that, I tell you!" said Harry, angrily, as he
{14}
stepped up, in a menacing attitude, before the reckless
marauder.

"Shut up, Harry! You know me, and when I get
all these peaches, I've got something to say to you."

Shuffles was about to gather another of the peaches,
when Harry, his indignation overcoming his prudence,
grasped his arm, and pulled him away from the tree.

"What do you mean, Harry Martyn?" exclaimed
Shuffles, apparently astonished at the temerity of the
youth. "I can't stop to lick you now; but I'll do it
within twenty-four hours."

"Well, don't you touch those peaches, then."

"Yes, I will touch them. I intend to have the
whole of them; and if you say a word to your uncle
or any one else about it, I'll pulverize that head of
yours."

"No, you won't! You shall not have those peaches,
anyhow," replied the resolute little fellow, who was
no match, physically, for Shuffles.

"If you open your mouth——"

"Hallo! Uncle Robert! Help, help! Thieves in
the garden!" shouted Harry, who certainly had no
defect of the lungs.

"Take that, you little monkey!" said Shuffles,
angrily, as he struck the little fellow a heavy blow
on the side of the head with his fist, which knocked
him down. "I'll fix you the next, time I see you."

Shuffles consulted his discretion rather than his
valor, now that the alarm had been given, and retreated
towards the place where he had entered
garden.

"What's the matter, Harry?" asked Mr. Lowington,
{15}
as he rushed over the bridge, followed by the gardener
and his assistants, just as Harry was picking himself
up and rubbing his head.

"They were stealing your peaches, and I tried to
stop them," replied Harry. "They have taken some
of them now."

Mr. Lowington glanced at the favorite tree, and his
brow lowered with anger and vexation. His paper
before the "Pomological" could be illustrated by
only nine peaches, instead of thirteen.

"Who stole them, Harry?" demanded the disappointed
fruit-grower.

The nephew hesitated a moment, and the question
was repeated with more sternness.

"Robert Shuffles; Isaac Monroe was with him, but
he didn't take any of the peaches."

"What is the matter with your head, Harry?"
asked his uncle, when he observed him rubbing the
place where the blow had fallen.

"Shuffles struck me and knocked me down, when I
called out for you."

"Did he? Where is he now?"

"He and Monroe ran up the walk to the back of
the garden."

"That boy shall be taken care of," continued Mr.
Lowington, as he walked up the path towards the
point where the marauders had entered. "The Academy
is fast becoming a nuisance to the neighborhood,
because there is neither order nor discipline among
the students."

The thieves had escaped, and as it would be useless
to follow them, Mr. Lowington went back to the
{16}
house; but he was too much annoyed at the loss of
his splendid peaches, which were to figure so prominently
before the "Pomological," to permit the matter
to drop without further notice.

"Did he hurt you much, Harry?" asked Mr. Lowington
as they entered the house.

"Not much, sir, though he gave me a pretty hard
crack," answered Harry.

"Did you see them when they came into the
garden?"

"No, sir? I was fixing my water-wheel in the
brook, when I heard them at the tree. I went up,
and tried to prevent Shuffles from taking the peaches.
I caught hold of him, and pulled him away. He said
he couldn't stop to lick me then, but he'd do it within
twenty-four hours. Then he hit me when I called for
help."

"The young scoundrel! That boy is worse than a
pestilence in any neighborhood. Mr. Baird seems to
have no control over him."

Suddenly, and without any apparent reason, Mr.
Lowington's compressed lips and contracted brow
relaxed, and his face wore its usual expression of
dignified serenity. Harry could not understand the
cause of this sudden change; but his uncle's anger
had passed away. The fact was, that Mr. Lowington
happened to think, while his indignation prompted
him to resort to the severest punishment for Shuffles,
that he himself had been just such a boy as the plunderer
of his cherished fruit. At the age of fifteen he
had been the pest of the town in which he resided.
His father was a very wealthy man, and resorted
{17}
to many expedients to cure the boy of his vicious
propensities.

Young Lowington had a taste for the sea, and his
father finally procured a midshipman's warrant for
him to enter the navy. The strict discipline of a ship
of war proved to be the "one thing needful" for the
reformation of the wild youth; and he not only
became a steady young man, but a hard student and
an accomplished officer. The navy made a man of
him, as it has of hundreds of the sons of rich men,
demoralized by idleness and the absence of a reasonable
ambition.

When Mr. Lowington was thirty years old, his
father died, leaving to each of his three children a
quarter of a million; and he had resigned his position
in the navy, in order to take care of his property,
and to lead a more domestic life with his wife and
daughter than the discipline of the service would
permit.

He had taken up his residence in Brockway, the
early home of his wife. It was a large town on the
sea shore, only a few miles from the metropolis of
New England, thus combining all the advantages of a
home in the city and in the country. For several
years he had been happy in his peaceful retirement.
But not wealth, nor even integrity and piety, can bar
the door of the lofty mansion against the Destroyer of
the race. His wife died of an hereditary disease, which
gave no indication of its presence till she had passed
her thirtieth year. Two years later, his daughter,
just blooming into maturity, followed her mother
{18}
down to the silent tomb, stricken in her freshness
and beauty by the same insidious malady.

The husband and father was left desolate. His
purest and fondest hopes were blighted; but, while
he was submissive to the will of the Father, who
doeth all things well, he became gloomy and sad.
He was not seen to smile for a year after the death of
his daughter, and it was three years before he had
recovered even the outward semblance of his former
cheerfulness. He was rich, but alone in the world.
He continued to reside in the home which was endeared
to him by the memories of his loved and
lost ones.

When his wife's sister died in poverty, leaving two
children, he had taken them to his home, and had
become a father to them. Harry Martyn was a good
boy, and Josephine Martyn was a good girl; but they
were not his own children. There was something
wanting—an aching void which they could not fill,
though Mr. Lowington was to them all that could be
asked or expected of a parent.

Mr. Lowington busied himself in various studies
and experiments; but life had ceased to be what it
was before the death of his wife and daughter. He
wanted more mental occupation; he felt the need of
greater activity, and he was tempted to return to the
navy, even after his absence of ten years from the
service; but this step, for many reasons, was not
practicable. At the time when his garden was invaded
by the vandal students from the Brockway
Academy, he was still thinking what he could do to
save himself from the inglorious life of ease he was
{19}
leading, and, at the same time, serve his country and
his race.

Shuffles had robbed his garden of some of his
choicest fruit; had struck his nephew a severe blow
on the head, and threatened to inflict still greater
chastisement upon him in the future. Mr. Lowington
was justly indignant; and his own peace and the
peace of the neighborhood demanded that the author
of the mischief should be punished, especially as he
was an old transgressor. It was absolutely necessary
that something should be done, and the retired naval
officer was in the right frame of mind to do it. Just
then, when he was wrought up to the highest pitch of
indignation, his anger vanished. Shuffles at sixteen
was the counterpart of himself at fifteen.

This was certainly no reason why the hand of justice
should be stayed. Mr. Lowington did not intend
to stay it, though the thought of his own juvenile
depravity modified his view, and appeased his wrath.
He put on his hat and left the house. He walked
over to the Academy, and being shown to the office
of the principal, he informed him of the depredations
committed in his garden.

"Who did it, Mr. Lowington?" demanded the
principal, with proper indignation in his tones and
his looks.

"Shuffles."

"I need not have asked. That boy gives me more
trouble than all the others put together," added Mr.
Baird, with an anxious expression. "And yet what
can I do with him?"

"Expel him," replied Mr. Lowington, laconically.
{20}

"I don't like to do that."

"Why not?"

"It would be an injury to me."

"Why so?"

"It would offend his father, who is a person of
wealth and influence. When Shuffles came to Brockway
ten other boys came with him. He was expelled
from another institution, which so incensed his father
that he induced the parents of ten others to take their
sons out, and send them to me. If I expel Shuffles, I
shall lose about a dozen of my students, and I can't
afford to do that."

"But must the neighborhood suffer from his depredations?"

"I will talk with the boy; I will keep him in his
room for a week."

"I'm afraid the boy needs severer measures. If
this were the first, or even the third time, I would, not
say so much."

"My dear sir, what can I do?"

"The boy needs strict discipline. If I were still in
the navy, and had him aboard my ship, I could make
a man of him."

"I don't think anything can be done."

"Something must be done, Mr. Baird. My garden
shall not be robbed with impunity."

"I will do what I can, Mr. Lowington."

But the owner of the stolen fruit was by this time
satisfied that nothing would be done. The principal
of the Brockway Academy had not force nor influence
enough to control such a boy as Shuffles. Mr. Lowington
took his leave, determined to apply to another
{21}
tribunal for the correction of the evil. That night the
peach thieves were arrested, and put in the lock-up.
The next day they were tried, found guilty, and sentenced
to pay a fine and costs, which Mr. Baird
promptly paid. Within a week Mr. Lowington's
stable was burned to the ground. Shuffles was seen
near the building just before the fire broke out; but it
could not be proved that he was the incendiary, though
no one doubted the fact. He was arrested, but discharged
on the examination.

"You see how it is, Mr. Lowington," said the
principal of the Academy, as the two gentlemen met
after the examination. "It would have been better
for you if you had not prosecuted the boy for stealing
the peaches."

"I don't think so," replied Mr. Lowington. "I
must do my duty, without regard to consequences;
and you will pardon me if I say you ought to do the
same."

"If I expel the boy he would burn the house over
my head."

"Then you think he burned my stable?"

"I don't know; it cannot be proved that he did."

"I have no doubt of the fact. I have no ill will
against the boy. I only desire to protect myself and
my neighbors from his depredations."

"I think you were very unfortunate in the method
you adopted, Mr. Lowington," replied the principal
of the Academy. "It has reacted upon yourself."

"Shall this boy steal my fruit and burn my buildings
with impunity?" added Mr. Lowington, with
considerable warmth.
{22}

"Certainly not."

"I applied to you for redress, Mr. Baird."

"I told you I would talk with the boy."

"Such a reprobate as that needs something more
than talk."

"What would you do with him, sir?" demanded
Mr. Baird, earnestly.

"I hardly know. I should certainly have expelled
him; but that, while it protects the Academy, does not
benefit the boy."

"It would only harden the boy."

"Very likely; and his remaining will harden a
dozen more by his influence. Mr. Baird, I shall be
obliged to take my nephew out of your institution,"
added Mr. Lowington, seriously.

"Take him out?"

"I must, indeed."

"Why so?" asked Mr Baird, who was touched in
a very tender place.

"Because I am not willing to keep him under the
influence of such an example as this Shuffles sets for
his companions. As the matter now stands, the young
rascal has more influence in the Academy than you
have. You cannot manage him, and you dare not
expel him. The boy knows this, and he will not
leave his advantage unused."

"I hope you won't take Harry out of the school,"
said Mr. Baird.

"I must."

"Others may do the same."

"I cannot help it; with my view of the matter,
they can hardly do otherwise."
{23}

"But you see, sir, what the effect of this step
must be."

"Mr. Baird, I must be frank with you. You have
declined to expel Shuffles, while you know that his
influence is bad. You asked me what you should do?
and I told you. Now, you prefer to retain Shuffles,
but you must lose others. Permit me to say that you
should do your duty without regard to consequences."

"I cannot afford to lose my scholars."

"Your position is a difficult one. I grant, Mr. Baird;
but without discipline you can do nothing for yourself
or the boys."

Mr. Lowington went home, Harry was taken from
the Academy, and a dozen parents and guardians followed
the example of the advocate for discipline. Mr.
Baird was in despair. The institution was falling to
pieces for the want of discipline. The principal had
not the nerve to enforce order, even with the limited
means within his reach. He went to see Mr. Lowington
and begged him to assist in stemming the tide
which was setting against the Brockway Academy.
The retired naval officer became deeply interested in
the subject of school discipline in general, especially
in its connection with the education of rich men's sons
given to insubordination. He pitied poor Mr. Baird
in his perplexities, for he was a good man and an
excellent teacher.

In the mean time Shuffles grew worse instead of
better. Finding that he could have his own way, that
the principal was no match for him, his influence for
evil was stronger than Mr. Baird's for good. The
worthy schoolmaster had finally resolved to expel his
{24}
troublesome student, when Mr. Lowington one day
surprised him by offering to buy out the Academy at
a price far exceeding its value. He gladly accepted
the offer as the best solution of the problem, and
the naval officer became principal of the Brockway
Academy.

Mr. Lowington did not expel the refractory pupil at
once. He waited for an overt act; but Shuffles found
the anaconda of authority tightening upon him. He
attempted to vindicate himself before his fellow-students
by setting fire to a haystack on the marsh,
belonging to the new principal. A searching investigation
followed, and Shuffles was convicted. Mr.
Lowington wrote to the boy's father, announcing his
expulsion. Mr. Shuffles went to Brockway full of
wrath, and threatened the new head of the institution
with the loss of a large number of his scholars if he
disgraced his son by expelling him. If the boy had
done wrong,—and he supposed he had,—let him be
talked to; let him be confined to his room for a day or
two; but he must not be expelled; it was a disgrace
to the boy.

The principal was as firm as a rock, and Mr. Shuffles
was calm when he found that threats were unavailing.
Mr. Lowington pointed out to his visitor the
perils which lay in the path of his son. Mr. Shuffles
began to be reasonable, and dined with the principal.
A long and earnest consideration of the whole matter
took place over the dessert. The fiat of expulsion was
revoked, and young Shuffles was turned over to the
ex-naval officer, with full power to discipline him as
he thought best. Mr. Lowington had converted the
{25}
father, and he hoped he should be able to convert
the son.

After dinner, Mr. Shuffles went down the bay with
his host in the yacht. On the way they passed the
school ship Massachusetts, to which boys are sentenced
by the courts for crime and vagrancy, and on board of
which they are disciplined and educated. Mr. Lowington
explained the institution to his guest.

"An excellent idea," said Mr. Shuffles.

"It is just the place for your son," replied Mr.
Lowington.

"But it is for criminals."

"Very true."

"Robert is not a criminal."

"If he is not now, he soon will be, if he continues
in his present course. If I had him on shipboard, I
could make a man of him."

"Then I wish you had him on shipboard."

"Perhaps I may yet," replied the principal, with a
smile. "I did not purchase the Academy with the
intention of becoming a pedagogue, in the ordinary
sense of the word. I have no intention of remaining
in it."

"I hope you will."

"I have been thinking of fitting up a vessel like the
school ship, that rich men's sons may have the benefit
of such an institution without the necessity of committing
a crime. I could do more for the boys in
a month on board ship than I could in a year at
Brockway."

This was the first mention which Mr. Lowington
made of his plan, though he had been considering
{26}
it for several weeks. Mr. Shuffles hoped that this
idea of a nautical academy would be reduced to practice;
for he now felt that it was just what his son
needed. The project was discussed during the rest of
the trip.

The history of the scheme, from its inception, need
not be followed in detail. Many persons were consulted
in regard to it; there were plenty to approve,
and plenty to disapprove; but in October the keel of
a four hundred ton ship was laid down. The object
of this marine institution was thoroughly explained,
and before the ship was ready for launching there
were applications for every berth on board of her.

The idea was exceedingly popular among the boys,
all of whom were anxious to be students on board,
especially as it was already hinted that the ship would
visit Europe. To parents it held out for their sons all
the benefits of a sea voyage, with few of its disadvantages.
It would furnish healthy exercise and a
vigorous constitution to its pupils.

In March of the following year the ship was at
anchor in Brockway harbor, ready to receive her
juvenile crew.
{27}

CHAPTER II.

THE YOUNG AMERICA.

Return to Table of
Contents

With Mr. Lowington, the Academy Ship, which
was the name he usually applied to the idea
he had matured, and thus far carried into effect, was
not a speculation; he did not intend to see how much
money could be made by the scheme. It was an experiment
in the education of rich men's sons, for only
rich men could pay for scholarships in such an expensive
institution.

The Brockway Academy was to be continued, under
the management of a board of trustees. An accomplished
teacher had been selected by Mr. Lowington,
and the school, under its present administration, was
in a highly prosperous condition. Only ten of its
pupils had been transferred to the Academy Ship, for
it required no little nerve on the part of parents to
send their sons to school on the broad ocean, to battle
with the elements, to endure the storms of the Atlantic,
and to undergo the hardships which tender mothers
supposed to be inseparably connected with a life on
shipboard.

For six months Mr. Lowington had studied upon
his plan, and it was hardly matured when the new
ship came to anchor in Brockway harbor. During
{28}
this period he had visited the principal cities of the
Northern States, those of the southern section being
closed against his operations by the war of the rebellion
then raging at the height of its fury. He had
interested his friends in his bold enterprise, and boys
with, whom the experiment was to be inaugurated were
gathered from all parts of the country.

The securing of the requisite number of pupils was
the first success, and what he had regarded as the
most difficult part of the enterprise. More than half
of them had been obtained before it was deemed
prudent to lay the keel of the ship. The details of
the plan had been carefully considered during the
winter, and when the ship was moored at Brockway,
the organization of the school, its rules and regulations
had all been written out. The boys began to
arrive about the first of March, and by the first of April
all of them, eighty-seven in number, were on board.

Mr. Lowington was naturally very anxious for the
success of his experiment, and for months he had
labored with unceasing diligence in perfecting his
plan, and carrying it into operation. In this occupation
he had found the activity he needed; and he
may not be blamed for believing, all the time, that he
was laboring for his country and his race.

If it has been inferred from what has been said of
Mr. Lowington, of his domestic afflictions, and of his
views on the subject of discipline, that he was an austere,
cold, and unsympathizing man, a wrong impression
has been conveyed. The boys of the Brockway
Academy, when they came to know him, loved him as
much as they respected him. He was not the man
{29}
needlessly to abridge the harmless enjoyment of youth,
or to repress its innocent hilarity. He watched the
sports of the students with interest and pleasure, and
encouraged them by all the means in his power. He
was fond of humor, enjoyed a harmless joke, and had
a keen appreciation of juvenile wit. He was a good
companion for the boys, and when they understood
him, he was always welcome to the play-ground.

The new ship had been duly christened Young
America at the launching, by Miss Josey Martyn—a
name which was rapturously applauded by the boys.
She was one hundred and eighteen feet in length, and
of about four hundred tons burden. She had been
built as strong as wood, iron, and copper could make
her. For a ship, she was small, which permitted her
to be light sparred, so that her juvenile crew could
handle her with the more ease. She had a flush deck;
that is, it was unbroken from stem to stern. There
was no cabin, poop, camboose, or other house on
deck, and the eye had a clean range over the whole
length of her. There was a skylight between the fore
and the main mast, and another between the main and
mizzen masts, to afford light and air to the apartments
below. There were three openings in the deck by
which entrance could be obtained to the interior of the
ship: the fore hatch, the main hatch, and the companion-way,
the two former being used by the crew,
and the latter by the officers.

The between-decks, which is the space included
between the upper and the lower deck, was fitted up
for the accommodation of the officers and crew.
Descending by the companion-way—which in the
{30}
Young America extended athwartships—on the right,
at the foot of the stairs, was the officers' cabin, occupying
the part of the ship nearest to the stern. This
apartment was twenty-eight feet long, by fifteen in
breadth at the widest part, with four state rooms on
each side. The mizzen mast passed up through the
middle of it. This cabin was richly but plainly fitted
up, and was furnished well enough for a drawing-room
on shore. It was for the use of the juvenile
officers of the ship, fifteen in number, who were to
hold their positions as rewards of merit. The captain
had a room to himself, while each of the other apartments
was to accommodate two officers.

On the left of the companion-way, descending the
stairs, was the "old folks' cabin," as it was called by
the students. It was in the locality corresponding to
that occupied by the ward room of a man-of-war.
Though the after cabin is the place of honor on board
a ship, Mr. Lowington had selected the ward room for
himself and the teachers, in preference to the after
cabin, because it was next to the steerage, which was
occupied by the larger portion of the pupils, and
because the form of the ship did not contract the dimensions
of the state rooms. This cabin was twenty-two
feet long and fifteen feet wide, with no waste room,
as in the after cabin, caused by the rounding in of the
ship's counter. On the sides were five state rooms,
besides a pantry for the steward, and a dispensary for
the surgeon.

The forward room on the starboard side was occupied
by Mr. Lowington alone; the next on the same
side by the chaplain and doctor; and each of the
{31}
three on the port side by two of the teachers. This
cabin was elegantly finished and furnished, and the
professors were delighted with its cheerful and pleasant
aspect.

From the main cabin, as that of the "faculty" was
called, were two doors, opening into the steerage,
fifty-two feet in length by fifteen feet in width of clear
space between the berths, which diminished to nine
feet abreast of the foremast. This apartment was
eight feet high, and was lighted in part by a large
skylight midway between the fore and main mast, and
partly by bull's eyes in the side of the ship. There
were seventy-two berths, placed in twelve rooms,
opening from passage-ways, which extended athwartships
from the main steerage, and were lighted by the
bull's eyes. There were no doors to these dormitories,
each of which contained six berths, in two tiers of
three each. It was intended that the six boys occupying
one of these rooms should form a mess. Between
the gangways, or passages, were mess tables, which
could be swung up against the partition when not
in use.

The steerage was neatly and tastefully fitted up, and
furnished, though not so elegantly as the cabins. It
was to be the school room, as well as the parlor and
dining room of the boys, and it would compare favorably
with such apartments in well-ordered academies
on shore. There was plenty of shelves, pouches, and
lockers, under the lower berths, and beneath the bull's
eyes at the head of the main gangways, for clothing
and books, and each boy had a place for every article
which regulations allowed him to possess.
{32}

Forward of the foremast there were two large
state rooms; that on the starboard side having four
berths, for the boatswain, carpenter, sailmaker, and
head steward; and the one on the port side with six,
for the two cooks and the four under stewards, all of
whom were men skilful and experienced in their several
departments. Forward of these was the kitchen,
from which opened the lamp room, a triangular closet
in the bow of the ship. Mr. Lowington had taken
the idea of locating the cooking apartment in the
extreme forward part of the vessel from the Victoria
and Albert, the steam yacht of the Queen of England.

The hold beneath the berth deck contained the water
tanks, bread room, chain lockers, and a multitude of
store rooms for provisions, clothing, and supplies of
every description needed on board during a long
voyage.

The Young America was to be officered and manned
by the students. They were to work the ship, to make
and take in sail, to reef, steer, and wash down decks,
as well as study and recite their lessons. They were
to go aloft, stand watch, man the capstan, pull the
boats; in short, to do everything required of seamen
on board a ship. Mr. Lowington was to lure them
into the belief, while they were hauling tacks and
sheets, halyards and braces, that they were not at
work, but at play. The labor required of them was
an essential element in the plan, by which the boys
were to obtain, the necessary physical exercise, and the
discipline they so much needed.

By the first of April the last of the students had
reported to the principal on board, and the professors,
{33}
as the boys insisted upon calling them, had taken possession
of their state rooms. Though some of the
pupils had been on board nearly a month, the organization
of the ship had not been commenced; but
classes had been formed in some of the studies, by
the teachers, and the pupils recited every day. The
boatswain had instructed the boys in rowing, and some
temporary regulations had been adopted for the eating
and sleeping departments. But not a boy had been
allowed to go aloft, and nothing more than ordinary
school discipline had been attempted.

The boys, as boys always are, were impatient at this
delay. They wanted to be bounding over the ocean—to
be on their way to some foreign port. They were
anxious to work, to climb the rigging, and stand at
the wheel. As yet they knew very little of the purposes
of the principal, and had but a faint perception
of the life they were to lead in the Academy Ship.
It was understood that the officers were to be selected
for their merit, and that the ship, some time or other,
was to cross the ocean; but beyond this, all was darkness
and uncertainty.

"To-morrow will be the first day of April," said
George Wilton, as he walked the deck of the Young
America with Richard Carnes, a dignified young gentleman
of seventeen. "Mr. Lowington said we should
go to work on that day."

"If he said so, then of course we shall go to work,"
replied Carnes.

"I'm tired of waiting," added Wilton. "I think
this is a stupid kind of life. We are not even tied to
a bell rope here."
{34}

"You will get discipline enough as soon as the crew
are organized."

"I suppose we shall. Do you think we shall go to
sea to-morrow?"

"Go to sea to-morrow!" exclaimed Carnes.

"Shuffles said so."

"How can we go to sea to-morrow? The crew
don't know the mainmast from a handspike. They
couldn't do anything with the ship now; they don't
know the ropes."

"You do, Carnes."

"Well, I know something about a ship," replied the
dignified young gentleman, who had made one voyage
up the Mediterranean with his uncle.

"I was pretty sure we should get out into blue
water by to-morrow."

"Nonsense!"

"Shuffles said so."

"He is mistaken."

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know? I'm content to wait till orders
come."

"I don't want to wait any longer," added Wilton.

"What are you talking about, fellows?" asked
Shuffles, joining them, as they walked forward.

"Didn't you say we were going to sea to-morrow,
Shuffles?" asked Wilton.

"Of course we are."

"Who says so?" demanded Carnes.

"All the fellows say so."

"It can't be true."

"Why not? We are not going to stay here forever."
{35}

"In my opinion, we shall stay here some weeks, if
not some months," added Carnes.

"What for?"

"To pursue our studies, in the first place, and to
learn our duty as seamen, in the second."

"I don't believe I shall stay here a great while
longer," said Shuffles, with evident disgust. "There's
no fun lying here."

"You can't help yourself," added Wilton.

"Perhaps I can't, but I can try," said Shuffles, as
he glanced towards the shore.

"All hands ahoy!" shouted Peaks, the boatswain,
as his shrill whistle rang through the ship.

The boys had been taught the meaning of this call,
and they gathered in the waist, eager to know what
was to be required of them.

Mr. Lowington stood on the raised hatch over the
main scuttle, where all the students could see him. It
was evident that he had some announcement to make,
especially as the following day had been assigned
for organizing the ship's company. The boys were
silent, and their faces betrayed the curiosity which
they felt.

"Young gentleman," the principal began, "this
ship will go into commission to-morrow."

"Don't know what you mean, sir," said Paul Kendall
as Mr. Lowington paused to observe the effect of
his announcement.

"I did not suppose that many of you would understand
the expression. In the navy, a ship is said to
go into commission when the captain takes his place
on board, and the crew are organized for duty. When
{36}
this takes place, the ensign is hoisted. To-morrow,
at twelve o'clock, we shall display the colors at the
peak. With us, going into commission will only mean
the organization of our school. From that time, we
shall observe the discipline of a man-of-war, so far as
the ship and crew are concerned."

"Shall we go to sea then?" asked Wilton.

"I think not," replied Mr. Lowington, laughing.
"We shall not leave the harbor till every officer and
seaman knows his duty. You shall have enough to
do to-morrow, young gentlemen."

"When shall we be able to go to sea?"

"I don't know. There are many ropes in the
ship, and you have a great deal to learn before I
shall be willing to trust you with the anchor at the
cat-head."

"What is the cat-head, sir?" asked Kendall

"Do you wish to go to sea without knowing what
the cat-head is?" replied the principal. "You shall
know in due time. To-morrow we shall select the
officers, fifteen in number, who are to occupy the after
cabin."

This announcement created a decided sensation
among the eighty-seven boys gathered in the waist,
for the subject had been full of interest to them. The
after cabin had thus far been a sealed book; the door
was locked, and they had not even seen the inside of
the apartment. They were curious to visit this cabin,
and to know who were to occupy it.

"After the organization of the school, it is my intention
to give these offices to those who obtain the highest
number of merit marks, which will be given for good
{37}
conduct, good lessons, and progress in seamanship.
The best boy, who is at the same time the best scholar
and the best seaman, shall be captain. We have no
marks now by which to make the selection, and I
intend to have you elect him the first time, reserving
to myself the right to veto your choice if it is obviously
an improper one."

As Mr. Lowington uttered this last remark, he
glanced, perhaps unconsciously, at Shuffles, who
stood directly in front of him.

"Young gentlemen, the ballot will take place to-morrow
morning, at nine o'clock. I have given you
this notice, that you may be able to consider the matter
and, if you choose, to make nominations for the
several offices," continued the principal.

"What are the offices, sir?"

"The first and most important one, of course, is the
captain. The others are four lieutenants, four masters,
two pursers, and four midshipmen."

"What are they to do?" asked Kendall.

"I will not explain their duties now; it would
require too much time. I mentioned them in the
order of their importance. Now, young gentlemen,
you should select your candidates for these offices by
merit, not by favor. I am aware that a few of you
have been to sea, but probably none of you are competent
to handle a ship; and your choice should be
based mainly on good character and good conduct.
I hope I shall be able to approve the choice you may
make. You are dismissed now."

"Three cheers for the principal!" shouted one of
the boys.{38}

"Silence, young gentleman! Let me say now, that
no expressions of approbation or disapprobation are to
be allowed."

The boys separated into groups, and immediately
gave their attention to the important subject suggested
to them by Mr. Lowington. It must be acknowledged
that violent symptoms of "log-rolling" began to be
exhibited. There were fifty, if not eighty-seven young
men who wished to be captain, and sit at the head of
the table in the after cabin. Some of them went
down into the steerage, and in five minutes there was
a confused jabbering in every part of the ship.

"For whom shall you vote, Wilton?" asked Shuffles
in a group of half a dozen which had gathered
around one of the mess tables.

"I don't know? whom do you go for?" replied
Wilton.

"I rather think I shall go for Bob Shuffles. In my
opinion, he is the best fellow on board," replied the
owner of that name.

"That's modest," laughed Wilton.

"Do you know of any fellow that would make a
better captain than I should?"

"You don't know the first thing about a ship."

"What odds does that make? I can learn as fast
as anybody else."

"Do you expect every fellow to vote for himself?"
asked Howe, another of the group.

"Of course I don't; I expect them to vote for me,"
answered Shuffles, with great good-nature.

"You are rather cheeky, Shuffles."

"What's the use of mincing the matter? Here we
{39}
are, half a dozen of the best fellows in the ship. We
can't all be captain; but one of us can be just as well
as not."

"That's so," added Howe, approvingly. "But who
shall that one be?"

"I am the one, without a doubt," said Shuffles.

"I don't see it," interposed Monroe, shaking his
head; and he was the young gentleman who had
assisted the aspirant for the captaincy to rob Mr.
Lowington's favorite peach tree.

"What have you got to say about it, Ike Monroe?
Do you expect us to go for you?"

"I didn't say so."

"That's what you meant."

"I've just as much right to the place as you have,
Bob Shuffles."

"Do you think you could make the fellows stand
round as I can? But hold on; fellows, don't let us
fight about it. We are just the best six fellows
on board, and if we have a mind to do so, we
can have this thing all our own way," continued
Shuffles.

"I don't see how," said Philip Sanborn.

"Don't you know how the politicians manage these
things?"

"I don't."

"I'll tell you, then."

"But the principal said we must go according to
merit, and elect the fellows who were the best fitted
for the offices," interposed Howe.

"Exactly so; that's just what we are going to do.
I'm going to be captain; can you tell me of any
{40}
better fellow for the place?" demanded Shuffles, who,
putting aside the jesting manner in which he had
commenced the discussion, now assumed an earnest
and impudent tone.

"Didn't you hear what Lowington said when he
wound up his speech?" asked Wilton.

"What?"

"About vetoing our choice if it was not a proper
one."

"What of it?" asked Shuffles, innocently.

"Don't you think he would veto you?"

"Me! Not he! Lowington knows that I'm smart;
I was too smart for him once, and he knows it. He
won't veto me. We have been the best of friends
lately."

"I don't believe he'll have a chance to veto you,"
said Wilton.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't believe you will be elected."

"I know I shall, if we manage it right. Let us
look at it," continued Shuffles, as he took a pencil
from his pocket. "Got a piece of paper?"

Monroe gave him a piece of paper, and the wire-puller
began to make his calculations.

"Eighty-seven votes," said he, writing the number
on the paper. "Necessary to a choice, forty-four.
Here are six votes to start with."

"For whom?" asked Monroe.

"For me, for captain, first, and for each of the
others for whatever place he wants; say for Wilton
for first lieutenant; Howe for second, Sanborn for
{41}
third, Monroe for fourth, and Adler for first master.
What do you say to that, fellows?"

As with the political "slate," there was some difference
of opinion in regard to the minor officers, even
after Shuffles' claim to the captaincy had been conceded
But this disposition of the spoils was finally
agreed to.

"Now we want thirty-eight more votes," Shuffles
proceeded.

"Just so; and you might as well attempt to jump
over the main royal yard as to get them," added Adler,
who, having been assigned to the office lowest in rank,
was least satisfied with the "slate."

"Hold on; we haven't done yet. There are nine
more offices. Now we will pick out some good fellow
that will work for us, for each of these places;
then we will promise him six votes if he will go our
ticket, and do what he can for us."

"That will give us only fifteen votes," said Adler.

"I think that will be doing very well to start with.
Then you five fellows can electioneer for me, and I'll
do the same for you."

"I think we have made one mistake," added Sanborn.
"Most of the fellows will go for Carnes for
captain. He is an old salt, and has more influence
than any other student in the ship. We ought to offer
him some place."

"Make him purser, if you like," said Shuffles, contemptuously.

"That won't go down. Make him first lieutenant."

"And shove me out?" demanded Wilton, indignantly.
"I don't see it!"
{42}

"Nor I," added Shuffles. "I won't vote for Carnes,
any how. He's a snob and a flunky."

It was useless to resist the fiat of the chief wire-puller;
the ticket remained as it had been originally
prepared; and the young gentlemen proceeded to
distribute the rest of the offices.

CHAPTER III.

{43}

THE ENSIGN AT THE PEAK.

Return to Table of
Contents

The students on board of the Young America
were between the ages of fourteen and seventeen.
By the regulations, no boy under fourteen or
over seventeen could be admitted, and they averaged
about fifteen. They had, therefore, reached the years
of discretion. Among them were a great many who
were disposed to be wild boys, and not a few who
had found it difficult to remain in similar institutions
on shore. They were not criminal or depraved, but
simply wild; with a tendency to break through reasonable
restraint; with a taste for mad pranks, and a contempt
for authority.

Of this class, who were a trial and a torment to the
teachers of the ordinary high schools and academies,
the larger proportion would have scorned to steal, or
commit any wanton outrage upon the persons or property
of others. There were many high-minded, noble-hearted
young men, who could not tamely submit to
authority, and were prone to insubordination, and
who only needed the right kind of discipline to make
them earnest and faithful men and useful citizens.
There were few, if any, dunces or blockheads among
them, for a life on shipboard had no attractions for
{44}
such boys. They were, almost without an exception,
wide-awake, bold, daring fellows, who had a taste for
stirring events; fellows who wanted to climb the
Rocky Mountains, visit the North Pole, and explore
the Mammoth Cave. They were full of fun and mischief
and it would have been easy at any time to get
up a party among them to march the principal's cow
into the parlor of the Academy; to climb to the belfry
on a winter's night, and fill the inverted bell with
water, where it would freeze solid before morning; or
to convey the occupants of the hen-coop to the recitation
room.

It was Mr. Lowington's task to repress the mischief
in these boys, to keep them occupied with work and
play, and to develop their moral and mental capacities.
He had doubtless taken a heavy load upon himself
but he felt that he was to labor for his race and
his country. At least one half of his students were
too wild to attend the ordinary public or private
schools, or to profit by them if admitted. With such
material, his work could not be a sinecure. But he
had a taste for it, and he gave his whole heart and
soul to the performance of his duties.

When the students were gathered on board the
Young America, they were mostly strangers to him,
though he had communicated personally or by letter
with the parents of all of them. He had read and
listened to the stories of their pranks and peccadilloes,
but when they came together, he hardly knew one
from another, and was not prejudiced against any
individual by the terrible accounts of him related by
parents, guardians, or teachers. He purposed to give
{45}
them the opportunity to select their own officers at
first, in order to win a more cheerful obedience from
them, and because the students knew each other better
than he knew them.

After the announcement of the principal that the
voting would commence on the following morning,
nothing else was talked of on board. The qualifications
of various members of the school were discussed
by groups of excited voters; and we must do them
the justice to say that most of them considered the
matter unselfishly and with a single eye to the public
good. Perhaps it is a little remarkable that not a
single student, outside of the little group of wire-pullers
that gathered in the steerage, thought of Shuffles
for the position of captain; and the "log-rollers"
were likely to have up-hill work in electing themselves
to the six principal offices. But they went to work,
and labored very diligently till bed-time in carrying
their point.

While none thought of Shuffles in connection with
the highest position, many mentioned the dignified
young gentleman, who had made one voyage up the
Mediterranean—Richard Carnes. He had been on
board a fortnight, and had won and retained the respect
of all his companions.

Before the little band of wire-pullers in the steerage
had made up the "slate" to suit their minds, the
crowd on deck had agreed upon Richard Carnes for
captain, and were busy in discussing the qualifications
of others for the subordinate offices, when the
log-rollers separated, and went to work upon their
mission.{46}

"How are you going to vote for captain, Kendall?"
said Wilton, stopping up to the young gentleman who
had proposed so many questions to the principal, and
who had been so honest in confessing his ignorance
of nautical matters.

"For Carnes, of course."

"Humph! I wouldn't vote for him," sneered the
wire-puller.

"Why not?"

"He's too stiff; he'll put on airs, and be a tyrant
over us."

"No, he won't."

"You see if he don't. I say, Kendall, are you up
for any office?" continued Wilton, with a certain appearance
of slyness which the straightforward young
gentleman did not exactly like.

"Am I?"

"Yes, you. Wouldn't you like a room in the after
cabin?"

"Perhaps I would," answered Kendall, thoughtfully;
and the place was certainly very inviting to
him.

"They say the after cabin is a perfect little palace."

"I dare say it is."

"You can just as well go in there, if you like."

"I don't see how that can be. I don't think I'm fit
to be an officer. I am from Cincinnati, and I never
saw a ship till I came east three weeks ago."

"None of the fellows know anything about a ship.
All of us will have to learn."

"Carnes knows all about one."

"No, he don't. He made one voyage, and knows
{47}
just enough to talk salt. He's a good fellow enough,
but he isn't fit for captain. If you want to be an
officer, Kendall, and have a berth in the after cabin,
you can, just as well as not."

"Well, I would like such a place; I can't deny it;
but I don't think the fellows will go for me."

"They will, if you say so."

"If I say so! I'm not going to ask them to vote
for me," replied Kendall, warmly; for he was no politician
and had a vein of modesty in his composition.

"You needn't say a word to any one. If you will
go for our ticket, it will be all right. Half a dozen of
us have talked this matter over, and we have concluded
that you would be the best fellow for second master."

"Have you?" asked Kendall, who could not help
being gratified to learn that even half a dozen of his
companions had thought him worthy to be an officer
of so high a rank as second master. "I'm very much
obliged to you."

"All you have to do, is to go for our ticket."

"What do you mean by your ticket?" demanded
Kendall, who was rather confused by the technical
terms of the wire-puller.

Wilton explained that his little party had selected a
candidate for each of the offices; and if all the fellows
agreed to it, there would be fifteen votes for their ticket,
to begin with.

"Well, what is your ticket?" demanded Kendall,
impatiently. "If they are all good fellows, I will go
for them. Of course you mean to vote for Carnes for
captain."

"Not exactly," replied Wilton, with evident dis
{48}gust.
"We shall put up a better fellow than he is for
captain."

"Why, all the boys are going for him," added Kendall,
astonished to find there were any who did not
believe in Carnes.

"No, they are not."

"I thought they were."

"He will not be elected, and you need not throw
your vote away upon him, because, if you don't want
a place in the after cabin, there are plenty of fellows
who do," added the wire-puller, with apparent indifference.

"But I do want it."

"Then all you have to do, is to go for our ticket."

"I think Carnes will make the best captain."

"Very well; if you think so, you have a right to
your own opinion. I haven't any mortgage on it."

"Whom are you going to run for captain?"

"It's no use to talk any more about it, if you are
going for Carnes," replied Wilton, as he turned to
move away.

The wire-puller was playing a part. Paul Kendall
was a noble little fellow, and was already a great
favorite on board, not only with the boys, but with
the principal and the professors. Wilton knew that
he had a great deal of influence, and it was important
to secure him for their ticket. If he could tell others
that Kendall was going for their men, it would induce
many to join their party. The "favorite," though he
was an honest, noble-hearted fellow, was still human,
and a berth in the after cabin was a strong temptation
to him.{49}

"I'm not going to say I'll vote for a fellow till I
know who he is," added Kendall. "If he's the right
person, perhaps I'll go for him, though I wanted to
see Carnes captain."

"Carnes can't be elected, I tell you. We are going
against him."

"Whom are you going for, then?"

"For Bob Shuffles," replied Wilton, desperately,
for he did not wish to mention his candidate till he
had won the assent of his companion.

"Shuffles!" exclaimed Kendall, with something
like horror mingled with his astonishment; "I shall
not go for him, anyhow."

"Why not?"

"I don't think he is the right person for the place."

"I do; he's a first-rate fellow—none of your milk
and water chaps, that swallow camels and strain at
gnats."

Kendall had some decided objections to Shuffles,
and he positively refused to vote for him, even to obtain
the coveted position in the after cabin. Wilton
argued the matter with much skill and cunning; but
his logic and his eloquence were both wasted.

"Well, if you won't go for Shuffles, you must be
content with your place in the steerage," added Wilton.

"I won't go for him, any how," said Kendall,
firmly.

"You are making a mistake."

"I don't think so. I'm bound to vote for the best
fellow, and I'm sure Shuffles isn't the right one."

"See here, Kendall; don't say a word to the others
{50}
that I spoke to you of this little matter. I thought you
would go with us, or I shouldn't have said anything
to you."

"Not say anything? Why not?"

"Because it will be better to keep still."

"I shall not do anything of the kind. You have
got up a plan to defeat Carnes, by giving the offices to
fellows who will vote against him. You wish me to
keep still, while you carry out your plan. I can see
through a cord of wood, when there's a hole big
enough."

"I mentioned this thing to you in confidence."

"You didn't say a word about confidence; and I
didn't promise to keep still. I won't keep still. I
think it is a mean trick to buy up the votes of the
fellows, and I'll blow the whole thing higher than a
kite."

"You'll catch it if you do," said Wilton, in a
threatening tone.

"Catch what?" demanded Kendall, with a very
pretty exhibition of dignity.

"Bob Shuffles will give it to you."

"Give what to me?"

"Give you the biggest licking you ever had in your
life," answered Wilton, angrily, "You are so stupid,
you can't understand anything."

"I think I can understand the licking, when if
comes. That's a game that two can play at."

"What do you mean, you little bantam? Do you
think you can whip Bob Shuffles?"

"I had no idea of whipping him; and I have no
idea of his whipping me, either."
{51}

Kendall was spunky. Wilton could make nothing
of him by threats or persuasion; and he turned away
from him to seek a more promising field of labor.
Kendall took off his cap, scratched his head as he
reflected upon the event which had just transpired,
and made up his mind that it was an insult to an independent
elector to attempt to buy his vote with the
paltry consideration of an office. He was sorry that
he had been even tempted by the proposition of the
wire-pullers, and thankful that his sense of honor and
decency had prompted him to decline it when asked to
vote for an improper person. True to his promise,
he made all haste to expose the conspiracy, as he
regarded it, against Carnes.

When the students turned in that night, the wire-pullers
had found a sufficient number of candidates
for all the offices on the terms set forth in the compact,
each of whom had promised to use his influence for
the entire ticket. Shuffles had made a very pretty
calculation, to the effect that each of the fifteen candidates
could influence at least two votes besides his own
for the ticket, which would inevitably elect it. But
during all this time Paul Kendall had been laboring
like a Trojan for Carnes, and had induced his friends
to do the same.

At nine-o'clock in the morning, the polls were
opened for the election of officers. A box was placed
on the fife-rail, at the mainmast, in which the ballots
were deposited, under the inspection of Professor
Mapps.

"Have all the students voted?" called the professor,
{52}
when the voting was suspended. "If so, I declare
the poll closed."

It was a moment of intense excitement on the spar
deck of the Young America when Mr. Lowington
stood up on the hatch to announce the vote. There
was a pleasant smile upon his face, which indicated
that it would not be his painful duty to veto the choice
of the independent electors.

"Young gentlemen, your balloting appears to have
been conducted with entire fairness," said he, "and I
will proceed to declare the result. Whole number of
votes, eighty-seven; necessary to a choice, forty-four.
Paul Kendall has five; Charles Gordon has seven;
Robert Shuffles has twenty-two; Richard Carnes
has fifty-three, and is elected captain of the Young
America for the succeeding three months."

The party who had worked and voted for Carnes
applauded the result most lustily, and gave three
cheers for the new captain, which, on this exciting
occasion, were not objected to by the principal. Shuffles's
jaw dropped down, and his lip quivered with
angry emotion.

"That little whipper-snapper of a Kendall did that,"
said Wilton, in a low tone, to the disappointed candidate.
"I was afraid of this when I saw him blowing
about the deck."

"I'll settle it with him when I get a good chance,"
growled Shuffles, as he went to the rail and looked
over into the water, in order to conceal his disappointment
and chagrin.

"Young gentlemen will bring in their votes for first
{53}
lieutenant," said Professor Mapps, as he placed the
box on the fife-rail again.

The boys marched around the mainmast, and deposited
their ballots for the second officer, as they had
done before. The friends of Shuffles rallied again,
hoping that something might yet come of the compact
they had made with him, and gave him their votes for
first lieutenant, though, in his chagrin, he declared that
he would not accept the position. Fortunately for him,
he was not called upon to do so; for Charles Gordon
was elected by a very large majority. As the election
proceeded, it became evident that there was no office
for Shuffles. Paul Kendall was elected fourth lieutenant
and the announcement of the vote was greeted
by even more hearty applause than had been bestowed
upon the captain.

At the conclusion of the balloting, Shuffles found
that not a single one of the wire-pullers, or of the
candidates nominated by them, had been elected.
The attempt to bribe the independent voters, by giving
them office, had been a signal failure; and it is to
be hoped that Young America, when fully developed,
will stick to his principles.

"Captain Richard Carnes," said Mr. Lowington, as
he stepped upon the hatch, after the voting had been
concluded.

The young gentleman thus addressed came forward,
blushing beneath the honors which had been bestowed
upon him. The principal took his hand.

"Captain Carnes, I congratulate you upon your
election to the highest office in the gift of your com
{54}panions;
and I congratulate your fellow-students also
upon having so good a young man to handle the ship.
You have been modest, and they have been wise. I
congratulate you both. Young gentlemen, I am
satisfied that your captain will be just, courteous, and
gentlemanly, in his relations with you; and I hope
you will yield a willing and cheerful obedience to his
orders, and to those of all your superiors. Let me
say that this business is not a farce; it is not mere
boys' play; for as soon as the officers and crew are
fully trained and instructed, all ship duty will be
carried on without assistance from me or others.
When necessary, I shall advise the captain what to
do, but I shall not do it myself; neither shall I needlessly
interfere with the discipline of the ship.

"This is the last time an election of officers will be
permitted, for it is liable to many objections, not the
least of which are the bribery and corruption by which
some have attempted to obtain office."

Mr. Lowington looked at Shuffles, as though he
knew all about the method to which he had resorted
to secure an election; but we are quite sure that Paul
Kendall had never lisped a word of it to him, or to
any of the instructors.

"On the first day of July, young gentlemen, all
the offices will be vacant; and they will be awarded
strictly in accordance with the marks you may obtain.
There will be no veto upon the result of the merit
roll. These places, therefore, are open to all. We
have no aristocracy on board. Every student in the
ship is a candidate for the captaincy. Now, if the
officers elect will follow me to the after cabin, I will
{55}
install them into their new positions; after which I
will proceed to organize the crew."

The door of the after cabin, which had hitherto
been a mystery to all the boys, was unlocked by the
head steward, and Mr. Lowington, followed by the
officers, entered. The students on deck were ordered
forward, and were not even permitted to look down
the companion-way, for the principal intended to keep
the after cabin exclusively for the officers; and no one
not entitled to admission was to be allowed to cross
its threshold. He believed that this mystery, and this
rigid adherence to the division line between officers
and crew, would promote the discipline of the ship,
and enhance the value of the offices—the prizes for
good conduct, and general fidelity to duty.

"Captain Carnes, this is your state room," continued
Mr. Lowington, opening the door of the room
farthest forward on the starboard side. "As the commander
of the ship you are entitled to an apartment
by yourself."

"Thank you, sir," replied the captain, as he stepped
into the room.

"You will find on the hooks your uniform as
captain. There are three suits, from which you will
select one that fits you."

Captain Carnes entered and closed the door. If he
did not feel like a king, he ought to have felt so.

Mr. Lowington then gave the next room to the first
and second lieutenants, who were to occupy it together;
and they were also directed to clothe themselves in the
uniforms deposited there for their use. The third state
room was given to the third and fourth lieutenants, and
{56}
the fourth to the first and second midshipmen. The
forward room of the port side was assigned to the first
and second masters; the next to the third and fourth;
the third to the two pursers, and the last to the third
and fourth midshipmen.

In a short time the officers came out of their rooms
clothed in their uniforms, which consisted of a blue
frock coat, with brass buttons, and blue pants. The
cap was of the same material, with a gold band
around it. Thus far the uniforms were all alike;
but there were distinguishing insignia to indicate the
rank of each. All the officers had shoulder-straps, by
which their positions were designated. The captain
had two anchors; the first lieutenant had one anchor,
with four stars, one above, one below, and one on
each side; the second lieutenant had the anchor with
three stars—none above; the third lieutenant, one
star on each side of the anchor; and the fourth lieutenant
one star below the anchor. The captain also
wore five narrow gold bands on each of his coat
sleeves; the first lieutenant four, and so on, the
fourth wearing but one band.

The shoulder-straps of the masters contained no
anchor; only the stars, one for each grade, the first
master having four stars; the fourth only one. The
rank of the pursers was indicated by the outline of a
parallelogram for the second, and two of the same
figure, one within the other, for the first. The straps
of the midshipmen contained gilt numbers, from one
to four, designating their grade.

The officers presented a very elegant and dashing
appearance in their new uniform; and if some of them
{57}
did not feel a little vain, it was because they were less
human than boys usually are.

"What are we to do, sir?" asked Kendall of the
principal, after the uniforms had been duly criticised.

"Nothing, at present."

"Nothing! Why, I feel like a counterfeit gold
dollar, in this rig, when I know no more about a
ship than I do about the inside of the moon."

"You will learn in due time. You will go on deck
now, young gentlemen; and remember that, as officers,
you are not to be familiar with the crew while you are
on duty."

"Can't we speak to them?" asked Kendall, who
was not disposed to be so exclusive as naval discipline
required him to be.

"Not while you are on duty, except when it is
necessary to do so. We will now assign the berths
in the steerage to the crew."

As the boys came on board, they had taken the
berths as they pleased. Shuffles had selected a room,
and invited his "cronies" to occupy the bunks it contained
with him. The berths were now to be distributed
by lot. Professor Mapps had provided seventy-two
slips of paper, on each of which he had written
a number. The boys were mustered into line, and
drew out these numbers from the package. As each
student drew his slip, the purser wrote down his name
in a book, with the number he had drawn.

In the steerage, each berth had its own number,
which was also applied to a locker, and a seat at one
of the mess tables. When the drawing was completed
each student had his berth, his clothes locker,
{58}
and his seat at meals. Many of them were extremely
dissatisfied when they found that they had been separated
from their "cronies;" but the principal was firm,
and would not allow a single change to be made.

By this time it was twelve o'clock, and Boatswain
Peaks piped all hands to muster. The ensign was
hoisted, and saluted with three cheers, in which all
hands, young and old, joined. When this ceremony
was finished, the crew were piped to dinner, and the
officers went to their cabin, where the steward had set
the table for them for the first time. They dined like
lords, though upon the same fare as their companions
in the steerage.

CHAPTER IV.

{59}

OFFICERS AND SEAMEN.

Return to Table of
Contents

After dinner the organization of the crew was
continued. All hands were "piped to muster,"
and by this time most of those who had been disaffected
at the drawing of berths had recovered their
natural equanimity, and all were intensely interested
in the arrangement of the details. None of the boys
knew what was coming, and their curiosity kept them
in a continuous state of excitement.

"All who have drawn even numbers will take the
starboard side of the ship," said Mr. Lowington from
his perch on the hatch. "All who have drawn odd
numbers will take the port side."

"This is the starboard side, my lads," added Mr.
Fluxion, the instructor in mathematics—who, like the
principal, had been a naval officer,—as he pointed to
the right, looking forward.

Some had already forgotten their numbers, and there
was considerable confusion before the order could be
obeyed.

"Young gentlemen, the books will be opened to-day;
and a student who forgets his number again will
lose a mark," said Mr. Lowington. "Are they all in
their places, Mr. Fluxion?"
{60}

"They are, sir," replied the instructor, who had
just counted them.

"Young gentlemen, you are thus divided into two
equal parts—the starboard and the port watches.
Now form a straight line, toe the crack, and call your
numbers in order, beginning with the starboard watch."

The boys eagerly followed this direction, though
some assistance was required from the instructors in
repressing their superfluous enthusiasm.

"Very well," continued Mr. Lowington, when the
students were formed in two lines. "Every boy in
the starboard watch whose number is divisible by four,
step forward one pace. Number three in the port
watch, do the same. Mr. Mapps, oblige me by seeing
that every alternate boy in the line steps forward."

"The line is formed, sir," replied the instructor,
when he had carried out the direction of the principal.

"Each watch is now divided into two parts—the
first and second parts, as they will be called. Now,
young gentlemen, the clothing will be distributed, and
each student will put on his uniform at once."

The four lines were then marched down into the
steerage, each under the charge of an instructor, to a
particular locality, where the head steward and his
assistants had deposited the clothing for each watch
and quarter watch. The uniform consisted of blue
seaman's pants and a heavy flannel shirt or frock, such
as is worn in the United States navy. To each student
the following articles were served out:—

1 pea-jacket.

1 blue cloth jacket.

1 pair blue cloth pants.

{61}
1 pair blue satinet pants.

1 blue cap.

1 straw hat, of coarse, sewed straw.

1 Panama hat, bound.

2 knit woollen shirts.

2 pair knit woollen drawers.

2 white frocks.

2 pair white duck pants.

4 pair socks.

2 pair shoes.

2 black silk neck-handkerchiefs.

These articles were given to the boys, and they were
required to put on the every-day uniform; after which
they were directed to arrange the rest of the clothing
in the lockers belonging to them. The contractor who
had furnished the goods was present with four tailors,
to attend to the fitting of the clothes, which were all
numbered according to the size. In a short time the
students began to come out of their rooms, clothed in
their new rig. They looked intensely "salt," and there
was no end to the jokes and smart things that were
said on this interesting occasion. Even Shuffles hardly
knew himself in his new dress.

The frock had a broad rolling collar, in each corner
of which was worked an anchor in white. The black
silk neck-handkerchief was worn under the collar, and
not many of the boys had acquired the art of tying the
regular sailor's knot. Boatswain Peaks not only stood
up as a model for them, but he adjusted the "neck
gear" for many of them. Bitts, the carpenter, and
{62}
Leech, the sailmaker, who were also old sailors, cheerfully
rendered a valet's assistance to such as needed
help.

Agreeably to the directions of Mr. Lowington, the
shore suits of the students were done up in bundles,
each marked with the owner's name, and the head
steward took them to Mr. Lowington's house for
storage.

Rigged out in their "sea togs," the students began
to feel salt, as well as to look salt. Some of them tried
to imitate the rolling gait of the boatswain when they
walked, and some of them began to exhibit an alarming
tendency to indulge in sea slang.

"There, my hearty, you look like a sailor now,"
said Peaks, when he had rolled over the collar and
tied the square knot in the handkerchief of Wilton.

"Shiver my timbers, but I feel like one," laughed
the embryo seaman.

"What's that, young gentleman?" demanded Mr.
Lowington, who happened to be within hearing;
"what did you say?"

"I said I felt like a sailor, sir."

"What was the expression you used?"

"I only said shiver my timbers, sir."

"You stole that expression from a yellow-covered
novel. Did you ever hear Mr. Peaks, who has been a
sailor all his lifetime, use such language?"

"I'll be bound he never did," added Peaks.

"No, sir. I don't know that I ever did."

"Some sailors do use such expressions; but it is
gross affectation for these young gentlemen, who never
saw a blue wave, to indulge in them. If you please,
{63}
Wilton, you will not use such language. It is simply
ridiculous. Mr. Peaks, you will pipe all hands to
muster again."

The shrill whistle of the boatswain sounded through
the ship, and the boys tumbled up the ladders, eager
to learn what was to be done next. As they formed
in lines, they presented a novel and picturesque appearance
in their jaunty uniform. Most of them had
already learned to wear their caps canted over on one
side, and not a few of them, perhaps as much from
necessity as because it was a sailor's habit, hitched up
their trousers, and thrust their hands deep down into
the side pockets.

The students were again formed in watches and
quarter watches, each of which classes and sub-classes
was indicated on the uniforms. All the starboard
watch wore a small silver star on the right arm, above
the elbow, and the port watch the same emblem on
the left arm. The first part of each watch had a
figure 1, under the star, and the second part a figure
2 in the same position.

The rest of the day was spent in the organization
for ship's duty, which was far from completed when
the sun went down. The next day every boy was
kept so busy that he had no time to grumble. The
instructors attended to the lessons in the steerage with
one watch, while the other was on deck acquiring seamanship.
In the course of the month, as the boys
learned their duties, and the capabilities of each were
ascertained, they were assigned to their stations in the
various evolutions required in working the vessel.

Boatswain Peaks had taught the boys, a few at a
{64}
time, how to set a sail, reef and furl it. They had
been gradually accustomed to going aloft, until the
giddy height of the main royal did not appall them,
and they could lay out on the yards without thinking
of the empty space beneath them. By the first of
June, all the petty officers had been appointed, and
every student had his station billet. When the order
was given to unmoor ship, to make sail, or to furl the
sails, every one knew where to go and what to do.
The station billets were cards on which the various
evolutions of the ship had been printed in a column
on the left, while the particular duty of the owner of
the card was written against it. The card was kept
by the student, and he was expected to learn its contents
so that he could take his place without stopping
to consult it, when an order was given. Here is a
specimen of the cards:—

{65}

The crew had been in training a month before an
attempt was made to set more than one sail at once;
but by this time the officers knew the orders, having
practised every day since the organization. The
petty officers had been appointed, and had, to some
extent, become familiar with their duties.

The boys still continued to wonder when the Young
America would go on a cruise, for they were very
anxious to see the blue water, and to roll on the great
waves of the Atlantic; but they were so constantly
occupied with ship's duty and their studies, that the
time did not hang heavily on their hands. Two
months of constant practice had made tolerable seamen
of them, and the discipline of the ship went on
regularly. The young officers, as Mr. Lowington had
promised, began to conduct the evolutions and give
the orders.

On the 1st day of June, after breakfast, the students
were thrown into a fever of excitement by an unusual
order, and they ventured to hope that the ship was to
leave her moorings.

"Mr. Gordon, you will pipe all hands to muster,"
said Captain Carnes to the first lieutenant.

"Pass the word for the boatswain," added Gordon
to one of the midshipmen, who stood near him.

This call was answered, not by Peaks, who no
longer performed the duties of boatswain, but by one
of the students, who had been appointed to this position.

"Pipe all hands to muster, boatswain," said the
first lieutenant, as the petty officer touched his cap to
him.{66}

"All hands on deck, ahoy!" shouted the boatswain,
as he piped the call.

This was an unusual order for that time of day, the
forenoon being appropriated to study for each watch
in turn; and those who were below hastened on deck
to ascertain what was to be done.

"All hands, stations for loosing sail!" piped the
boatswain, when ordered to do so by Gordon.

The first lieutenant was in charge of the ship, under
the direction of the captain. The second lieutenant
stood on the forecastle, where he was attended by the
boatswain. The third lieutenant was in the waist,
and the fourth on the quarter deck, near the mizzenmast.
These were the stations of the officers whenever
all hands were called. Mr. Lowington and the
instructors stood near the companion-way, watching
with interest this first attempt to make sail all over
the ship.

"Lay aloft, sail-loosers!" shouted Gordon; and his
order was repeated by the officers at their several
stations.

The little tars who belonged on the topsail and top-gallant
yards sprang up the rigging like so many cats,
excited beyond measure by the scene of activity around
them.

"Lower yardmen in the chains!" continued Gordon
and his order was passed, along by the officers.
"Aloft, lower yardmen!"

In a moment the crew were in their places; the
studding-sail booms were triced up with the usual
system, so that the sails could be reached.

"Lay out!" continued the first lieutenant; and the
{67}
boys walked out on the foot-ropes to their stations on
the yards. "Loose!"

The ropes by which the sails were secured to the
yards were removed at this order, and the topmen held
the sails in their places.

"All ready on the forecastle, sir," reported Foster,
who was captain of that part of the ship.

"All ready in the foretop."

"All ready in the maintop."

"All ready in the mizzentop," reported the several
captains of the tops, in their proper order.

These reports were passed to the first lieutenant in
charge of the deck, by his subordinates.

"Let fall!" shouted Gordon, highly excited; and
the sails dropped from the yard. "Overhaul your
rigging aloft! Man sheets and halyards! Sheets
home, and hoist away!"

These orders were passed from mouth to mouth
among the officers, and return reports made, according
to the strict discipline of the navy. They were
promptly executed by the crew, though of course not
without some blunders; and the Young America was
covered with her cloud of canvas. Mr. Lowington
commended the officers and crew for the promptness
and skill they had displayed in their first concerted
attempt at making sail. He then directed Captain
Carnes to furl. Both evolutions were then repeated,
until a proficiency satisfactory for one day was attained.

"Not going to sea, after all," said Shuffles, when
the crew were dismissed from muster.

"No," replied Wilton. "I'm tired of lying here,
and if we don't go to sea soon, I shall take myself off."
{68}

"I'm with you."

"I thought we were going to have some fun on
board, but we don't do anything but study and shake
out topsails."

"Do you know how you stand on marks, Wilton?"
asked Shuffles.

"No; not very high, though."

"Don't you think you shall get into the cabin
next term?"

"I know I shall not. I haven't tried for anything."

"On the first of next month, you know, new officers
will be appointed, and I suppose the crew will be
messed over again."

"I don't care, I'm getting tired of this thing, I
had a better time at the Academy before we came on
board."

"There isn't much chance for any sport. Hardly a
fellow has been allowed to go on shore since we
joined the ship."

"Well get up a mutiny, if things don't improve."

"I was thinking of that very thing myself," said
Shuffles, in a low tone.

"A mutiny!" exclaimed Wilton, who had used the
word in jest.

"Just for fum, you know," laughed Shuffles.

"You don't mean any such thing?"

"Not yet, of course."

"Do you at any time?"

"We want something more exciting than this kind
of a life. Here we are, kept down and treated like
common sailors. We have to touch our caps and
make our manners to Dick Carnes and the rest of the
{69}
flunkies in the after cabin. My father pays as much
for me as Dick Carnes' father does for him, and I don't
think it is fair that he should live in the cabin and I in
the steerage."

"If you get marks enough, you can have a berth in
the cabin," replied Wilton.

"Marks! Confound the marks! I'm not a baby.
Do you think a fellow seventeen years old is going to
be put up or put down by marks?" said Shuffles.

"I thought you had been working for a place in
the cabin."

"So I have, but I don't expect to get it. I never
studied so hard in my life, and I believe I haven't had
a bad mark since I came on board, Lowington
thinks I have reformed," laughed Shuffles. "And
so I have."

"What do you want to get up a mutiny for, then?"

"I shall not, if I get a decent position; if I don't,
I'm going in for some fun."

"But do you really think of getting up a mutiny?"
asked Wilton, curiously.

"I was thinking the other day what a fine thing it
would be if our fellows had the ship all to themselves."

"What could we do with her?"

"Go on a cruise in her."

"We couldn't handle her; there is hardly a fellow
on board that knows anything about navigation."

"Of course, I don't mean to do anything yet a while;
not this year, perhaps. One of these days, if we stay
on board, we shall know all about a ship. Fifteen or
twenty of the fellows are studying navigation. We
are going to Europe some time or other. When
{70}
we do, we can take the ship, and go it on our own
hook."

"I don't believe you mean anything of the kind,
Bob Shuffles."

"I've been thinking about it, anyhow. We can
lock Lowington and the rest of the old folks into their
cabin while they are at dinner; and there are enough
of us to handle Peaks and Bitts."

"I think you are crazy, Shuffles."

"We should have a high old time if we could get
possession of the ship. We wont say a word about
it yet."

"I think you had better not."

"We might go round Cape Horn into the Pacific,
and have a splendid time among the beautiful islands
of the South Sea."

"Of course all the fellows wouldn't join you."

"We could put those ashore somewhere who did
not agree with us."

"You know the penalty of mutiny on the high
seas."

"Bah!" said Shuffles, contemptuously. "It would
be nothing but it lark. No one would think of
hanging us, or even sending us to prison for it. My
father is rich enough to get me out of any scrape."

"So is mine; but I don't think it would be quite
safe to go into a mutiny."

"Not yet, my dear fellow. You can think it over."

"But I'm tired of this kind of a life. I liked it
first rate in the beginning. Do you think Lowington
really intends to go to sea with the ship?"

"I know he does."
{71}

"If he don't go pretty soon, I shall run away, and
go to sea in earnest."

"Don't say a word about the mutiny at present,
Wilton. By and by, if things go right, or if they
don't go right, we may want to take some stock in
such an enterprise."

"I don't see it yet, but of course I shall keep still."

It is doubtful whether even so daring a young man
as Shuffles, who had the temerity to do almost anything,
seriously contemplated getting up a mutiny.
Very likely his untamed and vicious imagination had
revelled in such an enterprise; had pictured the delights
of the rover's life at sea; but a boy of ordinary common
sense could hardly think of engaging in such a
mad scheme.

The last week of June, with which month ended the
first school term on board of the Young America,
was devoted to examinations and reviews in all the
studies for which extra marks were given. On the
last day the instructors made up the merit lists, and
on the morning of the 1st of July all hands were
mustered, and the result declared. Most of the officers,
all of whom had studied with unremitting diligence
in order to retain their positions, were reinstated
in their offices. The third lieutenant, however, fell
out, having failed in his reviews, and to the astonishment
of all, Robert Shuffles was found to be entitled
to the place. The first and second lieutenants exchanged
ranks, and Paul Kendall fell to the position
of second master. Three of the tenants of the after
cabin were compelled to move into the steerage, and
{72}
three of the crew were transferred to the officers'
quarters.

Many were disappointed, and perhaps some were
disheartened, for the competition had been a severe
struggle; and as much depended upon natural ability
as upon energy and perseverance. But the Young
America was a world by herself. She had all the
elements of society within her wooden walls, and
success and failure there followed the same rules as
in the great world of which she was an epitome.

After the officers had been duly installed in their
positions, the petty offices were given to those having
the highest number of marks among the crew. It
was certainly democratic for the late third lieutenant
to become captain of the foretop, and for a second
master to become coxswain of the professors' barge;
but these young gentlemen, though disappointed, submitted
with a good grace to their misfortune.

The student having the highest number of marks
among the crew was allowed to have the first choice
of berths in the steerage; the one having the next
highest number had the second choice, and so on,
until all the numbers had been appropriated. At the
conclusion of the reorganization, Mr. Lowington made
a speech, "comforting the mourners," and reminding
all the students that, on the 1st of October, there
would be another distribution of the places of honor.
He hoped those who had failed to attain what they
aspired to reach would not be discouraged, for, after
all, they had been gaining knowledge, and thus the
real end of the school had been reached.
{73}

"How about the mutiny?" said Wilton to the new
third lieutenant, when both were off duty in the
evening.

"It won't pay just now," replied Shuffles, with
great good humor.

"I suppose not," sneered Wilton, who had not
even won a petty office. "What would Lowington
say if he knew the third lieutenant talked of getting
up a mutiny on board?"

"What would he say?" repeated Shuffles, who was
as much surprised at the high rank he had gained as
his companion had been.

"Yes; what would he say if I should tell him
of it?"

"He would say you were a mean pup for telling
tales out of school; at least, he ought to say so, and I
think he would. Lowington is a pretty good fellow,
after all."

"No doubt he is, now you are third lieutenant."

"You needn't snuff at it, Wilton. If you want a
place, why don't you sail in, and get one. Just look
out for your marks; that's all you have to do."

"Marks! I thought a fellow seventeen years old
was not to be put up or put down by marks," said
Wilton, bitterly.

"That depends somewhat upon whether you get in
or out," laughed Shuffles.

"I suppose you and Paul Kendall will be fast
friends now," added the discontented student.

"Kendall behaves very well, and has treated me first
rate since I went into the cabin."
{74}

"I suppose if I want to run away, you will stop me
now."

"If you are going to do that, you musn't tell me of
it, now I'm an officer," replied Shuffles, as he turned
on his heel, and walked aft.

Wilton was disgusted, and felt that he had lost his
best friend, now that Shuffles had worked his way
into the cabin.

CHAPTER V.

{75}

OUR FELLOWS.

Return to Table of
Contents

"I would like leave of absence for to-morrow, Mr.
Pelham," said Wilton, as he touched his cap to
the first lieutenant of the Young America, on the day
before the Fourth of July.

"I am sorry to inform you, Wilton, that no leave
of absence will be granted to-morrow," replied Pelham
in accordance with the instructions given him
by the captain, who, in turn, had received his orders
from the principal.

"No leave!" exclaimed Wilton, his jaw dropping
down.

"Such are the orders."

"I have always been in the habit of celebrating the
Fourth of July," replied Wilton. "Are we to stay
on board the ship, and mope all day?"

"I presume the day will be celebrated on board in
a proper manner," added the first lieutenant.

"On board! What can a fellow do here? We
might as well go to bed, and sleep off the day."

"No words are necessary, Wilton," replied Pelham
as he turned and walked away.

"That's a good one!" added Wilton, to the group
of boys who had come with him to the mainmast, to
{76}
request the same favor, if the spokesman was permitted
to go on shore and celebrate the day.

"Not to celebrate!" exclaimed Monroe, with something
like horror in his tones and looks.

"Work on the Fourth of July!" chimed in Adler.

"I won't stand it, for one!" said Wilton.

"Nor I, for another," added Monroe.

So said half a dozen others.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" demanded
Adler. "Here we are, and we can't get
ashore."

"Perhaps we can," said Wilton, as he led the way
to a retired part of the deck, where they could talk
without being overheard. "Did any one ever hear
of such a thing as keeping the fellows on board on the
Fourth of July? Why, every little Greek in the city
yonder has his liberty on that day; and we are to be
cooped up here like a parcel of sick chickens! I suppose
we shall have to recite history and French, and
shake out topsails, as usual."

"It's outrageous. I don't believe the fellows will
stand it," added Adler, who did not know how bad
the case was, until it had been rehearsed by Wilton,
who, in the absence of Shuffles, had become the leader
of a certain clique on board, given to taking opposite
views.

"But I don't see what we can do," said Monroe.

"We will do something. I won't stand it. If I
stay on board the ship to-morrow, it will be as a prisoner,"
answered Wilton.

"It's a hard case; but what can we do about it?"
asked Sanborn.{77}

"Suppose we go to Lowington, and state the case
to him," suggested Adler.

"What's the use of that? Of course the first lieutenant
spoke by the card. He had his orders to say
what he did, and I'm sure they came from Lowington."

"There can be no doubt of that; but it would be
better to have it from him."

"I'm willing to ask Lowington for the day, if the
fellows want me to do so; but it won't do any more
good than it would to bark at the mainmast," continued
Wilton. "I have an idea in my head, if the fellows
will stand by me," he added, in a lower tone, as
he looked over the rail at the swinging boom, to which
the boats in constant use were made fast.

"What is it?" asked Monroe, eagerly.

"Keep shady, for a while. How many fellows can
we muster?"

"I don't know."

"Well, don't stir the matter yet. Here comes Lowington
and we will talk to him first. Come, fellows,
let's make a dive at him."

Wilton, attended by his companions, walked up to
the principal, as he was going forward. Touching his
cap respectfully, as the discipline of the ship required,
he opened the case.

"Mr. Lowington, some of the students would like
to go on shore to-morrow, to celebrate the Fourth.
Can't we have liberty?"

"You know the rule; you should apply to the first
lieutenant for leave of absence," replied Mr. Lowington.
{78}

"We have, sir, and been refused."

"Then there is nothing more to be said. The first
lieutenant speaks with authority."

"I beg your pardon, sir, but are we to stay on board
all day to-morrow?"

"That is certainly the arrangement, Wilton."

"Some of us would like to celebrate the day, sir,
and we think it is rather hard to be obliged to do duty
on the Fourth of July."

"I intend to have the day celebrated in a proper
manner. I have made preparations for a gala day on
board."

"If you please, sir, we would rather go on shore."

"I am very sorry, for your sake, that I shall be unable
to reverse the answer of the first lieutenant. If
I permit one or a dozen to go ashore, I cannot refuse
any, and all must go. I think the boys will be satisfied
with the arrangements I have made for the day."

"I never was kept in school on the Fourth of July
before, sir," growled Wilton.

"Then this will be a new event in your experience,"
answered Mr. Lowington, coldly, as he turned from
the petitioners, and went forward.

There were a great many wild boys on board of the
Young America, and it was morally impossible for the
whole crew to attend the celebration in the city, without
more or less of them getting into a scrape. They
had been kept on board for two months, and not
allowed to go on shore, except under the supervision
of one of the instructors; and to let any considerable
number of them loose on such a day as the Fourth of
July, would only be courting trouble, for they would
{79}
be all the more disorderly after the long period of
restraint.

Mr. Lowington did not willingly deprive the boys
of any innocent gratification. He had faithfully considered
the matter of celebrating the day, and taken
the advice of the instructors on the subject. It had
been proposed to procure a band of music, and visit
the city in a body, under the usual discipline; but
there were many difficulties attending such a plan.
The boys were all the sons of rich men, and most of
them were abundantly supplied with pocket money.
As it would be impossible to prevent the escape of
some of them from the procession, in the crowded
streets, it was feared that their money would prove to
be "the root of all evil." The project had finally
been abandoned; and, as a substitute, a programme
for a celebration on board had been arranged, for there
the students would be entirely under the control of the
instructors, who would check all excesses. It was anticipated
that a few discontented spirits would grumble,
but no rebellion was expected.

Wilton and his companions were dissatisfied, and
disposed to be rash. They felt that they had been
harshly and cruelly denied a reasonable privilege.
The subject of celebrating the Fourth had been under
consideration for a long time among the boys, and it
had been generally believed that all hands would be
permitted to go on shore, with perfect liberty, on that
day; and many of them had already arranged their
plans for the occasion.

"Well, what do you think now?" said Wilton, as
Mr. Lowington walked forward.
{80}

"I think it's too bad," replied Adler. "It is meaner
than dirt to make us stay on board on the Fourth of
July."

"But I don't see how we are going to help ourselves,"
added Monroe, looking at Wilton for a solution
of this difficult problem.

"I do."

"How?"

"Keep still; don't say a word here," continued
Wilton. "Scatter, now, and I will be on the top-gallant
forecastle in a few minutes."

Wilton strolled about the deck a short time, and
then went to the place of meeting, where he was soon
joined by the rest of the discontented pupils.

"How many fellows can we muster?" asked he,
when his associates in mischief had again gathered
around him.

"I know at least a dozen, who are up to anything,"
replied Monroe; "but some of them are in the other
watch. What are you going to do?"

"I'll tell you: There are the professors' barge and
the third cutter at the swinging boom. We will drop
into them when the instructors go down to supper,
and make for the shore. All the rest of the boats are
at the davits; and before they can get them into the
water, we shall be out of their reach. What do you
think of that for a plan!"

"I think it is a first-rate one. But hadn't we better
wait till the instructors turn in?" suggested Adler.

"No; the boats will all be hoisted up to the davits
at sunset. We must do it while the professors are at
supper, or not at all. We want eight oars for the
{81}
barge, and six for the third cutter; that makes fourteen
fellows. Can we raise as many as that?"

"Yes, I think we can; we will try, at any rate."

"But you must look out, or some fellow will blow
the whole thing," added Wilton. "Mind whom you
speak to."

The trustworthiness of the various students was
canvassed, and it was decided what ones should be
invited to join the enterprise. The discontented boys
separated, and went to work with great caution to
obtain the needed recruits. Unfortunately, in such a
crowd of young men, there are always enough to
engage in any mischievous plot, and it is quite likely
that twice as many as were wanted could have been
obtained to man the boats in the runaway expedition.

Wilton missed Shuffles very much in arranging the
details of the present enterprise. While at the Brockway
Academy, they had plotted mischief so often that
each seemed to be necessary to the other. But Shuffles
had reformed; he was now third lieutenant of the
ship, and it was not safe to suggest a conspiracy to
him, for he would attempt to gain favor with the principal
by exposing or defeating it.

Yet Shuffles was so bold in thought, and so daring
in execution, that Wilton could hardly abandon the
hope of obtaining his assistance; besides, the third
lieutenant would be officer of the deck when the
professors went to supper, and might wink at their
departure in the boats, if he did not actually help
them off.

"Would you say anything to Shuffles?" asked
{82}
Wilton, still in doubt, of Monroe, as they happened
to meet again in the waist.

"To Shuffles!" exclaimed Monroe, in an energetic
whisper.

"I mean so."

"Certainly not. I should as soon think of speaking
to Lowington himself."

"But Shuffles may join us. He is always in for a
good time."

"Why, you ninny, he is third lieutenant of the
ship."

"No matter if he is. I think Shuffles would like
to join us."

"Nonsense! He has been in office only three days,
and it would break him. He would be degraded to
the steerage," replied Monroe, who could not help
thinking that Wilton was beside himself in proposing
such a thing, and that the enterprise was doomed to
failure in such incompetent hands.

"If he won't join us, perhaps he will help us off.
He is officer of the deck, you know, in the second dog
watch."

"I know he is; but don't you open your mouth to
him. If you do, I'll back out at once."

"Back out?"

"Yes, back out. I believe you are crazy. Why
don't you go to Captain Carnes, and done with it?"
said Monroe, with energy.

"I haven't any hold on Carnes, and I have on
Shuffles."

"What do you mean?" asked the prudent conspirator,
curiously.{83}

"If Shuffles won't join us, he won't blow on us,
you may depend upon that. He wouldn't dare to do
it. I could break him before sundown, if I chose,"
said Wilton, with conscious power.

"That alters the case."

"Of course, I shouldn't think of saying anything
to him, if I did not know what I was talking about.
I have him where the hair is short, and he knows it, as
well as I do."

"What is it, Wilton?"

"No matter what it is. When a thing is told me
in confidence, I keep it to myself; but if he turns
traitor to his cronies, he must look out for breakers.
He knows what it is."

"Well, if you can get him, he will be a first-rate
fellow to have."

"I think I can get him. Here he comes; you keep
out of the way, and I will see how deep the water is."

Monroe went forward to find a student to whom he
had been deputed to speak in the interest of the enterprise
leaving Wilton to grapple with the old lion of
mischief, whose teeth, however, seemed to have been
worn out in the cause.

"What's up, Wilton?" demanded the third lieutenant
who was now off duty, and therefore allowed
to speak to the crew, though it was a privilege of
which the officers seldom availed themselves.

"Who said anything was up?" asked Wilton.

"You look as though you meant something. What
were you and Ike Monroe talking about just now?"
continued Shuffles. "About me, I'll be bound, for you
kept looking at me, as though you meant something."
{84}

"What makes you think so? Have you heard
anything?" asked Wilton, fearful that the plot had
leaked out.

"Not a word? I only judged by your looks."

"I suppose if anything was up, you wouldn't have
anything to do with it now."

"Most decidedly, I should not. I like my present
position too well to fall out of it. I'm going to be
captain next term, if I can fetch it any way in the
world."

"You mean to be a flunky, just like the rest of
them. You are not the same fellow you used to be."

"Yes, I am."

"You are getting too big for your boots."

"You wrong me, Wilton. I'm just as good a
fellow as I ever was. I think I'm the best fellow in
the ship, and for that reason I want to be captain.
I'm ahead of Carnes so far on marks this month."

"Well, if you want to be the head flunky, I hope
you'll get it. We are not going ashore to-morrow,
they say," added Wilton, changing the topic to get
nearer to the business of the hour.

"So Pelham told me."

"Are you willing to stay on board and study, and
do ship's duty, on the Fourth of July?"

"We are going to celebrate."

"How?"

"I'm sure I don't know."

"We shall celebrate to-morrow just as we do every
day—as close prisoners on board the ship. I, for one,
don't like it, and I won't stand it."

"Won't you?" laughed Shuffles.
{85}

"When I say I won't, I mean so."

"O, you do—do you?"

"You better believe I do," added Wilton, shaking
his head resolutely.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going ashore, by hook or by crook."

"Better not get into any scrape."

"You say that as one of the flunkies."

"Well, you had better not say anything to me, for
I shall have to do my duty as an officer. Don't say
anything to me, and then I shall not know anything
about it."

"Humph!" sneered Wilton, not pleased with this
non-committal policy.

"I don't want to do anything mean with any of our
fellows; so don't say a word to me. I shall do my
duty as an officer, as I promised to do when I was
made third lieutenant."

"Do you mean to say you will stop me, Shuffles, if
you see me going?" demanded Wilton.

"I do mean so; I promised faithfully to do my duty
as an officer, and I shall do it."

"See here, Bob Shuffles; you needn't talk to me in
that manner. I knew the ship's cable from a pint
of milk, and you can't come the flunky over me."

"I'm going to do just as you would do if you were
in my place. I won't hear a word about any of your
plans."

"But will you interfere with them?"

"If it is my duty to do so, I shall. I intend to obey
orders; and if I have the deck, I shall keep things
straight, whatever happens."
{86}

"Lowington don't know you as well as I do."

"No matter if he don't; he shall have no fault to
find with me this term, if I can help it."

"It's no use for me to mince the matter with you,
Bob Shuffles. We understand each other too well for
that. Something's up."

Shuffles turned on his heel, and was about to walk
away.

"Hold on a minute, Shuffles," continued Wilton.
"I won't tell you what's up, but I'll tell you this; if
you interfere with what I do, or with what the fellows
with me do, I'll tell Lowington about the mutiny—I
will, as sure as your name is Bob Shuffles. Do you
understand me?"

"Well, I do; and it seems to me that sounds very
much like a threat."

"Call it what you like. If you turn traitor to our
fellows, you must stand the racket of it. You are not
a saint just yet, and those that live in glass houses
musn't throw stones."

"I believe I haven't played false to any of our fellows.
If I don't choose to get into any scrape with
them, I have a right to keep out. That's all I've got
to say."

"But what are you going to do, Shuffles? Our
fellows will want to know."

"I'm going to do my duty," replied the third lieutenant
as he walked away, regardless of the efforts
of his companion to detain him.

Shuffles was experiencing the truth of the old
maxim, that honesty is the best policy. It is to be
regretted that his present devotion to duty had no
{87}
higher incentive than mere policy; but it may be
hoped of those who do their duty from low motives,
that they may gather inspiration even from their politic
fidelity to obey its behests from higher motives. The
third lieutenant of the Young America intended to
keep the promise he had made in accepting his office,
simply because it would pay best.

Wilton and his confederates had no difficulty in
making up the required number of discontents and
malcontents before six o'clock, which was the time
fixed for carrying out the enterprise they had planned.
Some of the recruits joined because they anticipated a
good time in the city in celebrating the Fourth, and
others from a mere love of mischief and excitement.
The details of the scheme had been carefully elaborated
by Monroe and Wilton, after the ranks of the
conspirators were full. Having learned a valuable
lesson from the daily discipline of the ship, the mischief
was certainly well planned. Each boy was
assigned to a particular position in the boats, and
knew on what thwart he was to sit, and which oar he
was to pull.

Wilton and Monroe, as the master spirits of the enterprise
were to run out first on the swinging boom,
and slide down the painters, each into the boat he was
to command. The others were to follow in the same
way, descending from the boom, for it was not considered
prudent to run the boats up to the gangway,
where some enthusiastic officer might easily interfere
with the plan, which was to depend for its success
upon the celerity of its execution.

When four bells struck, the professors went down to
{88}
their evening meal, as usual, and the boatswain piped
the port watch to supper, the starboard watch having
taken theirs at three bells, or half past five. Wilton
gave a low whistle, when Shuffles, officer of the deck,
was abaft the mizzenmast, with his back to the runaways
who had gathered in the waist, and were waiting
for the signal.

"Be lively, fellows," said the leader of the enterprise,
as he sprang over the rail, and ran out on the boom,
followed by Monroe.

The others, in the order in which they had been
instructed, did the same. About half of them were
on the boom, when the movement was reported to the
officer of the deck by the midshipman on duty in the
waist. Shuffles rushed forward, now understanding,
for the first time, the intentions of Wilton; and true to
the inspiration of fidelity, he set about defeating the
object of "our fellows."

The studding-sail boom, to which the boats were
fastened, was supported by a topping-lift from above,
and kept in position, at right angles with the side of
the ship, by guys extending forward and aft.

"Stand by that fore guy!" shouted Shuffles, as he
sprang upon the rail. "Cast off!"

"Lively, fellows!" said Wilton, when he saw that
the third lieutenant intended to swing in the boom to
the ship's side.

"Stand by the after guy of the studding-sail boom!"
continued Shuffles, with becoming energy.

Both his orders were promptly obeyed; but seeing
that his movement would be too late, he rushed to the
topping-lift, and cast it off, causing the swinging boom
{89}
to drop into the water, just as the last boy was
about to slide down into the professors' boat. Of
course the luckless fellow went into the water; but
he was promptly picked up by his companions in
mischief.

"If I'm caught, Bob Shuffles, you look out for
breakers!" cried Wilton, as the third lieutenant
appeared at the gangway again.

The tide was coming in, and the boats swung so far
abaft the boom that it had fallen clear of them when
it dropped into the water. Wilton and Monroe were
prompt to avail themselves of their present success,
and the boys sat in the boats, with their oars up, ready
to pull as soon as the order was given.

"Let fall!" said Wilton; and the eight oars of the
professors' barge dropped into the water, and the
rowers placed them in readiness for the first stroke.

Monroe, in the third cutter, followed the example
of his principal, and was hardly a second behind him.

"Give way!" added Wilton.

"Give way!" repeated Monroe; and the two boats
gathered way and darted off towards the nearest point
of the shore.

Thus far the enterprise of "our fellows" was entirely
successful, and Shuffles stood on the gangway,
chagrined at the defeat which had attended his efforts
to prevent the escape of the runaways.

"Stand by to clear away the first cutter!" shouted
he, suddenly and with energy, as he made his way to
the davits, where the boat indicated was suspended.

"Cast off the gripes, and man the falls!" he continued
when the watch were collected at the scene of
{90}
action. "Mr. Kendall, you will inform the captain
what has happened."

Within three minutes, the first cutter was in the
water, for the crew had been frequently exercised in
the evolution of lowering boats, and performed it with
remarkable facility for boys. Before the first cutter
touched the water, the captain, the principal, and all
the professors, came on deck.

Mr. Lowington was entirely cool, though everybody
else appeared to be intensely excited. The crew of
the first cutter were piped away, and at the principal's
suggestion, the third lieutenant was sent off in the
boat to prevent the landing of the rebellious pupils.

"Up oars! Let fall! Give way!" said Shuffles,
in the boat, delivering his orders in rapid succession;
and the first cutter darted off in chase of the runaways.

CHAPTER VI.

{91}

THE FOURTH OF JULY.

Return to Table of
Contents

The first cutter was manned by her regular crew,
who had been trained with the utmost care to
pull together, while Wilton, in the professors' barge,
which was of the same size, had some very indifferent
oarsmen. The runaways had made up their force of
such material as they could obtain, and though all
were somewhat accustomed to rowing, they had not
been drilled to work together; they were not the
unit of power in pulling a boat. Shuffles, therefore,
had a manifest advantage, and he was determined to
bring back the fugitives.

The second cutter, in charge of Paul Kendall, was
cleared away, and, with Mr. Lowington and Mr.
Fluxion on board, left the ship to take part in the pursuit.
The chase promised to be an exciting one, for
Wilton and Monroe were straining every nerve to
reach the shore before they were overtaken. They
were making for the nearest land, and having just the
number of hands required to pull the boat, each of
them was obliged to use an oar himself. They had
no coxswains, and Wilton, at the bow oar of the professors'
barge, could not see what was ahead, though
he kept the pursuing boats in full view.
{92}

The nearest land, not more than half a mile from
the ship, was a point covered with salt marsh, above
which was a cove, whose opening was about ten rods
in width. Wilton was making for the point below the
cove, but his calculations were made without judgment
or discretion. If he reached the land, his party would
be obliged to walk a mile in order to get round the
cove, on a narrow strip of marsh, where they might
be intercepted. But the fatal defect in his plan of
operations was a failure to consider the depth of
water between the ship and the point. The flow
of the tide from the cove, while it kept a clear channel
through the entrance, had formed a bar off the
tongue of land on the seaward side of it, which was
bare at half tide, and was now just covered. Wilton
was pulling for this bar, with all the strength of his
crew.

Shuffles was prompt to observe the mistake of his
late crony, and just as prompt to profit by it. The
first cutter was gaining rapidly on the chase; but
Shuffles, as she reached the border of the main channel,
ordered his coxswain to keep the boat's head
towards the entrance of the cove.

"We shall never catch them on this tack," said the
coxswain of the cutter, who knew nothing about
the bar.

"I think we shall," replied the third lieutenant,
confidently.

"We are not going towards the point."

"That's very true, and the professors' barge will not
go much farther in that direction. Pull steady, my
lads; don't hurry yourselves. There is plenty of time."
{93}

The coxswain thought his superior officer was
taking the matter very coolly, and knowing of the
intimacy which had formerly subsisted between Shuffles
and Wilton, he was ready to conclude that the
third lieutenant was willing to permit the escape of
"our fellows." While he was putting this construction
on the conduct of his superior, the professors'
barge "took the ground," and stuck fast.

"They're aground, Mr. Shuffles," said the coxswain.

"There's just where I expected them to be," answered
Shuffles, quietly.

"Shall I run towards them?"

"No; keep her as she is. There isn't more than a
foot of water anywhere between them and the point."

The third cutter, being a smaller boat than the professors'
barge, did not touch the bar as soon as her
consort; but Monroe saw that his craft could not land
her party on the point at that stage of the tide, and he
ordered his crew first to lay on their oars, and then to
back water. Wilton's boat was aground at the bow,
and when he had sent part of his crew aft, she was
easily pushed off the bar. By this delay he had lost
the chance of landing at the point, and his only alternative
was to pull up to the cove; but in doing so, it
would be impossible to avoid the first cutter, which
had now secured a position off the mouth of the little
bay.

"Stand by to lay on your oars," said the coxswain
of the first cutter, as directed by the lieutenant in command.
"Oars!"

The crew ceased rowing, and laying on their oars,
waited the next movement of the runaways. In the
{94}
mean time the second cutter was well away from the
ship, and Mr. Lowington, promptly comprehending
the intentions of the third lieutenant, directed the
officer in command to pull towards the boats on
the bar, keeping well to seaward, in order to prevent
them from escaping in that direction.

Wilton realized that he was cornered, and hoping
that Shuffles would not be over-zealous in the discharge
of his duty, directed his course towards the
opening of the cove. A few strokes brought him
within hailing distance of the first cutter.

"No use, Wilton," said Shuffles, laughing. "You
may as well pull for the ship. It's all up with you."

But the leader of the runaways, instead of heeding
this good advice, attempted to push by astern of the
first cutter.

"Stern, all! Give way!" shouted Shuffles, sharply.
"Coxswain, stand by with your stern line!"

It was generally understood that the third lieutenant
of the Young America was a fighting character, and
that he could whip any officer or seaman in the ship,
though his prowess had not been practically demonstrated.
Shuffles took the stern line himself, instead
of intrusting the duty to the coxswain. He intended
to grapple the bow of the professors' barge, and
make fast to it with the rope; but the cutter did
not gather way enough in season to do this. As she
backed, she fouled the oars of the barge, and Shuffles
secured a firm hold of her stern.

The Escape from the Ship.

Return to List of Illustrations

"What are you doing, Bob Shuffles?" demanded
Wilton, angry, when he saw that his late crony was
fully in earnest.
{95}

The third lieutenant made no reply; but passing his
rope through a ring in the stern of the barge, he made
it fast, and then pushed the cutter off from her. When
the line had run out about a fathom, he secured the
end he held in his hand to the after thwart of his own
boat. Thus the first cutter and the barge were lashed
together, stern to stern.

"Cast off that rope!" shouted Wilton to the stroke
oarsman in the barge.

"Don't you touch it, my lad," interposed Shuffles,
when the boy attempted to obey the order of his
leader. "If you attempt it, you will purchase a sore
head."

The third lieutenant had picked up a boat-hook, and
stood ready to rap any of the barge's crew who might
attempt to cast off the line by which the boats were
fastened together. No one was disposed to cross the
purposes of so formidable a person as Shuffles, and
the stroke oarsman did not obey the order of Wilton.
It would not be safe to do so.

"Now, Wilton, what do you say?" demanded Shuffles,
a smile of triumph playing upon his face, which
was very aggravating to the leader of the runaways.
"Will you go back to the ship, or not?"

"No, of course I won't," replied the discomfited
chief of the malcontents.

"You had better, my dear fellow. There comes
Mr. Lowington."

"I didn't think this of you, Bob Shuffles," said
Wilton, reproachfully.

"I told you I should do my duty; and I shall, to
{96}
the end. If you will return, all right; if not, I shall
take you back."

"No, you won't."

"I think I will," added the third lieutenant, quietly.
"Stand by to give way!" he continued, to the coxswain.

"Two can play at that game," said Wilton, as he
gave the same order to his crew.

"Give way!" shouted the coxswain of the first
cutter, with energy.

"Give way!" repeated Wilton, in the barge.

The rope straightened, Shuffles stood up in the
stern-sheets of the cutter, to prevent the line from
being cast off, and the contest began, to ascertain
which should drag the other. It was rather ludicrous,
in spite of the serious question of discipline
involved in the affair, and the boys in the cutter
were intensely amused, as well as excited. Both
crews struggled with all their might, and each leader
urged his followers to renewed exertions.

The discipline of the first cutter was on the point of
carrying the contest in favor of law and order, when
Monroe, seeing that his friend was nearly worsted,
backed the third cutter up to the bow of the barge,
and took her painter on board, which he made fast at
the stern. Resuming his oar, he ordered his crew to
give way together. Then law and order appealed to
be at a discount, for the eight oarsmen in the first
cutter were not a match, even in the cause of discipline,
against the fourteen in the barge and third
cutter.

Shuffles did not give it up, notwithstanding the
{97}
great odds against him. Letting out the stern line
far enough to allow space for a new manoeuvre, he directed
the starboard oarsmen to lay on their oars, while
those on the port side pulled the boat round. Then
all gave way together, and the barge was dragged
round sideways, until her oars fouled with those of
Monroe's boat. At this stage of the exciting proceedings
the second cutter came up with the principal.

Mr. Fluxion sat in the stern-sheets, shaking his
sides with laughter at the singular contest which was
going on; but Mr. Lowington, though evidently
amused, maintained his gravity, and was as dignified
as usual. The appearance of the principal ended the
struggle. A glance from him was quite sufficient
to take all the stiffening out of the runaways, and
even Wilton, though he talked valiantly behind Mr.
Lowington's back, and neglected even to give him the
simple title of "mister," had not the courage to resist
the strong arm of his authority. As the second cutter
backed up to the barge, the principal stepped on
board of her, and took a seat in the stern-sheets.

"Young gentlemen, you will return to the ship,"
said Mr. Lowington, sternly, as he took the tiller-ropes
in his hands. "Give way!"

The malcontents had no thought of further resistance.
The presence of the principal was sufficient
to overcome all insubordination; they did not dare to
disobey him. Mechanically they bent to their oars,
and without a word pulled back to the ship.

Mr. Fluxion, by direction of Mr. Lowington, had
taken his place in Monroe's boat, and followed the
barge, the two cutters bringing up the rear. This was
{98}
the first instance of flagrant insubordination which had
occurred since the organization of the ship's company,
and the students were not a little anxious to learn how
it would be treated. It was singular that Shuffles,
who on shore had always been the ringleader in enterprises
of mischief, had been the means of defeating
the scheme of the runaways.

The boats were hoisted up at the davits, and the
boatswain was ordered to pipe all hands on deck.
The principal looked calm, but stern, as he took the
position on the hatch which he usually occupied when
he addressed the students.

"Wilton and Monroe," said he.

The culprits came forward, hanging their heads
with shame.

"I learn that you are the ringleaders in this movement.
Is it so?"

"I suppose we are," replied Wilton.

"Who proposed the plan?"

"Wilton first spoke to me about it," answered
Monroe.

"And you induced the others to join you?"

"Yes, sir."

"As the ringleaders, Wilton and Monroe will lose
twenty marks each, and remain in their mess rooms
to-morrow. The other twelve lose ten marks each,"
continued Mr. Lowington. "Young gentlemen, those
who have engaged in this scheme are not to be
trusted. I have nothing further to say."

The crew were dismissed, and all the students were
disposed to laugh at the mildness of the punishment,
compared with the enormity of the offence.
{99}

"Mr. Shuffles," said the principal, as he stepped
down from the hatch, "I am very much obliged to
you for the zeal and energy which you have exhibited
in the discharge of your duty. Not only was your
disposition to do your duty highly commendable, but
your plans displayed skill and forethought."

"Thank you, sir," replied the third lieutenant; "I
am very glad to have pleased you."

Mr. Lowington bowed, and descended to the cabin
to finish his supper, which had been interrupted by
the event described. What the professors said about
the affair was not known to the boys; but Shuffles
was warmly praised for the moderate but skilful measures
he had used in the capture of the rebels.

At sundown, a shore boat came alongside with an
abundant supply of fireworks, which had been ordered
by Mr. Lowington. They were hoisted on board, and
deposited in a safe place. At the usual hour, the boys
turned in to dream of the good time which these squibs
and crackers suggested to them—all but Monroe and
Wilton, who had something else to think about. The
latter was disappointed and surly, while the former
congratulated himself upon getting out of the scrape
so easily. Wilton was very angry with Shuffles, who
might have permitted him to land, if he had been so
disposed; and he determined to take what he considered
an ample vengeance upon the traitor. As soon
as he had an opportunity to speak to Mr. Lowington,
he intended to tell him all about the plan for a mutiny,
and he was fully satisfied that Shuffles would be sent
in disgrace from his pleasant position in the after
cabin, to take up his abode in the steerage again.
{100}

On the morning of the ever-glorious Fourth, all
hands were mustered on the deck of the Young America
at four o'clock. Crackers were served out, and
for two hours there was a tremendous racket from
stern to stern, among the younger boys. At six
o'clock, the port watch were piped to breakfast, and
all the crackers having been burned, the decks were
swept, and everything put in perfect order, by the
starboard watch. A band of music, engaged for the
day, came off, and the enlivening strains of the national
airs sounded through the ship.

At seven o'clock, when all hands had breakfasted,
an hour earlier than usual, the crew were piped to
muster, wondering, as they always did, what was
going to be done.

"All hands, up anchor ahoy!" shouted the boatswain
prompted by the first lieutenant; but this order
was so common in the every-day practice of the crew,
that no one supposed it had any unusual significance;
and some of the boys even began to grumble at being
compelled to go through the routine of ship's work on
the Fourth of July.

"Bring to on the cable, and unbitt!" continued the
officer in command. "Ship the capstan bars, and
swifter them! Heave in the cable to a short stay!"

These orders were duly executed, under the direction
of the various officers at their stations.

"Avast heaving!" called the first master. "Anchor
apeak, sir," he reported to the first lieutenant.

"Pawl the capstan, stopper the cable, and unship
the bars!" added the executive officers, all of which
was done, and duly reported.
{101}

"Stations for loosing topsails!" which were shaken
out by the ordinary routine, sheeted home, and hoisted
up.

"Forecastlemen, loose the head sails! After-guard,
clear away the spanker! Man the capstan bars, ship
and swifter them! Heave around!"

This last was a manoeuvre which the crew had
never before been called upon to perform; and the
order sent a thrill of delight to all hearts. The cable
had often been heaved to a short stay, that is, so that
it run nearly up and down; but that was as far as
they had ever before been permitted to proceed. Now,
with the anchor apeak, they were ordered to the capstan
again, and they realized that the Young America
was actually going to sea. The command kindled an
enthusiasm which glowed on every face. The ship
was going out of the harbor, and the evil doers in the
mess rooms below were to be pitied.

"Anchor aweigh, sir," reported the excited boatswain
who, however, had to be prompted in this instance
by Peaks, for it had never been in that position
before since it first hooked the mud in Brockway
harbor.

"Anchor aweigh, sir," repeated the second lieutenant.

"Man the jib and flying-jib halyards!" said the
first lieutenant.

"Anchor's at the bow, sir," said the boatswain,
which report went through the same channels as
before, till it reached the executive officer.

"Hoist away on the jib and flying-jib halyards!
Avast heaving! Pawl the capstan! Stopper the
{102}
cable! Cat and fish the anchor!" shouted the first
lieutenant. "Port the helm!"

The Young America was clear of the ground. The
fore topsail, which had been trimmed to the fresh
breeze, was full, and the ship began to gather headway.
Two seamen had been placed at the wheel,
under the charge of the quartermaster. The boys had
often "made believe" do these things, but now they
were real. The vessel was actually moving through
the water, and they could hardly contain themselves,
so exhilarating was the scene.

"Steady!" said the first lieutenant, when the ship
had come up to her intended course.

"Steady, sir," repeated the quartermaster in charge
of the helm.

"Stand by to set the spanker," added the first
lieutenant. "Man the outhaul! Cast off the brails,
and loose the vangs!"

The after-guard, which is the portion of the ship's
company stationed on the quarter-deck, or abaft the
mizzenmast, obeyed this order, and stood ready to set
the spanker, which is the aftermost sail.

"Walk away with the outhaul!" and the after-guard
ran off with the rope, which drew the sail out
into its place on the gaff. "Stand by the spanker
sheet—let it out!"

"You must attend to your main and mizzen topsails
Mr. Pelham," said the principal, in a low tone.

"Man the fore and main braces!" said the executive
officer; and the young seamen sprang to their
stations. "Let go and haul!"
{103}

The main and the mizzen topsails were thus trimmed,
so that they took the wind.

"That was very well done, Captain Carnes, though
your crew need more practice. They are very much
excited," said Mr. Lowington.

"I don't wonder, sir; I think none of them
knew we were going out of the harbor," replied the
captain.

"I am glad they enjoy it," added the principal,
"though I should not have left the anchorage, except
as a substitute for the Fourth of July celebration."

"They will like this much better than going to the
city."

"I have no doubt on that point; and last evening,
when those students wished to run away, I was tempted
to punish their disobedience by letting them go.
The wind is pretty fresh, Captain Carnes, but I think
you may set the top-gallant sails."

The captain gave the order to the first lieutenant.

"Aloft, sail-loosers of the top-gallant sails!" shouted
Mr. Pelham; and the eager young salts dashed up
the rigging. "Lay out! Loose! Let fall! Man
your sheets and halyards! Sheets home, and hoist
away!"

The addition of the top-gallant sails was sensibly
felt by the Young America; and, "taking a bone in
her teeth," she careened over, and dashed away merrily
on her course.

The band played Hail, Columbia, and as the ship
passed the fort, the crew mounted the rigging and gave
three cheers. The excitement on board was immense,
and never was Independence Day more thoroughly
{104}
and enthusiastically enjoyed. The officers and crew
were at the height of felicity, as the gallant little ship
bowled over the waves, threading her way through the
channels between the numerous islands of the bay.

"Can't we put on any more sail, Mr. Lowington?"
asked Captain Carnes, as he met the principal on the
quarter-deck.

"Not at present. We are making very good progress
now."

"The boys want to see all sail on her."

"The wind is blowing half a gale now," added Mr.
Lowington, with a smile. "I think we shall be able
to give them quite enough of it when we get out into
blue water. I'm afraid you will lose half your crew
before noon!"

"Lose them?"

"By seasickness, I mean."

"Do you think they will be sick, sir?"

"I have no doubt of it. Many of them never saw
the ocean before, and never looked upon a ship till
they came on board of the Young America. I don't
think it would be prudent to put on all sail, until
we know what force we are to have to handle the
ship."

"They don't look like being seasick at present."

"Wait till we get out into the heavy sea," laughed
the principal, as he went forward.

At eight bells the ship was abreast of the last island,
and she began to pitch and roll a little, though the
motion was hardly perceptible, until she was well off
from the land. Professor Paradyme was the first victim
of seasickness, and the boys all laughed when
{105}
they saw the woe-begone expression on the face of
the learned man; but some of those who laughed the
loudest were the first to be taken by the ridiculous
malady.

The Young America pitched and rolled heavily as
she receded from the land, and nothing more was said
by the students about putting on more sail. The
spray broke over the bow, and washed the decks; but
most of the boys enjoyed the scene as they had never
enjoyed anything before.

"What are you doing here, sir?" demanded Mr.
Lowington, as he went forward, and discovered Wilton
skulking under the lee of the foremast. "You
were told to stay in your mess room, sir!"

"I couldn't, sir," whined the culprit.

"You could, and you will."

"I was seasick, sir."

"I can't help it; you must stay in your mess room,"
added the principal, sternly.

"If you please, sir, I will obey orders if you will
let me stay on deck," said Wilton, humbly.

"No; return to your room?" and Wilton was compelled
to obey.

It was a very severe punishment to him and Monroe
to be obliged to stay in the steerage during the
first trip of the Young America.

CHAPTER VII.

{106}

HEAVING THE LOG.

Return to Table of
Contents

The Young America, under topsails and top-gallant
sails, was making about ten knots an
hour. After passing the last island in the bay, she
was headed to the south-east, which brought the wind
over the starboard quarter. The ship was of the
clipper class, though not as sharp as many of this
model. It was found that her sailing ability was
excellent, and Mr. Lowington and Mr. Fluxion expressed
much satisfaction at her performance, both in
respect of speed and weatherly qualities.

When the ship left her moorings, the principal had
not decided where to go, or how long to remain at sea,
intending to be governed by the circumstances of the
hour. It had never been his purpose to keep her at
one anchorage, but to go from port to port, remaining
a few days or a few weeks at each, as the discipline of
the ship and the progress of the boys in their studies
suggested. There were many elements of seamanship
which could not be effectively practised while the
ship lay at anchor, such as heaving the log, sounding
and steering, though the boys had been carefully
instructed in the theory of these operations.

The instructor in mathematics, the boatswain, the
{107}
carpenter, and the sailmaker, all of whom were good
seamen, were in great demand as soon as the ship was
under way; but when she had sea-room enough, the
helm was handed over to the boys, under the charge
of a juvenile quartermaster. Peaks stood by, and
gave the necessary directions, till the students were
able to do the work themselves.

"Now, my lads, we will heave the log," said the
boatswain, when the ship was well out from the land.

"We know how to do that," replied Smith, one of
the quartermasters.

"I dare say you do, young gentlemen; but in my
opinion, you can't do it. You know how to write a
psalm, but I don't believe you could write one,"
added Peaks. "You have to learn how to do these
things by the feeling, so that they will do themselves,
so to speak. After-guard, stand by to haul in the log-line.
Here, quartermaster, you will hold the glass,
and the officer of the deck will throw the chip."

"We know all about it, Mr. Peaks," repeated
Smith.

"I know you do; but you can't tell within five knots
how fast the ship is going," laughed the boatswain.
"Let's do it right a few times, and then you can be
trusted."

The quartermaster took the glass, and Gordon, then
officer of the watch, the chip, which he cast into the
water over the stern of the ship.

"Turn!" said he, when the stray line had run
out.

Now, Smith, at this particular moment, was watching
a vessel over the quarter, and he did not instantly
{108}
turn the glass, as he should have done; but Peaks
said nothing.

"Up!" cried the quartermaster, when the sand had
all run through the glass.

Gordon stopped the reel from which the line was
running out, and noted the mark.

"Seven knots," said he.

"Not right," replied the boatswain, sharply. "This
ship is going nine or ten knots an hour, and any man
who has snuffed salt water for six months could guess
nearer than you make it. Now try it once again, and
if you don't hit nearer than that next time, you may
as well throw the reel overboard, and hire a Yankee
to guess the rate of sailing."

"I thought we knew all about it," added Smith.

"I think you do, young gentlemen; but you were
star-gazing when you ought to have been all attention.
The line ran out two or three knots before you turned
the glass."

Gordon took the chip again. It was a thin piece
of board, in the form of a quarter circle. The round
side was loaded with just lead enough to make it float
upright in the water. The log-line was fastened to
the chip, just us a boy loops a kite, two strings being
attached at each end of the circular side, while the
one at the angle is tied to a peg, which is inserted in a
hole, just hard enough to keep it in place, while there
is no extra strain on the board, but which can be drawn
out with a smart pull. When the log-line has run out
as far as desired, there would be some difficulty in
hauling in the chip while it was upright in the water;
but a sudden jerk draws the peg at the angle, and
{109}
permits the board to lie flat, in which position the
water offers the least resistance to its passage.

The half-minute glass used on board the Young
America, held by the quartermaster, was like an hour
glass, and contained just sand enough to pass through
the hole in the neck in thirty seconds. The log-line
was one hundred and fifty fathoms in length, and was
wound on a reel, which turned very easily, so that the
resistance of the chip to the water would unwind it.
The log-line is divided into certain spaces called knots,
the length of each of which is the same fractional part
of a mile that a half minute is of an hour. If there
be sixty-one hundred and twenty feet in a nautical
mile, or the sixtieth part of a degree of a great circle,
which is not far from accurate, and the ship be
going ten knots an hour, she will run sixty-one
thousand two hundred feet in an hour. If the chip
were thrown overboard at eight o'clock, and the line
were long enough, the ship would have run out sixty-one
thousand two hundred feet, or ten miles, at nine
o'clock, or in one hour. In one minute she would run
one sixtieth of sixty-one thousand two hundred feet,
which is ten hundred and twenty feet; in half a
minute, five hundred and ten feet.

The half-minute glass is the measure of time generally
used in heaving the log. While the sand is
dropping through, the line runs out five hundred and
ten feet, the ship going ten knots an hour being the
basis of the calculation. One knot, therefore, will be
fifty-one feet. If the line pays out five hundred and
ten feet in thirty seconds, by the glass, the ship is
going ten knots an hour. If it pays out four hundred
{110}
and eight feet in half a minute, or eight hundred and
sixteen feet in a minute, she will pay out a mile in as
many minutes as eight hundred and sixteen feet is
contained in sixty-one hundred and twenty feet, which
is seven and a half minutes. Then the ship goes a
mile in seven and a half minutes, or eight miles an
hour.

A knot on the log-line is therefore invariably fifty-one
feet; and the number of knots of the line run out
in half a minute indicates also the ship's speed per
hour, for fifty-one feet is the same part of a nautical
mile that half a minute is of an hour. The calculations
are given without allowances, merely to show
the principle; and both the glass and the line are
modified in practice.

On board the Young America, ten fathoms were
allowed for "stray line;" this length of line being
permitted to run out before the measuring commenced,
in order to get the chip clear of thee eddies in the wake
of the ship. The ten fathoms were indicated by a
white rag, drawn through the line; and when the
officer paying out comes to this mark, he orders the
quartermaster to turn the glass, and the operation
actually begins. At every fifty-one feet (or forty-seven
and six tenths, making the allowances) there is
a mark—a bit of leather, or two or more knots.
The instant the sands have all run through the glass,
the quartermaster says, "Up," and the officer notes the
mark to which the line has run out. Half and quarter
knots are indicated on the line.

"Now, quartermaster, mind your eye. When the
officer of the deck says, 'Turn,' you repeat the word
{111}
after him, to show that you are alive," continued
Peaks.

"Ready!" said Gordon.

"Ready!" replied Smith.

The lieutenant threw the chip into the water, and
when the stray line had run off, he gave the word to
turn the glass.

"Turn!" repeated Smith.

Gordon eased off the log-line, so that nothing should
prevent it from running easily.

"Up!" shouted Smith; and Gordon stopped the
line.

"Very well," added Peaks. "What's the mark?"

"Ten and a quarter," replied the officer.

"That sounds more like it. I knew this ship was
going more than seven knots. You see, young
gentlemen, you can't catch flies and tend the log-line
at the same time. Now, you may try it over
again."

The experiment was repeated, with the same result.
Other officers and seamen were called to the
quarter-deck, and the training in heaving the log
continued, until a reasonable degree of proficiency
was attained.

"Land ho!" cried the lookout on the top-gallant
forecastle, at about eleven o'clock in the forenoon.

"Where away?" called the officer of the deck.

"Dead ahead, sir."

"What is that land, Mr. Lowington?" asked Paul
Kendall.

"Don't you know?"

"I'm sure I don't."
{112}

"Then you should study your map more. Look at
the compass, and tell me how she heads."

"South-east, sir," replied Paul, after looking into
the binnacle.

"Now, what land lies south-east of Brockway Harbor?"
asked the principal.

"Cape Cod, I think."

"You are right; then that must be Cape Cod."

"Is it, really?"

"Certainly it is," laughed Mr. Lowington. "Have
you no faith in your map?"

"I didn't think we could be anywhere near Cape
Cod. I thought it was farther off," added Paul, who
seemed to be amazed to think they had actually crossed
Massachusetts Bay.

"The land you see is Race Point, which is about
forty miles from the entrance to the bay, at the head
of which Brockway is located. We have been making
about ten knots an hour, and our calculations seem to
be very accurate. By one o'clock we shall come to
anchor in Provincetown Harbor."

This prediction was fully verified, and the Young
America was moored off the town. Those who had
been seasick recovered as soon as the motion of the
ship ceased; and when everything aloft and on deck
had been made snug, the crew were piped to dinner.

In the afternoon, part of the students were permitted
to go on shore; the band played, and several
boat-races took place, very much to the delight of
the people on shore, as well as those on board. At
six o'clock the ship was opened for the reception
of visitors, who came off in large numbers to inspect
{113}
the vessel. After dark there was a brilliant display
of fireworks, and the Young America blazed with
blue-lights and Roman candles, set off by boys on
the cross-trees, and at the yard-arms. At ten the festivities
closed, and all was still in the steerage and on
deck.

The next morning, the ship got under way, and
stood out of the harbor, bound for Brockway again.
She had a light breeze, and a smooth time, and the
boys had the satisfaction of seeing every rag of canvas
spread, including studding-sails alow and aloft;
but it was not till after dark that the ship came to
anchor at her former moorings.

Wilton and Monroe were released from confinement
in the morning, and permitted to go on deck. Whatever
their shipmates might have said, they felt that they
had been severely punished, especially as they had
failed in their runaway expedition. Wilton did not
feel any more kindly towards Shuffles when he was
released than when he had been ordered to his room.
He felt that his late crony had been a traitor, and he
was unable to take any higher view of the circumstances.

"Wilton," said Mr. Lowington, when he met the
runaway on deck, the day after the Fourth, "I told
you that you had made a mistake. Do you believe
it yet?"

"I suppose I do, sir."

"You suppose you do! Don't you know?"

"Yes, sir, I think I did make a mistake," replied
Wilton, who found it very hard to acknowledge the
fact.{114}

"I do not refer to your punishment, when I allude
to the consequences of your misdeed, for that was very
light. You have fallen very low in the estimation of
your superiors."

"Do you mean Mr. Shuffles, sir?"

"I did not mean the officers exclusively, though I
believe they have a proper respect for the discipline of
the ship."

"I don't think Shuffles need to say anything."

"He hasn't said anything."

"He is worse than I am."

"Shuffles has done very well, and merits the approbation
of the principal and the instructors."

"They don't know him as well as I do," growled
Wilton.

"They probably know him better. Your remarks
do not exhibit a proper spirit towards an officer. He
defeated your plan to escape, but he did no more than
his duty. He would have been blamed, perhaps punished,
if he had done any less."

"I don't find any fault with him for doing his duty,
but I don't like to be snubbed by one who is worse
than I am. If you knew what I know, sir, you would
turn him out of the after cabin."

"Then it is fortunate for him that I don't know
what you know," replied Mr. Lowington, sternly.
"If you wish to injure him in my estimation, you
will not succeed."

"He is going to get up a mutiny one of these days.
He told me all about it," continued Wilton, desperately,
when he found that the principal was in no
mood to listen to his backbiting.
{115}

"That will do, Wilton? I don't wish to hear anything
more about that matter. Your testimony against
Shuffles, under present circumstances, is not worth the
breath you use in uttering it."

"I thought it was my duty to tell you, if any one
was trying to get up a mutiny."

"You did not think so; you are telling me this
story to revenge yourself against the third lieutenant
for his fidelity. Whether there is, or is not, any truth
in what you say, I shall take no notice of it."

"It is all true, sir. He did speak to me about getting
up a mutiny, locking up the professors, taking the
ship, and going round Cape Horn; and he will not
deny it."

"He will have no opportunity to deny it to me, for
I shall not mention the subject to him. Go to your
duty, and remember that you have injured yourself
more than Shuffles by this course."

Wilton hung his head, and went forward, cheated
of his revenge, and disconcerted by the rebuke he had
received.

Mr. Lowington was quite willing to believe that
Shuffles had talked about a mutiny, while he was in
the steerage, but there was at least no present danger
of an extravagant scheme being put into operation.
He understood Shuffles perfectly; he knew that
his high office and his ambition were his only incentives
to fidelity in the discharge of his duty; but he had
fairly won his position, and he was willing to let him
stand or fall by his own merits. He was not a young
man of high moral principle, as Paul Kendall, and
Gordon, and Carnes were; but the discipline of the
{116}
ship was certainly doing wonders for him, though it
might ultimately fail of its ends.

The ship came to anchor, the band was sent on
shore, and the Fourth of July holidays were ended.
On the following morning the studies were resumed,
and everything on board went on as usual. A few
days later, the ship went on a cruise to the eastward,
spending a week in each of the principal ports on the
coast. The students soon became so accustomed to
the motion of the ship, that none of them were seasick
and the recitations were regularly heard, whether
the Young America was in port or at sea.

When the cold weather came, stoves were put up in
the cabins and in the steerage, and the routine of the
ship was not disturbed; but Mr. Lowington dreaded
the ice and snow, and the severe weather of mid-winter,
and in November, the Young America started
on a cruise to the southward, and in the latter part of
December she was in Chesapeake Bay. In March
she returned to Brockway. By this time the crew
were all thorough seamen, and had made excellent
progress in their studies. Mr. Lowington was entirely
satisfied with the success of his experiment, and was
resolved to persevere in it.

The boys were in splendid discipline, and there had
not been a case of serious illness on board during the
year. Besides the six hours of study and recitation
required of the pupils per day, they were all trained
in gymnastics by Dr. Winstock, the surgeon, who had
a system of his own, and was an enthusiast on the
subject. This exercise, with the ordinary ship's duty,
kept them in excellent physical condition; and while
{117}
their brown faces and rosy cheeks indicated a healthy
state of the body, their forms were finely developed,
and their muscles scientifically trained.

Greek and Latin, German and French, with the
ordinary English branches pursued in high schools
and academies, were taught on board, and the instructors
were satisfied that the boys accomplished twice as
much as was ordinarily done in similar institutions on
shore, and without injury to the students. Everything
was done by rule, and nothing was left to the whims
and caprices of teachers and scholars. Just so much
study was done every day, and no more. There was
no sitting up nights; there were no balls and parties,
theatres and concerts, to interfere with the work; no
late suppers of escalloped oysters and lobster salads to
be eaten. Boys who had bad habits were watched,
and injurious tendencies corrected.

But the students enjoyed their life on shipboard.
As the vessel went from port to port, new scenes were
opened to them. Those who could be trusted were
allowed to go on shore in their off-time; and as all
their privileges depended upon their good conduct,
they were very careful to do their duty, both as students
and as seamen, cheerfully and faithfully.

The Young America dropped her anchor in Brockway
Harbor on the 5th of March, on her return from
her southern cruise. The first term of the second
year was to commence on the 1st of April, and it was
understood that the ship would sail for Europe on the
last day of March. The vessel needed some repairs,
and all the students were allowed a furlough of twenty
days to visit their homes.
{118}

Several of the larger boys, including Carnes, had
obtained places in the navy, and were not to return.
Two or three were to enter college in the summer,
and a few were to go into mercantile houses; but
these vacancies would be more than filled by the applicants
who had been waiting months for an opportunity
to join the ship.

After the departure of the students, the Young
America was docked, and the necessary repairs made
upon her. She was thoroughly cleansed and painted,
and came out as good as new. Before the return of
the boys, her provisions, water, and stores, were taken
on board, and all the preparations made for a foreign
voyage. On the 25th of the month she was anchored
again at her old moorings, and in the course
of the next two days all the instructors and pupils
were in their places. There were eleven new boys.

"Young gentlemen," said Mr. Lowington, as he
mounted his usual rostrum, "I am happy to see you
again, and to welcome you on board. Our experience
during the coming season will be much more interesting
and exciting than that of the last year. We shall
proceed immediately to Europe, and all who are worthy
of the privilege will have an opportunity to visit the
principal cities of Europe—London, Paris, Naples,
St. Petersburg. We shall go up the Baltic and up the
Mediterranean, in this or a subsequent cruise, and I
can safely promise you, not only an interesting, but a
profitable trip. In a circular I have informed your
parents and guardians of my purposes, and you are
shipped this time for a foreign voyage, with their consent
and approval."
{119}

This speech caused no little excitement among the
boys, who anticipated a great deal from the summer
voyage. It was no small thing to visit London, Paris,
and St. Petersburg, and not many boys obtain such an
opportunity.

"But, young gentlemen, I believe in discipline and
progress, as most of you know. I expect every student
to do his whole duty; and I wish to tell you now,
that misconduct, and failures at recitation, will bring
heavy disappointments upon you. If you do nothing
for yourselves, you need expect nothing from me. For
example, when the ship is going up the Thames, if
any one of you, or any number of you, should be guilty
of flagrant misconduct, or gross neglect of your studies,
you will see no more of the city of London than you
can see from the cross-trees, for you shall not put a
foot on shore."

"Rather steep," whispered one of the new comers.

"That's so, but he means it," replied an old student.

"We shall be at sea, out of sight of land, for twenty
or thirty days," continued Mr. Lowington. "We shall
encounter storms and bad weather, such as none of
you have ever seen; for in going from port to port, last
season, we were enabled to avoid all severe weather.
We shall go to sea now with no harbor before us till
we reach the other side of the Atlantic, and we must
take whatever comes. But the ship is as strong as a
ship can be built, and with good management she
would stand any gale that ever blew. Good management
includes good discipline, and every officer and
seaman must be faithful in the discharge of his duty,
{120}
for the safety of the ship and all on board of her will
depend upon the fidelity of each individual.

"Young gentlemen, there are eleven new scholars:
they must take the vacant berths after the ship's company
is organized on the old plan. The offices will
be given out and the berths drawn by the merit roll
for January, February, and a portion of March—only
about nine weeks of term time."

Shuffles, who stood near the principal, looked very
much disconcerted when this announcement was made,
and whispered to Paul Kendall that it was not fair to
distribute the offices by last year's record. While the
Young America was lying at anchor in Chesapeake
Bay, in December, Shuffles, then second lieutenant,
had received a letter from his mother, in which she
had informed him that his family would visit Europe
in the following spring, and that he would leave the
ship, and form one of the party. This information
had caused him to relax his efforts as a student, and
he had fallen very low in rank. This was the reason
why the proposed distribution of offices was not
fair.

When Shuffles went home on his furlough of
twenty days, he had behaved so badly that his father
refused to have him form one of the party in the
trip abroad, and compelled him to return to the ship
for another year of wholesome discipline under Mr.
Lowington. Angry and indignant, Shuffles did return
and the announcement that the offices were to
be distributed by the merit roll did not add to his
equanimity.{121}

"I will now read the record of marks," said the
principal, "and announce the officers for the next
term."

The boys were silent and anxious; for places in the
after cabin were more highly valued than ever, now
that the Young America was going to Europe.

CHAPTER VIII.

{122}

OUTWARD BOUND.

Return to Table of
Contents

Mr. Lowington read the merit roll, announcing
the officers as he proceeded. The
occupants of the after cabin, who were appointed for
the succeeding three months, during which time the
ship crossed the Atlantic, and visited various European
ports, were as follows:—

{123}
The students mentioned in the list made the required
promise to behave themselves like gentlemen,
and faithfully discharge the duties of their several
offices, and were duly installed in their new positions
in the after cabin. Most of them had been officers
before, but all of them were higher in rank than at
any former period. Richard Carnes had been captain
four terms, for no one could get ahead of him.

The new captain had been first lieutenant, during
the preceding year, three terms out of four, and was
certainly the best qualified student on board for the
command. He was a young man of high moral
aims, with much dignity of character and energy of
purpose.

The officers went to the after cabin, put on their
uniforms, and assumed their proper places. The
choice of berths in the steerage proceeded as usual,
according to the merit roll, and the petty offices were
given to the highest in rank. The new boys took the
unoccupied berths by lot. The organization of the
ship was now completed, and the students were directed
to put their berths and lockers in order. The
remainder of the day was fully occupied in preparing
for the voyage. Great quantities of ice and fresh provisions
were taken on board, and packed away in the
store rooms of the hold, and all was bustle and confusion.

On Thursday morning the ship was put in order
again. The vessel had been duly cleared at the custom
house, and every article required for the voyage had
been received. The boys were ordered to put on
their best suits, and at nine o'clock a steamer came
{124}
off, having on board a large number of the parents
and friends of the students. The forenoon was given
up to this interesting occasion. It was a beautiful
day, with a gentle breeze from the westward, and at
twelve o'clock, all hands were mustered on deck for
religious services, to be performed by the chaplain, in
the presence of the friends of the pupils.

Mr. Lowington was a religious man, and the position
of the Rev. Mr. Agneau, as chaplain on board,
was by no means a sinecure. Services had always
been held twice a day on Sunday. At five minutes
before eight in the morning, and at the same time in
the evening, prayers were said on deck, or in the
steerage, in the presence of the entire ship's company.
On the point of leaving the shores of the United
States, it seemed highly appropriate to invoke the
blessing of God on the voyage and the voyagers, and
the principal had directed that the service should be
conducted in the presence of the parents and friends.

The prayer and the remarks of the chaplain were
very solemn and impressive, and even the roughest of
the students were moved by them. At the conclusion
of the religious service, Mr. Lowington addressed the
visitors, explaining the details of his plan more fully
than he had done in his circulars, and saying what he
could to inspire the parents with confidence in regard
to the safety of their sons. It need not be said that
there were many tears shed on this occasion.

At the close of the speech a collation was served
to the visitors, in the cabins and steerage, after which
another hour was allowed for social intercourse; and
then the ship was cleared, the visitors going on board
{125}
the steamer again, which was to accompany the Young
America below the lighthouse. The boys were sent
below to change their clothes again.

"All hands, up anchor, ahoy!" piped the boatswain;
and the crew sprang to their stations with
more than usual alacrity.

This was a greater event than they had ever known
before. The anchor, which was now to be hauled up,
was not to be dropped again for about a month, and
then in foreign waters. They were going out upon
the waste of the ocean, to be driven and tossed by the
storms of the Atlantic. They were bidding farewell
to their native land, not again to look upon its shores
for many months. They were boys, and they were
deeply impressed by the fact.

The capstan was manned, and the cable hove up to
a short stay. The topsails and top-gallant sails were
set; then the anchor was hauled up to the hawse-hole,
catted and fished. The Young America moved;
she wore round, and her long voyage was commenced.
The courses and the royals were set, and she moved
majestically down the bay. The steamer kept close
by her, and salutations by shouts, cheers, and the
waving of handkerchiefs, were continually interchanged,
till the ship was several miles outside of
the lower light.

The steamer whistled several times, to indicate that
she was about to return. All hands were then ordered
into the rigging of the ship; and cheer after cheer was
given by the boys, and acknowledged by cheers on
the part of the gentlemen, and the waving of handkerchiefs
by the ladies. The steamer came about; the
{126}
moment of parting had come, and she was headed
towards the city. Some of the students wept then;
for, whatever charms there were in the voyage before
them, the ties of home and friends were still strong.
As long as the steamer could be seen, signals continued
to pass between her and the ship.

"Captain Gordon, has the first master given the
quartermaster the course yet?" asked Mr. Lowington,
when the steamer had disappeared among the islands
of the bay.

"No, sir; but Mr. Fluxion told him to make it
east-north-east."

"Very well; but the masters should do this duty,"
added Mr. Lowington, as he directed the instructor in
mathematics to require the masters, to whom belonged
the navigation of the ship, to indicate the course.

William Foster was called, and sent into the after
cabin with his associates, to obtain the necessary sailing
directions. The masters had been furnished with
a supply of charts, which they had studied daily, as
they were instructed in the theory of laying down the
ship's course. Foster unrolled the large chart of the
North Atlantic Ocean upon the dinner table, and with
parallel ruler, pencil, and compasses, proceeded to
perform his duty.

"We want to go just south of Cape Sable," said he,
placing his pencil point on that part of the chart.

"How far south of it?" asked Harry Martyn.

"Say twenty nautical miles."

The first master dotted the point twenty miles south
of Cape Sable, which is the southern point of Nova
Scotia, and also the ship's position, with his pencil.
{127}
He then placed one edge of the parallel ruler on both
of these points, thus connecting them with a straight
line.

A parallel ruler consists of two smaller rulers, each
an inch in width and a foot in length, connected
together by two flat pieces of brass, riveted into each
ruler, acting as a kind of hinge. The parts, when
separated, are always parallel to each other.

Foster placed the edge of the ruler on the two
points made with the pencil, one indicating the ship's
present position, the other the position she was to
obtain after sailing two or three days. Putting the
fingers of his left hand on the brass knob of the ruler,
by which the parts are moved, he pressed down and
held its upper half, joining the two points, firmly in
its place. With the fingers of the right hand he
moved the lower half down, which, in its turn, he kept
firmly in place, while he slipped the upper half over
the paper, thus preserving the direction between the
points. By this process the parallel ruler could be
moved all over the chart without losing the course
from one point to the other.

On every chart there are one or more diagrams of
the compass, with lines diverging from a centre, representing
all the points. The parallel ruler is worked
over the chart to one of these diagrams, where the
direction to which it has been set nearly or exactly
coincides with one of the lines representing a point of
the compass.

The first master of the Young America worked the
ruler down to a diagram, and found that it coincided
{128}
with the line indicating east by north; or one point
north of east.

"That's the course," said Thomas Ellis, the third
master—"east by north."

"I think not," added Foster. "If we steer that
course, we should go forty or fifty miles south of Cape
Sable, and thus run much farther than we need.
What is the variation?"

"About twelve degrees west," replied Martyn.

The compass does not indicate the true north in all
parts of the earth, the needle varying in the North
Atlantic Ocean from thirty degrees east to nearly
thirty degrees west. There is an imaginary line, extending
in a north-westerly direction, through a point
in the vicinity of Cape Lookout, called the magnetic
meridian, on which there is no variation. East of this
line the needle varies to the westward; and west of
the line, to the eastward. These variations of the
compass are marked on the chart, in different latitudes
and longitudes, though they need to be occasionally
corrected by observations, for they change slightly
from year to year.

"Variation of twelve degrees,"
¹
repeated Foster,
verifying the statement by an examination of the
chart. That is equal to about one point, which, carried
to the westward from east by north, will give the
course east-north-east.

The process was repeated, and the same result
being obtained, the first master reported the course to
{129}
Mr. Fluxion, who had made the calculation himself,
in the professors' cabin.

"Quartermaster, make the course east-north-east,"
said the first master, when his work had been duly
approved by the instructor.

"East-north-east, sir!" replied the quartermaster,
who was conning the wheel—that is, he was watching
the compass, and seeing that the two wheelmen
kept the ship on her course.

There were two other compasses on deck, one on
the quarter-deck, and another forward of the mainmast
which the officers on duty were required frequently
to consult, in order that any negligence in one
place might be discovered in another. The after
cabin and the professors' cabin were also provided
with "tell-tales," which are inverted compasses, suspended
under the skylights, by which the officers and
instructors below could observe the ship's course.

The log indicated that the ship was making six
knots an hour, the rate being ascertained every two
hours, and entered on the log-slate, to be used in
making up the "dead reckoning." The Young
America had taken her "departure," that is, left the
last land to be seen, at half past three o'clock. At
four, when the log was heaved, she had made
three miles; at six, fifteen miles; at eight, the wind
diminishing and the log indicating but four knots,
only eight miles were to be added for the two hours'
run, making twenty-three miles in all. The first sea
day would end at twelve o'clock on the morrow, when
the log-slate would indicate the total of nautical miles
the ship had run after taking her departure. This is
{130}
called her dead reckoning, which may be measured
off on the chart, and should carry the vessel to the
point indicated by the observations for latitude and
longitude.

The wind was very light, and studding-sails were
set alow and aloft. The ship only made her six knots
as she pitched gently in the long swell of the ocean.
The boys were still nominally under the order of "all
hands on deck," but there was nothing for them to do,
with the exception of the wheelmen, and they were
gazing at the receding land behind them. They were
taking their last view of the shores of their native
land. Doubtless some of them were inclined to be
sentimental, but most of them were thinking of the
pleasant sights they were to see, and the exciting scenes
in which they were to engage on the other side of the
rolling ocean, and were as jolly as though earth had
no sorrows for them.

The principal and the professors were pacing the
quarter-deck, and doubtless some of them were wondering
whether boys like the crew of the Young
America could be induced to study and recite their
lessons amid the excitement of crossing the Atlantic,
and the din of the great commercial cities of the old
world. The teachers were energetic men, and they
were hopeful, at least, especially as study and discipline
were the principal elements of the voyage, and
each pupil's privileges were to depend upon his diligence
and his good behavior. It would be almost
impossible for a boy who wanted to go to Paris while
the ship was lying at Havre, so far to neglect his
duties as to forfeit the privilege of going. As these
{131}
gentlemen have not been formally introduced, the
"faculty" of the ship is here presented:—

Robert Lowington, Principal.

Rev. Thomas Agneau, Chaplain.

Dr. Edward B. Winstock, Surgeon.



INSTRUCTORS.



John Paradyme, A.M., Greek and Latin.

Richard Modelle, Reading and Grammar.

Charles C. Mapps, A.M., Geography and History.

James E. Fluxion, Mathematics.

Abraham Carboy, M.D., Chemistry and Nat. Phil.

Adolph Badois, French and German.

These gentlemen were all highly accomplished teachers
in their several departments, as the progress of the
students during the preceding year fully proved. They
were interested in their work, and in sympathy with
the boys, as well as with the principal.

It was a very quiet time on board, and the crew
were collected in little groups, generally talking of the
sights they were to see. In the waist were Shuffles,
Monroe, and Wilton, all feuds among them having
been healed. They appeared to be the best of friends,
and it looked ominous for the discipline of the ship to
see them reunited. Shuffles was powerful for good
or evil, as he chose, and Mr. Lowington regretted that
he had fallen from his high position, fearing that the
self-respect which had sustained him as an officer
would desert him as a seaman, and permit him to fall
into excesses.

Shuffles was more dissatisfied and discontented than
{132}
he had ever been before. He had desired to make the
tour of Europe with his father, and he was sorely disappointed
when denied this privilege; for with the
family he would be free from restraint, and free from
hard study. When he lost his rank as an officer, he
became desperate and reckless. To live in the steerage
and do seaman's duty for three months, after he
had enjoyed the luxuries of authority, and of a state-room
in the after cabin, were intolerable. After the
cabin offices had been distributed, he told Monroe that
he intended to run away that night; but he had found
no opportunity to do so; and it was unfortunate for
his shipmates that he did not.

"This isn't bad—is it, Shuffles?" said Wilton, as
the ship slowly ploughed her way through the billows.

"I think it is. I had made up my mouth to cross
the ocean in a steamer, and live high in London and
Paris," replied Shuffles. "I don't relish this thing,
now."

"Why not?" asked Wilton.

"I don't feel at home here."

"I do."

"Because you never were anywhere else. I ought
to be captain of this ship."

"Well, you can be, if you have a mind to work for
it," added Monroe.

"Work for it! That's played out. I must stay in
the steerage three months, at any rate; and that while
the burden of the fun is going on. If we were going
to lie in harbor, or cruise along the coast, I would go
in for my old place."

"But Carnes is out of the way now, and your
{133}
chance is better this year than it was last," suggested
Monroe.

"I know that, but I can't think of straining every
nerve for three months, two of them while we are
going from port to port in Europe. When we go
ashore at Queenstown, I shall have to wear a short
jacket, instead of the frock coat of an officer; and I
think the jacket would look better on some younger
fellow."

"What are you going to do, Shuffles?" asked
Wilton.

"I'd rather be a king among hogs, than a hog
among kings."

"What do you mean by that?"

"No matter; there's time enough to talk over these
things."

"Do you mean a mutiny?" laughed Wilton.

"Haven't you forgotten that?"

"No."

"I wonder what Lowington would say, if he knew
I had proposed such a thing," added Shuffles, thoughtfully.

"He did know it, at the time you captured the runaways,
for I told him."

"Did you?" demanded Shuffles, his brow contracting
with anger.

"I told you I would tell him, and I did," answered
Wilton. "You were a traitor to our fellows, and
got us into a scrape."

"I was an officer then."

"No matter for that. Do you suppose, if I were an
{134}
officer, I would throw myself in your way when you
were up to anything?"

"I don't know whether you would or not; but I
wouldn't blow on you, if you had told me anything in
confidence. What did Lowington say?"

"Nothing; he wouldn't take any notice of what I
said."

"That was sensible on his part. One thing is certain,
Wilton: you can't be trusted."

"You mustn't make me mad, then."

"I will keep things to myself hereafter," growled
Shuffles.

"Don't be savage. You served me a mean trick,
and I paid you off for it; so we are square."

"We will keep square then, and not open any new
accounts."

"But you will want me when anything is up,"
laughed Wilton. "What would you do without me
in getting up a mutiny?"

"Who said anything about a mutiny?"

"I know you are thinking over something, and you
don't mean to submit to the discipline of the ship, if
you can help it."

"Well, I can't help it."

"There goes the boatswain's whistle, piping to
muster," said Monroe.

"Confound the boatswain's whistle!" growled
Shuffles. "I don't like the idea of running every
time he pipes."

Very much to the surprise of his companions,
Shuffles, his irritation increased by the conduct of
Wilton, took no notice of the call, and went forward,
{135}
instead of aft. His companions, more wise and prudent,
walked up to the hatch, which Mr. Lowington
had just mounted.

"Groom, tell Shuffles to come aft," said the principal
to one of the midshipmen.

The officer obeyed the order; Shuffles flatly refused
to go aft. Mr. Lowington descended from his rostrum
and went forward to enforce obedience. This
event created a profound sensation among the students.

"Shuffles," said Mr Lowington, sternly.

"Sir," replied the malcontent, in a surly tone.

"The boatswain piped the crew to muster."

"I heard him."

"You did not obey the call. I sent for you, and
you refused to come."

"I don't think I ought to obey the boatswain's call."

"May I ask why not?"

"I've been an officer three terms, and I should be
now if we had had fair play," growled Shuffles.

"I am not disposed to argue this point in your present
frame of mind. I order you to go aft."

"And I won't go!" replied Shuffles, impudently.

"Mr. Peaks," said the principal, calling the senior
boatswain.

"Here, sir," replied Peaks, touching his hat to the
principal.

"Mr. Leech," added Mr. Lowington.

"Here, sir."

"Walk this young gentleman aft."

"Let me alone!" cried Shuffles, as Peaks placed
his hand upon him.
{136}

"Gently, my sweet lamb," said the boatswain, with
affected tenderness.

"Take your hands off me!" roared the mutinous
pupil, as he struggled to release himself from the grasp
of the stalwart seaman.

Peaks took him by the collar with one hand, and
held his wrist with the other, on one side, while Leech
did the same on the other side.

"Walk him aft," repeated the principal.

"Mr. Fluxion, may I trouble you to bring up the
irons?" continued Mr. Lowington, when the boatswain
and carpenter had "walked" the rebel aft, in
spite of his struggling and kicking.

"Irons!" gasped Shuffles, as he heard the request
of the principal.

He trembled with rage as he uttered the word. The
irons seemed to pierce his soul. Probably he did not
think that the son of a wealthy gentleman would be
compelled to submit to such an indignity as being put
in irons.

Mr. Fluxion came on deck with a pair of handcuffs.
It was the first time they had been seen, and no student
even knew there were any on board. The discipline
of the ship had been as gentle as it was firm, and this
was the first time such instruments were necessary.

"Mr. Peaks, put the irons on him!" said Mr.
Lowington, his usual dignity unruffled by angry emotions.

"Don't put them on me!" cried Shuffles, making
an effort to disengage himself from the grasp of his
captors.

"Put them on at once!" added the principal.
{137}

"You shall not put them on me! I will die first!"
roared the rebel.

It was easier to talk than to do, in the hands of two
sturdy sailors, one of whom had used the cat in the
navy, when its use was tolerated. Shuffles did not
die, and he was ironed, in spite of his struggles and
his protest.

CHAPTER IX.

{138}

THE WATCH-BILL.

Return to Table of
Contents

Shuffles struggled with the irons and with the
stout men who held him until he had exhausted
himself; and then, because his frame, rather than his
spirit, was worn down, he was quiet. It was the first
case of severe discipline that had occurred on board,
and it created a tremendous sensation among the
students.

Mr. Lowington stood with folded arms, watching
the vain struggles of the culprit, until he was reduced
to a state of comparative calmness. He looked sad,
rather than angry, and his dignity was not impaired
by the assault upon his authority.

"Shuffles, I am sorry to see one who has been an
officer of the ship reduced to your condition; but
discipline must and shall be maintained," said the
principal. "We are on the high seas now, and disobedience
is dangerous. You led me to believe that
you had reformed your life and conduct."

"It isn't my fault," replied Shuffles, angrily.

"You had better not reply to me in that tone,"
added Mr. Lowington, mildly.

"Yes, I will!"

"Mr. Topliffe," continued the principal.
{139}

"Here, sir," replied the head steward.

"You will have the brig cleared out for use."

"Yes, sir;" and the head steward went below to
obey the order.

There was not a boy on board who knew what the
"brig" was, though the establishment had existed in
the steerage from the time when the boys first went on
board the ship. It had never before been required for
use, and Mr. Lowington had carefully veiled every
disagreeable feature of discipline, until it was necessary
to exhibit it. The brig was the prison of the ship—the
lock-up. It was located under and abaft the main
ladder, in the steerage, being an apartment five feet in
length by three feet in width. The partitions which
enclosed it were composed of upright planks, eight
inches in width, with spaces between them for the
admission of light and air.

The brig had been used as a store room for bedding
by the stewards, and the students never suspected,
till Shuffles' case came up, that it was not built for
a closet. Mr. Topliffe and his assistants removed
the blankets and comforters from this lock-up, and
prepared it for the reception of the refractory pupil.
When the room was ready he went on deck, and
reported the fact to the principal.

"Shuffles, our discipline has always been of the
mildest character," said Mr. Lowington, breaking the
impressive silence which reigned on deck. "I regret
to be compelled to resort to force in any form; even
now I would avoid it."

"You needn't, on my account," replied Shuffles,
{140}
shaking his head. "You have done your worst
already."

"Mr. Peaks, take him below, lock him up in the
brig, and bring the key to me."

The manacled rebel made another effort to resist,
but the stout sailors easily handled him, and bore him
down into the steerage. He was thrust into the
brig, ironed as he was, and the door locked upon
him. Shuffles glanced at the interior of the prison,
and broke out into a contemptuous laugh. He then
commenced kicking the pales of the partition? but
he might as well have attempted to break through the
deck beneath.

"Shuffles," said Peaks, in a low tone, when he had
locked the door, "be a man. You act like a spoiled
child now."

"I have been insulted, and abused," replied Shuffles,
fiercely.

"No, you haven't. Aboard almost any ship, you
would have got a knock on the head with a handspike
before this time. Don't make a fool of yourself. You
are only making yourself ridiculous now—'pon my
word as an old sailor, you are."

"I'll have satisfaction."

"No, you won't, unless you break your own head.
I want to advise you, as a friend, not to make a fool
of yourself. I'm sorry for you, my lad."

"Don't talk to me."

"I can forgive you for disobeying orders, but I can't
forgive you for being a fool. Now, keep quiet, and be
a man."

The well-meant effort of the boatswain to pacify the
{141}
culprit was a failure, and Peaks, going on deck, delivered
the key of the brig to Mr. Lowington. Shuffles
kicked against the partition till he was tired of the
exercise.

"Young gentlemen, to-day we enter upon a new
experience on shipboard," said the principal, without
making any further allusion to Shuffles. "Our short
trips last season were so timed that we kept no regular
night watches, and, with two or three exceptions, the
ship was at anchor when you slept. Of course that is
not practicable on a long voyage, and you must all do
duty by night as well as by day.

"This has been a difficult matter to arrange, for you
are all too young to be deprived of your regular sleep,
though in heavy weather I am afraid you will lose
your rest to some extent. At eight o'clock this evening
the starboard watch will be on duty. We have four
times as many hands on board the Young America as
are usually employed in merchant ships, so that a
quarter watch will be able to handle the ship on all
ordinary occasions. We shall, therefore, keep a quarter
watch on ship's duty at all times through the
twenty-four hours.

"During the night, including the time from eight in
the evening until eight in the morning, each quarter
watch will be on duty two hours, and then off six
hours; and each hand will obtain six consecutive
hours' sleep every night. At eight this evening, the
first part of the starboard watch will have the ship in
charge, and all others may turn in and sleep. At ten,
the second part of the starboard watch will be called,
without disturbing any others. At twelve, the first
{142}
part of the port watch will be summoned; at two, the
second part; and so on till eight in the morning.

"The first part of the starboard watch, which turned
in at ten, will sleep till four, giving them six hours of
rest all together, and they may turn in again at six
o'clock, when relieved by the second part, and sleep
till half past seven, which is breakfast time for those
off duty.

"During the daytime, from eight in the morning
till eight in the evening, the same routine will be observed
To-morrow, at eight in the morning, the
first part of the port watch will take charge of the
ship till ten; the second part will be off duty, and the
time will be their own, to use as they think proper.
At ten, the second part will be in charge, and the first
will have their own time till twelve. All the starboard
watch, during these four hours, will study and recite.
In the afternoon the same course will be pursued with
the other watch. Do you understand it?"

"Yes, sir," replied the boys.

"By this arrangement you will average three hours
of duty every night. To-night the port watch will
be on deck two hours, and the starboard watch, whose
turn will come twice, four hours; but to-morrow night
the operation will be reversed, and the port will
have the deck four hours, and the starboard but two.
Two copies of the watch bill will be posted in the
steerage, and one in the after cabin. Young gentlemen,
I recommend you to study it, until you are perfectly
familiar with its requirements."

"How is it with the officers, Mr. Lowington?"
{143}
asked Paul Kendall, who was generally the spokesman
for his companions.

"The officers are divided into watches in precisely
the same manner as the crew. To the starboard watch
belong the first and third lieutenant, the second and
fourth master, and the first and third midshipman,
which makes one officer of each grade for each quarter
watch," replied Mr. Lowington. "Their off-time
and study-time correspond with those of the crew."

It is quite possible that the officers and crew of the
Young America understood the complicated arrangement
of the principal. If they did not, they could
refer to the posted document; and, as we cannot deprive
our readers of this privilege, we insert in full,
the

WATCH BILL.

FIRST DAY.

First Watch, from 8 till 12 P.M.

From 8 till 10. 1st Lieut., 2d Master, 1st Mid.
First Part of the Starboard Watch.

From 10 till 12. 3d Lieut., 4th Master, 3d Mid.
Second Part of the Starboard Watch.

Mid Watch, from 12 till 4 A.M.

From 12 till 2. 2d Lieut., 1st Master, 2d Mid.
First Part of the Port Watch.

From 2 till 4. 4th Lieut., 3d Master, 4th Mid.
Second Part of the Port Watch.

{144}

Morning Watch, from 4 till 8 A.M.

From 4 till 6. 1st Lieut., 2d Master, 1st Mid.
First Part of the Starboard Watch.

From 6 till 8. 3d Lieut., 4th Master, 3d Mid.
Second Part of the Starboard Watch.

Forenoon Watch, from 8 till 12 A.M.

From 8 till 10. 2d Lieut., 1st Master, 2d Mid.
First Part of the Port Watch. Second Part of Port
Watch off Duty. All the Starboard Watch study
and recite till 12.

From 10 till 12. 4th Lieut., 3d Master, 4th Mid.
Second Part of Port Watch. First Part of Port Watch
off Duty.

Afternoon Watch, from 12 till 4 P.M.

From 12 till 2. 1st Lieut., 2d Master, 1st Mid.
First Part of Starboard Watch. Second Part of the
Starboard Watch off Duty. All the Port Watch
study and recite till 4.

From 2 till 4. 3d Lieut., 4th Master, 3d Mid.
Second Part of the Starboard Watch. First Part of
the Starboard Watch off Duty.

First Dog Watch, from 4 till 6 P.M.

From 4 till 5. 2d Lieut., 1st Master, 2d Mid.
First Part of the Port Watch. Second Part of the
Port Watch off Duty. All the Starboard Watch
study and recite till 6.

From 5 till 6. 4th Lieut., 3d Master, 4th Mid.
Second Part of the Port Watch. First Part of the
Port Watch off Duty.

{145}

Second Dog Watch, from 6 till 8 P.M.

From 6 till 7. 1st Lieut., 2d Master, 1st Mid.
First Part of the Starboard Watch. Second Part of
the Starboard Watch off Duty. All the Port Watch
study and recite till 8.

From 7 till 8. 3d Lieut., 4th Master, 3d Mid.
Second Part of the Starboard Watch. First Part of
the Starboard Watch off Duty.

The watch bill for the second day was the same,
with the exception of the names of the watches and
quarter watches. The entire programme was reversed
by the operation of the dog watches, which substituted
"port" for "starboard," and "starboard" for "port,"
in the next day's routine.

When the boys were permitted to go below, they
rushed to the watch bills, and studied them faithfully,
till they fully understood the programme. Each
student ascertained his duty for the night, and his
{146}
off-time and study-hours for the next day, which were
included in the first day's bill.

"I go on at twelve o'clock," said Paul Kendall, in
the after cabin, when he had examined the bill.

"And I go on deck at eight o'clock," added Joseph
Haven, the first lieutenant. "I shall have a chance
to sleep from ten till four in the morning, and an hour
and a half, from six till half past seven."

"I shall have my watch below from two till breakfast
time. I don't think we need wear ourselves out
under this arrangement."

"No; I thought we should be obliged to take four
hours of duty at a time on deck."

"How will it be when we have rough weather?"
asked Paul.

"I don't know; I suppose we must take our chances
then."

"What do you think of Shuffles' case?" added
Paul.

"He will get the worst of it."

"I'm sorry for him. He behaved first rate last
year, though they say he used to be a hard fellow."

"What's the use of a fellow doing as he has done?"
said Haven, with palpable disgust. "He can't make
anything by it."

"Of course he can't."

"I would rather have him in the cabin than in the
steerage, for he will not obey orders; and when he is
ugly, he is a perfect tiger. I wonder what Mr. Lowington
is going to do with him. There is no such
thing as expelling a fellow in this institution now. If
{147}
he means to be cross-grained, he can keep us in hot
water all the time."

The officers were too much excited by the fact that
the ship was outward bound to remain long in the
cabin, and they returned to the deck to watch the
progress of the vessel. At eight o'clock the Young
America was out of sight of land, though it would
have been too dark to see it ten miles distant. The
quartermaster, at the helm, struck eight bells, which
were repeated on the forecastle.

"All the first part of the starboard watch, ahoy!"
shouted the boatswain, for it was now time to commence
the programme of regular sea duty.

The first lieutenant took his place, as officer of the
deck, near the helm; the second master on the forecastle
and the third midshipman in the waist. The
first part of the starboard watch were stationed in
various parts of the deck. Of the four quartermasters,
one was attached to each quarter watch. The wheel
was given to two hands for the first hour, and two
were placed on the top-gallant forecastle, to act as the
lookout men, to be relieved after one hour's service.
The rest of the boys were required to keep awake, but
no special duty was assigned to them. There were
hands enough on deck to "tack ship," or to take in
the sails, one or two at a time.

Though the ship was nominally in the hands and
under the direction of her juvenile officers, who performed
all the duties required in working her, yet
they were closely watched by the principal, who, if
there was anything wrong, informed the captain of
the fact. The commander kept no watch, but he was
{148}
responsible for every manoeuvre, and for the regular
routine of duty. Mr. Lowington seldom spoke to
any other officer in regard to ship's duty or the navigation.

When the watch was set, at eight bells, most of the
boys who were off duty went into the steerage. Some
of them turned in; but the novelty of the occasion
was too great to permit them to sleep. They collected
in groups, to talk over the prospects of the voyage, and
the duties required of them, as indicated by the watch
bill.

Shuffles sat on a stool in the brig, still nursing
his wrath. When his supper was carried to him by
the steward, his irons had been taken off. He refused
to eat, and the food was removed. As he was now
quiet, the irons were not replaced. The prisoner was
far from penitent for his offence.

Mr. Agneau, the chaplain, was very much concerned
about the prisoner. He was shocked by his
disobedience, and pained to find that one who had
done so well could do so ill. The case had been fully
considered in the professors' cabin; and Mr. Lowington
declared that Shuffles should stay in the brig
till he had repented of his folly, and promised obedience
for the future. The chaplain was a tender-hearted
man, and he thought that some gentle words
might touch the feelings of the prisoner, and bring
him to a sense of duty. With the principal's permission,
therefore, he paid a visit to Shuffles in the
evening.

"I am very sorry to find you here, Shuffles," said
Mr. Agneau, when he had locked the door behind him.
{149}

"Has Lowington sent you to torment me?" demanded
the prisoner.

"Mr. Lowington, you mean," added the chaplain,
gently.

"No, I mean Lowington. When a man has abused
and insulted me, I can't stop to put a handle to his
name."

"I regret to find you in such an unhappy frame of
mind, my young friend. I came here of my own
accord, to do what I might to help you."

"Did you, indeed!" sneered Shuffles.

"That was my only object."

"Was it? Well, if you want to help me, you will
induce Lowington to let me out of this crib, apologize
for what he has done, and give me my place in the
after cabin."

"That is plainly impossible," replied the astonished
chaplain.

"Then you can't do anything for me; and I think I
can take care of myself."

"I entreat you, my young friend, to consider the
error of your ways."

"There is no error in my ways, Mr. Agneau."

"You are unreasonable."

"No, I'm not. I only want what is fair and right."

"Was it right for you, Shuffles, to refuse obedience
to the principal, when he told you to go aft?"

"I have always obeyed all proper orders; and
under the circumstances, I think it was right for me
to refuse."

"You fill me with amazement!" exclaimed the
chaplain.{150}

"You know it was not fair to give out the offices by
last year's marks," protested Shuffles.

"On the contrary, I think it was entirely fair."

"I haven't anything more to say if it was," replied
Shuffles, in surly tones.

The chaplain, finding the prisoner was not in a
proper frame of mind for edifying conversation,
left him, and returned to the professors' cabin. The
boys had been forbidden to go near the brig, or to
speak to the prisoner; and thus far no one had exhibited
any disposition to disregard the order. Many
of them, as they passed near the brig, glanced curiously
at him. After the departure of the chaplain, Wilton
sat down on a stool near the lock-up.

"How are you. Shuffles?" said he, in a low tone.

"Come here, Wilton—will you?" replied the
prisoner.

"I can't; we are not allowed to speak to you."

"What do you care for that? No one can see you."

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk with you."

"I shall be punished if I'm caught."

"You won't be caught. How are our fellows
now?"

"First rate," replied Wilton, walking up and down
the berth deck, rising and looking as though nothing
was going on.

"You know what we were talking about just before
the row," added Shuffles, drawing his stool up to the
palings.

"You said you wouldn't trust me," answered Wilton,
still pacing the deck in front of the brig.
{151}

"You told Lowington about something he had no
business to know; but I forgive you, Wilton."

"You are very willing to forgive me, now you are
in a tight place."

"It was mean of you to do it, Wilton; you can't
deny that. Lowington was on the best of terms with
me when I was in the after cabin, and I might have
told him a hundred things about you."

"Didn't you tell him anything?"

"Not a word."

"Well, you are a good fellow, and I always thought
you were. I couldn't see why you turned traitor to
us when we intended to spend the Fourth of July on
shore."

"I was obliged to do what I did. If I hadn't, I
should have been turned out of my office."

"Perhaps you were right, Shuffles, and we won't
say anything more about the past," replied Wilton,
who was too willing to be on good terms with the
powerful malcontent, even while he was a prisoner
and in disgrace.

"Wilton, I am going to be captain of this ship
within ten days," said Shuffles, in a whisper. "Now
you may go and tell Lowington of that."

"Of course I shall not tell him," added Wilton,
indignantly.

"I told you merely to show you that I had full confidence
in you—that's all. You can betray me if
you wish to do so."

"I don't wish to do anything of the kind. Of
course we shall always go together, as we did before
you were an officer."
{152}

"I shall be an officer again soon."

"What's the use of talking about such a thing?"

"I shall."

"Do you mean to get up the mutiny?"

"I do. I feel more like it now than I ever did
before," replied Shuffles; and his low tones came
from between his closed teeth.

"It's no use to think of such a thing. It's too
wild."

"No matter if it is; it shall be carried out."

"The fellows won't go in for it; they won't dare to
do it."

"Yes, they will. I know them better than you do,
Wilton. It isn't quite time yet; but in three or four
days they will be ready for anything."

"You can't bring them up to what you mean."

"Yes, I can."

"What do you expect to do, locked up in that
place?" demanded Wilton, incredulously.

"When I get ready to go out of this place, I shall
go. I needn't stay here any longer than I please."

"Do you really mean to get up a mutiny?"

"Hush! Don't call it by that name."

"What shall I call it?"

"Call it making a chain."

"I don't understand you," answered Wilton, puzzled
by the expression.

"I know what I'm about, and I have got more
friends in the ship than Lowington has. And I know
exactly how to manage the whole thing," added Shuffles,
confidently.

"But the fellows are all perfectly satisfied with their
{153}
condition. They wish to go to Europe, and are pleased
with the prospect before them."

"Perhaps they are; and they shall all go to Europe,
and travel about without being tied to Lowington's
coat-tails. I shall come out of this place to-morrow,
and we will work the thing up."

"I'm in for a time with any good fellow; but I
don't think we can make this thing go," said Wilton.
"Hush! Don't say another word. There comes an
officer."

One bell, indicating half past eight in the evening,
struck on deck. It was the duty of the master and
midshipman on deck, alternately, to pass through the
steerage every half hour during the watch, to see that
there was no disorder, and that the lights were all
secure, so as to avoid any danger from fire. Henry
Martyn, the second master, performed this office on
the present occasion. He descended the main ladder,
and Wilton, who expected the visit when he heard
the stroke of the bell, retreated to his mess room,
and threw himself into his berth. Harry walked
around the steerage, and glanced into the gangways,
from which the rooms opened.

"Harry," said Shuffles, in a low tone, as the master
was about to return to the deck.

"Did you speak to me?" asked Harry, stepping
up to the bars of the cage.

"I did. Will you oblige me by telling the chaplain
that I would like to see him?" added the prisoner.

"I will;" and Harry knocked at the door of the
professors' cabin.

CHAPTER X.

{154}

MAKING A CHAIN.

Return to Table of
Contents

The chaplain was too glad of an opportunity to
converse with the prisoner to refuse his request,
and he hastened to the brig, hoping to find Shuffles in a
better state of mind than when he had visited him
before. Mr. Agneau entered the lock-up, and was
securing the door behind him, when the prisoner
spoke.

"You needn't lock it, sir; I will not attempt to
escape," said he. "I sent for you to apologize for my
rudeness."

"Indeed! Then I am very glad to see you," replied
the delighted chaplain. "I have been sorely grieved
at your misconduct, and I would fain have brought
you to see the error of your ways."

"I see it now, sir," replied Shuffles, with apparent
penitence. "I'm afraid I am a great deal worse
than you think I am, sir."

"It is of no consequence what I think, Shuffles, if
you are conscious of the wrong you have done,"
added the worthy chaplain. "You behaved exceedingly
well last year, and it almost broke my heart to
see you relapsing into your former evil habits."

"I am grateful to you for the interest you have
{155}
taken in me, and I assure you I have often been encouraged
to do well by your kind words," continued
the penitent, with due humility. "I have done wrong,
and I don't deserve to be forgiven."

"'He that humbleth himself shall be exalted,'" said
Mr. Agneau, gratified at the great change which had
apparently been wrought in the prisoner. "If you
are really sorry for your offence, Mr. Lowington, I
doubt not, will pardon you, and restore you to favor
again."

"I don't deserve it, sir. Since you left me, I have
been thinking of my past life. I dare not tell you
how bad I have been."

"You need not tell me. It is not necessary that
you should confess your errors to me. There is One
who knows them, and if you are sincerely repentant
He will pity and forgive you."

"I think I should feel better if I told some one of
my misdeeds."

"Perhaps you would; that is for you to judge. I
will speak to Mr. Lowington about you to-night.
What shall I say to him?"

"I hardly know. I deserve to be punished. I have
done wrong, and am willing to suffer for it."

The tender-hearted chaplain thought that Shuffles
was in a beautiful state of mind, and he desired to
have him released at once, that he might converse
with him on great themes under more favorable circumstances;
but Shuffles still detained him.

"I'm afraid I have ruined myself on board this
ship," continued Shuffles, persisting in his self-humiliation.
{156}

"If you manfully acknowledge your fault, you will
be freely and generously forgiven."

"Mr. Lowington hates me now, after what I have
done."

"O, far from it!" exclaimed the chaplain. "It
will be a greater satisfaction to him than to you to forgive
you. You are no longer of the opinion that you
were unfairly used in the distribution of the offices, I
suppose."

"Mr. Agneau, I was beside myself when I resisted
the principal. I should not have done it if I had been
in my right mind."

"You were very angry."

"I was—I was not myself."

"Anger often makes men crazy."

"You don't understand me, Mr. Agneau."

"Indeed, I do. You mean that you deluded yourself
into the belief that you had been wronged, and
that you ought not to obey the orders of your officers,
and of the principal. The force that was used made
you so angry that you did not know what you were
about," added the sympathizing chaplain.

"In one word, Mr. Agneau, I had been drinking,"
said Shuffles, with something like desperation in his
manner, as he bent his head, and covered his face
with his hands.

"Drinking!" gasped the chaplain, filled with horror
at the confession.

"I told you I was worse than you thought I was,"
moaned Shuffles.

"Is it possible!"

"It is true, sir; I say it with shame."
{157}

"Are you in the habit of taking intoxicating
drinks?" asked the chaplain, confounded beyond
measure at this complication of the difficulty.

"I am not in the habit of it, because I can't get
liquor all the time. My father has wine on his table,
and I always was allowed to drink one glass."

"Can it be!" ejaculated the chaplain. "A youth
of seventeen——"

"I'm eighteen now, sir."

"A youth of eighteen in the habit of taking wine!"
groaned Mr. Agneau.

"I drank a great deal more than my father knew
of while I was at home."

"I am amazed!"

"I knew you would be, sir; but I have told you the
truth now."

"But where did you get your liquor to-day?"

"It was wine, sir."

"Where did you get it?"

"I brought two bottles on board with me when I
reported for duty yesterday."

"This is terrible, Shuffles! Do you know what
an awful habit you are contracting, my dear young
friend?"

"I never thought much about it till to-night. It has
got me into such a scrape this time, that I don't believe
I shall ever drink any more."

"As you respect yourself, as you hope for peace in
this world, and peace in the next, never put the cup to
your lips again. 'Wine is a mocker; strong drink is
raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.'
Did you drink the two bottles?"
{158}

"No, sir; only part of one bottle," replied Shuffles,
with commendable promptness.

"Where is the rest of it?"

"Under my berth-sack."

"Are you willing I should take possession of it, and
hand it to Mr. Lowington?"

"I will agree to anything which you think is
right."

"Then I will take the wine and throw it overboard."

"Just as you think best, sir. You will find the two
bottles in my berth, No. 43, Gangway D,—the forward
one on the starboard side."

"I hope you will never touch the wine-cup again."

"I will not—till next time," added Shuffles, as the
chaplain moved towards the door of the brig.

"'Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,
when it giveth his color in the cup, at the last it biteth
like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder,'" continued
the chaplain, as he passed out of the lock-up.

Mr. Agneau went to the prisoner's berth, and found
the two bottles of wine. They were a sufficient explanation
of the remarkable conduct of Shuffles. The
youth had "drank wine, and was drunken," otherwise
he would not have been guilty of such flagrant disobedience.
Though in his own estimation the excuse
was worse than the original fault, yet it was an explanation;
and if the root of the evil could be removed,
the evil itself would cease to exist. The wine could
be thrown overboard, and as no more could be obtained
during the voyage, the good conduct of the
young tippler would be insured, at least till the ship
{159}
reached Queenstown, which was the port to which
she was bound.

With the two bottles in his hands, the chaplain
returned to the professors' cabin. Mr. Lowington was
on deck. He did not deem it prudent to leave the
ship in the hands of the students, at first, without any
supervision, and it was arranged that the principal,
Mr. Fluxion, and Mr. Peake, the boatswain, should
take turns in observing the course and management of
the vessel. Mr. Agneau carried the prize he had captured
on deck, and informed Mr. Lowington what had
just transpired in the brig.

"I knew the boy drank wine when he was at home,"
replied the principal; "and if he is ruined, his father
must blame himself."

"But it is really shocking!" exclaimed the chaplain
as he tossed one of the bottles of wine over the
rail. "How can a parent permit his son to drink
wine, when he knows that more men are killed by
intemperance than by war and pestilence? I am
amazed!"

"So am I, Mr. Agneau."

"The boy is hardly to blame for his conduct, since
he contracted this vicious habit under the eye of his
father."

"The discipline of the ship must be preserved."

"Certainly, Mr. Lowington."

"And the boy is just as much to blame for his act
of disobedience as though it had been done in his
sober senses."

"But you can afford to pardon him, under the circumstances."
{160}

"I will do that when he is willing to make a proper
acknowledgment of his offence in the presence of the
ship's company, before whom the act was committed."

"He is quite ready to do so now."

"If he will say as much as that to me, he shall be
released at once."

"He will, sir."

"It is very strange to me that I noticed nothing
peculiar in the boy's speech or manner at the time,"
added the principal. "He certainly did not seem to
be intoxicated."

"Probably he had taken just enough to inflame his
evil passions, without affecting his manner," suggested
the chaplain.

"I did not even discover the odor of wine upon
him."

"Perhaps you did not go near enough to him. If
you please, Mr. Lowington, we will go down and see
him; and you can judge for yourself whether or not
it is prudent to release him."

"I will."

"Thank you, sir. I feel a deep interest in the
young man, and I hope he may yet be saved."

When Mr. Agneau left the brig, after his second
visit, Wilton, who was very anxious to know what
Shuffles meant by "making a chain," came out of his
mess room. He had been watching the chaplain,
and wondering what the prisoner could have to say
to him.

"What's up, Shuffles?" asked Wilton, when Mr.
Agneau had left the steerage.

"I've been smoothing him down," laughed Shuffles,
{161}
with an audible chuckle. "I have concluded not to
stay in here any longer."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm coming out pretty soon, though it has cost me
a bottle and a half of old sherry to get out," laughed
Shuffles.

"I don't know what you mean."

"I told the parson that I was drunk when I disobeyed
orders, and that I was very sorry for it, and
wouldn't get drunk any more."

"Did you tell him that?"

"I did; I assured him I was the worst fellow in the
whole world, and ought to be hung, drawn, and quartered
for my wickedness; and he swallowed it as a
codfish does a clam."

"And you gave him all the wine?"

"No, I didn't; I gave him one full bottle, and what
was left in the one from which we drank this afternoon.
I have two more."

"We were going to have a good time with that
wine."

"I have enough left."

"Where is it?"

"In my locker."

"They may find it."

"No, they won't; I will put it in some other place
before inspection day. There is plenty of wine in the
medical stores. It was a good joke for the parson to
suppose I was drunk."

"Perhaps you were," suggested Wilton.

"I felt good; but I was as sober as I am now."
{162}

"The drink I took went into my head, and I felt as
though I was going up in a ballon."

"That was because you are not used to the article.
It waked me up a little, but I knew what I was
about."

"I think you were a confounded fool to do what
you did."

"Wilton, I'm not going to live in the steerage—you
may take my word for it. I've been an officer
too long to come down to that. If we don't succeed
in making a chain, I shall quit the concern the first
time I put my foot on shore in Ireland."

"What do you mean by making a chain?" asked
Wilton, eagerly.

"A chain is strong."

"Well; what of it?"

"It is composed of many links. Can't you understand
that?"

"Hush up! Some one is coming," said Wilton, as
he walked away from the brig.

"Here! who is that?" demanded Mr. Lowington,
as he saw Wilton moving away from the lock-up.

"No. 59, sir—Wilton," replied he. "I was just
going on deck to find you, sir."

"To find me?" asked the principal.

"Yes, sir. Shuffles called me when I was passing,
and wished me to tell you he wanted to see you very
much. I was just going after you, sir."

"If there is any blame, sir, it rests on me," interposed
Shuffles, through the bars of his prison.

Mr. Lowington unlocked the door of the brig, and
entered, followed by Mr. Agneau, leaving Wilton to
{163}
congratulate himself on the result of the lies he had
uttered.

"I am told you wish to see me, Shuffles," said the
principal.

"Yes, sir; I wish to say that I am extremely sorry
for what I have done."

"I thought you were crazy when you refused to
obey; and now I find you were."

"I had been drinking, sir, I confess."

"Mr. Agneau has told me your story; it is not
necessary to repeat it now. To-morrow I shall require
you to acknowledge your error at muster, and promise
obedience in the future. Are you willing to do so?"

"I am, sir."

"You are discharged from confinement then, and
will at once return to your duty," replied Mr. Lowington,
upon whom Shuffles did not venture to intrude
his extremely penitential story. "To which watch do
you belong?"

"To the port watch, first part, sir."

"It will be on deck during the first half of the mid
watch, from twelve till two," added the principal, as
he came out of the brig.

Mr. Lowington made no parade of what he had
done. He never subjected any student to unnecessary
humiliation. He indulged in no reproaches, and
preached no sermons. He went on deck, intending
to leave the culprit to the influence of the better
thoughts which he hoped and believed had been
kindled in his mind by the events of the day. Mr.
Agneau remained a moment to give a final admoni
{164}tion
to the penitent, as he regarded him, and then
went to his cabin.

"Are you going to turn in, Shuffles?" asked
Wilton.

"Not yet. Are there any of our fellows below?"

"Plenty of them."

"Our fellows" was a term applied to that portion
of the crew who were understood to be ready for any
scrape which might be suggested. Shuffles had coined
the expression himself, while at the Brockway Academy,
and introduced it on board the ship. Without
concealment or palliation, they were bad boys. By
the discipline of the ship they were kept in good
order, and compelled to perform their duties.

As in every community of men or boys, where
persons of kindred tastes find each other out, the bad
boys in the Young America had discovered those of
like tendencies, and a bond of sympathy and association
had been established among them. They knew
and were known of each other.

On the other hand, it is equally true, that there was
a bond of sympathy and association among the good
boys, as there is among good men. If a good man
wishes to establish a daily prayer meeting, he does
not apply to the intemperate, the profane swearers, and
the Sabbath breakers of his neighborhood for help;
there is a magnetism among men which leads him to
the right persons. If a bad man intends to get up a
mob, a raffle, or a carousal, he does not seek assistance
among those who go to church every Sunday, and
refrain from evil practices, either from principle or
policy. He makes no mistakes of this kind.
{165}

In every community, perhaps one fourth of the whole
number are positively good, and one fourth positively
bad, while the remaining two fourths are more or less
good or more or less bad, floating undecided between
the two poles of the moral magnet, sometimes drawn
one way, and sometimes the other.

The Young America was a world in herself, and
the moral composition of her people was similar to
that of communities on a larger scale. She had all
the elements of good and evil on board. One fourth
of the students were doubtless high-minded, moral
young men, having fixed principles, and being willing
to make great sacrifices rather than do wrong. As
good behavior, as well as proficiency in the studies,
was an element of success in the ship, a large proportion
of the positively good boys were in the after
cabin.

Another fourth of the students were reckless and
unprincipled, with no respect for authority, except so
far as it was purchased by fear of punishment or hope
of reward. Occasionally one of this class worked his
way into the cabin by superior natural ability, and a
spasmodic attempt to better his condition on board.

The rest of the ship's company belonged to the
indefinite, undecided class, floating more or less distant
from the positive elements of good or evil. They were
not bad boys, for, with proper influences, they could be,
and were, kept from evil ways. They were not good
boys on principle, for they could be led away in paths
of error.

"Our fellows" were the positively bad boys of the
floating academy; and they existed in no greater pro
{166}portion
in the ship's company than in the communities
of the great world. To this class belonged
Shuffles, Wilton, Monroe, and others. To the positively
good boys belonged Gordon, Kendall, Martyn,
and others—not all of them in the after cabin, by any
means.

Shuffles and Wilton walked forward to find some
of these kindred spirits. They seemed to know just
where to look for them, for they turned in at Gangway
D. Over each of the six passages from which the
mess rooms opened, a lantern was suspended, besides
four more in the middle of the steerage. It was light
enough, therefore, in the rooms for their occupants to
read coarse print.

In the lower berths of mess room No. 8 lay two
students, while another sat on a stool between them.
Their occupation was sufficient evidence that they
belonged to "our fellows," for they were shaking
props for money, on a stool between the bunks. As
Shuffles and Wilton approached, they picked up the
props and the stakes, and drew back into their beds.

"It's Shuffles," said Philip Sanborn. "How did
you get out?"

"Worked out," replied Shuffles, gayly.

"You don't mean to say you broke jail?"

"No; that would have been too much trouble.
There was an easier way, and I took that."

"How was it?"

"Why, I soft-sawdered the parson, and he soft-sawdered
Lowington."

"It's all right; go ahead with the game," said
Lynch, as he produced the props again.
{167}

Sanborn placed the money on the stool, consisting
of two quarters in fractional currency. Lynch shook
the props, and dropped them on the stool.

"A nick!" exclaimed he, snatching the money.
"I'll go you a half now."

"Half it is," replied Sanborn, as he placed the
requisite sum on the money the other laid down.

Lynch rattled the props, and threw them down
again.

"A browner!" cried he, intensely excited, as he
seized the money with eager hand.

"Don't talk so loud, you fool!" added Sanborn.
"The fellows are asleep above us, and you will wake
them up. I'll go you a half again."

"Half it is!" replied Lynch, in a whisper, as he
shook again.

"An out!" said Sanborn, picking up the money.

"Three bells! Dry up!" interposed Wilton. "One
of the officers of the deck will be down in a minute."

The young gamblers put away the implements, and
drew back into their berths until the inspecting officer
had looked into the room. When the master had gone
on deck again, the play was resumed, and Shuffles
and Wilton watched it with deep interest.

Gambling was a new thing on board the Young
America. It had not been practised at all in the preceding
year, having been introduced by Shuffles and
Monroe, who had visited a prop saloon in the city
where they resided, during their late furlough. Each
of them had brought a set of props on board, with
which they intended to amuse themselves during the
voyage. As yet, the practice was confined to a few
{168}
of "our fellows;" but the crew in the steerage were
certainly in very great danger of being carried away
by the passion for gaming, for it was spreading
rapidly.

The prop-shaking was carried on in the mess rooms,
while the students were off duty. Shuffles had played
with half a dozen boys the night before; Sanborn
and Lynch had been engaged in the game since the
first watch was set, and another party had been employed
in the same manner in another room. All of
the boys were supplied with money in considerable
sums, generally in sovereigns and half sovereigns, for
use when they reached Europe. It was changing
hands now, though no one had as yet been particularly
lucky.

"Have a game, Shuffles?" said Lynch, when Sanborn
declared that he had no money left but gold.

"No," replied Shuffles, "I shall not play any more."

"Why not?"

"I haven't time; and I don't want to become too
fond of it."

"Haven't time!" exclaimed Lynch.

"No; I've got a big job on my hands."

"What's that?"

"Making a chain."

"Making a what?"

"Making a chain."

"A watch chain?"

"I think it will be a watch chain; but I'll tell you
about it when we are alone. Do you understand?"

"No, I don't."

"Keep still then."
{169}

Shuffles turned in, and the others followed his
example. He did not sleep, if they did, for his soul
was full of rage and malice. He was studying up the
means of revenge; and he had matured a project, so
foolhardy that it was ridiculous, and his mind was
fully occupied with it.

At twelve o'clock he was called to take his place
with the first part of the port watch on deck. Belonging
to each quarter watch, there were five petty
officers, four of whom were to call the portion of the
crew who were to relieve those on duty. Shuffles
was called by one of these.

The wind was freshening when he went on deck,
and the ship was going rapidly through the water.
At the last heaving of the log she was making eleven
knots, with her studding sails still set. Mr. Fluxion
came on deck at eight bells.

Wilton, Sanborn, and Adler were in the watch with
Shuffles, and the malcontent lost not a moment in
pushing forward the scheme he had matured. Fortunately
or unfortunately, he was placed on the lookout
with Wilton, and the solitude of the top-gallant
forecastle afforded them a good opportunity for the
conference.

CHAPTER XI.

{170}

THE GAMBLERS IN NO. 8.

Return to Table of
Contents

"It's coming on to blow," said Wilton, as the lookouts
took their stations on the top-gallant forecastle.

"I don't think it will blow much; it is only freshening
a little," replied Shuffles.

"Now, what about the mutiny?" demanded Wilton,
impatiently, after he had become more accustomed to
the dash of the sea under the bows of the ship.

"Don't call it by that name," replied Shuffles, earnestly.
"Never use that word again."

"That's what you mean—isn't it? You might as
well call things by their right names."

"It's an ugly word, and if any one should happen
to hear it, their attention would be attracted at once.
We musn't get in the habit of using it."

"I don't know what you are going to do yet,"
added Wilton.

"It's a big job; but I mean to put it through, even
if I am sure of failure."

"What's the use of doing that? Do you want to
get the fellows into a scrape for nothing?"

"There will be no failure, Wilton; you may depend
upon that. There will be a row on board within a
{171}
day or two, and, if I mistake not, nearly all the fellows
will be so mad that they will want to join us."

"What row?"

"Do you know the reason why I wouldn't shake
props this evening?"

"I'm sure I don't."

"Lowington has found out what is going on in the
rooms."

"He hasn't, though!"

"Yes, he has."

"How do you know?"

"What odds does it make how I know?" answered
Shuffles, impatiently, for Wilton was much too inquisitive
to suit his purposes. "I talked with the chaplain
half an hour to-night. When he went to my
berth after the wine, I rather think he heard the rattle
of the props. At any rate the whole thing will be
broken up to-morrow or next day."

"I don't see how that will make a row. Not more
than a dozen fellows have played any; and they won't
think of making a row about that."

"You see!" added Shuffles, confidently.

"Ugh!" exclaimed Wilton, as a cloud of spray
dashed over the bow, and drenched the lookout; but
they wore their pea-jackets, and such an occurrence
was to be expected at sea.

"Stand by to take in studding sails!" shouted Paul
Kendall, who was the officer of the deck; and the
order was repeated by his subordinates in the waist
and on the forecastle.

"We must go," said Wilton; and they descended
from their position.
{172}

The wind had continued to freshen, until the ship
labored somewhat under her heavy press of canvas.
It was the policy of the principal to go as easily and
comfortably as possible, and he had directed Mr.
Fluxion, if the wind continued to increase, to have
the sail reduced, though neither the safety of the ship
nor of the spars absolutely required such a step. The
quarter watch on deck was sufficient to perform this
labor.

"Lay aloft, foretopmen!" said the second lieutenant;
and those of the watch who had their stations
in the fore rigging sprang up the shrouds. "Stand
by the halyard of the top-gallant studding sails! Man
the tacks and sheets!"

"All ready, sir," reported the second midshipman,
who was in the foretop, superintending the operation.

"Lower on the halyards! Ease off the tacks, and
haul on the sheet!"

The two top-gallant studding-sails were thus brought
into the top, where they were made up. The fore-topmast
and the lower studding sails were taken in by
a similar routine, and the Young America then moved
along less furiously through the water.

"Now about the chain," said Wilton, when
the lookouts had returned to their stations.

"Let me see; where did I leave off?" replied
Shuffles.

"You said there was to be a row; which I don't
believe."

"I may be mistaken about that; if I am, the job
will be all the more difficult. Lowington has got us
out to sea now, and, in my opinion, he means to shake
{173}
us up. He is a tyrant at heart, and he will carry it
with a high hand. I hate the man!" added Shuffles,
with savage earnestness.

"You may, but the fellows don't generally."

"They will as soon as he begins to put the twisters
on them. You won't hear him say, 'If you please,
young gentlemen,' now that we are in blue water.
You know how savage he was with me."

"Well, but you were disobedient. You told him,
up and down, you wouldn't do what he ordered you
to do."

"No matter for that. You had a chance to see the
spirit of the man. He was a perfect demon. He put
me in irons!" exclaimed Shuffles, still groaning under
this indignity. "I have been insulted and outraged,
and I will teach him that Bob Shuffles is not to be
treated in that manner! I will be revenged upon
him, if it costs me my life."

"The fellows won't go into any such desperate
game as that," replied Wilton, cautiously.

"But there will be fun in the thing," added the malcontent,
softening his tone. "We shall have the ship
all to ourselves. We needn't trouble ourselves anything
about Latin and Greek, and trigonometry and
algebra. We shall go in for a good time generally."

"It is all moonshine; it can't be done. What's
the use of talking about such a thing?" said Wilton.

"It can be done, and it shall be," replied Shuffles,
stamping his foot on the deck."

"How?"

"I am not quite ready to tell you yet."

"Very well; I don't want to know anything more
{174}
about it," answered the timid conspirator, who was
almost disgusted at the foolhardiness of the plan.

"I can get along without you," added Shuffles, with
assumed indifference.

"I would rather have you do so."

"All right; but you will want to come in when we
have got along a little farther."

"Perhaps I shall; if I do, I suppose the door will
be open to me."

"It may be open; but perhaps you can't walk into
the cabin then."

"Why not?"

"Do you suppose the fellows who do the burden of
the work are going to be shut out of the cabin? If
you join at the eleventh hour, you will have to be
what you are now—a foremast hand."

"What can I be if I join now?"

"Second or third officer."

"Who will be first."

"I can't mention his name yet. He belongs in the
cabin now."

"You don't mean so!" said Wilton, astonished to
learn that his bold companion expected to find friends
among the present officers of the ship.

"I know what I'm about," replied Shuffles, confidently.

With this information Wilton thought more favorably
of the mad enterprise. If it was to be a winning
game, he wished to have a part in it; if a losing one,
he desired to avoid it. There was something in the
decided manner of the chief conspirator which made
an impression upon this doubting mind.
{175}

"I don't want to go in till I know more about it,"
said he, after walking two or three times across the
top-gallant forecastle.

"You can't know anything more about it until you
have been toggled," replied Shuffles.

"Toggled?" repeated the sceptic, curiously.

"This thing is to be well managed, Wilton. We
shall not use any hard words, that outsiders can
understand; and if any of them happen to hear
anything that don't concern them, they will not know
what it means. Will you join, or not?"

"I will," replied Wilton, desperately.

The strange words which Shuffles used, and the
confidence he manifested in the success of his project,
carried the hesitating lookout man. He was fascinated
by the "clap-trap" which the leader of "our
fellows" had adopted to help along his scheme, for it
promised to afford no little excitement during the
voyage.

"Now you talk like a man, Wilton," replied Shuffles.
"You shall be a member of the league at
once."

"What's the league?"

"The Chain League."

"Upon my word, Shuffles, you have been reading
yellow-covered novels to some purpose."

"I didn't get this idea from a novel. I invented it
myself."

"The Chain League!" repeated Wilton, who was
pleased with the title of the conspirators.

"It will be called simply 'The Chain.' I am the
{176}
first member, and you are the second; or you will be
when you have been toggled."

"Toggled again!" laughed Wilton. "What do
you mean?"

"Initiated."

"Go ahead, then."

"Repeat after me."

"Go on," replied Wilton, deeply interested in the
proceeding, even while he was amused at its formality.

"I am a link of the chain."

"I am a link of the chain," repeated Wilton.

"I will obey my superior officers."

"I will obey my superior officers."

"And I will reveal none of its secrets."

"And I will reveal none of its secrets."

"This I promise——"

"This I promise——"

"On penalty of falling overboard accidentally."

"On penalty of what?" demanded Wilton, both
puzzled and terrified by the mysterious words.

"Repeat the words after me. On penalty," said
Shuffles, sternly.

"I know what the words are, but I'll be hanged if I
will repeat them. 'Falling overboard accidentally!'
What does that mean?"

"It means that, if you betray the secrets of The
Chain, you might fall overboard accidentally, some
day."

"That is, you would push me over when no one
was looking," added Wilton, involuntarily retreating
from the conspirator, whom, for the moment, he regarded
as a very dangerous companion.
{177}

"That's what the words mean," replied Shuffles,
coolly.

"Have I been toggled?" demanded Wilton.

"No; you didn't repeat all the words."

"Then you needn't toggle me any more. I've got
enough of this thing."

"All right; just as you say. But I can tell you
this, my dear fellow? if you should whisper the first
word of what has passed between us to-night, you
might fall overboard," continued Shuffles, sharply, as
he laid his hand on his companion's shoulder.

Wilton grasped the sheet of the fore-topmast staysail
which was the nearest rope to him, and held on
as though he was then in imminent danger of "falling
overboard accidentally."

"I won't say a word," protested he, vehemently;
for he did not know but that Shuffles was wicked
enough to push him into the sea.

"Wilton, you are a fool!" added the disappointed
conspirator, with deep disgust. "Why didn't you say
what I told you?"

"I don't want to be bound in any such way as that,"
replied the terrified student.

"Don't you see it is only a form?"

"No, I don't; or if it is, I don't want anything to
do with such forms. You won't get any fellows to be
toggled in that way."

"Yes, I shall? I shall get plenty of them. They
are not babies, like you."

"I'm not a baby."

"Yes, you are—a great calf! What are you
afraid of?"
{178}

"I'm not afraid; I didn't think you meant to have
any murder in your Chain."

"I don't; no fellow will think of such a thing as
betraying one of the secrets."

"Then what's the use of having such a penalty?"

"It will prevent any fellow from opening his mouth
when he ought to keep it shut."

"I don't want anything to do with a concern that
means murder. I'm not any better than I should be,
but I'm too good for that."

"Suit yourself; but remember, if you should happen
to say a word, you will fall overboard accidentally,
some night when you are on the lookout, or out on the
yard-arm."

"Two bells," said Wilton, greatly relieved to hear
them, for he did not like to stand any longer on the
top-gallant forecastle, where there was no railing, with
such a dangerous fellow as Shuffles proved to be.

Two other members of the watch were sent forward
to take their places. Wilton and Shuffles went down
and mingled with their shipmates, who were talking
about what they should do and what they should see in
Ireland, where the ship would first make a harbor.
Wilton breathed easier, and the topic was a more
agreeable one than the dark and terrible matter which
had been under discussion on the top-gallant forecastle.

Shuffles was disappointed by the scruples of his
generally unscrupulous companion. He regarded the
machinery of the plot, the clap-trap of the secret
league, as decidedly attractive; and he depended
largely upon it to influence his companions. Though
he claimed that his plan was original, it was suggested
{179}
by a secret political organization in Europe, of which
he had read in a pamphlet; and the idea had doubtless
been modified by his more extensive readings in
the department of fiction, in which midnight juntos
laid out robbery, treason, and murder; Venetian tales
in which bravos, assassins, and decayed princes in disguise
largely figured; in which mysterious passwords
opened mysterious dungeons beneath ruined castles;
in which bravo met bravo, and knew him by some
mysterious sign, or cabalistic word.

Shuffles had a taste for these things, and out of his
lively imagination he had coined a similar association
to be recruited from the crew of the Young America,
which was to redress fancied wrongs, and even take
the ship out of the hands of the principal. He could
think of nothing but this brilliant enterprise; and
while his shipmates were talking of the future, and indulging
in the old salts' vocation of "spinning yarns,"
he was busy maturing the details of "The Chain
League." He did not, for reasons best known to himself
attempt to make any more proselytes that night.

The ship continued to go along easily on her course
till morning. It was a clear night, and though the
wind was fresh, the sea was not rough, and the Young
America behaved very handsomely. The programme
for the watches was carried out to the letter, but on the
first night out, the boys were too much excited by the
novelty of the situation to be able to sleep much.

At eight bells in the morning, after the port watch
had breakfasted, all the students off duty attended
prayers. Then the starboard watch had their morning
meal, after which all hands were piped to muster.
{180}

Mr. Lowington mounted the hatch, and it was understood
that the case of discipline which had come up
the day before was to be settled now.

"Shuffles!" called the principal.

The culprit came forward.

"Are you still of the same mind as when I saw you
last evening?" continued Mr. Lowington.

"I am, sir," replied Shuffles, with a becoming exhibition
of meekness.

"You will step upon the hatch, then."

Shuffles took position by the side of the principal.

"You will repeat after me," added Mr. Lowington.

The culprit was startled at these words, and began
to suspect that Wilton had betrayed him in spite of
his fear of falling overboard accidentally. It looked
just then as though the principal intended to "toggle"
him.

"I acknowledge that I have done wrong," Mr.
Lowington continued.

Shuffles repeated the words, happy to find that
he was not to take the obligation of "The Chain
League."

"And I will hereafter endeavor to do my duty faithfully."

The promise was repeated with the lips, but of
course it had no meaning, and did not reach the
heart.

"That is all, Shuffles," added the principal.—"Young
gentlemen, you are dismissed from muster."

This was certainly a very mild atonement for the
grave offence which Shuffles had committed, and the
lenity of the principal was generally commented upon
{181}
by the boys. The starboard watch was piped below
to study and recite, while the port watch were to be
off and on during the forenoon. The first part now
had the deck, while the second was off duty, and the
boys belonging to it were permitted to remain on deck
or to spend their time in the mess rooms. They were
not allowed to linger in the steerage where the recitations
were going on, but might pass directly through
on their way to their apartments.

At ten o'clock the first part of the port watch was
relieved, and the second part went on duty. Shuffles
and Wilton were at liberty now, but there appeared to
be a coldness between them, and Wilton sought another
companion for his leisure hours. Sanborn and
Adler belonged to his part of the watch, and he soon
joined them.

"There isn't much difference between being off
duty and being on," said Adler, as they seated themselves
on the main hatch.

"There will be a difference when we have to make
and take in sail every half hour. We had a big job
taking in the studding sails last night."

"They don't drive the ship," added Sanborn. "I
suppose if we were a merchantman, they would crack
on all the sail she would carry."

"She goes along beautifully," said Wilton.

"She was only making five knots the last time the
log was heaved."

"And the sea is as smooth as a mill-pond. We
shall not get to Queenstown for two months at this
rate."{182}

"Stand by to set studding sails!" shouted Pelham,
the officer of the deck.

"I wondered why they didn't do that before," said
Sanborn.

The fore and main studding sails were set, two at a
time, by the part of the watch on duty, the wind still
being well aft.

"What shall we do?" asked Wilton, with a long
yawn, after they had watched the operation of setting
the studding sails for a time. "This is stupid business,
and I'm getting sleepy."

"Let us go below," suggested Sanborn.

"What for? The professors won't let you speak
out loud while the recitations are going on," added
Adler.

"We don't want to speak out loud. What do you
say to shaking a little?" continued Wilton.

"I'm with you," replied Wilton. "Can either of
you change me a half sovereign?"

Neither of them could, but they were willing to take
Wilton's due bills, till his indebtedness amounted to
ten shillings. The boys had already begun to talk the
language of sterling currency, and many of them were
supplied with English silver coins as well as gold.
The three boys went down at the fore hatch, and
removing their caps as they entered the steerage,
walked silently to Gangway D, from which they went
into mess room No. 8, which had thus far been the
headquarters of the gamblers. Seating themselves on
the stools, they used one of the beds as a table, and
in a few moments were deeply absorbed in the exciting
{183}
game. They spoke in whispers, and were careful not
to rattle the props too loudly.

After they had played a few moments, Shuffles came
in. They invited him to join them in the play, but he
declined, and soon left the mess room, returning to the
deck. In the waist he met Paul Kendall, who was the
officer of his watch, and, like him, was off duty. They
had generally been on good terms while in the after
cabin together, for then Shuffles was on his best
behavior.

"How do things go on in the after cabin now,
Kendall—I beg your pardon—Mr. Kendall?" said
Shuffles, in his most gentlemanly tones.

"About as usual, Mr. Shuffles," replied Paul.

"I am not a 'mister' now," laughed Shuffles.

"Well, it's all the same to me. I am sorry you are
not with us now."

"So am I," added Shuffles. "I did not expect to
be on board this year, or I should have been there
now."

"You can be, next term, if you like."

"This thing yesterday has ruined all my prospects."

"That was rather bad. I never was so sorry for
anything in my life before," answered Paul, warmly.
"You and I were always good friends after we got
well acquainted, though I did vote for another at the
election a year ago."

"You did what you thought was right, and I don't
blame you for that. I always did my duty when I
was an officer."

"That you did, Shuffles; and we always agreed
first rate. Isn't it a little strange that I have not lived
{184}
in the steerage since the ship's company were organized?"

"That's because you were always a good boy, and
a smart scholar. I think you would not like it."

"If it wasn't for losing my rank, I should like to
try it," replied Paul. "I should like to get better
acquainted with the fellows."

"You wouldn't like them in the steerage. You
would see a great many things there which you never
see in the cabin; a great many things which Mr.
Lowington and the professors know nothing about."

"Why, what do you mean, Shuffles?" demanded
Paul, astonished at this revelation.

"I ought not to say anything about it; but I believe
these things will break up the Academy Ship one of
these days, for the boys are growing worse instead of
better in her, and their folks will find it out sooner or
later."

"You surprise me!" exclaimed Paul, sadly, for he
held the honor of the ship and her crew as the apple
of his eye. "If there is anything wrong there, you
ought to make it known."

"I suppose I ought; but you know I'm not a tell-tale."

"You have told me, and I'm an officer."

"Well, I blundered into saying what I have. What
you said about going into the steerage made me let it
out. I am sorry I said anything."

"You have raised my curiosity."

"I will tell you; or rather I will put you in the
way of seeing for yourself, if you will not mention
{185}
my name in connection with the matter, even to Mr.
Lowington, and certainly not to any one else."

"I will not, Shuffles."

"The fellows are gambling in the steerage at this
very moment," added Shuffles, in a low tone. "Don't
betray me."

"I will not. Gambling!" exclaimed Paul, with
natural horror.

"You will find them in No. 8," continued Shuffles,
walking away, and leaving the astonished officer to
wonder how boys could gamble.

CHAPTER XII.

{186}

THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL.

Return to Table of
Contents

Paul Kendall, who had not occupied a berth
in the steerage since the first organization of the
ship, was greatly surprised and grieved to learn that
some of the crew were addicted to vicious practices.
Gambling was an enormous offence, and he was not
quite willing to believe that such a terrible evil had
obtained a foothold in the ship. He could hardly conceive
of such a thing as boys engaging in games of
chance; only the vilest of men, in his estimation,
would do so. Shuffles had told him so, apparently
without malice or design, and there was no reason to
doubt the truth of his statement, especially as he had
given the particulars by which it could be verified.

The second lieutenant went down into the steerage.
Classes were reciting to the professors, and studying
their lessons at the mess tables. There was certainly
no appearance of evil, for the place was still, and no
sound of angry altercation or ribald jest, which his
fancy connected with the vice of gambling, saluted his
ears. He cautiously entered Gangway D, and paused
where he could hear what was said in mess room
No. 8.

"I'm five shillings into your half sovereign," said
{187}
one of the gamblers; and then Paul distinctly heard
the rattling of the props.

"There's the half sovereign," added another, whose
voice the officer recognized as that of Wilton. "You
own five shillings in it, and I own five shillings."

"That's so," replied Sanborn, who appeared to be
the lucky one.

"Let us shake for the coin," added Wilton. "It's
my throw."

"That's rather steep."

"We get along faster—that's all. If I throw a
nick, or a browner, it's mine; if an out, it's yours."

"I am agreed—throw away," replied Sanborn,
without perceiving that the one who held the props
had two chances to his one.

The props rattled, and dropped on the bed.

"A browner!" exclaimed Wilton, thereby winning
all he had lost at one throw.

"Hush! don't talk so loud," interposed Adler.
"You'll have the profs down upon us."

"I'll go you another five shillings on one throw,"
said Sanborn, chagrined at his loss.

"Put down your money."

The reckless young gambler put two half crowns,
or five shillings, upon the bed, and Wilton shook
again.

"A nick!" said he, seizing the two half crowns.

"Try it again," demanded Sanborn.

Paul Kendall was filled with horror as he listened
to this conversation. When he had heard enough to
satisfy him that the speakers were actually gambling,
he hastened to inform Mr. Lowington of the fact.
{188}
Paul was an officer of the ship, and this was so plainly
his duty that he could not avoid it, disagreeable as
it was to give testimony against his shipmates. It
seemed to him that the ship could not float much
longer if such iniquity were carried on within her
walls of wood; she must be purged of such enormities,
or some fearful retribution would overtake her.
There was no malice or revenge in the bosom of the
second lieutenant; he was acting solely and unselfishly
for the good of the institution and the students.

He went on deck again. Shuffles was still there,
and they met in the waist.

"You told me the truth," said Paul.

"You did not think I was joking about so serious
a matter—did you?" replied Shuffles.

"No; but I hoped you might be mistaken."

"How could I be mistaken, when I have seen, at
one time and another, a dozen fellows engaged in
gambling? Of course such things as these will ruin
the boys, and bring the ship into disrepute."

"You are right. My father, for one, wouldn't let
me stay on board a single day, if he knew any of the
boys were gamblers."