"I'm in for it, already; and when I can see my way clearly, I shall be as strong as you are."

"Then don't croak any more. We must go to work while the fever is on the fellows, and make up——"

"In the maintop, ahoy!" shouted the master, from the waist.

"On deck!" replied Shuffles.

"Lay down from aloft!"

"Yes, sir."

The conspirators descended, after Shuffles had admonished his shaky companion to be discreet.

"What are you doing in the top so long?" demanded Foster, the first master, as the truants reached the sheer-pole.

"Watching the sea, sir," replied Shuffles. "It looks fine from the top."

"When you have done what you are sent aloft for, it is your duty to come down and report it," added the officer.

Shuffles made no reply, as he probably would have done if he had not had a heavy operation on his hands, which prevented him from indulging in any side quarrels.

Except the wheelmen and the lookout, the watch on deck was divided into little groups, who were quartered in the most comfortable places they could find, telling stones, or discussing the exciting topic of the day.

"Shuffles, some of our fellows want to see you and Wilton," said Adler, as the first master went below, to inspect the steerage, at two bells.

"What's up?" demanded the conspirator.

"Don't say anything," added the messenger, as he led the way to the steerage skylight, under the lee of which Sanborn and Grimme had stowed themselves away, out of the reach of the stream that was flowing along the water-ways, and of the spray which was dashing over the weather bows.

The party from aloft, with the messenger, increased the group to five, which was the total number of "our fellows" that could be mustered in the first part of the port watch.

"What's up?" demanded Shuffles, when he had seated himself by the skylight.

"We intend to pipe to mischief, to-night, Shuffles and we want some help from you," said Sanborn, in reply.

"We have been robbed of our money, and we are going to have satisfaction, somehow or other," added Grimme, in explanation. "We are not going to stand this sort of thing. We must teach Lowington and the professors that they can't put our noses to the grindstone."

"Exactly so!" exclaimed Shuffles. "And you intend to put them there yourselves. In other words, you mean to get into some scrape, and be punished for it, as I was."

"No, we don't. We are going to work man-of-war style. Old Peaks told us how to do it, when we were on watch last night," replied Grimme.

"Peaks?"

"Yes, he spun us a yarn about man-of-war life, and told us how the men serve out the officers when they don't behave themselves."

"Peaks told you this—did he?" demanded Shuffles.

"Of course he didn't mean to have us do anything of the kind."

"Well, how did he tell you to serve out the officers?"

"Make them uncomfortable; keep them in a hornet's nest all the time."

"How? How?" asked Shuffles, impatiently.

"Why, if the unpopular officer went forward, a belaying pin was sure to drop on his head or his feet; a tar can or a paint pot would be upset on his back; or, if he went below, a cannon ball was liable to roll out of a shot case upon him. Of course no one ever knew the author of this mischief."

"Do you propose to play off any of these tricks on Lowington?" demanded Shuffles.

"We have got a rod in pickle for him," replied Grimme, chuckling.

"What is it?"

"We intend to give him a dose of kerosene oil, to begin with," laughed Sanborn.

"One of the stewards left his oil can on the fore scuttle ladder, after the hatch was put on to keep the spray out, and I took possession of it," added Grimme, hardly able to keep his mirth within the limits of prudence.

"What are you going to do with it?" asked Shuffles.

"We are going to give Lowington the contents of the can, and then throw it overboard."

"Indeed! Who is the fellow that has boldness enough to do this thing?"

"I have; and I have volunteered to do the job," answered Grimme, with a degree of assurance which astonished even Shuffles.

"You dare not do it!"

"I dare, and I will, if the fellows will stand by me. Lowington is sitting at the table in the professors' cabin, right under the skylight, reading. One section of the skylight is open, and you can see him, as plain as day. It's as dark as a pocket on deck, and the officers can't see you twenty feet off. All I have to do is to pop the oil through the opening, and get out of the way."

"What then?"

"Why, he will come on deck, and try to find out who did it; but he can't."

"Perhaps he can."

"No, he can't; only half a dozen of the fellows will know anything about it, and of course they won't let on."

"Suppose he don't find out. What good will this trick do?"

"The second part of the port watch must follow up the game. Lowington will come on deck at eight bells, and Monroe, in the starboard watch, will give him another dose."

"What will that be?"

"Slush the first step of the ladder at the after companion-way, and let him tumble down stairs," chuckled Grimme.

"Then Lynch will give him some more," said Adler.

"Well, you may break his neck when he tumbles down the ladder. I'll have nothing to do with any of those tricks," added Shuffles, decidedly. "If you want to pipe to mischief, I'm with you, but in no such way as that. Those are little, mean, dirty tricks."

"But they will keep him in hot water all the time, and he will get sick of being a tyrant over the fellows in less than a week. There are twenty things we might do to annoy him, which would help to bring him to his senses. For instance, when the steward carries the coffee into the professors' cabin, one fellow might engage his attention, while another drops a lump of salt, a handful of pepper, or a piece of tobacco into the urn."

"I don't want to hear any more of such low-lived tricks," interposed the magnificent conspirator. "If you want to pipe to mischief, let us do it like men."

"What would you do? Fifty of the fellows, at least, will go into anything to punish Lowington for his tyranny."

"Join the Chain, then," said Shuffles, in a whisper, and with a suitable parade of mystery.

"The what?"

"The Chain."

The object of the League was duly explained; and before the second part of the port watch came on deck, three new members had been "toggled." Greatly to the satisfaction of Shuffles, and to the astonishment of Wilton, they did not hesitate at the penalty of the obligation, and seemed to be entirely willing to "fall overboard accidentally" if they failed to make strong and faithful "links in the Chain."



CHAPTER XIV.

ALL HANDS, REEF TOPSAILS!

Augustus Pelham, the fourth lieutenant of the Young America, was almost the only malcontent among the officers; the only one who persistently declined to be reconciled to the new regulation. Others objected to it; others criticised it, and even regarded the act as tyrannical; but the good offices of Paul Kendall, who argued the question with them, as he did with Shuffles, had in a measure conciliated them, and they were at least disposed to submit gracefully to the order. But Pelham was not of this number He was above the average age, and, like the chief conspirator on board, expecting to leave the ship at the end of the first year, had not exerted himself to the extent of his ability. He had been first lieutenant and had now fallen to fourth. He was older than the captain, and it galled him to be subject to one younger than himself.

He was dissatisfied with his rank, and this had a tendency to make him a grumbler. It needed only an appearance of tyranny or injustice to array him in spirit against the authorities of the ship. Shuffles knew his state of mind, and was prepared to take advantage of it, hoping through him to gain other discontented spirits in the cabin.

When the first part of the port watch was relieved, the "Chain" consisted of five links, and the conspirators were well satisfied with the present success of the enterprise. Each of the new members of the League was commissioned to obtain a recruit, whose name was given to him, and he was required to report upon the case, to Shuffles, before eight bells in the afternoon watch. As a measure of precaution, it was required that no meetings should be held; that not more than three members should assemble for business at any one time. The utmost care and circumspection were urged, and it was agreed that not a word should be said in the steerage, where it was possible for any of the professors to overhear it.

The second part of the port watch, with Pelham as officer of the deck, went on duty at ten o'clock. The wind had been freshening for the last two hours, and it was now necessary to reduce sail. The royals were first taken in, and then the top-gallant sails.

"We can't lay this course, sir," said Burchmore, the quartermaster, who was conning the helm. "The wind is hauling to the eastward."

"Make the course east by north then," replied Pelham, without taking the trouble to consult the captain or Mr. Fluxion, both of whom were on deck.

"The wind is north-north-east, sir," reported the quartermaster, a short time afterwards.

"Keep her east then."

At six bells the wind was north-east, and coming heavier and heavier every moment. The ship was headed east-south-east, and it was evident that she still had on more sail than she could easily carry.

"What's the course, Mr. Pelham?" asked Captain Gordon.

"East-south-east, sir," replied Pelham.

"The course given out was east-north-east."

"I have changed it three times within the last hour," answered the fourth lieutenant, in rather surly tones.

"By whose order?" demanded the captain.

"By no one's order, sir."

"You know the regulation for the officer of the deck. He is not permitted to alter the course of the ship, unless to avoid some sudden danger, without informing the captain."

"I had to alter the course, or have the topsails thrown aback," replied Pelham.

"Very likely it was proper to alter the course; but it was also proper to inform me, especially when I was on deck."

"Very well, Captain Gordon. I will not alter the course again without your order," added the fourth lieutenant, stiffly.

"The regulation is not mine, Mr. Pelham," continued the captain, sternly.

As the wind increased, sail was reduced to topsails and courses, jib and spanker; but at seven bells even these were found to be too much for her.

"Captain Gordon, it is coming heavier," said Mr. Fluxion. "I think it will be necessary to reef."

"I was thinking of that, sir. The wind is north-east, and blowing a gale."

"You had better call all hands, and do it at once."

"Mr. Pelham, you will call all hands to reef topsails!"

"All hands, sir?"

"Certainly, Mr. Pelham; that was my order," replied the captain, more sharply than usual, for there was something in the manner of the officer of the deck which he did not like, and he found it necessary to maintain the dignity of his position.

Pelham touched his cap; he felt the weight of authority upon him heavier than ever before. Until recently he had always performed his duty cheerfully, and was considered a first-rate officer. Since the new regulation had been put in force, and he had been compelled to deliver up ten sovereigns in his possession he had been rather disagreeable. In the cabin he had used some language reflecting upon the principal, and he was now regarded as a malcontent by the captain, and by those who still sustained the discipline of the ship.

"Morrison," called he, as he went forward to the waist.

"Here, sir," replied the boatswain, who belonged in this quarter watch; and there was a boatswain's mate in each of the others.

"Call all hands to reef topsails."

The shrill pipe of the boatswain's whistle soon rang above the howling winds, which now sounded gloomily through the rigging. The call was repeated in the steerage, and at the door of the after cabin, where it could be heard by the officers, for no one on board is exempted when all hands are called. This was the first taste of the hardships of a seaman's life to which the students had been invited. It is not pleasant, to say the least, to be turned out of a warm bed in a gale, when the wind comes cold and furious, laden with the spray of the ocean, and be sent aloft in the rigging of the ship, when she is rolling and pitching, jumping and jerking, in the mad waves. But there is no excuse at such a time, and nothing but positive physical disability can exempt officer or seaman from duty.

It was the first time the boys had seen a gale at sea, and though it was not yet what would be called a strong gale, it was sufficiently terrific to produce a deep impression upon them. The ship was still close-hauled, under topsails and courses, with jib and spanker. The wind came in heavy blasts, and when they struck the sails, the Young America heeled over, until her lee yard-arm seemed to be dipping the waves. Huge billows came roaring down from the windward, crowned with white foam, and presenting an awful aspect in the night, striking the ship, lifting her bow high in the air, and breaking over the rail, pouring tons of water on the deck.

Before the whole crew had been called, every opening in the deck had been secured, and the plank guards placed over the glass in the skylights. Life lines had been stretched along the decks, and the swinging ports, through which the water that came over the rail escaped, were crossed with whale line by Peaks, to prevent any unlucky boy from being washed through, if he happened to be thrown off his feet by a rush of water to the scuppers.

The scene was wild and startling; it was even terrible to those who had never seen anything of the kind before, though the old sailors regarded it quite as a matter of course. Peaks had never been known to be so jolly and excited since he came on board. He was full of jokes and witty sayings; he seemed to be in his element now, and all his powers of body and mind were in the keenest state of excitement.

The students were disposed to look upon it as a rough time, and doubtless some of them thought the ship was in great peril. Not a few of them pretended to enjoy the scene, and talked amazingly salt, as though they had been used to this kind of thing all their lives. Mr. Lowington came on deck, when all hands were called; and though, to his experienced eye, there was no danger while the ship was well managed, he was exceedingly anxious, for it was a time when accidents were prone to happen, and the loss of a boy at such an hour, would endanger the success of his great experiment. On deck, the students could not get overboard without the grossest carelessness; but it was perilous to send them aloft in the gloom of the howling tempest. He had hoped that he might be permitted to meet the onslaught of the first gale the ship encountered in the daytime; but as the "clerk of the weather" otherwise ordained it, he was compelled to make the best of the circumstances.

Before the manoeuvre of reefing, in the gale, was begun, Mr. Fluxion was sent forward. Bitts was placed in the fore rigging, Peaks in the main, and Leach in the mizzen, to see that the young tars did not needlessly expose themselves, and that they used all proper precautions to avoid an accident. All the officers were at their stations.

"Man the topsail clewlines, and buntlines, and the weather topsail braces," shouted Haven, the first lieutenant who always handled the ship when all hands were called. "Stand by the lee braces, bowlines, and halyards."

The clewlines are ropes fastened to the corners of the topsail, passing through blocks on the topsail yard, and leading down to the deck through the lubber's hole. They are used in hauling the corners of the sail up when they are to be reefed or furled.

The buntlines are two ropes attached to cringles, or eyes, in the bottom of the sail, which are used for hauling up the middle, or bunt, of the topsail.

The braces are the ropes secured to the ends of the yards, leading down to the deck, directly, or to a mast first, and thence below, by which the yards and the sails attached to them are hauled round so as to take the wind. They are distinguished by the terms "weather" and "lee," the former being those on the side from which the wind comes, the latter on the opposite side. They also have their specific names, as the "weather fore-top-gallant brace," the "lee main brace."

The bowlines are ropes attached to the leeches of square sails to draw the edge forward, so that they may take the wind better. They are fastened to the bridles, which are loops like those of a kite, two or three of them extending from the side of the sail.

The halyards are the ropes by which any sail is hoisted. For square sails they are secured to the yards, which, with the exception of the lower one on each mast slide up and down.

"Clear away the bowlines," said the first lieutenant when all hands were reported ready for the manoeuvre which had been ordered.

At this command the bowlines on the topsails and courses were unfastened.

"All clear, sir," reported the officers from their stations.

"Round in the weather braces, ease off the lee braces!" was the next order. "Settle away the topsail halyards! Clew down!"

To round in the weather braces was simply to haul them up as the lee braces were slacked, so that the yard was squared. As the command was executed, the sail was "spilled," or the wind thrown out of it.

"Haul out the reef tackles! Haul up the buntlines!" continued the executive officer.

To reef a sail is to tie up a portion of it, so as to present less surface of canvas to the force of the wind. Topsails are reefed in the upper part; a portion of the sail nearest to the yard from which it is suspended being rolled up and secured by strings to the yard. Fore and aft sails, like the spanker, the fore and main spencers, or the mainsail of a schooner, are reefed at the foot, the lower part being tied down to the boom.

The topsails of the Young America had three reef bands, or strips of canvas sewed crosswise over them, in which were the reef points, or strings by which the sail is tied up when reefed. When the first or highest row of reef points was used, the sail was single reefed; when the second was used, it was double reefed; and when the third row was used, it was close reefed. On each side of the sail, at the end of each reef band, was a cringle, or eye, in which the reef pendent was fastened. The reef tackle consists of a rope passing from the eye, at the end of the reef band, through a block at the extremity of the yard, thence to the mast, and down to the deck. Hauling on this rope draws the required portion of the sail up to the yard in readiness to be reefed.

The reef tackles were hauled out, and the buntlines hauled up to bring the sail where it could be easily handled. When the sail is to be reefed, the seamen have to a "lay out" on the yards, and tie up the sail. To enable them to do this with safety, there are horses, or foot-ropes, extending from the slings, or middle of the spar, to the yard-arms. This rope hangs below the yard, the middle parts being supported by stirrups. When a man is to "lay out," he throws his breast across the yard with his feet on the horse. The man at the "weather earing," or eye for the reef pendent, has to sit astride the yard, and pull the sail towards him.

The foot-rope sometimes slips through the eyes in the stirrups when only one hand goes out upon it, which does, or may, place him in a dangerous position. During the preceding day, when the barometer indicated a change of weather, Mr. Lowington had sent the old boatswain aloft to "mouse the horses," in anticipation of the manoeuvre which the boys were now compelled to perform at midnight, in a gale of wind. Mousing the horses was merely fastening the foot-ropes to the eyes of the stirrups, so that they could not slip through, and thus throw the entire slack of the horse under one boy, by which he sank down so low that his neck was even with the spar.

At the foot of each mast there is a contrivance for securing ropes, called the fife-rail. It is full of belaying pins, to which are secured the sheets, halyards, buntlines, clewlines, lifts, braces, reef tackle, and other ropes leading down from aloft. Looking at the mast, it seems to be surrounded by a perfect wilderness of ropes, without order or arrangement, whose uses no ordinary mortal could comprehend. There were other ropes leading down from aloft, which were fastened at the sheer-poles and under the rail. Now, it is necessary that every sailor should be able to put his hand on the right rope in the darkest night; and when the order to haul out the buntlines was given in the gloom and the gale, those to whom this duty was assigned could have closed their eyes and found the right lines.

"Aloft, topman!" continued the first lieutenant, when the topsails were in readiness for reefing.

At this order thirty of the young tars ran up the shrouds, over the cat-harpings, and up the rigging, till they reached the fore, main, and mizzen topsail yards. Twelve of them were stationed on the main, ten on the fore, and eight on the mizzen topsail yard. The first, second, and third midshipmen were aloft to superintend the work, and when the studding-sail booms had been triced up, they gave the order to lay out, and take two reefs.

When the hands were at their stations on the yard, the first lieutenant ordered the quartermaster to "luff up;" that is, to put the helm down so as to throw the ship up into the wind and spill the sail, or get the wind out of it, that the young tars might handle it with the more ease.

The boys had been frequently trained in the manoeuvre which they were now executing under trying circumstances, and all of them knew their duty. If any one trembled as the mast swayed over when the ship rolled, he was afraid to mention the fact, or to exhibit any signs of alarm. Perhaps most of them would have been willing to acknowledge that it was rather "ticklish" business to lay out on a topsail yard at midnight in a gale of wind; and if their anxious mothers could have seen the boys at that moment, some of them might have fainted, and all wished them in a safer place.

The boom tricing-lines were manned again, and the studding-sail booms restored to their places.

"Lay down from aloft!" shouted Haven, when the midshipman in charge aloft had reported the work done; and he was obliged to roar at the top of his lungs through the speaking trumpet, in order to be heard above the piping of the gale and the dashing of the sea. "Man the topsail halyards! stand by the braces."

"All ready, sir," reported the fourth lieutenant, after the others.

"Hoist away the topsails!"

The hands on deck walked away with the halyards, until the topsails were hauled up to a taut leech.

The same operation was repeated on the fore and main course; the yards were trimmed; the bowlines attached and hauled out, and then the ship was under double-reefed topsails and courses.

"Boatswain, pipe down!" said the executive officer when the work was done.

But the crew did not care to pipe down, just then. This was the first time they had ever seen a gale at sea, and there was something grand and sublime in the heaving ocean, and the wild winds that danced madly over the white-crested waves. It was now after midnight, eight bells having struck before the courses were reefed, and the first part of the starboard watch were to have the deck. Mr. Lowington insisted that all others should go below and turn in, assuring them that they would see enough of the gale in the morning, or as soon as their quarter watches were called.

The principal and Mr. Fluxion were earnest in their commendation of the behavior of the Young America. She was not only a stiff and weatherly ship, but she behaved most admirably, keeping well up to the wind, and minding her helm. The four boys at the wheel handled it with perfect ease.

The ship did not labor in the gale as she had before the sails were reefed; and though she jumped, plunged, and rolled, making a terrific roar as she went along, everything was ship-shape about her, and the boys soon became accustomed to the exciting scene. She was making but little headway, but she still kept within three points of her general course. Mr. Lowington remained on deck the rest of the night, anxiously watching the ship and her crew in the trying experience of the hour.

Augustus Pelham, the discontented lieutenant, went below when his quarter watch was relieved. The little incident, before all hands were called, between himself and the captain, had disturbed him more than he would have been willing to acknowledge. He thought it was harsh of the captain to say anything to him, though he had broken one of the rules of the ship; and he regarded the gentle reproof he had received as a very great indignity.

He went to his state room. The ship was rolling fearfully, and he could not stand up without holding on at the front of his berth. Goodwin, the third lieutenant who was his room-mate, had already turned in; but it was impossible for him to sleep. Pelham took a match from his pocket and lighted the lamp, which swung on gimbals in the room.

"What are you doing, Pelham?" demanded Goodwin "It is against the rule to light a lamp after ten o'clock."

"I know it; but I'm not going to blunder round here, and have my brains knocked out in the dark," growled Pelham.

"Put the light out; you will get into trouble," remonstrated his room-mate.

"I won't do it."

"What are you going to do?"

"Go to sleep, Goodwin, and don't bother me."

"What's the matter, Pelham? What ails you? I never knew you to think of breaking one of the rules before."

"I should like to break them all, as Moses did the ten commandments. I have been insulted."

"Who insulted you?"

"The captain."

"Gordon?" asked Goodwin, in astonishment

"Yes."

"I never knew him to do such a thing as that. I think you didn't understand him; or he must have been excited by the gale."

"It was before it came on to blow very hard," replied Pelham, seating himself on a stool, and bracing his feet against the front of the berth to prevent being thrown down.

"What did he do?"

"He snubbed me, told me I knew the rule, and was as overbearing as though I had been his servant, instead of an officer of the ship."

"But what did you do? He wouldn't have done anything of the kind if you hadn't given him some provocation."

"I told the quartermaster, when the wind was heading off the ship, to alter the course."

"Didn't you tell the captain beforehand?"

"Not I."

"Then I don't blame him for snubbing you. What's the use of being captain if the officers don't obey you?"

"If he had anything to say to me, he might have been a little more gentle about it."

Pelham neglected to say that he was not particularly gentle himself.

"Put that light out, Pelham, for my sake, if not for your own," said Goodwin, when he found that his companion was too much out of sorts to be reasonable.

"Neither for yours nor my own will I put it out," replied Pelham, as he took a cigar from its hiding-place, under the lower berth.

"What are you going to do, Pelham?" demanded Goodwin, filled with astonishment, as he observed the conduct of his fellow-officer.

"I'm going to have a smoke."

"But you know that smoking is positively prohibited either on ship or shore."

"I haven't had a smoke since vacation," replied Pelham, as he lighted the cigar.

"See here, Pelham; I won't stand this!" exclaimed the third lieutenant, rising up in his bed, in which act he was nearly pitched out of his berth by a heavy roll of the ship. "The companion-way is closed."

"That's the very reason why I'm going to smoke," replied the malcontent, coolly.

"But I shall be stifled here."

"Can't help it."

"I can," retorted Goodwin, as he leaped out on the floor.

"What are you going to do?"

"I am going to inform Mr. Lowington what you are doing."

"Are you such a fellow as that?" asked Pelham, indignantly.

"I am, if you are such a fellow as to attempt to stifle me with cigar smoke in my own room. It would make me as sick as a horse in five minutes."

"Seasick, you mean," sneered Pelham. "I'm going to have my smoke, if there is a row about it."

Goodwin put on his pea-jacket, and left the room.



CHAPTER XV.

AFTER THE GALE.

One of the most singular traits observable in the character of some boys is the willingness, and even the desire, under certain circumstances, to get into trouble. A young gentleman, feeling that he has been slighted, or his merit overlooked, permits himself to fall into a mental condition in which he feels no responsibility for his conduct; in which he recklessly breaks through all regulations, places himself in an attitude of opposition to constituted authority, and seems to court the heaviest penalty which can be inflicted upon him for disobedience, impudence, and rebellion.

The fourth lieutenant of the Young America had worked himself up to this disagreeable pitch. He was not only disposed to assume an attitude of opposition to the principal, who had made the obnoxious regulation which was the immediate cause of his rebellious condition, but to all who supported his authority, or willingly submitted to it.

Smoking was a high crime on board the Young America—not in the relation of the practice to the ship, but to the student. It was condemned, not simply because it would be offensive in the cabins and steerage, and on deck, but because it was a bad habit for a boy to acquire. The adult forward officers, the cooks and the stewards, were allowed to smoke on the forecastle at certain prescribed hours; but it was a punishable offence for a student to smoke at any time or in any place, whether on board or on shore.

Goodwin was indignant at the conduct of his room-mate, for the third lieutenant was not only opposed to smoking on principle, but the fumes of tobacco were intensely offensive to him; and there was no doubt that, in the confined space of the state room, insufficiently ventilated, while all the openings in the deck were closed during the gale, the smoke would make him "as sick as a horse." He was a noble-minded, manly youth, and had all a boy's detestation for tattling and tale-bearing. He did not like to go on deck and inform the principal of the conduct of Pelham, but he could not submit to the indignity cast upon him. He went out into the cabin, and threw himself upon the cushioned divan, under the stern ports of the ship.

This would have been a very satisfactory place to sleep under ordinary circumstances; but Goodwin had hardly secured a comfortable position, before the heavy rolling and pitching of the vessel tumbled him off, and he measured his length on the cabin floor—a very undignified situation for a third lieutenant. He picked himself up in the darkness, and tried it again, but with no better success than before. He had fully intended to go on deck and inform the principal of the misconduct of Pelham, which had driven him from his room; but he shrank from the task.

What Goodwin was attempting to do on the divan many of the officers were striving to do in their berths, though with better success than attended his efforts. It was not an easy matter to stay in the berths; and this done, the situation was far from comfortable. Avoiding the rude fall on the one side, the occupant was rolled over against the partition on the other side. Sleep, in anything more than "cat naps," was utterly impracticable, for as soon as the tired officer began to lose himself in slumber, he was thumped violently against the pine boards, or was roused by the fear of being tumbled out of his berth.

Mr. Lowington comprehended the situation of the students, and when the topsails and courses had been reefed, he called up all the stewards, and sent them through the after cabin and steerage, to ascertain the condition of the boys, and to give them the benefit of certain expedients known to old voyagers for such occasions. Jacobs, the steward of the after cabin, entered to perform his duty. He had no light, not even a lantern; for fire is so terrible a calamity at sea, that every lamp was extinguished by the stewards at ten o'clock, and no light was allowed, except in the binnacle, without the special permission of the principal Even the captain could not allow a lamp to be lighted after hours.

Jacobs went to all the state rooms on the port side first, and pulled up the berth sacks above the front of the bunks, so as to form a kind of wall, to keep the occupant from rolling out. A bundle of clothing was placed on the inside of the berth, and the body was thus wedged in, so as to afford some relief to the unstable form. Pelham's room was the second one on the starboard side, and Jacobs came to it at last, in his humane mission. He opened the door, and started back with unfeigned astonishment to see the lamp lighted, and the fourth lieutenant puffing his cigar as leisurely as the violent motion of the ship would permit.

"Contrary to regulation, sir," said Jacobs, respectfully as he touched his cap to the reckless officer.

"Take yourself off, Jacobs," replied Pelham, coarsely and rudely.

"Yes, sir."

Jacobs did take himself off, and hastened on deck to inform Mr. Lowington of the conduct of the infatuated officer.

The principal immediately presented himself. Pelham had fully believed, in his self-willed obstinacy, that he could look Mr. Lowington full in the face, and impudently defy him. He found that he was mistaken. The experience of Shuffles in the hands of the boatswain and carpenter would intrude itself upon him, and he quailed when the principal opened the door and gazed sternly into his face.

"Smoking, Mr. Pelham?"

"Yes, sir," replied the rebel, with an attempt to be cool and impudent, which, however, was a signal failure.

"You will put out that cigar, and throw it away."

"I will; I've smoked enough," answered Pelham.

"Your light is burning, contrary to regulation."

"The ship rolls so, I should break my neck without one," replied Pelham, sourly.

"That is a weak plea for a sailor to make. Mr. Pelham, I confess my surprise to find one who has done so well engaged in acts of disobedience."

The reckless officer could make no reply; if the reproof had been given in presence of others, he would probably have retorted, prompted by a false, foolish pride to "keep even" with the principal.

"For smoking, you will lose ten marks; for lighting your lamp, ten more," added the principal.

"You might as well send me into the steerage at once," answered Pelham.

"If either offence is repeated, that will be done. You will put out your light at once."

The fourth lieutenant obeyed the order because he did not dare to disobey it; the fear of the muscular boatswain, the irons, and the brig, rather than that of immediate degradation to the steerage, operating upon his mind. The principal went on deck; Pelham turned in, and was soon followed, without a word of comment on the events which had just transpired, by Goodwin.

The night wore away, the gale increasing in fury, and the rain pouring in torrents. It was a true taste of a seaman's life to those who were on deck. At daybreak all hands were called again, to put the third reef in the topsails. At eight bells the courses were furled. The gale continued to increase in power during the forenoon, and by noon a tremendous sea had been stirred up. The ship rolled almost down to her beam ends, and the crests of the waves seemed to be above the level of the main yard.

In the popular exaggerated language, "the waves ran mountain high," which means from twenty to forty feet; perhaps, on this occasion, twenty-five feet from the trough of the sea to the crest of the billow. Even this is a great height to be tossed up and down on the water; and to the boys of the Young America the effect was grand, if not terrific. The deck was constantly flooded with water; additional life-lines had been stretched across from rail to rail, and every precaution taken to insure the safety of the crew.

Study and recitation were impossible, and nothing was attempted of this kind. The storm was now what could justly be called a heavy gale, and it was no longer practicable to lay a course. Before eight bells in the forenoon watch, the royal and top-gallant yards had been sent down, and the ship was laid to under a close-reefed main-topsail, which the nautical gentlemen on board regarded as the best for the peculiar conditions which the Young America presented.

When a ship is laying to, no attention is paid to anything but the safety of the vessel, the only object being to keep her head up to the sea. In the gale, the Young America lay with her port bow to the wind, her hull being at an angle of forty-five degrees, with a line indicating the direction of the wind. Her topsail yard was braced so that it pointed directly to the north-east—the quarter from which the gale blew. The helm was put a-lee just enough to keep her in the position indicated. She made little or no headway, but rather drifted with the waves.

The young tars had a hard forenoon's work; and what was done was accomplished with triple the labor required in an ordinary sea. All hands were on duty during the first part of the day, though there were intervals of rest, such as they were, while the boys had to hold on with both hands, and there was no stable abiding-place for the body. The ship rolled so fiercely that no cooking could be done, and the only refreshments were coffee and "hard tack."

"This is a regular muzzler, Pelham," said Shuffles, in the afternoon, as they were holding on at the life-lines in the waist.

"That's a fact; and I've got about enough of this thing."

"There isn't much fun in it," replied Shuffles, who had been watching for this opportunity to advance the interests of the "Chain."

"No, not a bit."

"It's better for you officers, who don't have to lay out on the yards when they jump under you like a mad horse, than for us."

"I suppose I shall have a chance to try it next term."

"Why so?"

"I lost twenty marks last night. I got mad, lighted the lamp, and smoked a cigar in my state room."

"Will the loss of the twenty marks throw you over?"

"Yes? I'm a goner!" added Pelham, with a smile.

"What made you mad?"

"The captain snubbed me; then Lowington came the magnificent over me. A single slip throws a fellow here."

A single slip in the great world throws a man or woman; and young men and young women should be taught that "single slips" are not to be tolerated. More children are spoiled by weak indulgence than by over-severe discipline. But a boy had a better chance to recover from the effects of his errors in the Young America, than men and women have in the community.

By gradual approaches, Shuffles informed the fourth lieutenant of the object of the "Chain," which Pelham promptly agreed to join, declaring that it was just the thing to suit his case. He was in a rebellious frame of mind; and though he could not feel that the enterprise would be a complete success, it would afford him an opportunity to annoy and punish the principal for his degrading and tyrannical regulation, as the recreant officer chose to regard it.

By the exercise of some tact, the conspirators found a convenient place under the top-gallant forecastle to consider the project. Pelham was duly "toggled," and offered no objection to the penalty; indeed, he only laughed at it.

"Suppose we get possession of the ship—what then?" asked Pelham.

"We will go on a cruise. I understand that she has provisions for a six months' voyage on board. I'm in favor of going round Cape Horn, and having a good time among the islands of the South Sea."

Pelham laughed outright at this splendid scheme.

"Round Cape Horn!" exclaimed he.

"Yes? why not? We should be up with the cape by the first of June; rather a bad time, I know, but this ship would make good weather of it, and I don't believe we should see anything worse than this."

"What will you do with the principal and the professors?" asked Pelham, lightly.

"We can run up within ten or fifteen miles of Cape Sable, give them one of the boats, and let them go on shore."

"Perhaps they won't go."

"We have ten fellows already in the Chain, who are seventeen years old. If we get half the crew, we can handle the other half, and the professors with them."

"All right! I'm with you, whether you succeed or not. I'm not going to be ground under Lowington's feet, and be snubbed by such fellows as Gordon. If I want to smoke a cigar, I'm going to do it."

"Or take a glass of wine," suggested Shuffles.

"If there is any on board."

"There is, plenty of it. I'll make you a present of a bottle, if you wish it."

"Thank you. Suppose we get the ship, Shuffles, who are to be the officers?" asked Pelham.

"We shall have good fellows for officers. You will be one, of course."

"I suppose I am higher in rank now than any fellow who has joined the Chain."

"Yes, that's a fact; but we are not going to mind who are officers now, or who have been before. We intend to take the best fellows—those who have done the most work in making the Chain."

"Whether they are competent or not," added Pelham.

"All the fellows know how to work a ship now, except the green hands that came aboard this year."

"This is rather an important matter. Shuffles, for everything depends upon the officers. For instance, who will be captain?" asked Pelham, with assumed indifference.

"I shall, of course," replied Shuffles, with becoming modesty.

"That's a settled matter, I suppose."

"Yes; without a doubt it is."

"I may not agree to that," suggested the new convert.

"You have already agreed to it. You have promised to obey your superiors."

"But who are my superiors?"

"I am one of them."

"Who appointed you?"

"I appointed myself. I got up the Chain."

"I think I have just as much right to that place as you have. Shuffles."

"I don't see it! Do you expect me to get up this thing, and then take a subordinate position?" demanded Shuffles, indignantly.

"Let the members choose the captain; that's the proper way."

"Perhaps they will choose neither one of us."

"Very well; I will agree to serve under any fellow who is fairly elected."

"When shall he be chosen?" asked Shuffles, who was so sure of a majority that he was disposed to adopt the suggestion.

"When we have thirty links, say."

"I will agree to it."

The conspirators separated, each to obtain recruits as fast as he could. During the latter part of the day, the gale began to subside, and at sunset its force was broken, but the sea still ran fearfully high. The fore course was shaken out, and the ship filled away again, plunging madly into the savage waves.

On Sunday morning, the gale had entirely subsided; but the wind still came from the same quarter, and the weather was cloudy. The sea had abated its fury, though the billows still rolled high, and the ship had an ugly motion. During the night, the reefs had been turned out of the topsails; the jib, flying-jib, and spanker had been set, and the Young America was making a course east-south-east.

"Sail ho!" shouted one of the crew on the top-gallant forecastle, after the forenoon watch was set.

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

"Over the lee bow, sir," was the report which came through the officers on duty.

The report created a sensation, as it always does When a sail is seen; for one who has not spent days and weeks on the broad expanse of waters, can form only an inadequate idea of the companionship which those in one ship feel for those in another, even while they are miles apart. Though the crew of the Young America had been shut out from society only about three days, they had already begun to realize this craving for association—this desire to see other people and be conscious of their existence.

After the severe gale through which they had just passed, this sentiment was stronger than it would have been under other circumstances. The ocean had been lashed into unwonted fury by the mad winds. A fierce gale had been raging for full twenty-four hours, and the tempest was suggestive of what the sailor dreads most—shipwreck, with its long train of disaster—suffering, privation, and death. It was hardly possible that such a terrible storm had swept the sea without carrying down some vessels with precious freights of human life.

The Young America had safely ridden out the gale, for all that human art could do to make her safe and strong had been done without regard to expense. No niggardly owners had built her of poor and insufficient material, or sent her to sea weakly manned and with incompetent officers. The ship was heavily manned; eighteen or twenty men would have been deemed a sufficient crew to work her; and though her force consisted of boys, they would average more than two thirds of the muscle and skill of able-bodied seamen.

There were other ships abroad on the vast ocean, which could not compare with her in strength and appointments, and which had not one third of her working power on board. No ship can absolutely defy the elements, and there is no such thing as absolute safety in a voyage across the ocean; but there is far less peril than people who have had no experience generally suppose. The Cunard steamers have been running more than a quarter of a century, with the loss of only one ship, and no lives in that one—a triumphant result achieved by strong ships, with competent men to manage them. Poorly built ships, short manned, with officers unfit for their positions, constitute the harvest of destruction on the ocean.

Mr. Lowington believed that the students of the Academy Ship would be as safe on board the Young America as they would on shore. He had taken a great deal of pains to demonstrate his theory to parents, and though he often failed, he often succeeded. The Young America had just passed through one of the severest gales of the year, and in cruising for the next three years, she would hardly encounter a more terrific storm. She had safely weathered it; the boys had behaved splendidly, and not one of them had been lost, or even injured, by the trying exposure. The principal's theory was thus far vindicated.

The starboard watch piped to breakfast, when the sail was discovered, too far off to make her out. The boys all manifested a deep interest in the distant wanderer on the tempestuous sea, mingled with a desire to know how the stranger had weathered the gale. Many of them went up the shrouds into the tops, and the spy-glasses were in great demand.

"Do you make her out, Captain Gordon?" asked Mr. Fluxion, as he came up from his breakfast, and discovered the commander watching the stranger through the glass.

"Yes, sir; I can just make her out now. Her foremast and mainmast have gone by the board, and she has the ensign, union down, hoisted at her mizzen," replied the captain, with no little excitement in his manner.

"Indeed!" exclaimed the teacher of mathematics, as he took the glass. "You are right, Captain Gordon, and you had better keep her away."

"Shall I speak to Mr. Lowington first, sir?" asked the captain.

"I think there is no need of it in the present instance. There can be no doubt what he will do when a ship is in distress."

"Mr. Kendall, keep her away two points," said the captain to the officer of the deck. "What is the ship's course now?"

"East-south-east, sir," replied the second lieutenant, who had the deck.

"Make it south-east."

"South-east, sir," repeated Kendall. "Quartermaster keep her away two points," he added to the petty officer conning the wheel.

"Two points, sir," said Bennington, the quartermaster

"Make the course south-east."

"South-east, sir."

After all these repetitions it was not likely that any mistake would occur; and the discipline of the ship required every officer and seaman who received a material order, especially in regard to the helm or the course, to repeat it, and thus make sure that it was not misunderstood.

It was Sunday; and no study was required, or work performed, except the necessary ship's duty. Morning prayers had been said, as usual, and there was to be divine service in the steerage, forenoon and afternoon, for all who could possibly attend; and this rule excepted none but the watch on deck. By this system, the quarter watch on duty in the forenoon, attended in the afternoon; those who were absent at morning prayers were always present at the evening devotions; and blow high or blow low, the brief matin and vesper service were never omitted, for young men in the midst of the sublimity and the terrors of the ocean could least afford to be without the daily thought of God, "who plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm."

Every man and boy in the ship was watching the speck on the watery waste, which the glass had revealed to be a dismasted, and perhaps sinking ship. The incident created an intense interest, and was calculated to bring out the finer feelings of the students. They were full of sympathy for her people, and the cultivation of noble and unselfish sentiments, which the occasion had already called forth, and was likely to call forth in a still greater degree, was worth the voyage over the ocean; for there are impressions to be awakened by such a scene which can be garnered in no other field.



CHAPTER XVI.

THE WRECK OF THE SYLVIA.

The people in the dismasted ship had discovered the Young America, as it appeared from the efforts they were using to attract her attention. The booming of a gun was occasionally heard from her, but she was yet too far off to be distinctly seen.

On the forecastle of the Academy Ship were two brass guns, four-pounders, intended solely for use in making signals. They had never been fired, even on the Fourth of July, for Mr. Lowington would not encourage their use among the boys. On the present occasion he ordered Peaks, the boatswain, to fire twice, to assure the ship in distress that her signals were heard.

The top-gallant sails were set, and the speed of the ship increased as much as possible; but the heavy sea was not favorable to rapid progress through the water. At four bells, when all hands but the second part of the port watch were piped to attend divine service in the steerage, the Young America was about four miles distant from the dismasted vessel. She was rolling and pitching heavily, and not making more than two or three knots an hour.

Notwithstanding the impatience of the crew, and their desire to be on deck, where they could see the wreck, the service on that Sunday forenoon was especially impressive. Mr. Agneau prayed earnestly for those who were suffering by the perils of the sea, and that those who should draw near unto them in the hour of their danger, might be filled with the love of God and of man, which would inspire them to be faithful to the duties of the occasion.

When the service was ended the students went on deck again. The wreck could now be distinctly seen. It was a ship of five or six hundred tons, rolling helplessly in the trough of the sea. She was apparently water-logged, if not just ready to go down. As the Young America approached her, her people were seen to be laboring at the pumps, and to be baling her out with buckets. It was evident from the appearance of the wreck, that it had been kept afloat only by the severest exertion on the part of the crew.

"Mr. Peaks, you will see that the boats are in order for use," said Mr. Lowington. "We shall lower the barge and the gig."

"The barge and the gig, sir," replied the boatswain.

"Captain Gordon," continued the principal, "two of your best officers must be detailed for the boats."

"I will send Mr. Kendall in the barge, sir."

"Very well; he is entirely reliable. Whom will you send in the gig?"

"I am sorry Shuffles is not an officer now, for he was one of the best we had for such service," added the captain.

"Shuffles is out of the question," replied Mr. Lowington.

"Mr. Haven, then, in the gig."

"The sea is very heavy, and the boats must be handled with skill and prudence."

"The crews have been practised in heavy seas, though in nothing like this."

The barge and the gig—called so by courtesy—were the two largest boats belonging to the ship, and pulled eight oars each. They were light and strong, and had been built with especial reference to the use for which they were intended. They were life-boats, and before the ship sailed, they had been rigged with life-lines and floats. If they were upset in a heavy sea, the crews could save themselves by clinging to the rope, buoyed up by the floats.

The Young America stood up towards the wreck, intending to pass under her stern as near as it was prudent to lay, the head of the dismasted ship being to the north-west.

"Boatswain, pipe all hands to muster," said the captain, prompted by Mr. Lowington, as the ship approached the wreck.

"All hands on deck, ahoy!" shouted the boatswain, piping the call.

The first lieutenant took the trumpet from the officer of the deck, and the crew, all of whom were on deck when the call was sounded, sprang to their muster stations.

"All hands, take in courses," said the executive officer; and those who were stationed at the tacks and sheets, clew-garnets and buntlines, prepared to do their duty when the boatswain piped the call.

"Man the fore and main clew-garnets and buntlines!" shouted the first lieutenant. "Stand by tacks and sheets!"

The fore and main sail, being the lowest square sails, are called the courses. There is no corresponding sail on the mizzenmast. The ropes by which the lower corners of these sails are hauled up for furling are the clew-garnets—the same that are designated clewlines on the topsails.

The tacks and sheets are the ropes by which the courses are hauled down, and kept in place, the tack being on the windward side, and the sheet on the leeward.

"All ready, sir," reported the lieutenants forward.

"Haul taut! Let go tacks and sheets! Haul up!"

These orders being promptly obeyed, the courses were hauled up, and the ship was under topsails and top-gallant sails, jib, flying-jib, and spanker.

"Ship, ahoy!" shouted the first lieutenant through his trumpet, as the Young America rolled slowly along under the stern of the wreck.

"Ship, ahoy!" replied a voice from the deck of the wreck. "We are in a sinking condition! Will you take us off?"

"Ay, ay!" cried Haven, with right good will.

"You will heave to the ship, Mr. Haven," said the captain, when she had passed a short distance beyond the wreck.

"Man the jib and flying-jib halyards and down-hauls," said the first lieutenant.

"All ready forward, sir," replied the second lieutenant, on the forecastle.

"Stand by the maintop bowline! Cast off! Man the main braces!"

"Let go the jib and flying-jib halyards! Haul down!" And the jibs were taken in.

"Slack off the lee braces! Haul on the weather braces!"

The main-topsail and top-gallant were thus thrown aback, and the Young America was hove to, in order to enable her people to perform their humane mission.

"Stand by to lower the barge and gig!" continued Haven.

"Mr. Haven, you will board the wreck in the gig," said Captain Gordon.

"Yes, sir," replied he, touching his cap, and handing the trumpet to the second lieutenant.

"Mr. Kendall, you will take charge of the barge," added the captain.

"The barge, sir," answered Kendall, passing the trumpet to Goodwin, the third lieutenant, who, during the absence of his superiors, was to discharge the duty of the executive officer.

The boats were cleared away, and every preparation made for lowering them into the water. This was a difficult and dangerous manoeuvre in the heavy sea which was running at the time. The professors' barge, which was secured at the davits on the weather side of the ship, was to be lowered with her crew on board, and they took their places on the thwarts, with their hands to the oars in readiness for action. The principal had requested Mr. Fluxion to go in the barge and Mr. Peaks in the gig, not to command the boats, but to give the officers such suggestions as the emergency of the occasion might require.

"All ready, sir," reported Ward, the coxswain of the barge, when the oarsmen were in their places.

"Stand by the after tackle, Ward," said Haven. "Bowman, attend to the fore tackle."

At a favorable moment, when a great wave was sinking down by the ship's side, the order was given to lower away, and in an instant the barge struck the water. Ward cast off the after tackle, and the bowman did the same with the forward tackle. At the moment the order to lower was given, as the wave sank down, the ship rolled to windward, and the boat struck the water some eight feet from the vessel's side.

"Up oars!" said the coxswain, with energy.

"Lively, Ward," added the first lieutenant.

"Let fall!" continued the coxswain, as a billow lifted the boat, so that those on board could see the ship's deck. "Give way together!"

The barge, tossed like a feather on the high seas, gathered headway, and moved off towards the wreck.

The lowering of the barge had been so successful that the same method was adopted with the gig; but as she was under the lee of the ship, there was less difficulty in getting her off. She pulled round the ship's bow, and having made less stern way in starting both boats came up under the counter of the wreck at about the same time. When the barge and gig reached the ship, a line was thrown to each of them over the quarter, which the bowman caught, and made fast to the ring.

"Where is the captain of the ship?" demanded Mr. Haven.

"Here," shouted that officer.

"How many have you aboard?"

"Eighteen!"

"You must slide down on a rope over the stern; we can't go alongside," continued the first lieutenant.

"Ay, ay, sir!" responded the captain of the ship. "I have two women and two children on board."

"You must lower them in slings," added Haven, prompted by Mr. Fluxion.



The people on board the wreck went to work, and one of the women was lowered into each boat at the same time. A long loop was made in the end of the rope, and the woman sat down in the bight of it, holding on to the line with her hands. At a moment when the sea favored the movement, the boats were hauled up close to the ship's stern, the passenger caught by two of the crew, and hauled on board. A boy and a girl were let down in the same manner. The captain, mates, and seamen came down the rope hand over hand.

Each boat now had nine passengers, who were stowed in the stern sheets and on the bottom. The ropes from the ship were cast off, and the oarsmen were ordered to give way. The barge and the gig rose and fell, now leaping up on the huge billows, and then plunging down deep into the trough of the sea; but they had been well trimmed, and though the comb of the sea occasionally broke into them, drenching the boys with spray, the return to the Young America was safely effected.

"How happens it that you are all boys?" asked the captain of the wrecked ship, who was in Paul Kendall's boat.

"That's the Academy Ship," replied the second lieutenant.

"The what?" exclaimed the captain.

"It is the Young America. She is a school ship."

"O, ay!"

There was no disposition to talk much in the boats. The officers and crews were fully employed in keeping the barge and gig right side up in the tremendous sea, and though all hands were filled with curiosity to know the particulars of the wreck, all questions were wisely deferred until they were on the deck of the ship.

When the gig came up under the counter of the Young America, a line was thrown down to the bowman who made it fast to the ring. The passengers were then taken aboard in slings rigged on the spanker-boom, which was swung over the lee quarter for the purpose. Part of the boat's crew were taken on board in the same way, and then the gig was hoisted up to the davits with the rest in her.

Before the barge was allowed to come up under the counter, the officer of the deck wore ship, so as to bring the port quarter, on which the boat was to be suspended, on the lee side. Her passengers were taken on deck as those from the gig had been, and she was hoisted up.

"Mr. Kendall, I congratulate you upon the success of your labors," said Mr. Lowington, when the second lieutenant reached the deck. "You have handled your boat exceedingly well, and you deserve a great deal of credit."

"That's a fact, sir," added Boatswain Peaks, touching his cap. "I hardly spoke a word to him, and I've seen many a boat worse handled in a sea."

Paul blushed at the praise bestowed upon him, but he was proud and happy to have done his duty faithfully on this important occasion. The same commendation was given to the first lieutenant, after the barge had been hauled up to the davits, and the order given for the ship to fill away again.

The women and children were conducted to the professors' cabin as soon as they came on board, and the seamen were taken into the steerage. All of them were exhausted by the anxiety and the hardships they had endured, and as soon as their safety was insured, they sank almost helpless under the pressure of their physical weakness.

"This is a school ship, I'm told," said Captain Greely, the master of the shipwrecked vessel, who had also been invited to the main cabin.

"Yes, sir; we call it the Academy Ship, and we have eighty-seven young gentlemen on board," replied Mr. Lowington.

"They are smart boys, sir. I never saw boats better handled than those which brought us off from the ship," added Captain Greely, warmly.

"Your voyage has come to an unfortunate conclusion," said Mr. Lowington.

"Yes, sir; I have lost my ship, but I thank God my wife and children are safe," answered the weather-beaten seaman, as he glanced at one of the women while the great tears flowed down his sun-browned cheeks.

"Poor children!" sighed Mr. Agneau, as he patted the little girl on the head; and his own eyes were dim with the tears he shed for others' woes.

Captain Greely told his story very briefly. His ship was the Sylvia, thirty days out of Liverpool, bound to New York. She had encountered a heavy gale a week before, in which she had badly sprung her mainmast. Finding it impossible to lay her to under the foresail, they had been compelled to set the main-topsail, reefed; but even this was too much for the weak mast, and it had gone by the board, carrying the second mate and five men with it. The Sylvia was old, and the captain acknowledged that she was hardly sea-worthy. She became unmanageable, and the foremast had been cut away to ease off the strain upon her. Her seams opened, and she was making more water than could be controlled with the pumps. For eighteen hours, all hands, even including the two women, had labored incessantly at the pumps and the buckets, to keep the ship afloat. They were utterly worn out when they discovered the Young America, were on the point of abandoning their efforts in despair, and taking to the boats, in which most of them would probably have perished.

After the boats started from the Young America, Mr. Lowington had ordered the cooks to prepare a meal for the people from the wreck; and as soon as they came on board, coffee and tea, beefsteaks, fried potatoes, and hot biscuit were in readiness for them. Tables were spread in the main cabin and in the steerage, and the exhausted guests, providentially sent to this bountiful board, were cordially invited to partake. They had eaten nothing but hard bread since the gale came on, and they were in condition to appreciate the substantial fare set before them.

By the forethought of Captain Greely, the clothing of the women and children had been thrown into one of the boats. The bundle was opened, and its contents dried at the galley fire. The doctor and the chaplain gave up their state room to the captain, his wife and children, while Mr. Lowington extended a similar courtesy to the other woman, who was Mrs. Greely's sister. Mr. Fluxion was the first to offer his berth to the mate of the Sylvia, which was reluctantly accepted; and all the professors were zealous to sacrifice their own comfort to the wants of the wrecked visitors.

In the steerage, every boy, without an exception, wanted to give up his berth to one of the seamen from the Sylvia; but the privilege was claimed by the adult forward officers, the cooks, and stewards. The principal was finally obliged to decide between them: and for obvious reasons, he directed that the guests should occupy the quarters of the men, rather than of the boys. The people from the Sylvia needed rest and nourishment more than anything else. They were warmed, and fed, and dried, and then permitted to sleep off the fatigues of their severe exertion.

At three o'clock, though they had slept but an hour or two, most of the shipwrecked people appeared at divine service, for this was a privilege which they had long been denied, and it would be strange, at such a time, if the hearts of those who had been saved from the angry flood were not overflowing with gratitude to God for his mercy to them. Mr. Agneau, whose sensitive nature had been keenly touched by the events of the day, made a proper use of the occasion, delivering a very effective address to the students and to the shipwrecked voyagers, who formed his little congregation.

The next morning the wind came up fresh and warm from the southward, knocking down the heavy sea, and giving a delightful day to those on board the ship. The passengers appeared on deck, and were greatly interested in the Young America and her juvenile crew. Captain Greely's son and daughter were little lions, of the first class, among the boys. All hands vied with each other in their efforts to do something for the guests of the ship, and it really seemed as though the era of good feeling had dawned upon them. Even Shuffles and Pelham forgot, for a time, the interests of the Chain League, and joined with others in petting the children of the wreck, and in laboring for the happiness of the involuntary guests.

On this day, observations for latitude and longitude were obtained, and at noon the ship was found to be in latitude 42 deg., 37', 5" N.; longitude 64 deg., 39', 52" W. The position of the ship was marked on the chart by the masters, in council assembled, and the calculations made for the course. Bowditch's Navigator, an indispensable work to the seaman, was consulted frequently both for the rules and the nautical tables it contains. The course, after allowing for the variation of the compass, was found to be north-east by east, which, agreeing with the calculations of Mr. Fluxion, was given out to the quartermaster conning the wheel.

The wind continued to blow fresh from the south and south-west during the rest of the day and the succeeding night; and the log-slate showed ten and eleven knots until midnight, when the wind hauled round to the westward, and soon came strong from that quarter. At noon on Tuesday, April 5, the Young America had made two hundred and forty-four miles during the preceding twenty-four hours, which was the best run she had had during the voyage.

On the afternoon of this day, a ship, bound to the westward, was seen, and Captain Greely expressed a desire to be put on board of her, with his family, as he did not wish to return to the point from which he had just come. The Young America bore down upon the sail, and spoke her at sundown. Her captain was willing to take the shipwrecked voyagers on board his ship, which was bound to New York, and they were transferred in the barge and gig. Captain Greely and his party were very grateful for the attentions they had received; and the little boy and girl almost rebelled at the idea of leaving their new and partial friends.

As the two ships were filling away, after the transfer of the passengers, the seamen of the New York ship, having learned what the Young America was, gave three cheers, and dipped her ensign in compliment to her. All the young tars were immediately ordered into the rigging by Captain Gordon, and "three times three" were most lustily given. The American flag at her peak was lowered three times, in reply to the salute of the stranger. As the Academy Ship stood off on her course, the two children of Captain Greely were seen, on the poop-deck of the other vessel, waving their handkerchiefs; and they continued to do so as long as they could be seen.

The departure of the guests had a saddening effect upon the crew of the Young America, as they missed the children and the ladies very much; for, during their presence on board, the ship had assumed quite a domestic aspect, and all the idlers on deck found pleasing companions in the little boy and girl.

The limits of this volume do not permit a full detail of the entire voyage across the ocean. Enough has been given to show the discipline of the ship, and the daily life of the boys on board of her. For the next ten days the weather was generally favorable, and she laid her course all the time. Some days she made two hundred miles, and others less than one hundred.

On the sixteenth day from her departure, she was in latitude 51 deg., 4', 28" N.; longitude 31 deg., 10', 2" W.; course, E. by N. In going from Cape Race, the southern point of Newfoundland, to Cape Clear, the southern point of Ireland, the Young America did not lay a straight course, as it would appear when drawn on a map or chart. La Rochelle, on the western coast of France, and Cape Race are nearly on the same parallel of latitude, and the former is exactly east of the latter. But the parallel on which both points lie would not be the shortest line between them. A great circle, extending entirely around the earth in the broadest part, going through both, would not coincide with the parallel, but would run to the north of it a considerable distance at a point half way between the two places, the separation diminishing each way till the great circle crosses the parallel at Cape Race and La Rochelle. The shortest course between the two points, therefore, would be the arc of the great circle lying between them. A skilful navigator would find and follow this track. This is called great circle sailing.

The Young America followed a great circle from Cape Race to Cape Clear. Off the former point, her course was two points north of east; off the latter, it was half a point south of east. On her twentieth day out she sailed due east.

After the excitement of the wreck and the departure of the passengers, Shuffles and his confederates resumed their operations in the Chain League, assisted somewhat by a case of discipline which occurred at this time. When the ship was sixteen days out the Chain consisted of thirty-one links, in the cabalistic language of the conspirators, and Shuffles was in favor of striking the blow.



CHAPTER XVII.

PEAS AND BEANS.

The business of the Chain had been managed with extreme caution by the conspirators, and more than one third of the crew had been initiated without the knowledge of the principal and professors, or of the officers and seamen who were not members. Pelham and Shuffles ordered the affairs of the League, and no "link" was allowed to approach an outsider for the purpose of inducing him to join without the consent of one of these worthies.

As the scheme progressed, various modifications had been made in the plan to adapt it to circumstances, the principal of which was the choice of two "shackles," who should be deemed the officers of the League until a regular election had taken place. By this invention, Shuffles and Pelham had been enabled to compromise their differences, for they assumed the newly-created offices, and labored as equals in the bad cause. Each endeavored to make as many new "links" as possible, for already the conspirators consisted of two factions, one of which favored the election of Shuffles, and the other that of Pelham, to the captaincy. Each, in a measure, controlled his own recruits, and was reasonably sure of their votes when the election should be ordered.

These young gentlemen were not only plotting to take the ship, but to "take in" each other. While both worked for the League as a whole, each worked for himself as an individual. Shuffles was much more thorough than his rival in the making of his converts. He told them the whole story, and taught them to look full in the face the extreme peril of the undertaking. He did not conceal anything from them. On the other hand, Pelham merely represented the project as a means of redressing the grievances of the officers and crew; of having their money restored to them, and abolishing certain portions of the regulations which pressed hard upon those who were disposed to be unruly.

Though the number of "links" in the "Chain" has been mentioned, it was not known to either of the rivals. Each knew his own peculiar followers, but he did not know how many the other could muster. Though there were signs and passwords by which the members could know each other, there were no means by which any one could precisely sum up the whole number of "links." Shuffles could count thirteen including his rival, while Pelham could number nineteen without his coequal in authority. The former believed the list to consist of about twenty four, while the latter estimated it above thirty. With them it was a struggle for an office, as well as to redress their fancied wrongs, and they mutually deceived each other in order to obtain the advantage.

"How many do you suppose we can muster now?" asked Shuffles, on the evening of the eighteenth day out, as they met in the waist, when both were off duty.

"About twenty," replied Pelham.

"There are more than that."

"Perhaps there are."

"But it is time to stretch the Chain," added Shuffles, in a whisper.

"Not yet."

"If we are ever going to do anything, we must begin soon. We have so many members now that the danger of exposure increases every day."

"We can't do anything here. Besides, I am not in favor of having the time or the manner of accomplishing the work talked about among the members. I believe in one-man power in an affair of this sort. There should be one head, who should plan and command; all the rest should obey. If every step in the thing must be discussed and agreed upon, we shall never do anything. One fellow will want it done in one way, and another in some other way."

"I think you are more than half right," replied Shuffles, who was confident that he should be the person chosen to arrange the plans and issue the commands.

"I know I am wholly right," added Pelham, who was equally confident that he should enjoy the undivided sway of the League. "If you are chosen captain I will cheerfully obey your orders. I go a step farther: whoever is elected captain should appoint his own officers."

"I will agree to that also," replied the complaisant Shuffles.

"Very well, then; the understanding is, that when one of us is elected captain, he shall appoint his own officers, and do all the planning and all the commanding," answered Pelham.

"Exactly so; we are now in about longitude thirty-one, and Cork Harbor is in longitude eight, according to Bowditch, for I was looking the matter up in the steerage to-day. We have to make about twenty-three degrees more. A degree of longitude, in latitude fifty-one, is thirty-seven and three quarters miles, which would make it eight hundred and sixty-eight miles more to run in order to reach Queenstown. You see I am posted," said Shuffles.

"I see you are. By the way, had you noticed that Queenstown is not in the Navigator, or on the older maps?" added Pelham.

"Yes; the place was called the Cove of Cork until 1849, when, in honor of her majesty's visit to the town, the name was changed to Queenstown."

"All right," said Pelham.

It need not be supposed that the distance to Queenstown and the change in the name of that place had anything to do with the League. The fact was, that Mr. Fluxion had passed near the conspirators, and had paused a moment in the waist to glance up at the fore-top-gallant sail, which was not in good trim; and the conversation had been changed to suit the occasion. In talking of the affairs of the "Chain," it was required that one of the party should look forward, and the other aft, if there were two of them; and that the third, if there were three, should stand back to the nearest rail. It was further required that the conversation should not take place in a situation where it would be possible for any one to overhear them. The lee side of the waist,—the midshipman of the watch always being on the weather side,—the top-gallant forecastle, and the tops were the favorite resorts of the conspirators. If any one approached, the parties in conversation were instantly to change the topic, as Shuffles had done.

"I think it is about time for the election to take place," continued Shuffles, when Mr. Fluxion had gone aft.

"Whenever you are ready, I am," replied Pelham.

"I am ready now."

"So am I."

"Very well; it shall come off to-morrow, say."

"To-morrow it is, then."

"But how shall it be conducted?" asked Shuffles.

"That will not be an easy matter. I think, however we can hit upon some plan for having it fairly done."

"Of course the matter lies between you and me," added Shuffles.

"To be sure."

"I suppose both of us are ready to abide the issue, whatever it may be," said Shuffles, who was not a little fearful that his powerful rival would refuse to acknowledge him when he was chosen, as he confidently expected to be.

"I pledge you my word and honor, that I will obey you in all things if you are fairly elected captain," replied Pelham, who was equally sure of being chosen himself.

"Fairly? Who is to decide whether it is fairly done or not?" demanded Shuffles, unwilling to leave a loop-hole through which his companion could crawl out of the bargain.

"When we have agreed upon the means of electing the captain, the choice shall be final."

"Good! You and I shall have no difficulty!" exclaimed Shuffles, rather astonished to find his rival so easily managed, as he regarded it.

"We will make it a little more binding, if you choose," suggested Pelham, who, the reader has already been assured by the figures given, was completely outwitting the author and inventor of the Chain League.

"With all my heart!"

"We will toggle each other on this special question if you like."

"The stronger we make the bond the better," said Shuffles. "Repeat after me."

"Not here, Shuffles. There is a steamer on our weather bow. Let's go up into the mizzentop, and have a look at her with a night glass."

Mr. Haven, the first lieutenant, who was in charge of the deck, permitted them to go aloft with the glass, for the officers were empowered to grant small favors. On reaching the top, they glanced at the steamer, and then resumed the conversation which had been suspended on deck, it being too dark for the officers below to see what they were doing.

"Now go ahead," said Pelham.

"Repeat after me."

"All right."

"I promise, without any reservation, to acknowledge Shuffles as captain, if he is chosen, and faithfully to obey his orders, on penalty of falling overboard accidentally."

Pelham repeated these words, and then "toggled" his rival in the same manner.

"Now we understand each other perfectly, and there will be no chance of dragging the anchor," said Shuffles, satisfied that his sway would be undisputed. "Let me say, in addition to this, that if I should happen to be chosen, I shall make you my first officer, Pelham."

"And I will make you my first officer, if I should happen to be chosen," replied the obliging Pelham. "Of course I don't expect to be chosen; you have had the swing of this affair, and you will have all the advantage."

"No, I think not; you are an officer now, and you have more influence than I have," added the modest Shuffles.

If both had been laboring for the organization of the League on the same terms, Shuffles would certainly have the better chance of an election; but Pelham had been taking in members on false pretences, merely representing to those whom he approached that the League was an association having for its object the redress of their grievances. To only a few had he mentioned the fact that a regular mutiny was contemplated; that the ship was to be taken out of the hands of the principal, and an independent cruise commenced. He was afraid the whole truth would be more than some of them could bear; and perhaps he had so little faith in the extreme measures to be carried out by the League, that he was unwilling even to mention them.

Those who serve the evil one can neither trust each other nor trust their master.

The only real confidence in each other which can exist among men or boys must be based on moral and religious principle.

The man who pays his debts, or who performs his obligations to his fellow-men, for his reputation's sake, rather than from devotion to pure principle, will fail of his duty when he can conceal his infidelity, or when his reputation will not suffer from his acts.

A man or a boy without principle is not to be trusted out of the line of his own interest.

While Shuffles and Pelham were pledging themselves to a kind of romantic fidelity, they were plotting each against the other, each being satisfied that he had the advantage of the other.

"Now, I'm afraid the election will give us some trouble," continued Shuffles. "It will not be an easy matter to conduct it fairly—not that any fellow means to cheat, but it must be conducted with so much secrecy that we can't superintend the ballot properly."

"I know there is all that difficulty, but I have thought of a method which I believe will give us a fair election," replied Pelham.

"Have you? So have I."

"Well, what is your plan? If it is better than mine, I am willing to adopt it."

"I was thinking, as you and I are the only candidates that each of us might be represented by one side of the ship. You shall be port, and I will be starboard Then every link in the Chain shall hand his vote, on which shall be written the single word port or starboard either to you or me; and if there are more port than starboard, you will be captain; if more starboard than port, I shall be captain! How does that idea strike you?"

"Pretty well; but the fellows have all got to write their votes, and others will want to know what it means. It will set outsiders to thinking, and I don't believe the plan is quite safe."

"Well, what is your method?" asked Shuffles, who was willing to acknowledge the force of his rival's objections.

"Perhaps my plan is as open to objection as yours," answered Pelham; "but it will require no writing. Each of us shall get a handful of beans and a handful of peas. We can easily obtain them when the store rooms are opened. You shall be beans, and I will be peas."

"How are you, Peas?" said Shuffles, laughing at the idea.

"How are you, Beans?" added Pelham.

"Go on with your soup."

"We will give to every fellow belonging to the Chain one pea and one bean."

"I understand the plan now; but where are the fellows to deposit their vegetable ballots?"

"We can have a receiver; appoint some good fellow for the purpose—say, Greenway, the captain of the forecastle; or Tom Ellis, the third master."

"Tom Ellis! Does he belong?"

"Of course he does," laughed Pelham, who realized that he had been a little too fast in betraying the strength of his faction.

"I wouldn't appoint an officer."

"Well, you mention some fellow," said the politic Pelham.

"Say Wilton."

"Mention another."

"Lynch."

"No; try again."

"Grossbeck."

"Very well; I will agree to him."

"But he might make some mistake."

"If he does, it will be in your favor, I suppose; for you nominated him, and, of course, he will give you the benefit of any doubt," replied Pelham.

"I want a fellow who will do it fairly. I don't wish to get in by any mistake," said Shuffles, magnanimously.

"Neither do I? and I don't think there will be any mistakes."

"There is a chance for a great many. The fellows may get mixed between beans and peas. When they come to vote, there will be some who don't know beans," laughed Shuffles.

"Well, if they don't, they will know peas, which will do just as well," replied Pelham.

"It would not be pleasant for me to have them know peas, when they ought to know beans."

"We will give them P.P. as a clew to the whole thing."

"P.P.? That means P's, I suppose."

"It means that, and more. P. for Pelham, and P. for peas. If they get one right, they can't very well get the other wrong."

"That's true," answered Shuffles, silenced, rather than convinced, by the tactics of his fellow-conspirator.

It was settled that he who knew peas must certainly "know beans."

"When shall the fellows vote?" asked Shuffles.

"After dinner to-morrow afternoon. Every fellow will be off duty an hour in the first or second dog watch," replied Pelham, who seemed to have an answer ready for every question. "The polls shall be kept open till eight o'clock. The peas and beans shall be distributed before eight bells in the forenoon watch, so that every fellow will be ready to vote."

"Where will Grossbeck stand when he receives the ballots?"

"He won't stand anywhere in particular. We will see him together, and give him his instructions. I think it will be better for him to walk about the ship, and let the fellows hand him the votes on the sly, which he must put in his pocket. He shall count them in the presence of both of us."

"Suppose he should lose some of them?" suggested Shuffles.

"If he does, he is as likely to lose peas as beans."

"I don't want to be chosen in any such manner as by the loss of the votes."

"I can't see that there is any more danger of his losing them than there is of his losing his head. I see you are not entirely satisfied with the plan."

"To tell you the truth, Pelham, I am not. There is, at least, a chance for mistakes."

"I'm willing to do anything you like, that will make the election a fairer one."

"I have it!" exclaimed Shuffles. "We can give each fellow two peas and two beans, and let him vote twice."

"What good will that do?"

"I'll tell you. We want another receiver; then let each fellow vote twice, giving a pea or a bean to both of the receivers. If the two results don't agree, it shall not be an election."

"That's a first-rate idea, Shuffles, and I go in for it with all my might," replied Pelham, with so much warmth that his companion was put in the best of humor. "Who shall be the other receiver?"

"Name some one," said Shuffles, generously conceding the nomination to his confederate.

"Perth."

"No."

Shuffles objected because Pelham had done so when he had mentioned two names.

"Richton."

"Once more."

"McKeon."

"Right. McKeon is an honest, careful fellow," added Shuffles. "Now I think there can be no mistake."

The minor details of the election were carefully arranged, and the boys went below again. They gave satisfactory replies to the first lieutenant, who questioned them in regard to the steamer they had gone aloft to examine. Pelham thought she was a "Cunarder," but Shuffles was confident she belonged to the Inman line; and it is quite certain neither of them had any opinion whatever in regard to her, except that she was going west; for the red light on her port side was visible.

On the following day, Grossbeck and McKeon, the receivers who had been appointed, were waited upon, separately, by the two "Shackles." They accepted the important trust which was confided to them, and each was duly and solemnly admonished of the necessity of entire fairness. They were informed that any discrepancy in the number of ballots in the hands of the two receivers would cause the vote to be rejected; and they individually promised to be both faithful and careful.

The beans and the peas were readily obtained, and were distributed among the members of the League, with the necessary secrecy. Some of the independent voters needed a little persuasion to induce them to vote, when informed that the choice was between the "Shackles" only; but they yielded the point, and entered heartily into the excitement of the event; for, secret as were the proceedings, they were attended with no little exhilaration of feeling.

The voting commenced in the afternoon watch. The second part of the starboard watch, being off duty, gave in their peas and beans first. The receivers, without even knowing all the members of the League, took whatever was handed to them "on the sly," and looked as careless and indifferent as though nothing was going on. The only responsibility that rested upon them, besides the general duty of carefulness and fidelity, was to see that no one voted twice. "Vote early and vote often" was not countenanced; and one receiver acted as a check upon the other.

The election progressed so secretly that no occasion for suspicion was given; and though the ballots were deposited under the eyes of the principal and the professors they saw nothing, and had not the remotest idea that anything wrong was in progress.

In the last half of the first dog watch, Shuffles began to be excited. He was too much of a politician to be idle while any voting was going on? and so far as his duty would permit, he had watched the receivers since the balloting commenced. He had seen seven or eight vote of whose membership in the Chain he had no previous knowledge. He saw that Pelham had made more initiates than he had been willing to acknowledge, apparently concealing the facts for the purpose of favoring his own election. He observed that all the officers of his rival's quarter watch voted, and he was almost certain that he had been defeated.

Shuffles was angry and indignant when he discovered the treacherous shrewdness of his fellow-conspirator; but he had solemnly promised to abide the result of the election, and he could not recede from his position without a violation of the "honor among thieves" which is said to exist. The poll would not be closed for half an hour; and as he had been cheated he deemed it quite right to restore the equilibrium by a resort to the same policy.