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Down the Rhine; Or, Young America in Germany

by Oliver Optic · English · Gutenberg #24124 · 517,904 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: Down the Rhine; Or, Young America in Germany

Author: Oliver Optic


        
Release date: January 2, 2008 [eBook #24124]
                Most recently updated: January 3, 2021

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOWN THE RHINE; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN GERMANY ***




Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from scans of public domain material produced by
Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)






Transcriber's Note: This sentence, although probably an error, was left
as printed:

    I believe you are a little deaf in one eye, Raymond, or else you
    can't hear in the other.



[Illustration: THE TRAVELLING JOURNEYMEN.--Page 217.]

[Illustration:

Young America Abroad

Down the Rhine

By Oliver Optic.

Boston
Lee & Shepard.]





DOWN THE RHINE;

OR,

YOUNG AMERICA IN GERMANY.


A Story of Travel and Adventure.



BY

OLIVER OPTIC.



BOSTON:
LEE AND SHEPARD.
1870.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by
WILLIAM T. ADAMS,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the
  District of Massachusetts.

ELECTROTYPED AT THE
_Boston Stereotype Foundry_,
No. 19 Spring Lane.



    TO MY YOUNG FRIEND
      _RALPH OAKLEY_,
        This Volume
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.




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._

  I. _OUTWARD BOUND_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA AFLOAT.

 II. _SHAMROCK AND THISTLE_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.

III. _RED CROSS_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN ENGLAND AND WALES.

 IV. _DIKES AND DITCHES_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN HOLLAND AND BELGIUM.

  V. _PALACE AND COTTAGE_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND.

 VI. _DOWN THE RHINE_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN GERMANY.


_Second Series._

  I. _UP THE BALTIC_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN DENMARK AND SWEDEN.

 II. _NORTHERN LANDS_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN PRUSSIA AND RUSSIA.

III. _VINE AND OLIVE_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.

 IV. _SUNNY SHORES_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN ITALY AND AUSTRIA.

  V. _CROSS AND CRESCENT_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN GREECE AND TURKEY.

 VI. _ISLES OF THE SEA_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND.




PREFACE.


DOWN THE RHINE, the sixth and last volume of the first series of "YOUNG
AMERICA ABROAD," is the conclusion of the history of the Academy Squadron
on its first voyage to Europe, with the excursion of the students and
their friends into Germany, and down its most beautiful river. As in the
preceding volumes of the series, brief geographical descriptions of the
country visited are given, with a sketch of its history, and of whatever
may be peculiar or interesting in its manners and customs. The travellers
enter Germany by the way of Strasburg, and visit Freiburg, Schaffhausen,
Constance, Friedrichshafen, Ulm, Stuttgart, Carlsruhe, Darmstadt,
Baden-Baden, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Mayence, Bingen, Bonn, Coblenz,
Cologne, Dusseldorf, and Aix-la-Chapelle; but only the most interesting
features of these places are noticed.

The story part of the volume relates mostly to a trip of the squadron
from Havre to Brest, and the cruise of the Josephine up the Mediterranean,
in which the writer has endeavored to show that even injustice is not to
be redressed by resorting to evil deeds; and he is quite sure that the
sympathies of his readers will always be with the members of the "Order
of the Faithful."

As the author has before had occasion gratefully to acknowledge, the
success of this series has far exceeded his anticipations; and in bringing
the first series to a close, he again returns his thanks to his friends,
young and old, who have so often and so earnestly encouraged him in his
agreeable labors,--all the more agreeable because they are so generously
appreciated. He intends, during the coming year, to make another trip to
Europe, for the purpose of visiting all the countries mentioned in the
titles of the second series; for he is not inclined to write about any
country until he has seen it. If no unforeseen event intervenes to defeat
his plans, the remaining volumes of YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD will soon follow.

HARRISON SQUARE, MASS.,
October 28, 1869.




CONTENTS.


CHAPTER                                                    PAGE

    I. CONFUSION IN THE SHIP.                                11

   II. CLOSE QUARTERS.                                       27

  III. A GATHERING STORM.                                    42

   IV. THE YOUNG AMERICAN MUTINY.                            57

    V. THE ORDER OF THE FAITHFUL.                            73

   VI. IN THE STEERAGE.                                      89

  VII. THE VISIT TO THE HOLD.                               106

 VIII. SHORT OF WATER.                                      123

   IX. THE LAST OF THE MUTINEERS.                           140

    X. WHAT THE RUNAWAYS WERE GOING TO DO.                  158

   XI. A SHORT LECTURE ON GERMANY.                          174

  XII. A MYSTERIOUS MOVEMENT.                               191

 XIII. FROM STRASBURG TO CONSTANCE.                         207

  XIV. THE STORM ON LAKE CONSTANCE.                         224

   XV. LADY FEODORA AND SIR WILLIAM.                        241

  XVI. UP THE MEDITERRANEAN.                                260

 XVII. HEIDELBERG AND HOMBURG.                              279

XVIII. CASTLES, VINEYARDS, AND MOUNTAINS.                   296

  XIX. COBLENZ AND COLOGNE.                                 309

   XX. HOMEWARD BOUND.                                      332




DOWN THE RHINE;
OR,
YOUNG AMERICA IN GERMANY.




CHAPTER I.

CONFUSION IN THE SHIP.


"All hands pipe to muster, ahoy!" screamed the new boatswain of the
Young America, as he walked towards the forecastle of the ship,
occasionally sounding a shrill blast upon his whistle.

At the same time the corresponding officer in the Josephine performed
a similar service; and in a moment every officer and seaman in both
vessels had taken his station. The squadron lay at anchor off the
harbor of Havre. The students had returned the day before from a
delightful tour through France and Switzerland--all except the
thirty-one who had preferred to take a cruise on their own account in
the Josephine; and these had been performing ship's duty, and making up
back lessons, while the vessel lay at anchor in the port of Brest.
Perhaps it was not strictly true that these malcontents were sick of
the game of running away, but it is strictly true that they were
disgusted with the penalty which had been imposed upon them by the
authorities of the Academy. It is to be regretted that they were not
moved to penitence by their punishment, and that they were ripe for any
new rebellion which promised to be even a partial success. They had
been deprived of seeing Paris,--which is France,--and the beautiful
scenery of Switzerland, by their folly; and they had taste enough to
realize that they had sacrificed the best part of a tour in Europe.

Those who had participated in the excursion were enthusiastic in their
belief that they had had a good time; and the frequent discussion of
the pleasures of the trip did not tend to diminish the discontent of
the runaways. It was absolutely intolerable to think they had been
compensating for past deficiencies in their studies, while their
shipmates were gazing upon the magnificent palaces of Paris, the
picturesque cottages, and the sublime mountain scenery of Switzerland.
Perhaps their temper was not improved by the reflection that others had
been permitted to enjoy what they were not allowed to see, for envy is
one of the ugliest and most uncomfortable of human passions. Boys, like
men and women, fret because they cannot have what others possess,
either as the gift of partial Fortune, or as the reward of their own
superior skill and perseverance.

If the runaways had not learned wisdom from their failure, they had
acquired discretion. The leaders in the mad scheme could now see just
why and wherefore they had failed; and they believed--if they were to
have the opportunity to do the deed over again--they could make a
success of it. The machinery of the secret organization was now
disgusting to them, though it had enabled them to make the capture of
the vessel. They were disposed to cast it all aside, and resort to new
methods for future occasions. As a general rule, they were wise enough
to keep still, and only among themselves did they express their chagrin
and disappointment, or suggest that they were not entirely cured of
their tendency to run away. The strict discipline of the squadron could
not be evaded, and they were compelled to perform all their duties.

It was the beginning of a new term in the school. New officers had
succeeded the old ones, or the position of the latter had been
materially changed. The members of the order of the Knights of the
Golden Fleece found themselves scattered by the new arrangement. Not
less than a dozen of them had been transferred to the consort, while
Tom Perth, the leading spirit of the runaways, had attained to the
dignity of second master of the ship, more by his natural abilities
than by any efforts he had made to win a high place. As yet he had
found no opportunity to arrange a plan for further operations with his
confederates, for Mr. Fluxion, the vice-principal, was in the charge of
the schooner, and his eyes and ears were always open. The return of the
tourists from their excursion restored the routine on board of the
vessels.

Everything was changed, and at first hardly an officer knew where he
belonged, or what his duty was. Confusion reigned on board the ship and
her consort, while the students were finding and preparing their new
berths. Happily, the changes were all made before dinner time, and
everything settled down into its wonted order and regularity. After the
midday meal was served, all hands were piped to muster, in order that
the officers and seamen might be exercised in their new situations. The
details of sea duty were well understood by all. Those alone who had
been promoted from the steerage to the after cabin were in the dark in
regard to their duty, though in these instances the parties had a
general idea of what was required of them. But it was necessary to have
the crew ready to work together, for the seaman who had hauled on the
weather-brace in tacking was now an officer, and the stations of many
were new and strange to them.

Shuffles in the ship, and Terrill in the consort, proceeded to execute
all the manoeuvres required in handling the vessel, from getting under
way to coming to anchor again. Nearly all the officers and crew were
zealous to perform their several parts correctly; but there were enough
of the discontented ones, who shirked as much as possible, to create
considerable confusion. The captain of the Young America was not
satisfied with the manner in which the various evolutions were
performed; so he began at the beginning, and went over all the ground
again, to the great disgust of the runaways in his crew, who had been
doing this sort of thing for four weeks, while the others were enjoying
the beauties of the mountain scenery.

"What's the matter, Captain Shuffles?" asked Commodore Kendall, when
the commander finished the routine a second time, and was still
dissatisfied with the result.

"It doesn't work well," replied Shuffles, biting his lip.

"A new broom sweeps clean, they say," laughed the flag officer.
"Perhaps you are more particular than your predecessors were."

"I think not. The ship would have miss-stayed under such handling as we
have to-day, to say nothing of the clumsy look of it," continued the
new captain. "I shouldn't wish to be out in a gale with a crew as slack
as ours is just now."

"What's the trouble?" asked the commodore, rather anxiously. "I saw
that things did not work well."

"There is trouble somewhere, and I think I can see where it is."

"What is it?"

"Certain parties in this ship don't like me very well, just now."

"You mean the runaways," suggested Paul.

"Of course."

"They are making a mistake if they are slack in their duty," added the
commodore, rather indignantly. "They wish to go with us on our next
excursion: but I don't think they can win the privilege in this
manner."

"Wilton and Howe are doing all they can to make things go wrong," said
Captain Shuffles, who was more in sorrow than in anger at the conduct
of these worthies. "If they are doing it to spite me, they are only
spiting themselves. I am going through these manoeuvres until they are
a little more ship-shape, at least."

The new captain ordered all hands to take their stations for getting
under way, and Commodore Kendall went aft, though he still carefully
observed the conduct of the seamen. The clumsiness, and the intentional
blunders of certain of the crew seemed to indicate that there was a
conspiracy to defeat the purposes of the commander. First, Howe tumbled
down while the hands were walking round the capstan; Spencer stumbled
over him, and a dozen boys were thrown in a pile upon them. Then
Richmond and Merrick dropped their handspikes overboard, through an
open port, when the order was given to restore these articles to their
proper places.

Little snarled himself up in the gasket on the fore-topsail yard, and
dropped off, as though he had fallen, though he clung to the rope, and
was brought up with a jerk ten or twelve feet below the spar. Some of
his gang, believing he had really fallen, screamed, and the attention
of the whole crew was drawn off from their duty. When the fore-topmast
staysail and jib were to be set, somebody had fouled the down-hauls, so
that they could not be hoisted. There was a kink in the halyards of the
main-top gallant-sail, so that it would not run through the block.
Clewlines, clew-garnets, leachlines, and buntlines were in a snarl. The
zeal of those who were striving to do their duty faithfully seemed to
make the matter worse, and the officers found it difficult to determine
who really made the mischief; for the malcontents pretended to be as
enthusiastic as their shipmates. Strong expressions and hard words were
freely used by the vexed seamen, and certainly such a scene of
confusion had never before been observed on board of the ship, even
when a large proportion of the crew were green hands.

Captain Shuffles was deeply grieved by the misconduct of the crew; for,
standing on the quarter-deck, he could not distinguish between the
intentional and the unintentional blunders of the crew, and therefore
believed that the disaffection was much more extensive than was really
the case. The zealous efforts of one portion of the crew to rectify the
mistakes of another portion only increased the confusion, and some of
those who were actually doing their best appeared to be the real
authors of the difficulty. The captain was drilling his crew in
simultaneous movements, and it was difficult, if not impossible, to
ascertain exactly the source of the unwonted confusion.

While the routine of evolutions was thus bunglingly performed, the
principal and the professors, who had been discussing an interesting
question of discipline in the main cabin, came on deck. Perhaps the
fact that Mr. Lowington was not on deck had encouraged the conspirators
in creating the confusion which pervaded the decks and rigging. As he
was the last to ascend the companion-way, he paused on the steps, with
his head on a level with the deck, to note the precision of the drill.
He was not noticed by the conspirators, and, unfortunately for them,
they continued in their career of insubordination. The quick eye of the
principal readily detected the nature of the mischief, though it was as
impossible for him as for the officers immediately to indicate the
authors of the confusion which prevailed throughout the ship.

"This does not look much like going down the Rhine this week," said Mr.
Lowington to Commodore Kendall, as he stepped upon the quarter-deck.

"I don't think it does, sir," replied Paul, grieved and indignant at
the miserable exhibition of seamanship which the crew then presented.

"This is a strange sight on board of this ship," added the principal,
biting his lips with vexation, for, as usual, when the young tars
displayed their seamanship, there were plenty of spectators on shore,
and on board of other vessels in the roadstead.

"I certainly never saw anything like it since we first began to learn
ship's duty in Brockway harbor."

"The crew appear to be hazing the new officers," continued Mr.
Lowington, who could not fail to perceive that a large portion of the
apparent blundering was intentional.

"Of course there isn't a seaman on board who does not know his duty."

"They are not familiar yet with their new stations, and a little
confusion is unavoidable," said Mr. Lowington, willing to make all
reasonable allowances.

"But they have already been through the routine two or three times,"
suggested Paul.

"Are the crew dissatisfied with the election?" asked the principal.

"I have not heard any dissatisfaction expressed; but I suppose some of
them don't like Shuffles, especially those who went off in the
Josephine."

"There are not twenty of them left in the ship; and it seems as though
the whole crew were engaged in this frolic."

At this moment a gang of the waist men, who were walking away with the
main-topsail sheets, were suddenly piled up in a pyramid on deck. The
second fellow in the line had fallen down; the next had tripped over
him, and those that followed tumbled into the heap. It is more than
probable that some, whose estimate of the value of good order was not
very high, though they were tolerably good boys in the main, were
tempted by their love of fun to take part in what appeared to them only
a frolic. A scene of violent confusion ensued in this particular part
of the deck. Some, who were near the bottom of the pile, were hurt by
those who fell upon them, and the tempers of others were not improved
by the mishap. Hard words followed, those at the bottom blaming those
at the top, and those at the top growling at those at the bottom. Some
were rubbing their elbows, others their shins, and all appeared to be
anxious to ascertain who had produced the mischief.

"Pipe to muster, Captain Shuffles," said the principal, stepping up to
the bewildered commander. "We have had about enough of this."

Shuffles gave the order to the first lieutenant, and it was duly
transmitted to the boatswain, whose shrill pipe soon assembled the
whole ship's company in the waist.

"We shall catch it now," said Spencer, one of the runaways, to Howe, as
they met near the rail, a little outside of the crowd.

"No matter; he is only going to preach to us," replied Howe through the
corner of his mouth, while he tried to look as innocent as one of the
chaplain's lambs.

"We shall not have a chance to go down the Rhine if we do things in
this way."

"I don't want to go down the Rhine; at least, not till I have been
through Paris and Switzerland."

"But we want to go ashore with the other fellows, or we shall have no
chance to go anywhere."

"Shut up! Don't talk about that here. If we don't go, no one will go.
This is bully! We shall get things mixed so that the officers won't
know a lamb from a goat."

"Bob Shuffles hasn't made much yet as captain," laughed Spencer.

"We'll get even with him yet," added Howe, still talking through the
corner of his mouth, and looking all the time at the principal, who had
taken his place on the hatch.

Mr. Lowington, as the rogue had suggested, only intended to "preach."
He had observed the insubordination of the crew, and he regretted it
exceedingly, for he was as careful of the reputation of the ship as of
his own. There was an evident intention on the part of a large portion
of the ship's company to haze the new officers. Such a purpose was
unworthy of the character of young gentlemen, and he hoped that such
conduct as he had just witnessed would be discontinued. In a day or two
he purposed to start for Germany, but he could not leave the ship
unless he was satisfied that every one on board knew his duty; for on
their return they might be compelled, by some unforeseen event, to go
to sea at once, and the crew did not appear to know how to set and furl
a sail. The officers, from the captain to the lowest rank, appeared to
have performed their duty faithfully; and all the trouble was in the
execution of their orders. In conclusion, he announced that the drill
would be resumed in half an hour, and directed the commander to pipe
down.

"That didn't hurt anybody," said Howe, as he walked forward with
Spencer. "Let us keep it up."

"We may get caught at it."

"No need of that. Accidents will happen."

"Yes; but they don't happen all over the ship at the same time."

"Well, they may, you know," laughed Howe. "In fact, I don't see how
accidents are to be avoided while we have such a fellow as Shuffles for
captain. If there is any one in the ship that I despise, it is
Shuffles."

"So say we all of us!"

"The snivelling, canting, whining puppy! Have you any idea that his
merit-marks made him captain of the ship?" continued Howe.

"I suppose they did."

"Tell that to the marines! Wasn't he acknowledged to be the worst
fellow in the ship when we crossed the Atlantic? Wasn't he the
ringleader in all mischief and scrapes?"

"But he has reformed."

"Reformed!" sneered Howe. "He has turned hypocrite, if that is what you
mean by reformed. I don't believe in that sort of bosh."

"He's the pet of the principal and the instructors."

"Yes; and they have given him marks enough to make him captain, just to
show good fellows, like you and me, what a saint can do. It is all
humbug! Why, he got more marks than Kendall, Gordon, Haven, and the
rest of those cabin nobs, who are fit to enter the senior class in a
college. I am satisfied that his merit-roll was doctored so as to make
it come out as it did."

"I don't believe Lowington would do any such thing as that," suggested
Spencer, shaking his head.

"Don't you? Well, I do. What's the use of talking! Didn't Shuffles jump
from the steerage into the captain's state-room?"

"Any other fellow may do the same thing. Look at Tom Perth, who lost a
heap of marks for running off in the Josephine, as the rest of us did.
He is second master. If it hadn't been for our scrape, very likely he
would have been captain."

"Don't you believe it."

"If Lowington had not been fair, and let every fellow go just where his
marks carried him, Perth would not have had a place in the cabin."

"O, the principal only wanted to break us up by taking our best fellow
away from us. He couldn't drive Tom Perth, and now he's going to lead
him--bait him with sugar and offices."

"Some of the fellows say Shuffles can't handle the ship without the
help of the principal," said Spencer.

"Of course he can't!" exclaimed Howe. "Hasn't he proved that already?
If Paul Kendall had been captain, he would have spotted every fellow
that made any trouble. Let us keep it up, Spencer, and we shall soon
prove that Shuffles can't handle the ship. That will be enough to
satisfy me."

The approach of an officer interrupted the conversation; but Howe
passed from one to another of the malcontents, and instructed them what
to do in the next drill. They were to create all the confusion they
could in the discharge of their duty. They were to misunderstand the
orders, and to blunder in the execution of them, in such a manner as to
conceal their own agency in the mischief, and divide the responsibility
of it among their companions. The runaway crew of the Josephine,
mortified at their failure, were still fretting because they had not
visited Paris and Switzerland. They were ready to listen to evil
counsels, and regarding Howe as their leader since the promotion of
Perth, they promised to follow his instructions to the letter.

"What are we going to make by it?" demanded Sheffield, who doubted the
policy of the proceeding.

"We are going to prove, in the first place, that Shuffles can't handle
the ship," replied Howe.

"Perhaps you may prove it, even if you don't believe what you prove."

"But I do believe he can't handle the ship."

"I don't. I hate Shuffles as bad as any fellow, but I believe he is as
good a sailor as any person on board, man or boy."

"That's all in your eye!" retorted Howe, contemptuously. "He may be
able to get along while we are lying in port, but I should like to see
him work the ship in a gale of wind."

"He can do it," answered Sheffield, confidently. "But he is a flunky,
and spoiled all our fun in the Josephine. I am willing to throw him
over for being a hypocrite, and selling us out as he did. What else are
we to gain?"

"We shall help along our chances of going down the Rhine, and,"
whispered Howe, "of seeing Paris and Switzerland."

"I don't see it."

"Well, I do. If we cave in and pretend to be lambs when we are lions,
we shall have to do duty while the rest of the fellows are having a
good time on shore. If we show that we are still wide awake, Lowington
will take us with him, because he will not dare to leave us on board."

"He will leave Fluxion with us."

"Not much! I heard some of the fellows say that Fluxion was going to
Italy to see his mother, or his sister, or somebody that is sick
there."

"I heard that."

"If it is true, Lowington will not leave us behind, especially if he
finds we are not as gentle as lambs."

"Perhaps not; but as the matter stands, we are already condemned to
stay on board during the rest of the season."

"I know that; but Lowington will let us off."

"He will be more likely to do so if we behave well."

"Not he! Don't you believe it."

"They say Shuffles is teasing him to remit the rest of the penalty."

"Shuffles!"

"That's so; and Lowington promised to consider the matter. Tom Perth
told me this; and he heard Shuffles talking to the principal about it."

"Humph! I don't want to go on those terms," replied Howe, in disgust.
"That's some more of Shuffles's cant! One of his sensations! He
thinks he whipped us out on board of the Josephine, and now he wants to
be magnanimous with his victims. If we go with the crowd, it will be
because Lowington is afraid to leave us behind. We are not a set of
babies, Sheffield, to be whipped and sent to bed when we are naughty.
Neither are we sailors before the mast, to be kicked here and there, at
the pleasure of our masters. What do you suppose the fellows came to
Europe for, if it was not to see the country? Are we to be left on
board just because we went on a little lark? Not much!"

"That's all very good, but it won't go down," laughed Sheffield.

"I'm not going to eat humble pie for any one. Do you mean to tell me I
am not as good a fellow as Bob Shuffles?"

"I didn't say you were not."

"Am I not his equal?" demanded Howe.

"I suppose you are, if you behave as well."

"Behave as well!" sneered the orator. "I behave well enough, and I'm
not going to be put down, nor beg my rights of Bob Shuffles. If I am
left on board, for one, when the fellows go down the Rhine, I intend to
break things."

"Don't break your own head."

"Let me alone for that. If our fellows have any spirit at all, they
will not be left behind. In the next drill, things will be mixed, and
no one can tell who makes the mischief. Our fellows are not the only
ones that don't like Shuffles, and you will find that about half the
crew will help snarl things up. Now, keep your weather eye open,
Sheffield. Take my advice, and don't whimper. Our fellows have a little
business in Paris and Switzerland, and we shall attend to it in a week
or two. There goes the pipe. Mind your eye, Sheffield."

The boatswain's call sounded through the ship, and officers and crew
hastened to their stations.




CHAPTER II.

CLOSE QUARTERS.


The malcontents in the ship were, apparently, the most zealous seamen
on board. Certainly no one would have suspected them of organizing any
mischief, they looked so innocent and so determined to do their duty
promptly. Howe, Wilton, Little, and others had done their work
thoroughly and secretly. They had arranged at least a dozen different
tricks for making confusion among the crew. To each one of the
discontented a part had been assigned, which he was to perform in such
a way as to conceal his own agency.

Captain Shuffles was planking the quarter-deck with the commodore.
Everybody could see that he was not entirely at his ease. His position
was a novel one to him, and he was oppressed by its responsibilities,
especially since the crew had behaved so badly at the first drill. He
could not help knowing that a portion of the crew were opposed to him,
and would do anything they could to annoy him. The situation was a
difficult one; for, at the commencement of his term of office, he did
not wish to have any of the seamen punished for neglect or
disobedience, even if he could discover the guilty ones.

Mr. Lowington was not on deck. He had purposely gone below, for he
wished the new captain to act on his own responsibility, and overcome
the difficulty alone. This was in accordance with his previous course,
when, even in a gale of wind, he permitted the young officers to handle
the ship without any dictation. Though the action adopted by the boys
was not always in accordance with his own judgment, he never interfered
unless an obvious and dangerous blunder was made. His policy had worked
well thus far, and he was disposed to continue it. In the present
instance, he was no better informed than the captain in regard to the
real cause of the difficulty. He believed it was merely the effect of a
fun-loving spirit on the part of the crew; a mere disposition to haze
the new officers a little, and perhaps prove what they were made of. He
hoped the new officers would satisfy them, and, if necessary, send a
dozen or twenty of the mischief-makers to the mainmast for punishment.

"All hands, up anchor, ahoy!" piped the boatswain, after he had
received the order from the captain, through the proper officers.

Those whose stations were at the cable and capstan sprang to their
places with unwonted alacrity.

"Bring to, forward!" added the first lieutenant, giving the order to
attach the messenger. "Ship and swifter the capstan bars!"

As it was not intended to get the ship actually under way, only a
portion of the work indicated by the orders was really executed. The
form of hooking on the messenger was gone through with, as also were
the various preparations for catting and fishing the anchor. The
capstan bars were inserted in the pigeon-holes.

"Heave round!" shouted the first lieutenant; and the order was repeated
by the second lieutenant, whose station is on the forecastle.

Everything appeared to be progressing with proper order and regularity,
and Captain Shuffles hoped the warning words of the principal had
produced an impression upon the minds of the mischief-makers. But
appearances are very deceptive. While the hands were walking around the
capstan, four of the bars suddenly came out of the pigeon-holes at the
same instant, and a dozen of the seamen were thrown, apparently with
great violence, upon the deck. The bars, confined at one end by the
swifter, swung round and cracked the shins of others, and a scene of
confusion ensued, which set at nought all ideas of discipline.

No one was badly hurt, but every one was excited. Those who were not
concerned in the plot caught the spirit of mischief from the others,
and, with but few exceptions, the crew joined in the sport. The seaman
who originated the trouble had simply neglected to insert the pins
which confine the capstan bars within the pigeon-holes, or had left the
bars with the heads against the pins. As nearly all joined in the
frolic, there were none to inform against others, and it was simply
impossible for Leavitt, the second lieutenant, or Ellis, the first
master,--under whose eye this breach of discipline had occurred,--to
determine who the ringleaders were.

Shuffles and the commodore were intensely annoyed at this scene, and
immediately went forward. By this time, those who had been thrown upon
the deck, which included nearly all at the capstan, had picked
themselves up. The Knights looked even more innocent than those whom
they had dragged into the scrape, and the high officers from the
quarter-deck were no wiser than the lieutenant and master. In the midst
of the confusion, Howe and Wilton had removed the pins from the bars,
which still remained in the drumhead of the capstan.

"Mr. Leavitt, how did this happen?" demanded Captain Shuffles.

"Half the bars dropped out of the capstan all at once, and the hands
were thrown down," replied the lieutenant, who was hardly less annoyed
than the captain.

"Were the bars pinned in?"

"I supposed they were, sir."

Captain Shuffles walked up to the capstan. Not a single pin was
inserted.

"Let your midshipman see that the bars are properly pinned and
swiftered next time," said the commander, as he walked aft to resume
his place on the quarter-deck.

"Unship the bars!" said Leavitt; and they were restored to the rack,
leaving everything as it was before the drill began.

The crew were piped to muster, and the order to weigh anchor repeated.
The capstan bars were shipped, and this time, the midshipman whose
station was on the forecastle satisfied himself that they were securely
pinned, and so reported to the second lieutenant. As the rogues had
made no provision for this state of things, they were thrown upon their
own resources for the means of defeating the operation a second time.
Commodore Kendall had placed himself in position to watch the movement,
and the officers in charge had pinned their eyes wide open, fully
resolved that the authors of the trouble should not escape a second
time.

Directly abaft the capstan was the fore-hatch, over which lay the path
of those who walked around at the bars. Ordinarily the hatch was closed
when the capstan was used; but, on the present occasion, a plank had
been placed across the aperture, to avoid the necessity of putting on
the hatch, and thus excluding the air from the kitchen, where the cooks
were baking their daily batch of bread.

"Heave round!" said the first lieutenant.

"Heave round!" repeated the second lieutenant; and the hands at the
capstan began their circular march.

By some means not observed by the vigilant officers, the plank over the
fore-hatch slowly travelled along until one end of it barely caught on
the combing of the hatch. Half a dozen seamen had given it a kick with
their heels as they passed over it, and it was soon in condition to
drop into the steerage below. Little stepped upon it, and down it went.
Releasing his hold of the bar, he dropped upon the steps below, and
disappeared. Sheffield followed him, and then Ibbotson. The hands at
the other side of the capstan took care that the party should keep
moving. A few well-disposed boys, when they came to the hatch,--which
was not more than four feet wide,--leaped across it, as any of them
might have done, if they had not been infected with the spirit of
mischief.

"Avast heaving!" shouted the second lieutenant.

At this instant one of the lambs was on the combing of the hatch, and
he must either go over or hang by the bar; so he pushed along, and his
movement brought another into a similar position. Seeing how the case
was, the rogues kept the capstan going, in spite of the commands of the
officers, until two thirds of the gang had dropped into the steerage.
It was finally suspended by the efforts of the excited officers, who
took hold of the bars with their own hands, and counteracted the
efforts of the rogues.

The young rascals in the steerage pretended to be hurt more seriously
than they were, though some of them had struck the steps or the floor
below with force enough to make them feel a little sore. They began to
limp, and to rub their shins and shoulders, their heads and arms, very
vigorously, as though they believed that friction was a sovereign
remedy for aching bones.

"Why didn't you stop, Hunter, when I ordered you to do so?" demanded
Leavitt, indignantly.

"I couldn't, sir," replied the lamb, speaking only the simple truth.

"Yes, you could! I will report you for disobedience."

"I was right over the hatch, and I had either to go down or jump over:
I couldn't stop there."

"And you did the same thing, Hyde," added the officer.

"I couldn't help it, sir," replied he. "When Hunter got over, he
dragged me so far that I couldn't stop."

"Why didn't you let go, then?" demanded Leavitt, angrily.

"I was afraid the next bar would hit me in the head."

Both of these boys were ordinarily models of propriety, and they had
not, for an instant, intended to do anything out of order. The real
culprits were all at the foot of the stairs, rubbing their limbs and
making the most terrible contortions, as though their legs, arms, and
heads were actually broken. The officers had all seen Hunter and Hyde
pushing along the bars after the order had been given to stop. They
seemed to be guilty, and they were required to report at the mainmast
to the first lieutenant, for discipline. The second lieutenant then
went down the fore-hatch, where the appalling spectacle of a crowd of
sufferers was presented to his view.

"Are you hurt, Little?" he asked, turning to the most prominent victim
of the catastrophe.

"Yes, sir," groaned Little, twisting his back-bone almost into a hard
knot, and trying to reach the seat of his injury with both hands at the
same time.

"How happened you to fall through?" inquired Leavitt, more gently than
he had spoken on deck, for the sight of all this misery evidently
affected him.

"I don't know, sir," answered Little, with one of his most violent
contortions. "I was looking up at the fore-yard arm, and--ugh!--the
first thing I knew, I was--O, dear!--I was down here, with
that--ugh!--with that plank on top of me."

"Are you much hurt?"

"I don't know. It aches first rate," cried Little, with a deep,
explosive sigh.

"Well, go aft, and report to the surgeon."

"I don't want to go to the surgeon. He mauls me about to death. I shall
be better soon."

"On deck, all who are able to do so!" added Leavitt. "Bennington, you
will ask Dr. Winstock to attend to those who are hurt, and report to
the first lieutenant."

But it did not appear that any one was so much injured as to require
the services of the surgeon, for the whole party went on deck at the
order. Little still writhed and twisted. Howe rubbed his knee, and
Spencer nursed his elbow. Commodore Kendall, who had witnessed the
whole affair, did not see how it was possible for them to tumble down
the hatchway without injuring themselves, and he was willing to believe
that the appearance was not deceitful. He had kept his eyes fixed upon
the crew as they walked round the capstan, but he was unable to
determine whether the mishap was the result of accident or intention.

Again the captain came forward; but after consulting with Paul, he
returned to the quarter-deck without making any comments. The two lambs
had reported to the first lieutenant, and the matter had gone to
Captain Shuffles, who directed the culprits to be sent to the
principal. They went into the steerage, and knocking at the door of the
main cabin, Mr. Lowington came out, and heard their statement. They
were ordered to their mess-rooms to await an investigation.

The hatchway was closed, and the order to man the capstan was given a
third time. The injured seamen had in a measure recovered the use of
their limbs, and though they still limped and squirmed, they took their
places in the line. Either their will or their ingenuity to do mischief
failed them, the third time, for the form of heaving up the anchor to a
short stay was regularly accomplished. The commodore and all the
officers in the forward part of the ship watched the operation with the
keenest scrutiny, and when it was successfully finished, they hoped the
end of all the mishaps had come.

"Pawl the capstan! Unship the bars! Stations for loosing sail!"
continued the first lieutenant. "Lay aloft, sail-loosers!"

The nimble young tars, whose places were aloft, sprang up the rigging.

"Man the boom-tricing lines!"

But the boom-tricing lines appeared to be in a snarl, and it was some
time before they were ready for use, being manipulated by some of the
mischief-makers.

"Trice up!" shouted Goodwin, the executive officer.

Up went the inner ends of the studding-sail booms.

"Lay out!" added Goodwin.

"Lay out!" repeated the midshipmen in the tops; and the seamen ran out
on the foot-ropes to their several stations for loosing sail.

At the same time, the forecastle hands were loosing the fore-topmast
staysail, jib, and flying jib, and the after-guard, or quarter-deck
hands, were clearing away the spanker.

"Loose!" said the executive officer; and the hands removed the gaskets,
stoppers, and other ropes, used to confine the sails when furled.

"Stand by--let fall!" was the next order.

At this command all the square sails should have dropped from the yards
at the same instant, but as a matter of fact, not half of them did
drop. Sheets, buntlines, bowlines, lifts, reef-pendants, and halyards
were fearfully snarled up. Some of the seamen on the yards were pulling
one way, and some another; some declared the snarl was in one place,
others in another place. The rogues had realized an undoubted success
in the work they had undertaken. Vainly the midshipmen in the tops
tried to bring order out of confusion. Those who were actually laboring
to untangle the ropes only increased the snarl.

The condition of affairs was duly reported to the captain, who had
become very impatient at the long delay. The masters were then sent
aloft to help the midshipmen unravel the snarl, but they succeeded no
better. It was evident enough to all the officers that this confusion
could not have been created without an intention to do it. An accident
might have happened on the main or the mizzen-mast, but not on every
yard on all three of the masts.

"What are you about?" asked Perth, who had been sent into the main-top,
as he met Howe.

"We have come to the conclusion that Bob Shuffles can't handle this
ship," whispered the ringleader of the mischief, with a significant
wink.

"You are getting us into a scrape."

"Well, we all are in the same boat."

"Don't carry it too far," suggested Master Perth.

"Carry what too far?" demanded Robinson, the midshipman in the top, who
had heard a word or two of the confidential talk--enough to give him an
idea of what was in the wind.

"Dry up, old fellow," said Perth, with some confusion, as Howe, who had
come down from the yard to cast off a line, sprang back to his place.

"What did you mean by that remark of yours?" inquired the midshipman.

"I told Howe not to carry the end of the buntline too far. It was wound
three times around the topsail sheet."

"Was that what you meant?" asked Robinson, suspiciously.

"Don't you see that buntline?" replied Perth. "It is fouled in the
sheet, and he was pulling it through farther, so as to snarl it up
still worse."

"All right," replied the inferior, who, however, was far from being
satisfied with the explanation.

"All right!" retorted Perth, smartly. "Is that the way you address your
superior officer. One would think I was responsible to you for my words
and actions."

"I didn't mean that," added Robinson.

"What did you mean?"

"I only said all right to your explanation."

"You did--did you?" said Perth, severely. "Then you called me to an
account, and now you acquit me!"

"I beg your pardon. Whatever I said, I did not mean anything
disrespectful," pleaded Robinson.

"Is this the kind of discipline among the officers? If it is, I don't
wonder that the crew get snarled up. I don't like to blow on a fellow,
but I'm tempted to send you to the mainmast."

"I didn't mean anything."

Master Perth turned from his abashed inferior, ascended the main
rigging, and with a few sharp orders, compelled the topmen to unsnarl
the ropes. He was afraid the midshipman would report what he had said
to the captain, and he had attempted to intimidate him into silence by
threatening him with a similar fate.

"On deck!" hailed Perth from the top. "All ready in the main-top, sir,"
he added, when the third lieutenant answered his hail from the waist.

After a delay of half an hour, a like report came down from the fore
and mizzen-tops. The masters returned to their stations on deck, and
everything was in readiness to continue the manoeuvre. Captain Shuffles
was in earnest conversation with Commodore Kendall. A more unsatisfactory
state of things could not exist than that which prevailed on board of
the Young America. The conduct of the crew amounted almost to mutiny.
Those who had maliciously made the mischief, and those who had been
engaged in it from a love of fun, had succeeded in confounding those
who meant to do their duty. It was impossible to tell who were guilty
and who were innocent; for three quarters, at least, of the crew seemed
to be concerned in the confusion.

"It is clear enough that they are hazing me," said Captain Shuffles,
sadly. "I don't know that I have done anything to set the fellows
against me."

"Certainly not," replied Paul, warmly. "You have only done your duty. I
have no doubt those fellows who ran away in the Josephine are at the
bottom of it. If I am not very much mistaken, I saw Howe, on the
main-topsail yard, tangling up the buntlines and sheets."

"I have heard that these fellows intended to get even with me," added
Shuffles, with a smile, as though he had not much fear of them.

"I should keep the crew at work until they did their duty. I would keep
them at it night and day, till they can get the ship under way without
any confusion," added Paul, earnestly.

"I intend to do that, but I do not like to be hard upon them."

"There is no danger of your being too hard."

"Whether I am hard or not, I'm going to have the work done in
ship-shape style, if we drill till morning. All hands, furl sails,"
said he to the first lieutenant.

The boatswain's call sounded through the ship. The necessary orders
were given in detail, and after considerable confusion, the sails were
all furled, and the ship restored to its original condition.

"Pipe to muster," continued the captain.

Under this order all the officers assembled on the quarter-deck.
Captain Shuffles addressed them in the mild tones in which he usually
spoke, as though he was not seriously disturbed by the ill conduct of
the crew. Assigning a lieutenant, a master, and a midshipman to each
mast, he directed them to set each sail separately, without regard to
others. They were to set the topsails first, then the other sails up to
the royals. Other officers were directed to drill the seamen stationed
at the head sails and the spanker.

During this conference Howe and his associates were congratulating
themselves upon the success of their vicious schemes, and encouraging
each other to persevere if another drill was ordered. They were curious
to know what the captain was doing with the officers on the
quarter-deck; but they concluded that it was only a meeting to "howl"
over the miserable discipline of the ship. But their wonderings were
soon set at rest by the boatswain's call of "All hands, make sail,
ahoy!"

They sprang to their stations as zealously as though they had no
thought but for the honor of the ship. They soon discovered that a new
order of proceeding had been introduced. The masters and midshipmen
perched themselves in the rigging, where they could see the movements
of every seaman. The adult forward officers--Peaks, the boatswain,
Bitts, the carpenter, and Leech, the sailmaker--also went aloft, and
stationed themselves on the topmast-stays, so that, besides the
lieutenants on deck, the commodore, and the past officers, there were
three pairs of sharp eyes aloft to inspect the operations on each sail.

Howe and his associates were not a little disconcerted at this array of
inspectors, and still more so when the order was given to loose only
the topsails. Peaks, on the main topmast-stay, caught Howe in the very
act of passing the gasket through the bight of the buntline. The
veteran tar came down upon him with such a torrent of sea slang, that
he did not attempt to repeat the act. The topsails were then set as
smartly and as regularly as ever before. After the inspectors had seen
all the sails set and furled in detail, the topsails, top-gallant
sails, and courses, with the jib and spanker, were set as usual, when
the vessel got under way.

By the time the routine in detail had been practised two or three
times, the officers began to know where to look for the
mischief-makers. Peaks had exposed the ringleader, and the conspirators
were finally beaten at their own game. But Captain Shuffles was not
satisfied; and when the crew were dismissed from muster, he hastened to
the main cabin to consult with the principal.

The conspirators, at close quarters, had lost the day, and discipline
was triumphant.




CHAPTER III.

A GATHERING STORM.


"Mr. Lowington, I should like to go to sea for a day or two," said
Captain Shuffles, when he had obtained the ear of the principal.

"Go to sea!" exclaimed Mr. Lowington. "Why, I thought you were all in a
hurry to go down the Rhine."

"I am not at all satisfied with the discipline of the ship," answered
the new captain. "It requires about as many officers as seamen to
execute any manoeuvre, and I think we need more practice in ship's duty
before we make any more tours on shore."

"How did you succeed in your second drill?"

"We went through with it after a while; but it was only with two
officers in each top, and the adult forward officers on the stays, that
we could set a single sail."

"Have you ascertained who is at the root of the mischief?"

"Howe, for one."

"The runaways, probably," added Mr. Lowington, thoughtfully.

"I have no doubt all of them were concerned in it; but at least half
the crew took part in the mischief. We finally went through all the
forms with tolerable precision. Two or three days' service at sea will
enable us to put everything in good working order. The officers also
ought to have a little practice in their new stations."

"When do you wish to go to sea?"

"Immediately, sir," replied Shuffles.

"To-night?"

"Yes, sir. I think any delay would be injurious to discipline. The crew
have been hazing the officers now for two hours, and have had the best
of it most of the time. If we went to sea without any delay, I think it
would be understood."

"You are right, Captain Shuffles. Where is Commodore Kendall?"

"In the after cabin, sir."

"Send for him, if you please."

The commander sent one of the waiters to call Paul, who presently
appeared.

"Captain Shuffles wishes to go to sea to-night," said Mr. Lowington,
with a smile, as the young commodore entered the cabin; "and I think he
takes a correct view of the situation."

"To-night!" exclaimed Paul, whose thought immediately flashed from the
ship to the Hôtel de l'Europe, in Havre, where Mr. and Mrs. Arbuckle
and Grace were domiciled, having come down from Paris by the morning
train, to be in readiness to start with the ship's company for the
Rhine.

"I know what you are thinking about, Paul," laughed the principal. "You
may go on shore, and invite the Arbuckles to join us; or, as we can
work the ship very well without a commodore, you may stay on shore with
them until our return."

"Invite them to go with us," suggested Shuffles. "I think the presence
of our friends will have a good effect upon the crew."

"I should be very glad to have them go with us," replied Paul.

"It is a little doubtful whether we return to Havre again, for Brest
would be a better place for the vessels to lie during our absence in
Germany," said Mr. Lowington.

"We cannot sail at once--can we?" asked Paul.

"We can get off this evening," replied Mr. Lowington. "Let the stewards
of the ship and the consort go on shore, and get a supply of fresh
provisions. The commodore, in the mean time, can wait on the Arbuckles.
I see no difficulty in getting off by sunset."

"It will be rather short notice for the Arbuckles," suggested Paul.

"They are ready to go to Germany at an hour's notice, and it will
require no more preparation for this voyage. You can go on shore at
once, Commodore Kendall. Captain Shuffles, you will hoist the signal
for sailing; send a boat to the Josephine, and I will give you a letter
for Mr. Fluxion."

The arrangement agreed upon, Captain Shuffles went on deck, and
directed the first lieutenant to pipe away the commodore's barge. The
third lieutenant was detailed to serve in this boat. As its crew went
over the side, Captain Shuffles saw that Howe, Spencer, and four others
of the runaways were of its number, under the new station bill. This
fact induced him to send Peaks with the lieutenant in charge, so as to
guard against any mischief. The third cutter was sent to the Josephine,
with the principal's letter. In this boat, Little was the only runaway.
The first cutter soon after left the ship with the steward, to bring
off a load of fresh provisions.

As the third cutter was obliged to wait for Mr. Fluxion to write an
answer to Mr. Lowington's letter, the crew were allowed to go on board
of the Josephine. The sight of the signal for sailing, which had been
hoisted on board of the Young America, caused no little excitement in
the consort, as, in fact, it did on board of the ship. It looked like a
very sudden movement, for all were anticipating their departure for
Germany by the next or the following day. The principal had told them
they would leave in a few days, and not a word had been said about
going to sea in the interim.

"What's up?" asked Greenway, one of the runaways, who had been
transferred to the Josephine, as Little came on deck.

"I don't know--only that we are going to sea," replied Little. "We have
had high times on board of the ship."

"What have you been doing?"

"Hazing Shuffles," said Little, in a whisper.

"And I'll bet that is the reason why we are going to sea, instead of
going to Germany," answered Greenway, with something like disgust in
his looks and in the tones of his voice.

"No matter; we have proved that Shuffles can't handle the ship. He had
to call on old Peaks to help him before he could get the main-topsail
set."

"But if you play these games we shall be left on board while the rest
of the fellows go down the Rhine."

"Not much! Fluxion is going to Marseilles to see his grandmother, or
somebody else, and if we only make mischief enough, Lowington won't
dare to leave us on board."

Little explained the views of Howe, which he had adopted as his own, to
the effect that the more mischief they made, the better would be their
chances of joining the excursion to Germany. Greenway was foolish
enough to take the same view of the question. If the vice-principal was
obliged to go away, Mr. Lowington would not dare to leave the runaways
with any other person.

"But we don't want to go to Germany," added Little.

"Why not?"

"Simply because we have not been to Paris and Switzerland," replied the
little villain, as he led his companion to the forecastle, where no one
could overhear them. "We are going to have the time we bargained for
when we sailed in the Josephine. If we go with the rest of the fellows,
we intend to take French leave of them as soon as we find an
opportunity to do so. On the whole, I had just as lief stay if Fluxion
is not to have the care of us, for we can slip through the hands of any
other man in the squadron."

"There is some money in Paris waiting for me," said Greenway.

"There is some waiting for a lot of our fellows," replied Little. "I
intend to claim mine as soon as the party begin to go down the Rhine."

"What's the plan? How are the fellows to get off?" asked Greenway.

"Every one must manage that to suit himself. We had better go in little
parties of three or four."

"O, no; it's better to keep together," protested Greenway.

"I don't think so. If we attempt to do anything together again, we
shall be watched. We must look out for our chances."

"But our fellows are separated now, and we can't do anything alone."

"Yes, you can. When you see a good opportunity to start for Paris,
start. That's all you have to do."

"I don't like this way."

"It's the best way. Don't you see that when we are missed we can all be
caught in a bunch again. If we go in a dozen different squads, they
will to chase us in as many different directions. If we start with the
fellows for Germany, we shall step out as we have the chance to do so.
I don't believe in more than two or three going together."

"But some of us may not have any money," suggested Greenway.

"Then they must borrow some of those who have it."

"Lowington got hold of two or three drafts, or bills, sent to the
fellows."

"Only two or three," replied Little, lightly. "Those fellows can either
borrow, or go with the lambs."

The Knights of the Red Cross, afterwards of the Golden Fleece, had
written to their fathers, asking them for remittances to be sent to
Paris, where, after sailing around to Marseilles in the Josephine, and
going the rest of the way by railroad, they were to get their letters.
Most of their parents had complied with the request, but two or three
of them had taken the precaution to inform the principal of the fact,
and the bills had been cashed, the proceeds being placed to the credit
of the students in whose favor they had been drawn. As long as the boys
wrote home, the fathers and mothers seldom communicated with the
principal. Most of the rogues had been informed in their letters from
home that the money wanted had been remitted, and awaited their order
in Paris. The runaways, therefore, would be in funds sufficient for
their stolen excursion as soon as they could reach their destination.
The only thing that disturbed them was the difficulty of obtaining
enough in the beginning to pay their railroad fare to Paris.

While Little was instructing Greenway in the programme for the future,
the crew of the third cutter were called away, and the conference was
abruptly closed. The purport of the letter which the officer in charge
of the boat bore to the principal, was, that Mr. Fluxion did not desire
to leave the consort for his visit to Marseilles until the close of the
week. Howe was perhaps nearer the truth than he really believed when he
declared that Mr. Lowington would not dare to leave the runaways on
board of either vessel in charge of any other person than the
vice-principal. He had been strongly inclined to grant the petition of
Shuffles in their favor; but when it was almost proved that the party
were the cause of all the confusion which had occurred on board of the
ship during the afternoon, that they were in a mutinous frame of mind,
he was not willing to encourage their insubordination. He was much
disturbed by the difficult problem thus thrust upon him. Dr. Carboy,
the professor of natural philosophy and chemistry, who had spent
several years in Germany, had volunteered to take charge of the
runaways, and he seemed to be the only person who was available for
this duty. He was no sailor, and only a fair disciplinarian, and Mr.
Lowington had not entire confidence in his ability to manage thirty of
the wildest boys in the squadron--discontented under the punishment to
which they were subjected.

Though everything was orderly on board of the ship, there was a great
deal of suppressed excitement, not to say indignation, for the crew did
not like the idea of keeping watch and reefing topsails, instead of
voyaging down the beautiful Rhine. The movement looked like a
punishment, and many of the crew felt themselves to be entirely
innocent of the blunders and failures made in handling the ship. They
had done their best, and thought it was not fair to punish the innocent
with the guilty. Doubtless it was not fair; but it was a question which
related to the discipline of the crew, as a whole, and not a dozen of
those who had made the mischief could be identified, even by the seamen
who had worked in the rigging with them, much less by the officers.

The mischief-makers themselves did all they could to foment this spirit
of discontent among those who were ordinarily well disposed. They
assumed the responsibility of declaring that the trip into Germany had
been indefinitely postponed. Probably, with the self-conceit incident
to human nature, they really believed they were no worse than the best
of the crew, and they desired to involve all their shipmates in the
odium of the insubordination which had taken place.

"No Rhine, except pork rind," said Little, as he met Raymond in the
waist, after the latter had expressed his dissatisfaction at the new
order of things.

"Do you think so?" asked Raymond, who had read enough of the splendid
scenery of the Rhine to make him very anxious to see it.

"A fellow that isn't blind can see--can't he?--if he opens his eyes,"
demanded Little. "What did the new captain do this afternoon, the very
minute the crew were dismissed from their stations?"

"I don't know. What did he do?" inquired Raymond, curiously.

"Didn't he rush down into the main cabin? Didn't he have a long talk
with Lowington? Then, wasn't the signal for sailing hoisted at once? I
tell you this is all Shuffles's doings."

"Why should Shuffles want to go to sea any more than the rest of us?"
asked Raymond.

"Why should he? Isn't he the captain of the ship now? Doesn't he want
to try on his new authority, and see how it fits? Don't he want to
punish the crew because they didn't drill well this afternoon? I
believe you are a little deaf in one eye, Raymond, or else you can't
hear in the other. It's all as plain as the figure-head on a French
frigate," continued Little, with enthusiasm enough to convince any
dissatisfied seaman.

"Perhaps it is as you say."

"I know it is."

"The drill was very bad. Every fellow knows that."

"What if it was? Whose fault was it?"

"I don't know whose fault it was; but everything went wrong, and I
suppose the new captain is not satisfied with the state of discipline
on board. I should not be, if I were he."

"Two of your little lambs are cooped up in their state-rooms now for
disobedience of orders."

"Who are they?"

"Hunter and Hyde."

"Two of the best fellows in the ship--never got a black mark in their
lives," said Raymond.

"O, well! The new captain will put you pious fellows through a course
of sprouts that will open your eyes. Shuffles is a liar and a
hypocrite. He has his reward, while an honest fellow, like me, will
stick to his bunk in the steerage till the end of the cruise."

"I don't believe Shuffles is a liar, or a hypocrite. You don't like him
because he broke up your cruise in the Josephine."

"That's not the reason. I am willing to obey the orders of all the
officers, but I don't like to see the crowd punished for nothing,"
replied Little, leading the auditor back to the original topic.

Raymond was not yet a good subject for the mischief-maker to work upon,
though, like a majority of the crew, he was dissatisfied with the
change in the programme. Going to sea meant strict discipline; and
after making up their minds to have a good time on shore, it was not
pleasant to think of hard work and hard study for the next week or two.

[Illustration: THE ARRIVAL OF THE ARBUCKLES.--Page 52.]

"There comes the commodore's barge," continued Little, as he pointed to
the boat, which was rapidly approaching the ship. "The Arbuckles are on
board, with all their trunks. What do you think of that, Raymond?"

The mischief-maker looked triumphant. The pile of baggage in the boat
seemed to furnish sufficient testimony to clinch the argument he had
used.

"That looks like a long cruise, certainly. I suppose they are going
with us," replied Raymond, with a sorrowful and disappointed look.

"To be sure they are. In my opinion we are going to sail for Belfast,
to convey the Arbuckles home. You won't see any Rhine, except a pork
rind, on this cruise. If the fellows have any spunk at all, they won't
stand this thing."

"Stand it! What can they do?" asked Raymond, who really believed the
crew to be unfairly treated.

"Don't you know what they can do? Who works the ship?"

"We do, of course."

"Who would work her if we did not?"

"Well, I suppose she would not be worked at all," replied Raymond,
smiling.

"Then, if all the fellows respectfully refuse to man the capstan, or to
unloose a sail, till they have their rights, who will get the ship
under way?"

"We are not going to do anything of that sort," answered Raymond,
rather indignantly. "It would be mutiny."

"You needn't call it by that name, if you don't wish to. Lowington
promised the fellows a trip down the Rhine. Now, because the new
captain could not handle the ship, we are to be sent off to sea. If the
fellows had any grit at all in their bones, they would show Lowington
that they are not slaves to him, or any other man."

"I think we won't talk any more about that," said Raymond, as he moved
off, for the bold speech of the mischief-maker alarmed him, and caused
him to realize that he was listening to one of the ringleaders of the
runaways.

The commodore's barge came up to the gangway. The ladies were assisted
up the steps, and the trunks hoisted on board and stowed away in the
after cabin. The two state-rooms, which had been built for the use of
the commodore and the past officers, were appropriated to their use.

If Raymond, and such as he, were not willing to listen to the mutinous
counsels of the runaways, he was not the less dissatisfied and
discontented. The arrival of the Arbuckles, with their baggage,
indicated that the trip to the Rhine had been abandoned. Perhaps the
well-disposed students could have submitted to this disappointment, if
it had not been inflicted upon them as a punishment. It seemed to them
that they were to suffer for a whim of Shuffles. The runaways had taken
pains to disseminate this idea among the crew, as they had also
succeeded in involving the whole of them in the mischief which induced
the principal to go to sea that night.

All over the deck and throughout the steerage, the boys were grumbling
and growling like regular old salts, whose prerogative it is to find
fault. When Howe and Spencer returned in the barge, they readily
perceived the state of feeling on board. Little told them what he had
said and done, and convinced them that the whole crew were ripe for a
strike. The entire ship's company were discussing their grievances, and
even a large portion of the officers were dissatisfied. Very likely the
sudden elevation of Shuffles had created a feeling of jealousy in the
minds of a portion of them.

The mischief-makers were prompt in taking advantage of this state of
feeling in the crew. They fanned the flame of discontent, and it was
not difficult to convince their shipmates that they were very hardly
used; that the new captain was imposing a heavy burden upon them. Some
of the best disposed of them were in favor of waiting upon the
principal, and representing their view of the case to him; but the more
impetuous ones laughed at this plan. Shuffles was the principal's pet,
and he would support his _protégé_ against everybody else on board. The
students talked as boys talk, and acted as boys act. At that moment
Shuffles was the most unpopular fellow on board, for it was understood
that he had proposed and advocated the obnoxious measure. The ship's
company were willing to believe that Mr. Lowington had yielded his
assent to please the new captain, rather than because he deemed it
necessary to go to sea himself.

By the time the first cutter returned, a large majority of the students
had decided that something should be done. They could not agree upon
the precise step to be taken. Some advocated a protest, others a
respectful refusal to do duty; and a few went in for a square mutiny.
The provisions were transferred from the cutter to the ship, and the
boat was hoisted up before the perplexing question could be settled.

"After supper, let every fellow go to his mess-room. Don't answer the
boatswain's call to weigh anchor," said Raymond, who had made
considerable progress in rebellion since his conversation with Little.

"Ay, ay! That's the talk!" responded half a dozen of the group, who had
been anxiously discussing the question.

"No, no!" added half a dozen others.

"Why not?" demanded Raymond of the opponents of the plan.

"Because the Arbuckles are on board, for one reason, and because it
will be mutiny, for the second," said Tremere, who volunteered to be
spokesman for the opposition. "Mr. Arbuckle has taken us through
Switzerland, and paid all the bills, and has invited us to another
excursion on the same terms. Now, when he comes on board with his
family, to take a little sail with us, we refuse to do duty. It looks
like contempt and ingratitude to him."

"It has nothing to do with him," replied Raymond, warmly. "Here is the
whole matter in a nutshell. Mr. Arbuckle invited us to take a trip into
Germany, and Mr. Lowington promised that we should go. Then, because we
don't drill quite as well as the new captain wishes, he insists upon
going to sea. The cruise down the Rhine is given up, and we are to
carry the Arbuckles to Belfast."

"Who says we are going to Belfast?" demanded Tremere.

"All the fellows say so."

"That doesn't prove that we are going there. I go for obeying orders,
wherever we go."

"No, no!" replied a dozen of the group.

"We don't intend to do anything wicked," said Raymond. "When the
boatswain calls, we don't answer--that's all. Then the officers will
want to know what the matter is, and we shall have a chance to explain
our position. When we get fair play, we shall be all right, and return
to duty."

The group separated, and while the ship's company were waiting for the
supper call, those in favor of the strike used all their influence to
carry their measure, while those who were opposed to it remained
passive.




CHAPTER IV.

THE YOUNG AMERICA MUTINY.


It was impossible for the advocates of the mutiny to determine what
success had attended their efforts, when the crew were piped to supper.
Howe and Little were delighted to find the work in which they were
interested progressing so finely. Nearly the whole crew were arrayed
against the new captain, and in half an hour the grand explosion would
take place. Not more than twenty of the students were expected to
respond to the boatswain's call to get under way, and it would be
impossible to go to sea. The seamen went below at the supper call, but
most of them were too much excited to eat their usual allowance.

The officers, who were to take their supper at a later hour, were all
on deck. Paul Kendall was seated by the side of Grace Arbuckle,
enjoying a pleasant chat, while her father and mother were in
conversation with the principal. Captain Shuffles was planking the
deck, apparently engaged in deep thought. Possibly the events of the
afternoon disturbed him, for he had already received a hint that the
ship's company were much dissatisfied at the idea of going to sea. He
could not see why they should be. If the crew did their duty, and
everything worked well, the squadron would proceed immediately to
Brest, and the cruise need not last more than two days. He knew the
programme himself, but he forgot that it was the policy of the
principal to keep the destination of the ship a secret, as a general
rule, until she was out of sight of land. The Arbuckles had brought
their baggage with them, because the party was to proceed to Brest, and
would not return to Havre.

Popularity is certainly a very insecure possession; for, three weeks
before, Shuffles had been the favorite of the whole ship's company.
Now, he was the most unpopular person on board; partly, it is true,
because he was misunderstood. Both officers and seamen regarded him as
the cause of the present movement. Most of them believed, or at least
feared, that the trip to the Rhine had been abandoned, and that the new
captain was responsible for this change in the programme. They
concluded that he preferred to exercise his new authority, to roaming
on shore, where he was, practically, no more than any other student. It
was true that Shuffles had suggested to the principal the idea of going
to sea, as a measure for perfecting the discipline of the crew. Mr.
Lowington had permitted the captain to fight his own battle with the
crew, and he fully believed that a little sea service was necessary,
after the disorder and insubordination which had prevailed in the ship
during the drill. Some of those who complained the loudest had
permitted their love of fun to get the better of their discretion, and
had joined in the disorder which prevailed during the drill. Many
well-disposed boys had assisted the conspirators against the peace of
the ship by joining in what appeared to them to be but a mere frolic,
while it was, in fact, an organized attempt to make mischief. They had
encouraged the spirit of insubordination, without supposing they were
engaged in anything more than a mere lark, involuntary on their part,
and suggested only by the circumstances of the moment.

From the captain's stand-point, the confusion had a very grave aspect;
while from that of the seamen, it was a matter of trivial consequence.
The commander was mortified to find the discipline so weak; and he
could have no confidence in himself or his crew until his orders were
promptly obeyed. He was thinking only of the welfare of the ship and
her crew. He had no intention of punishing the students, when he
suggested the plan of going to sea,--only of perfecting the discipline.
It seemed to him just as though three weeks on shore had demoralized
the ship's company. Though he was now aware that the runaways had done
what they could to make trouble, the confusion seemed to be too
extensive to be accounted for by their agency. Two of the best boys on
board had been sent to the mainmast for disobedience; and it was clear
that the runaways had not produced all the trouble.

The commodore fully sustained him, and believed that it was best for
the ship to go to sea. If the students had forgotten the ropes, or were
so much embarrassed in their new stations, that they could not set a
sail or get up the anchor without making a mess of it, the ship ought
to go to sea. On the return of the excursionists from Germany, it might
be necessary to put to sea without an hour's delay, as the principal
had suggested. Shipwreck and disaster might follow if the crew were not
in working order. It was a plain case to the captain.

Paul Kendall had explained the situation to the Arbuckles as mildly as
he could. He had told them that the seamen were a little disorderly,
and that it was necessary to have them in perfect discipline before
they went to Germany. Without intending to do so, he had produced the
impression on their minds, that the trip would be given up unless the
boys performed their duty to the entire satisfaction of the principal.
In talking with the officers, they had expressed their fear that the
proposed excursion would not take place. Perhaps the guests were not
far from right; for certainly the students would not be allowed to step
on shore if the discipline of the ship was not satisfactory. Miss Grace
was sadly disturbed at the thought of depriving the students of the
pleasure of seeing the Rhine, its wonders and its beauties.

"Why, I thought your crew were in perfect discipline, Captain--no, I
mean Commodore--Kendall," said she, as they sat upon the quarter-deck,
discussing the great question of the hour.

"They are, generally," replied Paul. "But you know we are a little
world by ourselves, and we have our troubles just like other people. It
will be all right, I hope, in a day or two. The students get a little
wild sometimes."

"Captain Shuffles is such a noble fellow, I should think they would all
wish to do their best. I'm sure I should, if I were a sailor in your
ship."

"Shuffles is a capital fellow," added Paul, who was certainly more
pleased to praise the commander himself, than to have his fair
companion do so.

"I shall never forget his noble conduct on that terrible night when the
steamer was burned," said Grace, warmly.

"Probably none of us will ever forget it. But I am sorry to say that
there is a great deal of dissatisfaction with the new captain, just
now, even among the officers," added Paul.

"I'm very sorry."

"But it is not his fault; really it is not," continued Paul, fearing
that he had said too much.

"I'm sure it is not," protested Grace. "I wonder if I have any
influence with the officers."

"I think you have: indeed, I know you have with one of them," replied
Paul; but he began to choke before he had uttered the last clause of
the sentence.

"With one of them?"

"Yes, with all of them; but perhaps more with one than with others,"
stammered Paul, studying the seams in the quarter-decks.

"Who is he, pray?" asked Grace, rather timidly.

"With the commodore," answered he, desperately.

"Thank you, Commodore Kendall. Then we will both use our influence to
have the captain set right with the officers and the crew."

"Well, it is not exactly the right thing for so dignified a personage
as the commodore to persuade his inferiors that his views are correct.
He issues orders, and others obey them," laughed Paul. "But really I
cannot, in courtesy, meddle with the discipline of the ship."

"I'm going to meddle with it, if I can do anything to set Captain
Shuffles right," said Grace, who was very confident that it was quite
impossible for her noble preserver to do, or even think, anything
wrong.

"The officers will do their duty, whatever they think," added Paul. "In
due time they will be satisfied that the captain is right. I fully
agree with him, and think that the ship ought to go to sea."

"Of course, I expect to find you on the right side, Commodore Kendall,"
said Grace.

"Certainly I'm always on your side," he replied, becoming astonishingly
bold for him.

"Then we are both on Captain Shuffles's side. Who is the officer
standing near us?"

It happened to be Master Perth; and Miss Arbuckle called him, intent
upon finding some one who was not on the captain's side. Paul, however,
did not think it was in accordance with the dignity of the commodore of
the squadron to listen to any criticism of the captain's action, and he
reluctantly left the pleasant seat he occupied by the side of the young
lady. If there was any one on board who hated Shuffles, Perth was he.

"I wanted to get acquainted with you, Mr. Perth; for it seems to me I
have not met you before," she began.

"Probably not, Miss Arbuckle, for I was not one of the party who went
to Paris and Switzerland with you," replied the second master.

"Indeed!" exclaimed she, understanding, without further explanation,
why he was not one of the party, and that he was one of the runaways,
though she could not exactly comprehend how he happened to be an
officer if he had been a rebel.

"I had the honor to command the Josephine during a portion of the time
the ship's company were absent," laughed he, with anything but
penitence for his past offences.

"I am very sorry you were not with the others."

"So am I, for one reason--it deprived me of the pleasure of seeing your
pretty face for three or four weeks," said Perth, lightly.

"Perhaps I shall change my mind if I find your absence saved me from
such annoyance as I feel at the present moment," replied Grace,
blushing, and looking much displeased.

"I beg your pardon! I meant no offence," stammered Perth.

Grace smiled again; for she did not believe he would again venture to
indulge in an impudent compliment.

"I am very sorry to learn from what you say that you were one of the
runaways," she continued.

"I was one of them--I may say that I was the chief of them," replied
Perth, without a blush.

"Of course you are very sorry for it, and very glad that Captain
Shuffles brought you back."

"That's an open question," laughed Perth. "I don't think Shuffles made
much by what he did. I don't believe any fellow makes anything by being
a hypocrite, and selling out his friends."

"I don't think so, either. But you certainly cannot mean to say that
Captain Shuffles is a hypocrite, or that he ever betrayed his friends?"

"I suppose I ought not to say anything to you about it, knowing that he
is a strong friend of yours."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Perth, shall not be repeated. I have been told
that some of the officers are opposed to the new captain; and I do not
see how it can be true, when he is so noble and good."

"Noble and good!" ejaculated Perth.

"Certainly. You know what he did for me on the night the steamer was
burned."

"There isn't a fellow on board that would not have given all he had for
a chance to do the same thing for you," protested Perth.

"But all the students like him."

"I don't believe he has twenty friends in the ship."

"Then they do not know him as I do," replied Grace, indignantly.

"They know him better than you do. He's smart, and a good officer; but
when you have said that, you have said all that can be said," continued
Perth, bluntly.

"I am sorry to hear you say so," added Grace, really grieved, even
while she was incredulous. "I am afraid you are prejudiced against him
because he broke up your plan to run away with the Josephine."

"He didn't break it up. Our fellows disagreed among themselves; that's
the reason why we had to come back," explained Perth, whose pride did
not permit him to acknowledge that he had been beaten by the superior
skill and energy of Shuffles. "Now, all the fellows are on the very
verge of mutiny, because he insists upon taking the ship to sea,
instead of going down the Rhine."

"I'm sure he is doing no more than his duty," persisted Grace, stoutly.
"It appears that Mr. Lowington thinks he is right, or he would not send
the ship to sea. I am really sorry to hear you speak so unkindly of
your captain, for I must say that I cannot believe a word you say about
him."

"Thank you," replied Perth, dryly.

"I think you are sincere in your belief," added she. "Paul Kendall says
that the captain is right."

"Well, he is commodore, you know, and must believe everything the
principal says," laughed Perth. "It is not quite proper for any of us
to have opinions of our own, but you see some of us have them."

Perth was certainly good-natured, whatever else he was, and as Grace
said no more, he touched his cap, and passed on. The devoted admirer of
Shuffles's nobleness and goodness was greatly disconcerted by the blunt
statements of the second master, who had declared that the ship's
company were almost in a state of mutiny against the captain. She
continued her inquiries among other officers; but, though some of them
thought it was quite unnecessary to go to sea, they all spoke very
handsomely of Shuffles. It was plain enough that Perth had injured
himself more than the object of his calumny, by what he had said.

"Are you ready to go to sea, Miss Arbuckle?" asked the captain, as he
came on deck, and touched his cap to her.

"I am quite ready; indeed, I am afraid I am more ready than many others
on board of this ship," she replied. "I am sorry to hear that some of
the officers and seamen are very much displeased at the idea of going
to sea."

"So far as the seamen are concerned, it is their own fault, for they
have not done their duty," added the captain.

"Not the fault of all of them, I hope."

"Not all, certainly; but if they don't know their stations, they must
learn them. If you are all ready to go, I think we will be off," said
Shuffles, as he glanced at his watch. "You will get the ship under way,
if you please, Mr. Goodwin," he added, addressing the first lieutenant,
who was standing near him.

"I really hope there will be no trouble, Captain Shuffles," continued
Grace.

"There can be no trouble. All sailors grumble, you know, Miss Arbuckle,
and our boys imitate their elders in this respect. They will growl for
a while, but just as soon as they work the ship with skill and
promptness, we shall put into Brest, and make our trip down the Rhine.
I think we shall not be at sea beyond a couple of days."

"I hope not, for the sake of the crew."

"All hands, weigh anchor, ahoy!" shouted the boatswain, as his sharp
pipe rang through the ship.

Less than thirty of the seamen answered to the call, and it was
apparent that a very large majority of them had chosen to follow the
evil counsels of the runaways, or the foolish counsels of other
discontented spirits. It was the first time since the ship went into
commission that any considerable number of the crew had failed to
respond to the call. Shuffles was confounded, and the first lieutenant
actually turned pale. It looked like such a mutiny as the Chain League
had planned.

"Pipe again," said Shuffles, as quietly as he could.

Again the boatswain sounded the call, and repeated the order, but with
no better success than before. Not another seaman appeared upon deck.

"What does this mean?" said the commodore to the captain.

"As near as I can interpret it, the greater part of the crew do not
intend to obey orders," replied Shuffles.

"It certainly looks so."

"Mr. Goodwin, will you inquire of those who obeyed the order, whether
their shipmates heard the call?" continued the captain, laboring very
hard to appear cool and collected, as a commander ought to be in every
emergency.

Paul Kendall's curiosity prompted him to follow the executive officer
to the waist, where the seamen who had obeyed the call were waiting for
orders. He was unwilling to believe the evidence of his senses, though
he knew that there was considerable disaffection on board.

"Did the rest of the crew hear the boatswain's pipe?" asked Goodwin of
the faithful few.

"Yes, sir," replied Tremere.

"Where are they now?"

"In the mess-rooms."

"Why don't they obey?"

"They say they don't want to go to sea: they say they haven't done
anything to deserve punishment, and they object to being punished,"
replied the spokesman.

"What do they mean by being punished?" asked the commodore.

"Sent to sea. Mr. Lowington promised us a trip down the Rhine; and now
that excursion is given up. The fellows say the ship is bound to
Belfast, to convey the Arbuckles home. They say they are willing to do
their duty, if they can have fair play."

"What do the seamen intend to do?" asked Paul.

"Nothing, sir. They say they will give their reasons when called upon."

"Probably they will, when called upon," said Paul, who had very high
ideas of discipline.

The executive officer returned, and explained the situation to the
captain. It was impossible to get the ship under way with less than
thirty seamen, and he felt that his powers were exhausted. Fortunately,
Mr. Lowington, who had heard the boatswain's pipe, came on deck at this
critical moment.

"Didn't I hear the boatswain's pipe?" asked the principal, surprised to
find only a few hands in the waist.

"Yes, sir; we have called all hands twice, and only about thirty answer
the call."

"It was a mistake to call more than once," replied Mr. Lowington, who
did not seem to be taken aback by the astounding intelligence. "What's
the matter?"

The captain explained, reporting the statements made by the faithful
ones in the waist.

"A mutiny, then--is it?" added the principal, with a smile. "Well, I am
glad it is no worse."

"The mutineers are willing to explain, when called upon for an
explanation," added Paul, who was indignant at the conduct of the
malcontents.

"We don't usually call for explanations in such cases on board ship,"
said the principal. "It is plain enough that this is only a second
edition of the confusion of this afternoon. The young gentlemen have
been listening to evil advice."

"What shall be done, sir?" inquired the captain, rather nervously, in
spite of his laborious efforts to keep cool.

"Mutiny is mutiny," replied the principal; "but in this case, I think
we need not treat it with the severity which prevails in the navy. The
students below say, and probably believe, that the excursion to the
Rhine has been abandoned, and that the ship is bound to Belfast. Though
they are mistaken, we can only tell them so when they return to their
duty. We will go to sea, as we intended."

"How can we go to sea with a crew of less than thirty?" asked Shuffles.

"Keep perfectly calm, Captain Shuffles. I am willing to grant that, in
a man-of-war, with men in a state of mutiny, the case would be a very
serious one. I do not so regard it in the present instance, but we will
profit by the lesson it may teach. For an officer to permit a sailor to
see that he is disconcerted is yielding too much. Therefore, young
gentlemen, I wish you all to be perfectly composed, whatever happens.
This affair is rather ludicrous than otherwise, since the mutineers
declare that they are ready to explain when called upon to do so, which
is very kind and condescending on their part," the principal proceeded,
addressing the officers who had gathered around him for the solution of
what seemed to them a very difficult and trying problem.

But they were not permitted to hear the solution, for the principal
invited the commodore and the captain into the main cabin, to discuss
the matter, desiring, even in the present embarrassing situation, to
have everything done in accordance with his ideas of discipline. He
meant that the captain should be the apparent, if he could not be the
real, manager of the difficult affair.

"How many hands responded to the boatswain's call?" asked the
principal, when the party were seated.

"Less than thirty," answered Shuffles.

"Twenty-eight. I had the curiosity to count them," interposed Paul.

"Twenty-eight," repeated the principal. "Very well; we can--"

"I hope you will excuse me, sir," said Shuffles, interrupting him. "If
this state of thing is caused by any dislike to me, sir, I am willing
to resign."

"So far as I know, you have done your duty, Shuffles; and to permit you
to resign would be to abandon the plan of the Academy Ship, and
acknowledge that discipline is an impracticable thing. You cannot
resign."

"Many of the fellows dislike me," added the captain.

"That is not your fault, as I understand the matter. That the runaways,
who, I suspect, are at the root of this mischief, should be prejudiced
against you, was to be expected. If others are also, it is because they
are misinformed. You can afford to wait till time justifies your good
intentions."

"I am willing to own that I have no desire to resign. I like the place,
but I am willing to sacrifice my own wishes for the peace of the ship."

"Peace is not to be bought on any such terms. Say nothing more about
resigning. Twenty-eight hands, you say, are ready to obey orders."

"Yes, sir."

"On an emergency, the captain and four lieutenants can officer the
ship. Masters, midshipmen, and pursers must do duty as seamen. They
will gladly consent to do so. Let it be voluntary on their part. How
many will that make?"

"Thirty-eight."

"Peaks, Bitts, and Leach will make forty-one. The Josephine is fully
manned, and can spare us nine more. That will make fifty. If we lay
aside the school work, we can sail the ship round the world with that
number."

Shuffles displayed a smile of satisfaction at this solution.

"But we will procure the services of a tug-boat to tow us to sea, so
that there will be no hard work in getting clear of the harbor," added
the principal. "Send Leavitt in the second cutter to the Josephine for
the extra hands, and let Foster go in the third for one of the
steam-tugs up by the jetties. Above all things, Captain Shuffles, do
not mention your plans to any person."

"I will not, sir," replied Shuffles, as he hastened on deck to put in
force the solution of the problem.

"What is to be the result of this, Mr. Lowington?" asked Paul.

"I don't know--nothing serious, however. The young gentlemen are
waiting very impatiently in their mess-rooms to be called and asked for
the explanation, which I doubt not is a very plausible one. Let them
wait," continued the principal, leading the way to the deck, where he
sat down with the Arbuckles, and was soon busy in conversation with
them, as though nothing had happened.




CHAPTER V.

THE ORDER OF THE FAITHFUL.


The appearance of Captain Shuffles on deck produced a decided sensation
among the officers, some of whom believed that the mutineers would be
dragged from the mess-rooms by the adult forward officers, and tied up
to the rigging. The decided character of the principal certainly
pointed to the most decided measures. Something terrible was to be
expected, and the young gentlemen were astonished when Mr. Lowington
came on deck, immediately after the captain, seated himself with the
Arbuckles, and began to converse with them as pleasantly as though no
mutiny had ever been dreamed of.

The captain called the officers around him, and all of them eagerly
obeyed the summons.

"We are going to sea immediately," said he, with none of the anxiety
which was visible in his face before. "As we are short-handed, I have a
favor to ask. Those below the rank of lieutenant, who are willing to
serve as seamen until the discipline of the ship can be restored, will
signify it by walking over to the starboard side."

All below the grade indicated, with a single exception, promptly
marched over to the other side of the ship. The four lieutenants
stepped out of the way, so that the single dissenter might stand alone.
It is hardly necessary to say that Perth was the person who was so
largely in the minority among the officers.

"You decline to serve with the other masters?" said Shuffles.

"I prefer to be excused. I have had considerable experience as a
seaman, and would like a little more as an officer," replied Perth,
politely.

"We shall dispense with the services of all the officers except the
lieutenants," added the captain. "There will be nothing for you to do,
but you shall not be compelled to serve as a seaman."

"Permit me to take his place," interposed Gordon, the senior past
officer.

"Thank you, Gordon," replied Shuffles.

"Please enroll me also as a seaman," added Haven, good-naturedly.

"And me also," laughed Paul.

"I suggest that the past officers take the places of the second, third,
and fourth lieutenants, who shall do duty as seamen," said Leavitt, the
second officer.

"By all means," added Foster, the third.

"With all my heart," followed Prescott, the fourth.

The captain adopted this suggestion, and Gordon, as second lieutenant,
was sent off to the Josephine in the second cutter, which was pulled by
three masters and the three midshipmen. When it was ready to leave, Mr.
Lowington stepped into the boat, for he desired to satisfy himself that
the crew of the consort were not also demoralized. Haven in the third
cutter, with a volunteer crew, left the ship to procure a tug-steamer.
Peaks, Bitts, Leach, and the head steward had been privately requested
to be on deck, in case any unexpected demonstration was made by the
mutineers.

In the steerage everything was very quiet. The sensation below was
decidedly superior to that on deck. The rebels were patiently waiting
to be called upon for an explanation of their remarkable conduct.
Probably none of them even noticed that the grating had been put upon
the main hatch by the cautious Peaks, to prevent them from leaving the
steerage. The boatswain's call had sounded twice, and they supposed the
faculty of the Academy were consulting upon the proper measures to be
taken. Most of them believed that they would be invited on deck, where
the principal would "preach" to them, as usual, and thus afford them an
opportunity to state their grievances. Perhaps, with the exception of
the runaways, they were willing to return to their duty after they had
recorded their protest. The principal still purposed to let them wait.

The third cutter, all of whose volunteer crew wore shoulder-straps,
came up to the gangway of the Josephine, which, like the ship, was all
ready to weigh anchor.

"You come with a very nobby crew," said Mr. Fluxion, as the principal
stepped upon the deck of the consort.

"The ship is in a state of mutiny," replied Mr. Lowington, with a smile
upon his face, which softened the astounding declaration.

"Mutiny!" exclaimed Mr. Fluxion.

"Precisely so. We called all hands to weigh anchor, and less than
thirty answered to the summons. We learned from them that the rest of
the crew refused to do duty till their grievances were heard. Do you
know of anything of this kind on board of your vessel?"

"We haven't called all hands yet, for we don't begin to get under way
till the ship mans the capstan. It is possible that we shall have the
same difficulty."

"Let your captain get under way at once, for the ship will be towed
out. If your crew is all right, I should like to transfer a few seamen
to the ship, for we are rather short-handed," added the principal.

Mr. Fluxion called Captain Terrill, and the order was given to pipe all
hands. As the boatswain's whistle sounded, the principal and the
vice-principal descended to the cabin. Mr. Lowington had begun to
explain his method of dealing with the difficulty, when a messenger
from the captain reported that twelve seamen refused to answer the
summons.

"Ascertain who they are, and get under way without disturbing them,"
said the principal, after the messenger had retired.

"That's a novel way to deal with a mutiny," added Mr. Fluxion, who was
always in favor of decisive measures.

Mr. Lowington stated his views fully, and explained his plan. Though
the vice-principal did not agree with him in regard to his corrective
measures, he consented to adopt them. When they went on deck, the
captain handed Mr. Fluxion a list of the names of the Josephine's
mutineers. They were the twelve runaways who had been transferred to
the consort. Little had succeeded in inducing them to engage in the
plot, but the rest of the crew would not follow their vicious example,
even with the assurance that the mutiny was general on board of the
ship. Under these circumstances, none of the crew of the Josephine
could be spared for service in the Young America, and the boat returned
without them. The principal decided that the ship could be handled with
the available force, which might include a portion of the cooks and
stewards, some of whom were sailors.

The tug-boat had come alongside when the cutter reached the ship. In
order to give any rebel, who had repented, an opportunity to return to
his duty, the grating was removed from the main hatch, and the
boatswain again called all hands to weigh anchor. Only two of them,
however, answered the call. The capstan was manned by the faithful
thirty, reënforced by the officers and the men on board. A long hawser
had been passed from the bow to the steamer, and as soon as the anchor
was up to the hawse-hole, the signal was given to go ahead. The
Josephine followed as promptly as though every seaman on board
performed his duty, though the sails were not set with the usual
precision. The little squadron went off to the north-west, carrying its
double mutiny with it.

As soon as the ship began to move, after the anchor was secured, the
officers devoted themselves to the duty of stationing the crew. They
were divided into two watches, and their places for making and taking
in sail, reefing and tacking, were assigned to them. As the officers
who had volunteered to serve before the mast were thorough seamen, the
task was speedily accomplished. There were no "green hands" to be
favored, for every one was competent to hand, reef, and steer. By the
time the squadron was well in the offing, the ship's company was in
condition to make sail. About ten miles outside of the harbor, the
steamer was discharged.

"All hands, make sail, ahoy!" shouted the boatswain; and every officer
and seaman sprang to his station.

Lieutenants, masters, midshipmen, and pursers mingled with the seamen,
and the work was done with promptness and precision. Topsails,
top-gallant-sails, and courses were set, and with the wind abeam, the
ship went off to the north-west as comfortably as though no mutiny had
distracted her routine. When everything was made snug for a night at
sea, the roll was called, and the names of the mutineers checked on the
list.

"Young gentleman," said Mr. Lowington, while the faithful were still
assembled in the waist, "I regret that so many of your companions have
resorted to a silly and stupid expedient to redress real or imaginary
grievances. Mutiny is never respectable, under any circumstances; and I
wish to draw a sharp line between those who do their duty and those who
do not. I desire that none of you hold any communication whatever with
the mutineers. Be dignified and gentlemanly, but avoid them. Give them
no information in regard to what transpires on deck. I _request_ you to
do this. I do not give you any order to that effect.

"None of the mutineers will be allowed to come on deck, and I shall
have some means of distinguishing the faithful from the unfaithful."

"Will you allow me to furnish a badge for each of the faithful?" asked
Grace Arbuckle, who stood near the principal, and was deeply interested
in the proceedings.

"Certainly, Miss Arbuckle; and I am sure the young gentlemen will set
an additional value upon the decoration if it is bestowed by you,"
replied Mr. Lowington, as gallantly as though he had been a much
younger man.

"Thank you, sir," answered Grace, blushing at the compliment.

"Miss Arbuckle will give a badge to each of you," continued the
principal to the faithful few.

The crew on deck applauded lustily.

"It will be a white ribbon on the left breast," said Grace.

"A white ribbon on the left breast," repeated Mr. Lowington, as Grace
hastened to the cabin to procure the materials for the decoration. "I
learn that those who refused to answer the boatswain's call, expected
to be asked for an explanation of their conduct. I cannot make terms
with mutineers. I should have proceeded in a different manner if I had
not believed there was a misunderstanding. I am willing to explain for
your benefit, but not for those below. Do you understand?"

"Ay, ay, sir!" shouted the students.

"With a promise on your part to keep your own counsels, I will explain.
Those of you who will agree not to communicate anything I may say to
the mutineers will signify it by going abaft the mizzen-mast on the
quarter-deck. Those who decline to agree to these terms will remain in
the waist."

Every officer, including Perth, and every seaman, promptly marched to
the quarter-deck.

"At the wheel, do you agree to the terms?" said the principal,
addressing the quarter-master and seaman who were steering.

"Yes, sir," replied both.

"Mr. Peaks, you will see that no one is at the ladder of the main
hatch," continued the principal, turning to the adult boatswain.

"Ay, ay, sir," replied Peaks, who soon reported that all the mutineers
were still in the mess-rooms.

"Now, young gentlemen, I am told it is generally believed in the
steerage that the trip down the Rhine has been abandoned; that the ship
is bound to Belfast to convey our good friends to their home. This is a
mistake, and probably the one which made the mischief in part. I have
no idea of going to Belfast, and no idea of abandoning the excursion
into Germany."

The boys applauded with a zeal which indicated how satisfactory the
intelligence was to them.

"Certainly the discipline of the ship needs improving, but I was
satisfied that two or three days' service at sea would restore it to
its former standard. If the squadron remains at Havre during our
absence, both vessels must go into the docks, which involves
considerable expense. I therefore purposed to make a harbor at Brest,
and go from there to the Rhine. For this reason the baggage of our
friends was brought on board. That is really all that need be said. Are
you satisfied?"

"Ay, ay, sir!" shouted the crowd.

"But remember that this explanation is made for your benefit, and not
for that of the students in the steerage. They have chosen their own
remedy, and they must abide the issue. You are now dismissed."

"Not yet, if you please, Mr. Lowington," interposed Grace, who had
stationed herself, with her mother on the port side of the mizzen-mast.
"If the young gentlemen will pass this way, they shall be decorated
with the white ribbon of the Order of the Faithful."

"The Order of the Faithful!" exclaimed Mr. Lowington, laughing, while
all the students applauded. "You will pass forward on the port side of
the mizzen-mast, and be initiated into the Order of the Faithful."

"I shall join that order," said Commodore Kendall, as he placed himself
in the single line formed by the boys.

"Let the flag-officer go first," added some of the students, dragging
Paul to the head of the column.

"Commodore Kendall, you are received into the Order of the Faithful,"
said Grace, as she pinned upon the left breast of his coat the white
ribbon, which was doubled, so that the two ends hung down.

"Thank you, Miss Arbuckle. I will endeavor to be faithful," replied the
flag-officer, as he touched his cap to the fair initiator.

Captain Shuffles followed him, and in half an hour the entire party
were duly initiated and decorated. As fast as Mrs. Arbuckle could cut
off and double the ribbons, Grace adjusted them. She explained that she
had purchased a large quantity of narrow white and blue ribbon in Paris
to make trimmings for a dress; and when the principal had spoken of a
distinguishing mark for those who did their duty, it had suggested to
her the white ribbon of the Order of the Faithful. She was delighted to
have her idea so well received.

"We have had some secret societies on board this ship," laughed Paul
Kendall, after he had received his decoration. "I move you we form
another--the Order of the Faithful."

"We have already taken the obligation," added Shuffles.

"And we have been initiated by Miss Arbuckle," said Gordon.

The suggestion was received with favor, though rather as a pleasantry
than as a serious matter; and, after the faithful had all marched by
the mizzen-mast, the subject was again taken up in the waist.

"I move you that Commodore Kendall be chosen Grand Commander of the
Order of the Faithful," said Shuffles.

"I beg you will excuse me. I couldn't walk if I had to carry around
with me such a magnificent title as that," replied Paul, shrugging his
shoulders like a Frenchman. "I suggest that Miss Grace Arbuckle be the
chief of the order, and that no one be admitted unless initiated by
her. As she is the founder of the order, it is fair that she should be
its head."

"Good!" shouted several of the officers and seamen.

"What shall her title be?" added Shuffles.

"Queen," replied Gordon.

"No; that's too commonplace," answered Haven.

"What shall it be, then?"

"Something outlandish, just for the fun of the thing," said Haven, who
was not a very warm advocate of secret societies.

"The Amazon," suggested one of the seamen.

"O, no! don't call her an Amazon," protested Paul. "It would be a libel
upon her."

"The Queen of the Fairies."

"We are not fairies," objected Haven.

"She is one, at any rate."

"Call her the Empress."

"Simply the President."

"No; the Directress."

The question seemed to be a trying one; and one after another suggested
titles which were satisfactory to no one but the proposers.

"How will the Protectress do?" inquired Shuffles.

"Rather formidable and commonplace," replied Haven. "Make it the Grand
Protectress, and I am with you."

"I like Protectress," added Paul Kendall.

"So do I," said half a dozen others.

"Grand Protectress is better," persisted Haven, who could not help
making a burlesque of the affair.

"Grand Protectress!" shouted a dozen others, who believed in
high-sounding titles.

"Put it to vote," suggested Shuffles.

"Ay, ay! put it to vote."

"Those in favor of Grand Protectress say, ay," continued Haven.

"Ay!" responded a large number.

"Opposed."

"No."

"The ayes have it. Grand Protectress it is."

"I move you that Commodore Kendall and Captain Shuffles be a committee
to wait upon Miss Arbuckle, and inform her that she has been
unanimously chosen Grand Protectress of the Order of the Faithful.
Those in favor say, ay; those opposed, no. It is a vote."

The committee went to the quarter-deck, where Grace and her mother were
conversing with Mr. Lowington. Paul, who was by seniority the
spokesman, touched his cap, and looked as dignified as though he had
been the minister plenipotentiary of one of the great powers.

"Miss Arbuckle, I have the honor--and I should do injustice to my own
feelings if I did not add, the pleasure--to inform you, that you have
been unanimously chosen Grand Protectress of the Order of the
Faithful."

"The what?" asked Grace.

The principal, usually very solemn and dignified, laughed heartily.

"Grand Protectress," replied Paul, gravely. "The order has been duly
established; and, as you have initiated all the members, it is
eminently proper that you should preside over its destinies."

"Please to assure the members of the order, that I accept the high
position, and that I am very grateful to them for the honor they have
done me," answered Grace, when she could restrain her laughter so as to
speak.

"I am happy to be the bearer of such a pleasant message," said Paul, as
he bowed and retired.

"Grand Protectress!" laughed Grace, repeating in measured tones her
magnificent title.

Paul reported the acceptance of the Grand Protectress; and the society
was further organized by the choice of a secretary, whose only duty was
to keep a record of the names of the members.

"Now, we want a motto," said Gordon; "something that will express, in
few words, the objects of the society."

"I don't happen to know what the objects of the society are," replied
Haven; "but I suggest, '_Honi soit qui mal y pense_.'"

"The Queen of England has a mortgage on that motto," said Paul.
"_Semper paratus_ will be better."

"What does it mean?" asked a student.

"Some praties," replied a wag.

"Let us have a motto in plain English, and one that has not been used
by all the engine companies in the United States," added Haven.

"_Semper paratus_ is good, I think," persisted Paul. "_Always ready_ to
answer the boatswain's call, and _always ready_ to do our duty."

"But it is worn out," protested Haven. "I move you we invite the Grand
Protectress to give us a motto."

The motion was carried, and the same committee appointed to make the
request. Paul led the way to Grace again, who was still highly amused
at the grand honor which had been conferred upon her.

"The Order of the Faithful instructs me humbly to petition the Grand
Protectress for a motto suitable to the needs, and expressive of the
objects, of the association," said Paul.

"O, dear me!" exclaimed Grace. "If you ask such things as that of me, I
shall not wish to be Grand Protectress. I think, as your great
philosopher said, it will be paying too dear for the whistle. Must it
be in English, French, Latin, or German?"

"That must be left to the discretion of your Grand Protectresship,"
answered Paul, gravely.

"Please to help me, father," said she, appealing to Mr. Arbuckle.

"Whatever the Grand Protectress vouchsafes to give us shall be
cherished by the order," added Paul.

Mr. Arbuckle wrote a sentence on a slip of paper, and handed it to
Grace.

"Ah, here is your motto!" exclaimed she, laughing heartily.

"Please to repeat it," said Captain Shuffles.

"_Vous ne pouvez pas faire un sifflet de la queue d'un cochon_," added
Grace, reading from the paper, which she handed to Paul, choking with
mirth.

"Thanks, most excellent Grand Protectress," replied the commodore, who
found it very difficult to maintain his gravity.

"It is a literal translation of the English proverb, and perhaps the
idea is not expressed in similar phrase in French," said Mr. Arbuckle;
"but I think it will answer very well for a motto."

Paul smoothed down his face as well as he could, and conveyed the motto
to the assembled order in the waist.

"I have the honor to inform you that the Grand Protectress has provided
a motto," said he.

"What is it?" demanded a dozen.

"It is in French."

"The motto!" called the impatient Faithfuls.

_"Vous ne pouvez pas faire un sifflet de la queue d'un cochon."_

Only two or three laughed, for only a few were as good French scholars
as Paul and Shuffles.

"What's the English of it?" asked several at the same time.

"You must excuse me, for I do not think it is quite proper to translate
the motto," replied Paul.

Those who understood it enjoyed the joke too much to afford the others
any light on the subject. Haven was delighted with the motto, and moved
that it be accepted. As it had been furnished by the Grand Protectress,
it was unanimously adopted. The weak scholars were very curious to know
the meaning of the mystic words. Most of them could make out a part of
the sentence, but not enough to translate it. The business of the
meeting was completed, and the members separated, all of them feeling
that the mutiny of the Young America was more like a merrymaking than
anything else. To be decorated with the white ribbon of the order by a
beautiful young lady was a privilege which they appreciated, and all of
them were thankful that they had not been led astray by the evil
counsels which had prevailed in the steerage.

"If you do not like the motto, I can give you another now," said Grace,
when Paul joined the little party on the quarter-deck.

"The one you gave was unanimously adopted by the order," replied Paul.

"Was it, really?" asked Grace, laughing more heartily than before.

"Certainly it was."

"Did they understand its meaning?"

"Some of them did."

"If you like this one better, it is at your service: 'High aims produce
noble deeds.'"

"While I hope we all believe in the English one, I think the members of
the order prefer the French one."

"If they are suited, I am," replied Grace, cheerfully.

The ship was still going along under easy sail, though the weather
promised to be unfavorable before morning. At eight o'clock, the
starboard watch, with the first and third lieutenants in charge, took
the deck, and the port watch went below. They were to be ready for duty
at twelve. Everything on deck was as pleasant as a merry-making. None
of the passengers were seasick.

Everything was not so lovely in the steerage, and it is necessary to go
back a few hours in order to ascertain what passed among the mutineers.




CHAPTER VI.

IN THE STEERAGE.


After the students finished their supper, those who had decided to
rebel against the authorities of the ship retired to the mess-rooms,
agreeably to the instructions of the leaders. There were forty-four of
them, including the eighteen runaways who still remained in the ship as
seamen, and who were the real mischief-makers, forming a class by
themselves, hardening their hearts in sheer ugliness against the
discipline of the ship. In their exploit with the Josephine, they had
"bucked" against authority, and had suffered the consequences, which
unfortunately had not produced a favorable impression upon them. They
were disposed to do the same thing again.

The rest of the mutineers belonged to a different class. They were
generally well-disposed boys, fond of fun and excitement, not exactly
the "lambs" of the flock, but certainly not the black sheep. If some of
them had assisted in creating the confusion during the drill, they had
not done so with any malicious purpose, as the runaways had, but from a
thoughtless love of sport and excitement. They would never have thought
of such an expedient as rebellion if they had not been cunningly worked
upon by the real mischief-makers. They were not strong-minded young
men, who dare to do right under all circumstances. With good impulses
in the main, their principle was not hardened into that solid element
which constitutes a reliable conscience. They were easily led away, and
believing they had a real grievance, they resorted to doubtful means
for its redress.

Of this class Raymond had been the leading spirit. He would have
resented the appellation of mutineer as an insult. All he expected and
desired to obtain was an explanation; and he was confident that when
two thirds of the crew mildly, and even respectfully, declined to do
duty, the principal, either in person or by deputy, would come below to
ascertain the nature of the difficulty. He had cautioned his party to
be perfectly respectful to the officers, and especially to the
principal and professors. If it was to be a mutiny in any sense of the
word, it was to be a very gentlemanly one. Having reduced the intended
rebellion to this mild form, he had no fear that the rough hand of
Peaks would be laid upon them, or that the party would be driven by
force from the mess-rooms.

"How do you suppose it will come out?" asked Hyde, one of Raymond's
messmates, in a low tone, as a group of the rebels gathered in their
room.

"It will come out all right," replied the leader of the mild mutineers,
confidently.

"I'm not so sure of that," added Hyde, shaking his head. "Mr. Lowington
is a great stickler for discipline; and he is not exactly the man to
come below, and coax us to attend to our duty."

"I don't expect he will coax us to do it. But there are so many of us
in the scrape that he can hardly do anything else."

"How many do you suppose there are?" inquired Hyde.

"I can't tell exactly, but I am satisfied that more than two thirds of
the whole crew will stand out."

"I don't know about that."

"I know that every fellow in the ship is mad because the trip to the
Rhine is given up; and I think that at least two thirds of them are mad
enough to do something about it. I should not be surprised if not a
single fellow answered the boatswain's call."

"I should; for I know half a dozen who have said they should; but they
mean to let the principal know that all the fellows are dissatisfied
with the idea of being cheated out of the run into Germany. I'm not
sure that this wouldn't be the better way."

"O, it wouldn't amount to a row of pins! What does the principal care
whether the fellows are satisfied or not? We must do something to prove
that we are somebody," persisted Raymond.

"That's so," added Lindsley, earnestly. "I don't believe in all Howe's
nonsense, but there is a good deal of truth in what he says. We are not
common sailors, but the sons of wealthy men. We were sent to this ship
because we could have a chance to see the world while we were getting
an education; and it isn't just the thing to deprive us of the
privileges we pay for. Of course we don't mean to make any row. If the
principal don't choose to set us right, why, we must go to our duty,
and make the best of it; but for one, I shall write to my father, and
tell him just how the matter stands."

"That's the idea," responded Raymond. "I shall do the same thing, and I
know my father will send for me immediately. My mother would be glad
enough to have me go home."

"I'll tell you what it is, fellows," added Lindsley, warmly; "if about
fifty of us will only hang together, we can have our own way. If we
write home that we are dissatisfied, that the principal is rough on us,
and won't let us see the country, we can blow up the Academy Ship
higher than a kite."

"I think we have seen the country pretty well," suggested Wilde.

"Yes; but we are not to go into Germany," replied Raymond. "We are to
go to sea, just because the new captain demands it."

"For my own part, I like the ship first rate, and should hate to have
my father send for me," continued Wilde. "I don't believe there are a
dozen fellows on board who wouldn't think it a hard case if they had to
leave."

"Not if we are to be treated in this manner. If we are allowed to see
the country, and have a good time, every fellow will be satisfied,"
replied Raymond. "But I think it will all come round right if we keep a
stiff upper lip, and stand up for our rights. I like Lindsley's idea
first rate. We can talk that up, and it will help us out, if nothing
else will. We can easily get forty or fifty of the fellows to say they
will ask their fathers to take them away from the ship if they don't
have fair play. Then we can mildly suggest the idea to Mr. Lowington;
and, I tell you, he can see that the loss of fifty of us would make an
end of his big idea."

"I'm not ready to say I will ask my father to take me out of the ship,"
protested Wilde.

"I am," said Raymond.

"So am I," added Lindsley.

"And I," chimed in others.

"While we are waiting, suppose we circulate the idea."

At this moment Tremere and Willis, who were the other occupants of the
mess-room, came in, and the proposition was stated to them.

"No!" exclaimed Tremere, very decidedly. "When the boatswain pipes, I
shall go on deck, and do my duty as long as I have two legs to stand
on, and two hands to work with."

"So shall I," added Willis. "I don't believe half the stories that have
been told through the ship. In my opinion, if any of the fellows don't
go down the Rhine this year, it will be because they are rebels or
runaways. I shall take my station when the boatswain pipes, if I am the
only fellow on board that does so."

"If you haven't spunk enough to stand up for your rights, you deserve
to lose them," replied Raymond, disgusted with the answers of those
high-toned students.

"My rights! Humph! I value them too highly to throw them away by any
such stupid conduct as you suggest," answered Willis.

Lindsley, thinking that Tremere and Willis did not understand their
plan, volunteered to explain that they did not intend to use any
violent measures; that they meant to be entirely respectful to the
officers and to the faculty.

"Disobedience is disobedience, whether you are respectful or
disrespectful; whether you say 'no' squarely, or 'excuse me;' only the
former is less cowardly than the latter," said Tremere, in reply. "As I
understand the matter, you are getting up a row, asking fellows to
write to their fathers to take them away from the ship."

"All hands, up anchor, ahoy!" shouted the boatswain, at the main hatch.

Raymond returned to the mess-room, while the two incorruptible fellows
hastened to their stations on deck.

"Now we are in for it!" said Lindsley.

"Let us stick to our text," added Raymond, fearful that some of the
party would back out as the decisive moment had come.

"Ay, ay! Stick to the text!" added Hyde.

"Hold on, and I will see how many fellows answer the call," continued
Raymond, nervously, as he stationed himself at the door of the room,
where he could see the seamen who went up the ladder.

"Count them," said Lindsley.

It was an exciting moment to the rebels, for however real they believed
their grievances to be, probably not many of them were satisfied with
the expediency or the justice of the measure they had adopted to
redress them.

"Only twelve!" exclaimed Raymond, when the last of the faithful had
ascended the ladder.

"That's bully!" said Hyde, rubbing his hands with satisfaction at the
assumed success of the scheme.

"Are you sure that you counted right?" inquired Lindsley.

"I counted ten, and added Tremere and Willis to the number, for they
had gone up before I began. I didn't expect even as many as that would
go."

But the enthusiastic rebel had made a blunder. A portion of those who
intended to obey orders, having no motive for remaining below, had gone
on deck as soon as they finished their suppers. Sixteen of these, added
to the twelve who went up from the steerage, made the twenty-eight who
first answered the call.

"Only twelve!" repeated Hyde.

"If we have nearly the whole crowd, we can do something more than
explain our position," said Lindsley.

"I'm not in favor of doing anything more than that," added Raymond,
shaking his head.

"All hands, up anchor, ahoy!" shouted the boatswain, the second time,
at the main hatch.

"It's all right," said Howe, appearing at the door; "not a fellow
answers it."

"Only a dozen have gone on deck in all," added Raymond.

"Is that all?" asked the runaway.

"That's all; I counted them."

"Good! We shall make a big thing of it," answered Howe, as he left the
room to look into others, in all of which it is safe to say that the
strong-minded rebels were engaged in stiffening the backs of the weaker
ones, for a large portion of them were in a very novel position.

"Some one will be down very soon to know what the matter is," said
Hyde, fidgeting about his berth, where he had stretched himself to
await the time.

"Who shall speak for us?" asked Raymond.

"You shall," replied Lindsley.

"Very well; I will do the best I can," answered Raymond, modestly. "I
am to say, very respectfully, that the fellows are dissatisfied with
the idea of going to sea, and giving up the trip to the Rhine."

"Yes; and we respectfully request that the principal will make good his
promise to take us into Germany," added Hyde.

"Don't you mean to say anything about the letters to our fathers,
asking them to take us away from the ship?" inquired Lindsley.

"That looks a little like a threat," objected Raymond. "Besides, we
don't know how many fellows will agree to send such letters."

"Let us go round and see," suggested Lindsley.

"We will, if there is time."

As the record of the preceding chapter testifies, there was an
abundance of time to carry out this or any other preliminary measure.
Raymond and Lindsley proceeded to canvass the rebels in regard to the
letters. The eighteen runaways were ready to assent to anything, but
only about half of the others were willing to give in their allegiance
to what they regarded as a mean scheme. Some even declared they would
back out if anything of this sort was to be attempted. Raymond was
politic enough not to press the measure very hard, and he returned to
his room with the names of only thirty, instead of fifty, which he had
expected to obtain.

"That's enough to make a show with," said Lindsley.

"But I don't intend to say anything about the letters to the principal,
if he is willing to do the fair thing by us."

"What are they about on deck? It is half an hour since the boatswain
piped all hands," said Hyde, jumping out of his berth.

"I'm sure I don't know," replied Lindsley, uneasily. "I should think
they had found out by this time that something was the matter."

"I know one thing," said Wilde, with a significant shake of the head,
as though he had made an important discovery.

"What's that?" demanded the others, in the same breath.

"They have put the grating on the main hatch, so that we can't go on
deck if we wish to do so," replied Wilde, who had begun to be regarded
as one with a weak back.

"No matter for that," answered Raymond, with an effort to laugh, though
he was far from being satisfied with the situation as indicated by the
closed hatch. "As we don't want to go on deck, it makes no difference
to us."

"That's so," added Lindsley. "They have put on the grating to make a
show. They can't do anything while sixty of the crew are below."

"Are you sure there are sixty?" asked Hyde, doubtfully.

"Take twelve from the whole crew, and it leaves sixty. But count them
for yourself, if you are not satisfied with my figures."

"I will;" and he left the mess-room for this purpose.

He had the curiosity to look up the hatch, and made another
discovery--that the stout boatswain was there, apparently keeping
watch. The faithful had just marched to the quarter-deck, to indicate
that they were willing to "keep their own counsel," as requested by the
principal. Hyde returned to the room to report the fact. It looked like
decided measures to him.

"I think we are caged," said he.

"No matter if we are," replied Raymond, with a sneer. "One thing is
plain enough; they can't go to sea without us."

"No; twelve fellows can't get the anchor up, even with the help of
Peaks," added Lindsley.

"O, we've got them," persisted Raymond. "We are a majority of all
hands, even if you count the officers on the other side; and I happen
to know they are as much dissatisfied as we are."

Hyde left the room again, and succeeded in making a count of all the
seamen in the steerage.

"Humph!" snuffed he, on his return. "You counted the fellows with your
elbows, Raymond. There are only forty-four in the steerage."

"Forty-four!" sneered Raymond. "Does twelve from seventy-two leave
forty-four?"

"No; but twenty-eight from seventy-two leaves forty-four," retorted
Hyde. "I'm sure I'm right."

Raymond was not satisfied, and counted for himself, but with no
different result; and Lindsley suggested that some of the twenty-eight
were on deck when the boatswain's call sounded.

"Well, what's the odds?" demanded the mortified leader of the moderate
party. "They can't get the ship under way with twenty-eight much better
than with twelve. It takes thirty-two to man the capstan. What are they
doing on deck?"

"I don't know," replied Hyde. "I was going up the ladder to ascertain,
but Peaks drove me away. I heard them lowering boats, but I could not
make out what they intend to do."

"O, it's all right. You needn't fret about it," added the leader.

Probably no one was more disturbed than he. The lowering of the boats
was discussed in full, but nothing could be made of it, though Raymond
insisted that the ship could not go to sea while the boats were away.
Half an hour later they heard the faithful on deck hoisting up the
boats. Hyde stood at the door of the mess-room watching the hatchway,
for any chance revelation of the principal's intentions. The same doubt
and uncertainty, as well as curiosity in regard to the movements on
deck, prevailed in all the other mess-rooms. It had been agreed that
all hands should remain in their rooms; but this agreement was now
violated, and most of the mutineers were gathered at the doors, anxious
to obtain intelligence from the deck.

Suddenly the grating was removed from the hatch.

"All hands, up anchor, ahoy!" shouted the boatswain, for the third,
and, as it proved, the last time.

But no one came below to remonstrate, or ask for the explanation which
a majority of the rebels were now exceedingly anxious to give. The
moment the call sounded, Wilde walked towards the ladder.

"Where are you going?" demanded Raymond, angrily.

"I have had enough of this thing," he replied, and, without waiting for
any further parley, went on deck, though the rebels hissed him.

Another seaman from one of the other mess-rooms followed his example,
though Howe seized him by the collar, and attempted to detain him by
force. Fortunately he was a stout fellow, and shook off his assailant.
A storm of hisses and abuse followed him as he went up the ladder.
Doubtless this treatment of the weak-backed, as they were considered,
deterred others from imitating their example, for the faithful had only
these two added to their number.

"I'm glad we are rid of them," said Raymond. "Fellows with weak backs
don't do us any good."

"They add to our number, at any rate," replied Hyde, who, if he could
have escaped the odium of the movement, would have gone on deck
himself.

"No matter for that; we have forty-two left, and the ship can't go to
sea without our help," added Raymond.

"I'm not quite sure of that," answered Hyde.

"No matter if she does go to sea," said Lindsley.

"But she can't go," persisted Raymond. "All we want is a chance to
state our grievances; and the principal is not going to let us stay
down here a great many days without knowing what the matter is."

"Hark!" said Hyde, as the boatswain's whistle sounded on deck.

"Man the capstan!" shouted Goodwin, the first lieutenant.

"Doesn't that look as though the ship was going to sea?" added the
sceptical Hyde. "I tell you what it is, fellows, we are sold!"

"Sold? Not a bit of it! We are in the winning boat."

"Not exactly."

The rebels listened to the merry pipe of those who walked around the
capstan, and heard the grating of the chain cables as they passed
through the tiers into the lockers in the hold. It was plain enough
that thirty-two hands had been found to man the capstan, for the anchor
was certainly coming up from its miry bed. These sounds produced
something like consternation among the mutineers, for they indicated at
least a partial failure of the scheme in which they had trusted for
redress.

"Go ahead!" shouted the executive officer through his trumpet.

"Go ahead?" repeated Raymond, as he went to the sky-light. "Not a sail
has been set."

"But she is moving," said Hyde. "I see how it is. They have taken a
tug-steamer."

"They are not going to tow the ship to Belfast," answered Raymond, as
he went to one of the port gangways from which the mess-rooms opened.
"There goes the Josephine, under sail. In my opinion, they are only
dropping down to another anchorage. The principal will not think of
such a thing as going to sea with only thirty seamen. It isn't safe to
do so."

"When it isn't safe, Peaks will be down here, and you will have to turn
out and do duty," said Hyde.

At that instant, as if to verify the prophecy of the croaker, the
stalwart boatswain, with the assistance of the carpenter, lifted the
grating off the main hatch. Most of the rebels retreated to their
rooms; but it was a false alarm, for the two adult seamen, instead of
coming below themselves, only lifted up the ladder, and drew it on
deck, restoring the grating when it was done.

"That looks like something," said Lindsley.

"I tell you we are sold," added Hyde. "The principal isn't coming down
here to ask us for an explanation. It isn't his style."

"Don't croak any more, Hyde," protested Raymond, in disgust.

"I only say we are sold, and you can't deny it."

"Wait and see."

They did wait, and after a while they heard the order to shake out the
topsails. Looking up through the main skylight, they saw lieutenants,
masters, and midshipmen, on the yards. They listened to the voices of
Paul Kendall, Gordon, and Haven, issuing orders which were usually
given by the lieutenants. From what they saw and what they heard, they
were enabled to arrive at a tolerably correct solution of the means by
which the ship was at present handled. They understood that the larger
portion of the officers were doing duty as seamen, while the past
officers were serving as volunteers under the captain.

"We might as well cave in, and go on deck," said Hyde, after the
movements on deck had been thoroughly discussed.

"Humph! You can't get on deck, to begin with," replied Raymond. "But I
haven't any idea of giving it up so."

"The plan has failed--that's plain enough," added Hyde.

"Not yet."

"I think it has. We are whipped out, and the sooner we make our peace
with Mr. Lowington, the better it will be for us."

"If you mean to back out, say so, Hyde."

"I don't want to back out while the rest of the fellows stick."

"How will it do to send a messenger to the principal, state our
grievances, and have the thing over?" suggested Johnson.

This idea met with considerable favor, but the principal objection to
the measure was, that the messenger could not get on deck, as the
ladder was removed from the main hatch, and the forward one was closed.
The ship careened, the waves dashed against the bow, and it was evident
that she was going to sea in good earnest. A large portion of the
rebels were now studying up a plan to get out of the scrape, rather
than to establish their rights. The boatswain's whistle sounded on
deck, and all hands were piped to muster. Vainly the mutineers tried to
ascertain what was going on, while Mr. Lowington was making his
explanation to the faithful; but the parties were on the quarter-deck
beyond their sight and hearing. Only the applause which followed
Grace's proposition to decorate the members of the Order of the
Faithful reached their ears. The ceremony itself, which took place in
the waist, indicated that those on deck were having an exceedingly
jolly time, though the nature of the performance was not understood.
Then, when the Grand Protectress was elected, the hilarious mirth of
the Faithful was positively sickening to the rebels. Those on deck
appeared to be making fun of those below, for what else could they be
laughing at, since the refusal of the rebels to do duty must be the
all-absorbing topic on board? The situation was very unsatisfactory to
the mild mutineers, and not very hopeful to the runaways.

"Let them laugh," said Raymond, whistling up his courage, so that he
could maintain the dignity and firmness of a leader. "If we hold out,
we shall carry our point. I have looked at the tell-tale, and the ship
is headed to the north-west. If the course means anything, it means
Belfast."

"What's the use of talking?" exclaimed Johnson. "The plan I proposed is
the only one now. I move you we send a messenger to the principal."

"You can't get on deck," retorted Raymond.

"We can hail some one on deck, or knock at the door of the main cabin."

"It looks like backing out," added Lindsley.

"That is what we shall have to do in the end, and we may as well do it
first as last," said Hyde.

"Hold on! Here comes Howe," continued Lindsley. "Let us hear what he
has to say."

"I don't care what he says," muttered Hyde, who, like many other of the
mild rebels, was not willing to join hands with the virulent and
intense ones.

"I say, fellows, we are not making much on this tack," Howe began, as
he joined the group at the door of the mess-room. "We are going to have
a meeting abaft the foremast, to decide what shall be done next. All
hands are invited."

Howe moved on to extend the invitation to others.




CHAPTER VII.

THE VISIT TO THE HOLD.


"I don't attend any meeting with those fellows," said the prudent Hyde,
as the rebels began to gather at the place indicated.

"There is no harm in hearing what they have to say," replied Lindsley.

"I don't care what they have to say. I won't have anything to do with
them. In my opinion they are trying to get us all into a scrape."

"You are in one now, and you may as well be hung for an old sheep as a
lamb."

"I would rather be hung for a lamb," answered Hyde, turning on his
heel, and walking as far from the foremast as the limits of the
steerage would permit.

About a dozen others followed his example, for the meeting was
understood to be called by the runaways, who represented the most
virulent type of rebellion. They had already lost all their privileges
for the season, which could be restored only by the grace of the
principal, and they had nothing to sacrifice. It was not prudent to
enter into their counsels, and the mildest rebels, like Hyde and
Johnson, avoided them.

"We are not making much on this tack," said Howe, when the rebels, who
chose to take part in the meeting, had assembled.

"That's so!" exclaimed Lindsley.

"Well, what's to be done? That's the next question."

"Nothing," added Raymond, who dreaded any extreme measures, and did not
mean that Howe's party should obtain control of the movement. "As I
understand the matter, all is going on right. We have only to hold out,
and everything will end well for us."

"But we are shut up in the steerage. We are prisoners. The tables are
turned upon us," replied Howe.

"Not at all. We have carried our point so far. We refused to do duty,
and we haven't done any. I am in favor of fighting it out in this
manner to the end."

"It is a milk-and-water affair as it is now, and won't amount to
anything."

"What's the reason it won't?" demanded the champion of the mild party.

"Suppose the main hatch were opened, and the boatswain should call all
hands--how many of us do you suppose would be left? There are a dozen
of your chickens that would back down so quick it would make your eyes
smart," added the champion of the intense party, pointing to the group
which had collected around Hyde, who appeared to be forming a party of
his own. "And the next time the call was made, a lot more would slump.
Before long we should be so reduced in numbers that the brig would hold
us all, and a few of us would have to stand the punishment for the sins
of the crowd. You led us into the scrape; now you must help us out of
it."

"Who led you into it?" asked Raymond, indignantly.

"You and your fellows, of course," retorted the heavy champion.

"I don't see it."

"Don't you? Then you are as green as a tame pigeon," continued Howe,
smartly. "Our fellows--of course you know I mean those who ran away in
the Josephine--are under the ban already. Did you suppose we were going
into an affair like this alone? Not much! We went in because you did;
to back up your movement. Now we are in it, you want to back out, and
let your fellows show the white feather."

"I don't mean to back out," protested Raymond.

"But those fellows out there do," added the wily rogue.

"Well, there are thirty of us here, who will stick to the end. What do
you say, fellows?"

"Of course we will," replied several, very mildly.

"Will you agree, upon your word and honor, to stick as long as any one
does?"

"That depends upon circumstances," interposed Lindsley.

"I suppose it does," sneered Howe. "It isn't fair to leave us to bear
the brunt of the whole."

"All we ever proposed to do was simply to refuse to do duty till we had
explained our position to the principal," added Raymond.

"And kiss the rod, whether you get fair play or not," replied Howe.

"We can't do anything more than that. When the principal understands
that over forty of us are dissatisfied, we have gained our point."

"Have you indeed!" flouted Howe. "Then I fancy you have already gained
it, for he has found out that you are dissatisfied by this time."

"Well, what do you want to do?" demanded Raymond.

"It's no use to mince the matter. We have made a failure of it so far.
The lambs on deck are having a good time, laughing, cheering, and
carrying on--making game of us, no doubt, while we are shut up here as
prisoners," replied Howe, rolling up his sleeves, as though he intended
to do something savage. "We ought to make ourselves felt, which we
haven't done yet, for the rest of the ship's company seem to regard our
movement as a good joke, and to think we are having the worst of it.
Well, I think we are; and we must make ourselves felt."

"Do you call it making yourselves felt when you are pounded on the head
with belaying pins, as you were in the Josephine?" inquired Lindsley,
dryly.

"We raised a breeze there, and we are bound to do it here."

"A breeze that first knocks you down yourself. I would rather have the
wind blow another way," added Raymond.

"I don't mean to get up a fight, or anything of that sort."

"Well, what do you mean?" asked Raymond, impatiently.

"We have plans of our own; but we are not going to disclose them till
we have some assurance that the other fellows will stand by us,"
answered the cautious leader of the intense party. "We are going to
make ourselves felt."

"We are not going to agree to anything without knowing what it is,"
said Lindsley.

"And we are not going to let on to fellows that may go to the
principal, and blow the whole thing. I will say this: If your fellows
will pledge themselves, word and honor, to stand by us to the end, I
will agree that the ship shall return to Havre, or some other port in
France, within twenty-four hours, and that the tables shall be turned
in our favor."

"How are you going to do it?" asked Lindsley.

"Leave that to me. I have a plan which cannot fail. Do the fair thing
by us, and we will get you out of the scrape."

"I will agree to this, and nothing more: I will stand out till we have
a chance to be heard," replied Raymond, who began to have some hope of
the mysterious movements of Howe. "I will do nothing but stand out."

"We don't ask you to do anything else. We will do the rest, if you back
us up."

"We don't back you up, for we don't even know what you are going to
do."

"We will tell you what we are going to do."

"Hold on! Perhaps we had better not know anything about it," interposed
Raymond.

"No, you don't!" exclaimed Howe. "We will tell those who will take the
oath."

"The oath!" ejaculated Lindsley. "Are we joining the Knights of the
Golden Fleece?"

"No, no! I mean the promise," answered Howe, impatiently. "Word and
honor--that's all I want."

The runaway portion of the rebels were doubtless already familiar with
the extraordinary means which was to turn the ship back to the ports of
France. The others, who attended the meeting, were largely influenced
by curiosity. They were intensely mortified at the defeat, which they
were unwilling to acknowledge. It would afford them immense
satisfaction to have the tables turned in their favor; but they were
utterly unable to imagine what powerful machinery Howe and his
associates could bring to bear upon the obdurate principal; how they
were to compel him to put the ship about, and return to France.

The mild party retired to consider whether it would be prudent for them
to enter into a compact of this description with such dangerous
characters as the runaways. They were prejudiced against the measure,
but victory in the undertaking, in which they had engaged, was so
earnestly coveted, that they were tempted to join hands even with Howe,
Little, Wilton, and other desperate fellows. When a person has once
gone astray, the inducements to go farther increase. But Raymond and
his friends were not quite willing to pledge themselves in advance to
measures which they were not allowed to understand; and they finally
agreed to bind themselves to secrecy, in regard to the nature of the
scheme, if Howe would explain it on these terms, and then engage in it
if it were not too wicked. The party returned to the foremast, and
Raymond stated their position.

"That won't go down," promptly replied Howe, with his bullying,
self-sufficient air. "We are to tell you what our plan is, and let you
adopt it or not, as you please! No, sir!"

"We pledge ourselves beforehand to keep your secret, whether we join
with you or not."

"We won't trust you."

"Very well," added Raymond, decidedly. "Nothing more need be said.
Come, fellows."

The leader of the mild party turned on his heel, and moved aft,
followed by his adherents.

"What do you suppose they mean to do?" asked Lindsley, as they halted
under the skylight, near the middle of the steerage.

"I don't know; but it must be something desperate to compel the
principal to put back," replied Raymond. "It may be to make a few
auger-holes in the bottom of the ship."

"I wouldn't do anything of that sort," added Lindsley, shaking his
head.

"No matter what it is; we offered to do the fair thing."

"Suppose you had agreed to keep still, and they had proposed to bore
holes in the bottom of the ship; would you have kept your promise, and
said nothing about it?" asked Lindsley.

"I would not have let them do it; and then there would have been
nothing to conceal," answered Raymond.

"Precisely so! That's a good idea. Why not agree to their proposition,
and then, if they mean to do anything which endangers the ship, we can
easily prevent them from doing it," said Lindsley, who was exceedingly
curious to know what the runaways wished to do.

Others were affected with the same desire, and their curiosity was
rapidly overcoming their prudence. While they were discussing the
question, Hyde and his party, seeing that Raymond and his associates
had withdrawn from the runaways, came to the spot, and disturbed the
conference with irrelevant questions. If all the mild mutineers could
be induced to cling together, they could easily overrule Howe and his
party. Just then, there was not that unity which alone insures success.
There were actually three parties in the steerage, and it was necessary
to reconcile them, or the rebellion would end in an ignominious
failure. But this was found to be quite impossible, so far as Hyde and
his party were concerned; for if the boatswain's call had sounded at
that moment, they would have returned to their duty, if permitted to do
so. Raymond would not consent to make terms with Howe, without the
concurrence of all the others, including Hyde.

Howe was quite as much disgusted with the situation as any of the
milder rebels. He had hoped and expected to drag them into any
desperate scheme which might be adopted, and after Raymond and his
party retired, he looked rather blankly at his friends.

"They are nothing but babies--little spoonies!" said he,
contemptuously. "It isn't safe to do anything with them."

"Nor without them," suggested Spencer.

"I don't believe that," added Little. "They are in for it already. They
will be held responsible for anything done below, as well as we. Let's
go on with the job, just as we intended."

After considerable discussion, the suggestion of the little villain was
adopted, with a modification, however, proposed by himself, by which
the whole party were to be implicated in the mischief. No time was to
be lost, for a portion of the faithful, who appeared still to be having
a good time on deck, would soon come below to turn in. Howe and Little
went to the main scuttle, which opened into the hold, and raised it.

"What are you going to do?" asked Raymond.

"We are going to hide in the hold, just for the fun of the thing,"
replied Little. "Won't you come down with us?"

"That's not a bad idea," suggested Lindsley. "When they come down to
look for us, they won't find us. That will make a sensation, at least,
and then we shall not be entirely ignored."

"Are you going to stay there all night?" inquired Raymond.

"Yes--why not?" answered Lindsley. "It is not quite so comfortable a
place to sleep as the mess-rooms; but we can stand it for one night."

Even the mild rebels, Hyde and Johnson, were pleased with the plan, for
it looked like an adventure. The persuasions of Lindsley induced them
to yield whatever scruples they had. It would be a rich thing to have
the principal or the officers come down into the steerage, and find it
empty. There was still a chance to make the principal do something,
even if it were only to call them up for punishment; for anything
seemed better than being entirely ignored.

Little and Howe, each with a lantern in his hand, which he had taken
from the lamp-room forward, led the way into the hold. All the members
of the three parties followed; the mild rebels regarding the movement
rather as a piece of fun than as anything which added to the guilt they
had already incurred. When the last one had descended the ladder, Howe
put on the scuttle, and the steerage was "like some banquet hall
deserted," for the stewards were either on deck or in the kitchen,
where they spent their leisure hours.

As soon as the rebels were all in the hold, they separated into three
parties again, as they had been in the steerage. Little, with his
lantern, went forward, where he was soon joined by the rest of the
runaways; Hyde and his companions went aft; and Raymond's party
remained near the main scuttle. The hold was divided into store-rooms,
forward and aft, while the space amidships was devoted to the stowage
of boxes, barrels, water casks, and other articles. The water tanks
were near the heel of the foremast, where Howe and his party had
located themselves. They contained the entire supply of the ship, while
she was going from port to port, or lying in harbor. They had been
fitted up under the direction of Mr. Lowington. The water was drawn
from them by means of a pump in the kitchen, the pipe of which could be
adjusted to either of them with screw connections.

"We must do the job quick, and get out of this place, or we may be
fastened down here, as we were in the steerage," said Little, in a low
tone, though he need not have troubled himself to use this precaution,
for the dashing of the sea against the side of the vessel made so much
noise, that those who were twenty feet distance could not have heard
him.

"Are you sure we are not burning our own fingers?" asked Ibbotson. "My
experience in the Josephine, when we were short of water, taught me
what it was to be without it, especially when you have to feed on salt
horse and hard bread."

"That's so," added Spencer.

"Can't we save some for ourselves?" inquired Wilton.

"What's the use? We shall return to Havre as soon as the officers find
that the water tanks are empty," added Little.

"But why not save some?" persisted Wilton. "There are lots of bottles
on the ballast, and a tunnel on the vinegar barrel. Hurry up, and fill
a bottle for each fellow."

A dozen of the rebels rushed aft, and procured the bottles, while
Little started the faucets which were used in drawing off the water,
when it was necessary to clean out the tanks, or for use when the pump
above was out of order. This was the precious scheme by which the
intense rebels intended to compel the principal to return to port
immediately. There could be no doubt that it would be an effectual one,
for with no fresh water the ship could not remain a single day at sea
without causing great discomfort, if not actual suffering, to those on
board. This happy expedient had been devised by Little, and it was
diabolical enough to be the invention of his fertile genius.

The bottles were brought up, and with the aid of the tunnel, a dozen
and a half of them were filled--just enough for the Howe party, for
they did not intend to look out for the comfort of those who would not
fully join them in their plans. The water rushed from the tanks, and
flowed away into the ballast underneath. The faucets were large, and in
a short time the tanks were empty. As the ship rolled each way, almost
the last drop in them was poured out.

"Now let us get out of here before we are fastened in," said Little,
after he had adjusted the faucets.

"There will be a sweet row when they find out the tanks are empty,"
added Howe, fully believing that the party had now done something to
make themselves felt.

"It will please me to hear them howl," continued Wilton.

"Keep your bottles out of sight," said Howe. "Don't let those fellows
see them, or they will smell a mice."

"Don't you suppose they know what we have been doing?" inquired Monroe.

"How should they? The swashing of the sea made so much noise they
couldn't hear the water running out," answered Little.

"Don't let on."

The party concealed their bottles under their clothing, and moved
towards the ladder by which they had descended.

"What were you doing with all those bottles?" asked Raymond.

"What bottles?" demanded Little.

"We saw you take a lot of bottles from the ballast there," replied
Raymond, whose party had been discussing the probable use to which they
were to be applied, though they reached no satisfactory conclusion.

"Well, I'll tell you what they were for," answered Little. "We were
going to have some fun, pelting them with stones, just as we used to
play duck on shore, you know; but we concluded not to do so, lest the
stewards in the kitchen should hear the noise, and make a row about
it--that's all."

"Where are you going now?" inquired Lindsley, who was not quite
satisfied with this lucid explanation--as though fellows engaged in a
mutiny would care to amuse themselves pelting bottles!

"We have just made up our minds that it is not quite safe to stay down
here any longer."

"Why not?"

"Suppose they should fasten us in?"

"Suppose they should? I thought you intended to stay down here," said
Raymond, who concluded that the runaways were very fickle in their
purposes.

"We did intend to do so; but we hadn't looked over all the ground. It
has just occurred to us that the thirty lambs, who kiss the rod that
smites them, would not come into the steerage to-night. It will take
about the whole of them to stand watch, and if any of them go below,
they will sleep on the floor of the main and after cabins, where they
cannot be corrupted by such wicked fellows as you and I, Raymond. So,
you see, if we can't get up any sensation by sleeping on the ballast,
what's the use of making yourself uncomfortable for nothing. That's the
idea. Let us go into the steerage, and turn in for the night."

"I don't believe in backing out," said Raymond, not very well pleased
to hear Little class him with himself.

"Don't back out, then, my dear fellow. Stay here all night, and have a
good time," added the little villain, as he ascended the ladder, and
opened the scuttle.

"I'm not going to stay here if the rest don't," interposed Lindsley;
and all the Howe party followed the runaways.

Hyde's party, seeing that all the others were retreating, came to the
ladder, and asked for an explanation. Howe replied that the runaways
were sick of the game, and had returned to the steerage; and the third
squad followed the example of the other two. The hold was left as empty
of human beings as the tanks were of water.

By this time the watch on deck had been stationed, and the rest of the
crew were permitted to retire. As there was no danger that the
mutineers would escape from the ship, the grating was removed from the
main hatch; but a portion of the watch, including Peaks and the head
steward, were posted near it, to prevent any seaman not wearing the
white ribbon of the Order of the Faithful from coming on deck. Fifteen
of the thirty who had done their duty came below to turn in. Their
appearance created a sensation among the disaffected. Now they would
ascertain what had been said on deck about their refusal to answer the
call. Now they could hear, second-handed, the sermon which the
principal had preached, and which they had heard the faithful applaud.
Now, they could learn what terrible fate had been marked out for the
rebels.

When the faithful came into the steerage, the first thing the rebels
noticed was the white ribbons which adorned their breasts. Of course
they wanted to know what it meant; but they felt a little embarrassed
under the circumstances, and did not like to ask direct questions at
first. They wished and expected the faithful to open the subject by
telling them what a mistake they had made in not being "good." But the
lambs did not say a word to them; did not appear to notice them, or to
indicate by their actions that any unusual event was in progress on
board. There was a great deal of silent skirmishing in the steerage.
Raymond, who had always been pretty intimate with Tremere, as they both
berthed in the same mess-room, continually threw himself in the way of
the latter, in order to tempt him to speak of the evening's
occurrences. Tremere was as silent as a marble statue, though he looked
as composed and good-natured as ever; indeed, rather more so than
usual.

"How's the weather on deck, Tremere?" finally asked Raymond, when no
hint would induce the faithful one to speak first.

"It looks like a change. I shouldn't wonder if all hands were called to
furl top-gallant sails and reef topsails before eight bells," answered
Tremere.

"How did you get along working ship?"

"For further particulars, inquire of the principal," replied he.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Speech is silver, silence is golden."

"Humph!" sneered Raymond, puzzled by the singular replies of his
friend.

"Yours truly," laughed Tremere.

"Why don't you speak?"

"I haven't learned my piece."

"You have learned a piece of impudence."

    "'He that hath but impudence
    To all things has a fair pretence.'"

"Are you mad, Tremere?"

"'Though this be madness, yet there's method in it.'"

"Quit your quotations! What's that on your coat?"

"A coat-ation."

"If you are mad with me, Tremere, say so."

"'I am not mad! no, no, I am not mad!'" shouted the member of the Order
of the Faithful, with appropriate gestures and expression.

"Come, quit fooling! Can't you talk sense?"

"I can and will; for

    "'Want of decency is want of sense.'

    "'In college halls, in ancient times, there dwelt
    A sage called Discipline.'"

"But you didn't go to school to the old fellow, Raymond."

"I believe you have lost your wits! Now, be reasonable, and talk like a
sensible fellow. What is this?" asked Raymond, putting his finger on
the white ribbon.

"A ribbon."

"What is it for?"

"For me."

"Who gave it to you?"

"The person who had it next before I did."

"Humph! How silly you are! Where did you get it?"

"On deck."

"But who gave it to you."

"The donor thereof."

"Who is the donor thereof."

"The one who gave it to me."

"If you won't answer me, say so. Don't try to make a fool of me."

"I usurp not nature's kindly office."

"Do you mean to insult me?"

"No; I mean to turn in, for I may be called before I have had my snooze
out;" and Tremere, yawning as if he were bored and very indifferent,
walked into the mess-room which contained his berth.

Those who had listened to the conversation were very much amused by it,
and the rest of the Faithful took their cue from Tremere. Not one of
them would answer a question or give a particle of information in
regard to what had transpired on deck. All of them appeared to be
astonishingly good-natured, and no one seemed to be disconcerted by the
rebellion, except the rebels.




CHAPTER VIII.

SHORT OF WATER.


"They may play bluff as much as they like; but you had better believe
there will be a sensation in the morning, if not before," said
Howe,--after the fifteen members of the Order of the Faithful had
retired to their rooms,--addressing Raymond, who manifested no little
vexation at the cavalier manner in which he had been treated by his
friend and messmate.

"What will that be?" asked the milder rebel.

"Wait, and you will see," replied Howe, mysteriously. "We didn't go
down into the hold for nothing."

"What did you go down for?"

"You will find out soon."

"Well, I want you to understand that I didn't have anything to do with
your plots and schemes," added Raymond, cautiously.

"You didn't! Who said you didn't? I say, Raymond, you are a good fellow
to kiss the hand that smites you; and I hope you will keep on kissing
it. What did you try to pump Tremere for, after you saw what he was up
to?"

"I wanted to know what he was up to."

"Don't you know? It is a game of bluff. Those fellows pretend to be
indifferent to what we are doing."

"They certainly seem to be very indifferent. Have you any idea what
that white ribbon means?"

"Have I? Certainly I have. Can't you see through the side of the ship,
when there's a port in it? That ribbon is to distinguish the lambs from
the black sheep, like you and me."

"Pooh! What's the use of that?"

"So that the officers can tell them in the dark as well as at noonday.
But Little has given those fellows a name already. He calls them the
White Feathers. We must laugh at them, make game of them, whip them
with their own weapons. Hark!" said Howe, suddenly turning his head
towards the kitchen, near the door of which they stood.

"What's the matter?"

"They are trying the pump," replied Howe, as both of them plainly heard
the sucking, "squilching" noise made by the copper pump, from which the
cook was trying to draw water from the tanks below.

"What of it?" demanded Raymond, who did not see anything remarkable in
the circumstance.

"Never mind; you will find out soon enough," answered the chief
runaway, as he left his companion thoroughly mystified, and not a
little alarmed; for it was evident that some terrible mischief had been
perpetrated.

The pump sucked and groaned under the efforts of the cook, who had been
directed to make a pot of coffee for the use of the watch, and was now
trying to obtain water for that purpose. None would come, and it was
plain to him that the pump was out of order. Taking a bucket and a
lantern, he passed into the steerage, and opened the scuttle. The
runaways observed him with intense interest; for the time had come when
they were to "make themselves felt." The cook went down into the hold,
and was absent about a quarter of an hour. He returned with an empty
bucket in his hand, and hastened on deck with the alarming intelligence
that the water tanks were all empty, which he communicated to the head
steward.

As the tanks had been filled just before the ship left the dock at
Havre, the head steward was not willing to believe the startling
report. He went into the hold himself with the cook. By this time the
runaways thought it prudent to keep out of sight, and all of them
retired to their rooms, and most of them to their berths. The head
steward tried the tanks, and was satisfied with the truth of the
report. When the ship rolled, the faucets on the lee side poured out a
few drops of water. Sounded with a mallet, the tanks gave forth only a
hollow, empty sound. The steward was astonished and mortified at the
discovery, for he was responsible for keeping the ship supplied with
water, as well as with all other necessaries in the culinary
department. He inquired very particularly in regard to the state of the
faucets when the cook had first come below to draw water, and was
assured that they were firmly closed. He lifted up some of the ballast,
and saw that it was wet. He went to the well, where all the leakage of
the ship is collected to be thrown up by the pumps.

The ship was regularly pumped out twice a day, and this duty had been
performed just before the crew were piped to supper. There should have
been but little water in the well; but there was enough to satisfy the
head steward that the contents of the water tanks had flowed into it.
Dipping one of his fingers into the water, he tasted it, and its
freshness was another convincing proof of the fact.

"Has any one but the cooks and stewards been in the hold?" he inquired.

"Not that I know of," replied the cook. "I haven't been out of the
kitchen since supper."

"Over forty of the students have been in the steerage since the ship
sailed."

"The stewards told me that the boys were standing out."

"In my opinion, some of them have been in the hold, and started those
faucets."

"You don't think they'd do that--do you?" exclaimed the cook.

"Some of them would sink the ship, if they dared. I think the principal
did not manage this affair just right. He ought to have seized the
young rascals up to the rigging, and kept them there till they were
ready to do duty without grumbling. Now let us see if there is water in
any of the casks."

"No, sir; the boatswain broke 'em out, and cleaned the casks, while we
were in the dock."

The head steward took the mallet, and sounded upon the head of each
cask. They were all empty; and it was clear enough that there was not a
drop of fresh water in the hold, except that which was already mingled
with the foul bilge-water under the ballast. The ship was going to sea,
and both clouds and barometer indicated heavy weather. The steward was
troubled, and immediately hastened to the principal with the alarming
intelligence. He found Mr. Lowington in the main cabin, and announced
the discovery he had made.

"It is a scheme to drive the ship back to port," added the principal,
after he had satisfied himself, by questioning the steward, that the
tanks had really been filled while the ship was in the dock.

"Well, sir, it seems to me that the plan must be successful," added the
steward, with a grim smile.

"Doubtless it will be; but we will not return to Havre. We shall be off
Cherbourg in the morning, and we will make a harbor there. But there
must be some water on board."

"Only what is in the water-jars, sir. Possibly there are ten or fifteen
gallons in all of them."

There was a large water jar in the steerage, and one in each of the two
cabins, which had been filled just before the ship sailed. The steward
was directed to draw them off, and save the water, to be dealt out as
sparingly as the emergency might require. There were several tons of
ice in the store-room, which had been filled at Havre; and there was no
danger of any suffering for the want of the needed element. The
principal went on deck with the steward, and observed that the wind was
freshening, with a decidedly nasty look to windward. It might not be
possible to go into Cherbourg the next morning with safety; and Mr.
Lowington did not like the idea of being driven into port before the
mutiny had been suppressed. The Josephine was half a mile to windward,
under easy sail; and, in the present state of the sea, it was an easy
matter to communicate with her, as it might not be a few hours later.
He therefore explained the situation to Captain Shuffles,--who was
still on deck with Grace and Paul, too nervous and too anxious to
retire,--and directed him to call all hands.

The boatswain piped the call. Peaks and the head steward at the main
hatch, in accordance with their instructions, would permit none who did
not wear the white ribbon of the Order of the Faithful to come on deck.
Hyde and his party proposed to return to their duty. They had had
mutiny enough, and their leader, speaking for the whole, asked
permission to be reported to the principal. The steward bore the
message to him, while the twelve penitents waited at the ladder. The
runaways remained in their rooms; but Raymond made an ineffectual
effort to induce them to be firm.

"Come up!" said Peaks, when the principal appeared at the hatch, and
gave the order.

"We wish to return to our duty, sir," Hyde began; "we are very sorry
for our disobedience, and are willing to take the consequences."

"How many of you are there?" asked Mr. Lowington.

"Twelve in our party, sir."

"Will you conform, in every respect, to the requirements of the present
occasion?"

"We will, sir."

"But they must join the order," interposed Grace, who had accompanied
Paul to the waist. "They are not entitled to the white ribbon, for they
have come in at the eleventh hour."

Mr. Lowington smiled, and directed the penitents to repair to the
quarter-deck.

"I am so glad they have yielded!" said Grace.

"So am I. You can let them take the second degree to-night," laughed
Paul.

"Yes; and that shall be a blue ribbon. The next ones that come shall
have the yellow ribbon, and be the first degree. That's all the
different colors I have," added Grace, as she hastened to her
state-room to procure the material for the decoration of the penitents,
who were standing before the principal, abaft the mizzen-mast.

"Are you really sorry for what you have done, or do you back out
because your plan does not work well?" asked the principal of the
delinquents.

"I am really sorry for it, sir," answered Hyde; and there is not a
doubt that he spoke the simple truth.

"Have you been into the hold this evening?"

"Yes, sir," replied Hyde, promptly.

"For what purpose?"

"We only went because the others did; but we did not stay there long."

"Have you meddled with the water tanks?"

"No, sir."

"Has any one?"

"I do not know, sir. Down in the steerage, we were divided into three
parties, because we did not agree very well;" and Hyde explained the
views of each party, and the localities which they had occupied during
their visit to the hold.

Mr. Lowington readily comprehended the object of the runaways, when
they induced the other two parties to visit the hold. In fact, he saw
the whole truth just as it was; that the Howe party had made the
mischief from the beginning, and that the others were the victims of
their cunning schemes. He believed that his plan was working well,
since it was eliminating the comparatively innocent from the guilty.

"You may return to your duty, on this condition--that you have no
communication with either the Howe or the Raymond party," added Mr.
Lowington. "You will not inform them in regard to anything which has
transpired, or may transpire, on deck. Do you accept the conditions?"

"I do, certainly, sir," replied Hyde.

Others gave the required pledge, astonished to be restored to their
duty on such mild terms. They took their stations with the crew. But
Grace Arbuckle soon appeared with the blue ribbons, and Hyde was
conducted to her by the commodore.

"I confer upon you the second degree of the Order of the Faithful, and
decorate you with the blue ribbon. When you have proved yourself
faithful to your duty, and worthy of promotion, you will be advanced to
the third degree, the emblem of which is the white ribbon," said Grace,
as she pinned the decoration upon his breast.

"Thank you," replied Hyde, rather bewildered by the ceremony.

The rest of the penitents were brought up, and, in like manner,
initiated into the Order of the Faithful. Of course they wanted to know
more about it, and the new organization was explained to them.

"I'm glad you backed out, Hyde," said Tremere. "When are the rest
coming?"

"I don't know that they are coming at all. I got enough of it."

"What do those fellows want to do?"

"Get their rights."

"Well, they'll get them when they return to their duty, and not before,
unless it is the right to be punished for their disobedience," added
Tremere.

"I still think it was not fair to give up the trip to the Rhine, after
the promise that we should go, though it was a great mistake of mine to
refuse to do duty," added Hyde.

"Who says the trip is given up?"

"All the fellows;" and Hyde rehearsed the arguments which had been used
to sustain the proposition.

"As you are now a member of the Order of the Faithful, you may know its
secrets," laughed Tremere. "Mr. Lowington made an explanation to those
who did not take the law into their own hands;" and he proceeded to
give the substance of this statement.

Hyde was all the more disgusted with the course he and his friends had
adopted, and was fully resolved to do his duty in future, whatever his
personal opinions might be. The mildest of the mutineers were thus
disposed of, and a dozen pair of hands added to the force of the ship.

While this conversation was in progress, the Young America had been
headed towards the Josephine. Peaks had fired one of the guns on the
forecastle, which was the signal, in the night, for the consort to
heave to. Hyde's party had been restored to their several stations,
while the volunteer officers still filled the places of those who did
not answer the boatswain's call. The Josephine promptly obeyed the
signal, and the ship ran up to her, as near as it was prudent to go,
backed her main-topsail, lying to on her quarter. The first cutter was
manned and lowered, vacancies in her crew being filled with the
stoutest hands available. A dozen breakers, or kegs, used for boat
service, were put on board, and with Peaks to assist in the stowage,
the cutter shoved off, and pulled for the schooner.

The officer in charge of the boat explained to Mr. Fluxion what had
occurred on board of the ship, and the twelve breakers, with six more
belonging to the consort, were filled and stowed in the boat, which
returned without delay to the Young America. The cutter was hoisted up,
and again the squadron stood on its course. The new supply of water was
immediately secured under lock and key, in one of the store-rooms. The
quantity was still very meagre, being hardly enough for two days'
consumption on full allowance. The watch below was again dismissed. It
included one half of the penitents, who were beset by Raymond's party
with questions and abuse; but they were true to their pledge, and the
rebels were none the wiser.

The noise of the gun and of the lowering of the cutter had been heard
by the runaways, and the appearance of the eighteen breakers, as they
were passed down into the hold, was the assurance of another failure to
them.

"We are dished," said Monroe, as the forward officer passed down the
kegs.

"Perhaps we are, and perhaps we are not," replied Howe. "The end hasn't
come yet."

"I suppose there is room enough in the run for the contents of all
those breakers," added Little.

"Hyde and the rest of those babies have returned to their duty,"
continued Monroe, who was always the first to despond.

"No matter for that; we will keep on this tack till something happens,"
persisted Howe. "By this time we are pretty sure of being left behind
when the fellows go to Germany; and for my part, as Fluxion is going
away, I think that is the best thing that can happen to us. We shall
find a chance to strike out on our own hook."

But the arrival of the water breakers carried consternation to the
runaways, whatever they said and did. They were tired of the battle,
though, if any of them had a thought of repentance, they subdued it.
Raymond's party were angry at the defection of Hyde and his associates,
and the future looked dark and hopeless, so far as remedial agencies
were concerned, but their pride still prompted them to hold out.
Wearied with anxiety and hope deferred, they turned in as the night
advanced.

At eight bells, all hands were called again. The wind was blowing half
a gale, and the starboard watch had taken in the light sails. It was
deemed advisable still further to shorten sail, and a reef was put in
the topsails. The starboard watch then turned in, the port having the
deck till four in the morning. The wind came in heavy gusts from the
south-west, and shortly after midnight it began to veer to the west,
which brought up a dense fog. At four bells in the mid watch, the wind
came square from the west in heavy squalls. The ship went about, and
stood to the southward, the principal intending to go into Cherbourg if
the weather would permit.

At eight bells, when the morning watch was called, another reef was put
in the topsails. At daylight the fog was too dense to think of making a
port, and the ship tacked again. There was a heavy sea running, but
everything went along very well. Captain Shuffles remained on deck all
night, but no emergency occurred which required the exercise of more
than ordinary skill and energy. The wind was blowing a gale, though not
a very severe one. All the students on board had been in worse weather,
and it produced no excitement whatever.

At seven bells in the morning, the port watch was called to breakfast,
according to the regular routine of the ship. The meal consisted of
coffee, beefsteak, fried potatoes, and the rolls which had been baked
the preceding afternoon. Peaks and the head steward were in the
steerage, and when some of the runaways appeared, and attempted to seat
themselves at the mess tables, they were forbidden to do so. Only those
decorated with white or blue ribbons were allowed to breakfast. At
eight bells the port watch went on deck, and the starboard, relieved
from duty, came down to their morning meal, when the tables had been
reset. A fresh supply of hot steaks and potatoes was brought from the
kitchen, for the breakfast of each watch was cooked separately, and
they fared precisely as the other watch had. The rebels were still
excluded from the mess tables, and violent was the grumbling thereat.

When the regular breakfast was finished, the tables were again cleared,
and the mutineers began to think they were to be starved into
subjection; but they were mistaken, in part, at least, for the tables
were again set. This time there were no hot beefsteaks, no fresh rolls,
no fried potatoes, no coffee--nothing but cold corned beef and hard
tack. None of the cooks or stewards said anything, no one made any
remarks of any kind. There was the breakfast--salt junk and hard
tack--regular sailor's fare. The head steward mildly indicated that
breakfast was ready for those who had not already been served. The two
parties of rebels seated themselves, and turned up their noses at the
fare.

"Steward, bring me a mug of coffee," shouted Howe to the nearest
waiter.

"It takes water to make coffee," replied the man, solemnly, and as he
had doubtless been instructed to answer.

"What if it does? Bring me some coffee," repeated Howe, angrily.

"No coffee for this crowd," interposed the head steward, as solemnly.

"But I'm going to have my coffee," added Wilton, whose temper was not
the sweetest in the world, as he rose from his stool, and rushed
towards the kitchen door.

"Avast, my lad!" said Peaks, taking the rebel by the collar with no
gentle force. "It takes water to make coffee."

Wilton was afraid of the boatswain, for there was a tradition on board
that he had, on one occasion, laid hands upon a refractory boy, and he
was evidently in the steerage for a purpose. He skulked back to his
place at the table.

"Can't I have some coffee?" demanded Raymond, of the head steward, when
that official came near his seat.

"You cannot."

"Why not?"

"Because it takes water to make coffee."

"What of that?"

"Owing to circumstances, the supply of water on board is rather short,"
answered the head steward, as solemnly as before.

"That's nothing to do with me. I didn't start the water tanks."

"I obey orders, and don't argue with any one; but there's an old saying
that a man is known by the company he keeps, and I suppose a boy is,
too."

The steward passed on, and refused to answer any more questions.

"If we can't have coffee, give us some water," said Lindsley.

"Water is water," replied the steward.

The rebels were hungry, and they ate, though very sparingly, of the
unpalatable food which was set before them. Like most other boys
belonging to "the first families," they did not relish corned beef at
any time; and that before them, though of excellent quality, was very
salt, having been a long time in the brine. They partook of the beef
and the hard bread simply because there was nothing else with which to
satisfy their hunger. Some of them wanted to "make a row" about the
fare; but Peaks was a very formidable obstacle in the way of any such
demonstration. They ate what they could, rather than what they wanted,
and retreated to their mess-rooms.

"Well, what do you think now?" said Lindsley, as he threw himself into
his berth.

Raymond only shook his head and grated his teeth.

"I think we are sold, and the sooner we back down, the better," added
Lindsley.

"I won't back down!" snapped Raymond, savagely.

"How long do you think you can eat salt horse, without any water to
wash it down?"

"I can stand it till I die!"

"I don't think it is worth while to stand it quite so long as that."

"I do! What right has the principal to deny us even a drop of water?"

"What right have we to stand out, and refuse to do our duty? Howe's
fellows started the water tanks, and--"

"We didn't do it!" interrupted Raymond, savagely. "I won't stand it."

Rushing out into the steerage, he went to the water jar, in one corner.
It was empty, though there was a breaker of water on deck for the use
of the Faithful, who were thirsty. He was mad, and ready for desperate
steps. He hastened to the mess-room of Howe, and entered just as that
worthy was taking a draught from the bottle he had filled at the tanks
the evening before.

"What's that?" demanded he.

"Water," replied Howe, good-naturedly.

"Give us a drink--will you? I'm almost choked," asked Raymond, glad to
see that there was still an alternative.

"No, I thank you," answered Howe, putting the stopper back into the
bottle. "We don't do the heavy jobs, and then provide for those who are
too cowardly to help us."

"We are in the same boat with you; and it isn't fair to let our fellows
suffer while you have water."

"You wouldn't go in with us. We have only a bottle apiece," pleaded
Howe.

Raymond appealed to others in the room, but all of them were of one
mind. The salt beef had created a tremendous thirst among those who had
eaten it, and all who had water made large draughts upon the supply.
The bottles had contained pickles, olives, ketchup, and other similar
articles, so that the water was not very palatable. In the course of
the forenoon, Raymond and his party stealthily attempted to obtain
possession of these bottles, but the runaways were too vigilant for
them; and before dinner the thirsty ones were exceedingly
uncomfortable, to say the least. They tried to conceal their condition
from the Faithful as much as possible, but they were all very nervous
and disquieted.

At one o'clock, after the regular dinner of roast beef and rice pudding
had been served to the Faithful, the tables were again prepared for the
rebels; but the bill of fare was corned beef and hard bread--not a drop
of water. Peaks and the head steward paced the unsteady floor, as they
had done at breakfast time. Raymond, whose tongue and lips were parched
with thirst, became desperate again, and attempted to force his way
into the kitchen. He was seized by the boatswain, and the more he
struggled, the more he was shaken up. He refused to behave himself, and
Peaks thrust him into the brig.




CHAPTER IX.

THE LAST OF THE MUTINEERS.


The gale continued to blow ugly and gusty during the day, until eight
bells in the afternoon. The fog hung heavy over the ocean, and the bell
was rung every five minutes, in accordance with the English Admiralty
instructions. The ship had been standing close-hauled to the
north-north-west since noon, when she had tacked, at the warning of the
fog signal, made at some light station on the coast of France, in the
vicinity of Cape de La Hague. For four hours she had been on her
present course, and was therefore approaching the coast of England
again. At the beginning of the first dog-watch, there were some signs
of a change of weather. The fog appeared to be lifting, and the wind
came in less violent gusts.

In the steerage, among the rebels, the most unalloyed misery prevailed.
The runaways had exhausted their supply of water under the pressure of
thirst caused by the salt provision, though they had not yet begun to
be very uncomfortable. Certainly they had, as yet, no thought of
yielding, but were rather studying up the means of obtaining a new
supply of water. Raymond's party were only waiting for the boatswain's
call to ask permission to join their shipmates on deck; but, most
provokingly, no call came. Their leader had been discharged from the
brig as soon as he ceased to be violent; for the principal did not wish
to punish any one for the mutiny, preferring to let it work its own
cure on the diet he had prescribed.

With the exception of the rebels, every one seemed to be particularly
jolly. The principal had explained his policy to them, and they were
entirely satisfied. All the evolutions of seamanship were performed
with remarkable precision even in the gale, demonstrating that the crew
had not lost their prestige, when the will was right. In the cabin,
even, the rough sea did not dampen the spirits of the passengers, who
had been, in a measure, accustomed to the rude action of the sea by
their voyage in the steamer and in the Josephine. The Grand Protectress
of the Order of the Faithful was full of life and spirits, and watched
with the deepest interest the progress of the rebellion in the
steerage.

In Raymond's party the suffering from thirst had become intolerable.
Lindsley's back had been broken early in the forenoon, but Raymond
declared that he would never yield--he would die first.

"What's the use?" demanded Lindsley. "We are whipped out, sold out,
played out, and used up. My tongue is as dry as a piece of
wash-leather."

"I don't like to give it up," replied Raymond. "It looks mean to back
out."

"Just look at it a moment. We are suffering for the sins of Howe's
fellows. They let off the water, saving a supply for themselves, and
our fellows are really the only ones who suffer for their deed. We are
sustaining them, even while they won't give us a drop of water to
moisten our lips. For one, I never will get into such a scrape again.
We have been fools, and whenever I see the runaways go one way, I'm
going the other."

"All hands, on deck, ahoy!" shouted the boatswain at the main hatch.

"That means me," said Lindsley, rushing to the ladder. "Come along,
Raymond. Howe and his fellows have been stingy and mean enough to be
left alone."

Most of the crew were on deck when the call was piped. Lindsley led the
way up the ladder, and Raymond followed him. The last argument of his
friend had evidently converted the latter, for, however much he
disliked to yield, it was not so bad as supporting the cause of such
fellows as Howe, who would not even give him a drink of water. And the
idea of enduring positive suffering for the evil deed of the runaways
was not pleasant. They had let the water out of the tanks, but Raymond
and his friends were the only ones who had thus far suffered in
consequence of the act. It was these reflections which absolutely drove
him upon deck, rather than any disposition to undo the wrong he had
done.

A lift of the fog had revealed the Bill of Portland, a narrow neck of
land projecting outside the channel from the English coast. The wind
was hauling to the northward, and the prospect of fair weather was very
good. The order was given to turn out one of the reefs in the topsails.
The appearance of the Raymond party was noticed by Mr. Lowington, and
even the passengers observed those who wore neither the white nor the
blue ribbon. As soon as the rebels reached the deck, they discovered
the water breaker in the waist. They charged upon it with a fury which
required the interference of an officer; but half a pint was served out
to each of them before they were sent aloft.

The reefs were turned out, and the ship came about on the other tack.
Nothing had been seen of the Josephine since the fog settled down upon
the squadron the night before; but the principal had no fears in regard
to her safety. Fog-horns, guns, and bells warn the voyager of his
approach to any of the perils of the shore; and the experienced
navigator can interpret these signals so as to avoid all danger.

"South-west by west, half west," said Paul Kendall, who was the acting
sailing-master on duty, giving out the course to the quarter-master in
charge of the wheel.

"South-west by west, half west," repeated the latter.

"Where will that take us?" asked Grace Arbuckle, who watched everything
that was said and done with deep interest.

"That course will take the ship to a point off Ushant, which is an
island near the coast of France, not far from Brest," replied Paul, who
took especial pleasure in explaining to her the working of the vessel.

"How far is it from here?"

"From the Bill of Portland, which is the land you see astern of us, the
distance to Ushant is one hundred and fifty-seven miles."

"How long will it take us to go there?"

"That will depend entirely upon the wind," laughed Paul. "We are
logging ten knots just now, which would bring us off Ushant about ten
o'clock to-morrow forenoon. But the wind is going down, and we may not
get there till to-morrow night."

"Well, I'm in no hurry; and I rather hope it will not blow very hard,"
added Grace.

"That's just my wish. If the water only holds out, I don't care."

"But there is something more for the Grand Protectress to do," said
Grace.

"A dozen more who are to take the first degree; but I do not know
whether they will be willing to be initiated."

"Why not?"

"Raymond, who is generally a good fellow, has been very ugly. Perhaps
he feels better now he has quenched his thirst."

"May I speak to him?"

"Certainly, if you wish to do so."

Paul conducted the Grand Protectress to the waist, where the head
steward was giving the Raymond party another half pint of water apiece.
They were very thirsty, and, as boys understand the word, they had
doubtless suffered a great deal for the want of water. As they had
returned to their duty, and yielded the point, Mr. Lowington had
directed that they should be frequently supplied, until they were
satisfied. The general opinion was, that they had already been severely
punished, not only by the thirst they had endured, augmented as it was
by their diet of salt beef and hard bread, but in the mortification
they had experienced at the failure of their scheme. The latter
punishment was quite as severe as the former.

"Miss Arbuckle wishes to speak to you, Raymond," said Paul, addressing
the discomfited leader of the mild party.

"What for?" demanded he.

"She will explain for herself."

"Does she want to preach to me?"

"I think not. Of course you are not compelled to see her, if you don't
wish to do so," added Paul, who could not see why any one should not
wish to converse with Grace.

"I will hear what she has to say," said Raymond, with a condescension
which Paul did not like.

The commodore presented the delinquent to the young lady. Raymond
touched his cap, and bowed politely.

"I am very glad to see you on deck, Mr. Raymond, for I have wished to
make your acquaintance since last evening," Grace began.

"Thank you. I was not aware that I had any claims upon your
consideration."

"I see you wear no ribbon. Shall I furnish you with one?"

"I don't know what it is for?" said Raymond, glancing at the white
ribbon on the commodore's breast. "What does it mean?"

"I can't tell you anything about it just yet. I suppose you are very
sorry for what you have done."

"I feel better since I have had a drink of water," replied Raymond,
good-naturedly; and there was no doubt that he spoke the literal truth.

"I regret that it was necessary to deprive you of water."

"It was not my fault. I had nothing to do with emptying the water
tanks," pleaded the culprit. "It was the runaways who did that."

"Then you were in bad company."

"I think so myself," answered Raymond, candidly, for he was still under
the influence of the clinching argument which had induced him to come
on deck.

At this point the conversation was interrupted by the call of the
principal, who summoned the Raymond party into his presence on the
quarter-deck.

"Are you satisfied?" asked Mr. Lowington, with a pleasant smile on his
face, when the rebels had assembled before him.

"No, sir," replied Raymond, promptly, and before any other of the party
could give a different answer.

"Why did you come on deck, then?"

"We couldn't stand it any longer without water."

"Is that the reason why you came on deck?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you may return to your former diet till you are satisfied," added
the principal, pleasantly.

"We don't wish to do that, sir."

"Didn't I understand you to say that you were not satisfied."

"I am not, sir," continued Raymond, stoutly. "I don't think it was fair
to--"

"Stop!" interposed the principal, rather sharply. "I do not purpose to
listen to your grievances. You have undertaken to redress them
yourselves, and I see no reason why you should not persevere till you
are satisfied."

"We can't live on salt junk and hard bread without any water, sir."

"Can't you, indeed? You should have thought of that before you joined
hands with those who started the water out of the tanks."

"We did not even know that they meant to start the water, or,
afterwards, that they had done it, till the cook said so. We are not
responsible for what they did."

"Perhaps not; yet you were in the hold, in full fellowship with them.
But I do not intend to argue the matter with you."

"We are ready to return to our duty, sir, whether we are satisfied or
not," added Raymond.

"O, you are?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, as long as you are willing to do your duty, I suppose it does
not matter whether you are satisfied or not."

Raymond made no reply, and could not help wondering that he had been so
simple as to believe the principal would ask an explanation of
mutineers.

"Are you willing to obey all orders?" continued Mr. Lowington.

"Yes, sir."

"And the others?"

"Yes, sir," replied Raymond's followers.

"Will you refrain from all communication with those in the steerage who
still refuse to do duty?"

"I will," answered Raymond, who had before made up his mind to do this.

"Especially you will not inform them of anything which takes place on
deck, or give them the benefit of any explanation you may hear," said
the principal. "Those who assent to these terms will walk over to
windward."

The party, who could not help wondering at this singular treatment of
what they regarded as a very difficult matter, walked squarely up to
the weather-rail of the ship, and halted there. The remarks of the
principal, and the pledge he exacted, seemed to explain the strange
conduct of the white and the blue ribbon bands in the steerage. No one
had been able to ascertain definitely what those badges meant.

"Very well. I am satisfied, if you are not," said Mr. Lowington,
mildly. "You deserve punishment, but it shall depend upon your future
conduct whether you receive it or not. You will go forward."

When the party reached the waist, they were confronted by Grace and
Paul.

"You have promised to be faithful--have you not?" asked she.

"Yes; but I'm not satisfied," replied the leader.

"Then I confer upon you the first degree of the Order of the Faithful,"
added Grace. "Its emblem is a yellow ribbon;" and she pinned the
decoration upon Raymond's breast.

"What does it mean?" he asked.

She explained its meaning, and then initiated his companions.

"How happens it that we have yellow ribbon while others have white or
blue ones?" asked Lindsley.

"Because you have taken only the first degree, being the last ones to
come. If you do well, and are faithful, you shall be raised to the
second, and then to the third degree," replied Grace, with a vivacity
which was not at all impaired by the laughter of the initiates, who, as
others before them had, regarded the order as a pleasant joke.

"When you have proved yourselves worthy, you will be advanced to the
second degree by the Grand Protectress," added Paul. "The motto of the
concern is, '_Vous ne pouvez pas faire un sifflet de la queue d'un
cochon_;' and I think you have fully proved the truth of the saying.
The meaning of the sentence is one of the secrets of the order. Do you
promise not to reveal it?"

"I do, for one," laughed Lindsley. "I haven't the least idea myself
what it means."

"Nor I," added all the others."

"Then you will all be discreet. The motto contains a very valuable
moral lesson, which bears on your case, and I hope you will take it to
heart," said Paul.

"I should like to take it to head first," replied Lindsley.

"I hope you are satisfied now, Mr. Raymond," continued Grace.

"Not at all. I am willing to do my duty, rather than be starved on salt
junk, and choked to death for the want of water; but I am not
satisfied."

"Not satisfied!" exclaimed Grace. "Not after you have been initiated
into the noble and magnanimous Circle of the Order of the Faithful!"

"Not much!"

"You should say, '_Nicht viel_,' when you want to use that expression,"
laughed Grace, who did not like American slang, and had already
partially cured Paul, who had a slight tendency in that direction.

"Well, _nicht viel_, then. It was not 

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