The boats were cleared away, and every preparation made for lowering them into the water. This was a difficult and dangerous manoeuvre in the heavy sea which was running at the time. The professors' barge, which was secured at the davits on the weather side of the ship, was to be lowered with her crew on board, and they took their places on the thwarts, with their hands to the oars in readiness for action. The principal had requested Mr. Fluxion to go in the barge and Mr. Peaks in the gig, not to command the boats, but to give the officers such suggestions as the emergency of the occasion might require.
"All ready, sir," reported Ward, the coxswain of the barge, when the oarsmen were in their places.
"Stand by the after tackle, Ward," said Haven. "Bowman, attend to the fore tackle."
At a favorable moment, when a great wave was sinking down by the ship's side, the order was given to lower away, and in an instant the barge struck the water. Ward cast off the after tackle, and the bowman did the same with the forward tackle. At the moment the order to lower was given, as the wave sank down, the ship rolled to windward, and the boat struck the water some eight feet from the vessel's side.
"Up oars!" said the coxswain, with energy.
"Lively, Ward," added the first lieutenant.
"Let fall!" continued the coxswain, as a billow lifted the boat, so that those on board could see the ship's deck. "Give way together!"
The barge, tossed like a feather on the high seas, gathered headway, and moved off towards the wreck.
The lowering of the barge had been so successful that the same method was adopted with the gig; but as she was under the lee of the ship, there was less difficulty in getting her off. She pulled round the ship's bow, and having made less stern way in starting both boats came up under the counter of the wreck at about the same time. When the barge and gig reached the ship, a line was thrown to each of them over the quarter, which the bowman caught, and made fast to the ring.
"Where is the captain of the ship?" demanded Mr. Haven.
"Here," shouted that officer.
"How many have you aboard?"
"Eighteen!"
"You must slide down on a rope over the stern; we can't go alongside," continued the first lieutenant.
"Ay, ay, sir!" responded the captain of the ship. "I have two women and two children on board."
"You must lower them in slings," added Haven, prompted by Mr. Fluxion.
The people on board the wreck went to work, and one of the women was lowered into each boat at the same time. A long loop was made in the end of the rope, and the woman sat down in the bight of it, holding on to the line with her hands. At a moment when the sea favored the movement, the boats were hauled up close to the ship's stern, the passenger caught by two of the crew, and hauled on board. A boy and a girl were let down in the same manner. The captain, mates, and seamen came down the rope hand over hand.
Each boat now had nine passengers, who were stowed in the stern sheets and on the bottom. The ropes from the ship were cast off, and the oarsmen were ordered to give way. The barge and the gig rose and fell, now leaping up on the huge billows, and then plunging down deep into the trough of the sea; but they had been well trimmed, and though the comb of the sea occasionally broke into them, drenching the boys with spray, the return to the Young America was safely effected.
"How happens it that you are all boys?" asked the captain of the wrecked ship, who was in Paul Kendall's boat.
"That's the Academy Ship," replied the second lieutenant.
"The what?" exclaimed the captain.
"It is the Young America. She is a school ship."
"O, ay!"
There was no disposition to talk much in the boats. The officers and crews were fully employed in keeping the barge and gig right side up in the tremendous sea, and though all hands were filled with curiosity to know the particulars of the wreck, all questions were wisely deferred until they were on the deck of the ship.
When the gig came up under the counter of the Young America, a line was thrown down to the bowman who made it fast to the ring. The passengers were then taken aboard in slings rigged on the spanker-boom, which was swung over the lee quarter for the purpose. Part of the boat's crew were taken on board in the same way, and then the gig was hoisted up to the davits with the rest in her.
Before the barge was allowed to come up under the counter, the officer of the deck wore ship, so as to bring the port quarter, on which the boat was to be suspended, on the lee side. Her passengers were taken on deck as those from the gig had been, and she was hoisted up.
"Mr. Kendall, I congratulate you upon the success of your labors," said Mr. Lowington, when the second lieutenant reached the deck. "You have handled your boat exceedingly well, and you deserve a great deal of credit."
"That's a fact, sir," added Boatswain Peaks, touching his cap. "I hardly spoke a word to him, and I've seen many a boat worse handled in a sea."
Paul blushed at the praise bestowed upon him, but he was proud and happy to have done his duty faithfully on this important occasion. The same commendation was given to the first lieutenant, after the barge had been hauled up to the davits, and the order given for the ship to fill away again.
The women and children were conducted to the professors' cabin as soon as they came on board, and the seamen were taken into the steerage. All of them were exhausted by the anxiety and the hardships they had endured, and as soon as their safety was insured, they sank almost helpless under the pressure of their physical weakness.
"This is a school ship, I'm told," said Captain Greely, the master of the shipwrecked vessel, who had also been invited to the main cabin.
"Yes, sir; we call it the Academy Ship, and we have eighty-seven young gentlemen on board," replied Mr. Lowington.
"They are smart boys, sir. I never saw boats better handled than those which brought us off from the ship," added Captain Greely, warmly.
"Your voyage has come to an unfortunate conclusion," said Mr. Lowington.
"Yes, sir; I have lost my ship, but I thank God my wife and children are safe," answered the weather-beaten seaman, as he glanced at one of the women while the great tears flowed down his sun-browned cheeks.
"Poor children!" sighed Mr. Agneau, as he patted the little girl on the head; and his own eyes were dim with the tears he shed for others' woes.
Captain Greely told his story very briefly. His ship was the Sylvia, thirty days out of Liverpool, bound to New York. She had encountered a heavy gale a week before, in which she had badly sprung her mainmast. Finding it impossible to lay her to under the foresail, they had been compelled to set the main-topsail, reefed; but even this was too much for the weak mast, and it had gone by the board, carrying the second mate and five men with it. The Sylvia was old, and the captain acknowledged that she was hardly sea-worthy. She became unmanageable, and the foremast had been cut away to ease off the strain upon her. Her seams opened, and she was making more water than could be controlled with the pumps. For eighteen hours, all hands, even including the two women, had labored incessantly at the pumps and the buckets, to keep the ship afloat. They were utterly worn out when they discovered the Young America, were on the point of abandoning their efforts in despair, and taking to the boats, in which most of them would probably have perished.
After the boats started from the Young America, Mr. Lowington had ordered the cooks to prepare a meal for the people from the wreck; and as soon as they came on board, coffee and tea, beefsteaks, fried potatoes, and hot biscuit were in readiness for them. Tables were spread in the main cabin and in the steerage, and the exhausted guests, providentially sent to this bountiful board, were cordially invited to partake. They had eaten nothing but hard bread since the gale came on, and they were in condition to appreciate the substantial fare set before them.
By the forethought of Captain Greely, the clothing of the women and children had been thrown into one of the boats. The bundle was opened, and its contents dried at the galley fire. The doctor and the chaplain gave up their state room to the captain, his wife and children, while Mr. Lowington extended a similar courtesy to the other woman, who was Mrs. Greely's sister. Mr. Fluxion was the first to offer his berth to the mate of the Sylvia, which was reluctantly accepted; and all the professors were zealous to sacrifice their own comfort to the wants of the wrecked visitors.
In the steerage, every boy, without an exception, wanted to give up his berth to one of the seamen from the Sylvia; but the privilege was claimed by the adult forward officers, the cooks, and stewards. The principal was finally obliged to decide between them: and for obvious reasons, he directed that the guests should occupy the quarters of the men, rather than of the boys. The people from the Sylvia needed rest and nourishment more than anything else. They were warmed, and fed, and dried, and then permitted to sleep off the fatigues of their severe exertion.
At three o'clock, though they had slept but an hour or two, most of the shipwrecked people appeared at divine service, for this was a privilege which they had long been denied, and it would be strange, at such a time, if the hearts of those who had been saved from the angry flood were not overflowing with gratitude to God for his mercy to them. Mr. Agneau, whose sensitive nature had been keenly touched by the events of the day, made a proper use of the occasion, delivering a very effective address to the students and to the shipwrecked voyagers, who formed his little congregation.
The next morning the wind came up fresh and warm from the southward, knocking down the heavy sea, and giving a delightful day to those on board the ship. The passengers appeared on deck, and were greatly interested in the Young America and her juvenile crew. Captain Greely's son and daughter were little lions, of the first class, among the boys. All hands vied with each other in their efforts to do something for the guests of the ship, and it really seemed as though the era of good feeling had dawned upon them. Even Shuffles and Pelham forgot, for a time, the interests of the Chain League, and joined with others in petting the children of the wreck, and in laboring for the happiness of the involuntary guests.
On this day, observations for latitude and longitude were obtained, and at noon the ship was found to be in latitude 42°, 37', 5" N.; longitude 64°, 39', 52" W. The position of the ship was marked on the chart by the masters, in council assembled, and the calculations made for the course. Bowditch's Navigator, an indispensable work to the seaman, was consulted frequently both for the rules and the nautical tables it contains. The course, after allowing for the variation of the compass, was found to be north-east by east, which, agreeing with the calculations of Mr. Fluxion, was given out to the quartermaster conning the wheel.
The wind continued to blow fresh from the south and south-west during the rest of the day and the succeeding night; and the log-slate showed ten and eleven knots until midnight, when the wind hauled round to the westward, and soon came strong from that quarter. At noon on Tuesday, April 5, the Young America had made two hundred and forty-four miles during the preceding twenty-four hours, which was the best run she had had during the voyage.
On the afternoon of this day, a ship, bound to the westward, was seen, and Captain Greely expressed a desire to be put on board of her, with his family, as he did not wish to return to the point from which he had just come. The Young America bore down upon the sail, and spoke her at sundown. Her captain was willing to take the shipwrecked voyagers on board his ship, which was bound to New York, and they were transferred in the barge and gig. Captain Greely and his party were very grateful for the attentions they had received; and the little boy and girl almost rebelled at the idea of leaving their new and partial friends.
As the two ships were filling away, after the transfer of the passengers, the seamen of the New York ship, having learned what the Young America was, gave three cheers, and dipped her ensign in compliment to her. All the young tars were immediately ordered into the rigging by Captain Gordon, and "three times three" were most lustily given. The American flag at her peak was lowered three times, in reply to the salute of the stranger. As the Academy Ship stood off on her course, the two children of Captain Greely were seen, on the poop-deck of the other vessel, waving their handkerchiefs; and they continued to do so as long as they could be seen.
The departure of the guests had a saddening effect upon the crew of the Young America, as they missed the children and the ladies very much; for, during their presence on board, the ship had assumed quite a domestic aspect, and all the idlers on deck found pleasing companions in the little boy and girl.
The limits of this volume do not permit a full detail of the entire voyage across the ocean. Enough has been given to show the discipline of the ship, and the daily life of the boys on board of her. For the next ten days the weather was generally favorable, and she laid her course all the time. Some days she made two hundred miles, and others less than one hundred.
On the sixteenth day from her departure, she was in latitude 51°, 4', 28" N.; longitude 31°, 10', 2" W.; course, E. by N. In going from Cape Race, the southern point of Newfoundland, to Cape Clear, the southern point of Ireland, the Young America did not lay a straight course, as it would appear when drawn on a map or chart. La Rochelle, on the western coast of France, and Cape Race are nearly on the same parallel of latitude, and the former is exactly east of the latter. But the parallel on which both points lie would not be the shortest line between them. A great circle, extending entirely around the earth in the broadest part, going through both, would not coincide with the parallel, but would run to the north of it a considerable distance at a point half way between the two places, the separation diminishing each way till the great circle crosses the parallel at Cape Race and La Rochelle. The shortest course between the two points, therefore, would be the arc of the great circle lying between them. A skilful navigator would find and follow this track. This is called great circle sailing.
The Young America followed a great circle from Cape Race to Cape Clear. Off the former point, her course was two points north of east; off the latter, it was half a point south of east. On her twentieth day out she sailed due east.
After the excitement of the wreck and the departure of the passengers, Shuffles and his confederates resumed their operations in the Chain League, assisted somewhat by a case of discipline which occurred at this time. When the ship was sixteen days out the Chain consisted of thirty-one links, in the cabalistic language of the conspirators, and Shuffles was in favor of striking the blow.
The business of the Chain had been managed with extreme caution by the conspirators, and more than one third of the crew had been initiated without the knowledge of the principal and professors, or of the officers and seamen who were not members. Pelham and Shuffles ordered the affairs of the League, and no "link" was allowed to approach an outsider for the purpose of inducing him to join without the consent of one of these worthies.
As the scheme progressed, various modifications had been made in the plan to adapt it to circumstances, the principal of which was the choice of two "shackles," who should be deemed the officers of the League until a regular election had taken place. By this invention, Shuffles and Pelham had been enabled to compromise their differences, for they assumed the newly-created offices, and labored as equals in the bad cause. Each endeavored to make as many new "links" as possible, for already the conspirators consisted of two factions, one of which favored the election of Shuffles, and the other that of Pelham, to the captaincy. Each, in a measure, controlled his own recruits, and was reasonably sure of their votes when the election should be ordered.
These young gentlemen were not only plotting to take the ship, but to "take in" each other. While both worked for the League as a whole, each worked for himself as an individual. Shuffles was much more thorough than his rival in the making of his converts. He told them the whole story, and taught them to look full in the face the extreme peril of the undertaking. He did not conceal anything from them. On the other hand, Pelham merely represented the project as a means of redressing the grievances of the officers and crew; of having their money restored to them, and abolishing certain portions of the regulations which pressed hard upon those who were disposed to be unruly.
Though the number of "links" in the "Chain" has been mentioned, it was not known to either of the rivals. Each knew his own peculiar followers, but he did not know how many the other could muster. Though there were signs and passwords by which the members could know each other, there were no means by which any one could precisely sum up the whole number of "links." Shuffles could count thirteen including his rival, while Pelham could number nineteen without his coequal in authority. The former believed the list to consist of about twenty four, while the latter estimated it above thirty. With them it was a struggle for an office, as well as to redress their fancied wrongs, and they mutually deceived each other in order to obtain the advantage.
"How many do you suppose we can muster now?" asked Shuffles, on the evening of the eighteenth day out, as they met in the waist, when both were off duty.
"About twenty," replied Pelham.
"There are more than that."
"Perhaps there are."
"But it is time to stretch the Chain," added Shuffles, in a whisper.
"Not yet."
"If we are ever going to do anything, we must begin soon. We have so many members now that the danger of exposure increases every day."
"We can't do anything here. Besides, I am not in favor of having the time or the manner of accomplishing the work talked about among the members. I believe in one-man power in an affair of this sort. There should be one head, who should plan and command; all the rest should obey. If every step in the thing must be discussed and agreed upon, we shall never do anything. One fellow will want it done in one way, and another in some other way."
"I think you are more than half right," replied Shuffles, who was confident that he should be the person chosen to arrange the plans and issue the commands.
"I know I am wholly right," added Pelham, who was equally confident that he should enjoy the undivided sway of the League. "If you are chosen captain I will cheerfully obey your orders. I go a step farther: whoever is elected captain should appoint his own officers."
"I will agree to that also," replied the complaisant Shuffles.
"Very well, then; the understanding is, that when one of us is elected captain, he shall appoint his own officers, and do all the planning and all the commanding," answered Pelham.
"Exactly so; we are now in about longitude thirty-one, and Cork Harbor is in longitude eight, according to Bowditch, for I was looking the matter up in the steerage to-day. We have to make about twenty-three degrees more. A degree of longitude, in latitude fifty-one, is thirty-seven and three quarters miles, which would make it eight hundred and sixty-eight miles more to run in order to reach Queenstown. You see I am posted," said Shuffles.
"I see you are. By the way, had you noticed that Queenstown is not in the Navigator, or on the older maps?" added Pelham.
"Yes; the place was called the Cove of Cork until 1849, when, in honor of her majesty's visit to the town, the name was changed to Queenstown."
"All right," said Pelham.
It need not be supposed that the distance to Queenstown and the change in the name of that place had anything to do with the League. The fact was, that Mr. Fluxion had passed near the conspirators, and had paused a moment in the waist to glance up at the fore-top-gallant sail, which was not in good trim; and the conversation had been changed to suit the occasion. In talking of the affairs of the "Chain," it was required that one of the party should look forward, and the other aft, if there were two of them; and that the third, if there were three, should stand back to the nearest rail. It was further required that the conversation should not take place in a situation where it would be possible for any one to overhear them. The lee side of the waist,—the midshipman of the watch always being on the weather side,—the top-gallant forecastle, and the tops were the favorite resorts of the conspirators. If any one approached, the parties in conversation were instantly to change the topic, as Shuffles had done.
"I think it is about time for the election to take place," continued Shuffles, when Mr. Fluxion had gone aft.
"Whenever you are ready, I am," replied Pelham.
"I am ready now."
"So am I."
"Very well; it shall come off to-morrow, say."
"To-morrow it is, then."
"But how shall it be conducted?" asked Shuffles.
"That will not be an easy matter. I think, however we can hit upon some plan for having it fairly done."
"Of course the matter lies between you and me," added Shuffles.
"To be sure."
"I suppose both of us are ready to abide the issue, whatever it may be," said Shuffles, who was not a little fearful that his powerful rival would refuse to acknowledge him when he was chosen, as he confidently expected to be.
"I pledge you my word and honor, that I will obey you in all things if you are fairly elected captain," replied Pelham, who was equally sure of being chosen himself.
"Fairly? Who is to decide whether it is fairly done or not?" demanded Shuffles, unwilling to leave a loop-hole through which his companion could crawl out of the bargain.
"When we have agreed upon the means of electing the captain, the choice shall be final."
"Good! You and I shall have no difficulty!" exclaimed Shuffles, rather astonished to find his rival so easily managed, as he regarded it.
"We will make it a little more binding, if you choose," suggested Pelham, who, the reader has already been assured by the figures given, was completely outwitting the author and inventor of the Chain League.
"With all my heart!"
"We will toggle each other on this special question if you like."
"The stronger we make the bond the better," said Shuffles. "Repeat after me."
"Not here, Shuffles. There is a steamer on our weather bow. Let's go up into the mizzentop, and have a look at her with a night glass."
Mr. Haven, the first lieutenant, who was in charge of the deck, permitted them to go aloft with the glass, for the officers were empowered to grant small favors. On reaching the top, they glanced at the steamer, and then resumed the conversation which had been suspended on deck, it being too dark for the officers below to see what they were doing.
"Now go ahead," said Pelham.
"Repeat after me."
"I promise, without any reservation, to acknowledge Shuffles as captain, if he is chosen, and faithfully to obey his orders, on penalty of falling overboard accidentally."
Pelham repeated these words, and then "toggled" his rival in the same manner.
"Now we understand each other perfectly, and there will be no chance of dragging the anchor," said Shuffles, satisfied that his sway would be undisputed. "Let me say, in addition to this, that if I should happen to be chosen, I shall make you my first officer, Pelham."
"And I will make you my first officer, if I should happen to be chosen," replied the obliging Pelham. "Of course I don't expect to be chosen; you have had the swing of this affair, and you will have all the advantage."
"No, I think not; you are an officer now, and you have more influence than I have," added the modest Shuffles.
If both had been laboring for the organization of the League on the same terms, Shuffles would certainly have the better chance of an election; but Pelham had been taking in members on false pretences, merely representing to those whom he approached that the League was an association having for its object the redress of their grievances. To only a few had he mentioned the fact that a regular mutiny was contemplated; that the ship was to be taken out of the hands of the principal, and an independent cruise commenced. He was afraid the whole truth would be more than some of them could bear; and perhaps he had so little faith in the extreme measures to be carried out by the League, that he was unwilling even to mention them.
Those who serve the evil one can neither trust each other nor trust their master.
The only real confidence in each other which can exist among men or boys must be based on moral and religious principle.
The man who pays his debts, or who performs his obligations to his fellow-men, for his reputation's sake, rather than from devotion to pure principle, will fail of his duty when he can conceal his infidelity, or when his reputation will not suffer from his acts.
A man or a boy without principle is not to be trusted out of the line of his own interest.
While Shuffles and Pelham were pledging themselves to a kind of romantic fidelity, they were plotting each against the other, each being satisfied that he had the advantage of the other.
"Now, I'm afraid the election will give us some trouble," continued Shuffles. "It will not be an easy matter to conduct it fairly—not that any fellow means to cheat, but it must be conducted with so much secrecy that we can't superintend the ballot properly."
"I know there is all that difficulty, but I have thought of a method which I believe will give us a fair election," replied Pelham.
"Have you? So have I."
"Well, what is your plan? If it is better than mine, I am willing to adopt it."
"I was thinking, as you and I are the only candidates that each of us might be represented by one side of the ship. You shall be port, and I will be starboard Then every link in the Chain shall hand his vote, on which shall be written the single word port or starboard either to you or me; and if there are more port than starboard, you will be captain; if more starboard than port, I shall be captain! How does that idea strike you?"
"Pretty well; but the fellows have all got to write their votes, and others will want to know what it means. It will set outsiders to thinking, and I don't believe the plan is quite safe."
"Well, what is your method?" asked Shuffles, who was willing to acknowledge the force of his rival's objections.
"Perhaps my plan is as open to objection as yours," answered Pelham; "but it will require no writing. Each of us shall get a handful of beans and a handful of peas. We can easily obtain them when the store rooms are opened. You shall be beans, and I will be peas."
"How are you, Peas?" said Shuffles, laughing at the idea.
"How are you, Beans?" added Pelham.
"Go on with your soup."
"We will give to every fellow belonging to the Chain one pea and one bean."
"I understand the plan now; but where are the fellows to deposit their vegetable ballots?"
"We can have a receiver; appoint some good fellow for the purpose—say, Greenway, the captain of the forecastle; or Tom Ellis, the third master."
"Of course he does," laughed Pelham, who realized that he had been a little too fast in betraying the strength of his faction.
"I wouldn't appoint an officer."
"Well, you mention some fellow," said the politic Pelham.
"Say Wilton."
"Mention another."
"Lynch."
"No; try again."
"Grossbeck."
"Very well; I will agree to him."
"But he might make some mistake."
"If he does, it will be in your favor, I suppose; for you nominated him, and, of course, he will give you the benefit of any doubt," replied Pelham.
"I want a fellow who will do it fairly. I don't wish to get in by any mistake," said Shuffles, magnanimously.
"Neither do I? and I don't think there will be any mistakes."
"There is a chance for a great many. The fellows may get mixed between beans and peas. When they come to vote, there will be some who don't know beans," laughed Shuffles.
"Well, if they don't, they will know peas, which will do just as well," replied Pelham.
"It would not be pleasant for me to have them know peas, when they ought to know beans."
"We will give them P.P. as a clew to the whole thing."
"P.P.? That means P's, I suppose."
"It means that, and more. P. for Pelham, and P. for peas. If they get one right, they can't very well get the other wrong."
"That's true," answered Shuffles, silenced, rather than convinced, by the tactics of his fellow-conspirator.
It was settled that he who knew peas must certainly "know beans."
"When shall the fellows vote?" asked Shuffles.
"After dinner to-morrow afternoon. Every fellow will be off duty an hour in the first or second dog watch," replied Pelham, who seemed to have an answer ready for every question. "The polls shall be kept open till eight o'clock. The peas and beans shall be distributed before eight bells in the forenoon watch, so that every fellow will be ready to vote."
"Where will Grossbeck stand when he receives the ballots?"
"He won't stand anywhere in particular. We will see him together, and give him his instructions. I think it will be better for him to walk about the ship, and let the fellows hand him the votes on the sly, which he must put in his pocket. He shall count them in the presence of both of us."
"Suppose he should lose some of them?" suggested Shuffles.
"If he does, he is as likely to lose peas as beans."
"I don't want to be chosen in any such manner as by the loss of the votes."
"I can't see that there is any more danger of his losing them than there is of his losing his head. I see you are not entirely satisfied with the plan."
"To tell you the truth, Pelham, I am not. There is, at least, a chance for mistakes."
"I'm willing to do anything you like, that will make the election a fairer one."
"I have it!" exclaimed Shuffles. "We can give each fellow two peas and two beans, and let him vote twice."
"What good will that do?"
"I'll tell you. We want another receiver; then let each fellow vote twice, giving a pea or a bean to both of the receivers. If the two results don't agree, it shall not be an election."
"That's a first-rate idea, Shuffles, and I go in for it with all my might," replied Pelham, with so much warmth that his companion was put in the best of humor. "Who shall be the other receiver?"
"Name some one," said Shuffles, generously conceding the nomination to his confederate.
"Perth."
"No."
Shuffles objected because Pelham had done so when he had mentioned two names.
"Richton."
"Once more."
"McKeon."
"Right. McKeon is an honest, careful fellow," added Shuffles. "Now I think there can be no mistake."
The minor details of the election were carefully arranged, and the boys went below again. They gave satisfactory replies to the first lieutenant, who questioned them in regard to the steamer they had gone aloft to examine. Pelham thought she was a "Cunarder," but Shuffles was confident she belonged to the Inman line; and it is quite certain neither of them had any opinion whatever in regard to her, except that she was going west; for the red light on her port side was visible.
On the following day, Grossbeck and McKeon, the receivers who had been appointed, were waited upon, separately, by the two "Shackles." They accepted the important trust which was confided to them, and each was duly and solemnly admonished of the necessity of entire fairness. They were informed that any discrepancy in the number of ballots in the hands of the two receivers would cause the vote to be rejected; and they individually promised to be both faithful and careful.
The beans and the peas were readily obtained, and were distributed among the members of the League, with the necessary secrecy. Some of the independent voters needed a little persuasion to induce them to vote, when informed that the choice was between the "Shackles" only; but they yielded the point, and entered heartily into the excitement of the event; for, secret as were the proceedings, they were attended with no little exhilaration of feeling.
The voting commenced in the afternoon watch. The second part of the starboard watch, being off duty, gave in their peas and beans first. The receivers, without even knowing all the members of the League, took whatever was handed to them "on the sly," and looked as careless and indifferent as though nothing was going on. The only responsibility that rested upon them, besides the general duty of carefulness and fidelity, was to see that no one voted twice. "Vote early and vote often" was not countenanced; and one receiver acted as a check upon the other.
The election progressed so secretly that no occasion for suspicion was given; and though the ballots were deposited under the eyes of the principal and the professors they saw nothing, and had not the remotest idea that anything wrong was in progress.
In the last half of the first dog watch, Shuffles began to be excited. He was too much of a politician to be idle while any voting was going on? and so far as his duty would permit, he had watched the receivers since the balloting commenced. He had seen seven or eight vote of whose membership in the Chain he had no previous knowledge. He saw that Pelham had made more initiates than he had been willing to acknowledge, apparently concealing the facts for the purpose of favoring his own election. He observed that all the officers of his rival's quarter watch voted, and he was almost certain that he had been defeated.
Shuffles was angry and indignant when he discovered the treacherous shrewdness of his fellow-conspirator; but he had solemnly promised to abide the result of the election, and he could not recede from his position without a violation of the "honor among thieves" which is said to exist. The poll would not be closed for half an hour; and as he had been cheated he deemed it quite right to restore the equilibrium by a resort to the same policy.
"Wilton, I have been cheated," said he, angrily, as he met his old crony in the waist.
"How do you know you have?"
"I know it. I will explain by and by. Something must be done. I am beaten as sure as you live."
"Well, I can't help it if you are. You and Pelham have fixed things to suit yourselves, and now you must fight it out between you," replied Wilton, as he turned on his heel, and left the mighty mischief-maker alone and disconcerted.
"Where do all these beans come from?" said Paul Kendall, as he noticed the rejected ballots of the Pelhamites, which they had not even taken the trouble to throw over the rail.
"It's a new game the fellows are playing," replied Shuffles, with apparent indifference, as he walked aft with the second lieutenant.
"What's that?" asked Paul, curiously.
"It's called 'Don't know Beans,'" answered Shuffles in deep thought. "The fellows have a good deal of sport out of it in the off-time."
"'Don't know Beans!' I never heard of such a game before. Tell me about it."
"You see Grossbeck and McKeon?"
"Yes."
"Well, they are the butts, as we call them. All the fellows in our watch have some beans," added Shuffles, taking a handful of them from his pocket.
"What do they do with them?"
"You try it yourself. Take two of these beans."
Paul took them.
"Now you must give one to Grossbeck, and the other to McKeon, without letting any fellow see you do it. If any fellow does see you give it to either of them, he will say, in a low tone, 'Don't know Beans,' and then the butt must drop it on deck. When the even bell strikes, Grossbeck and McKeon must count their beans. The one who has the most must appoint the next two bean-pots, or butts; and the one who has the smaller number must pick up all the beans that have been dropped on the deck. There is fun in it; though, perhaps, you wouldn't think so."
"I will try it, at any rate."
Paul did try it, and succeeded, as all others did, in giving the beans to the receivers without any one uttering the warning words. He was rather pleased with the game, so suddenly invented, and the two officers of his watch were induced to try the experiment. Then Blackburn, Endicott, and Bennington were supplied with beans by Shuffles, who instructed his auditors that not a word must be said about the matter to the "butts," or to any one in the waist. The last three were as successful as the first three. Then Thompson and Cartwright were equally fortunate. Finally, Captain Gordon's attention was attracted, and he descended so far from his dignity as to deposit the beans.
Shuffles was satisfied. He had procured nine votes, and he was confident that he had thus defeated his rival. As a matter of precaution, he directed McKeon to pick up the beans scattered in the waist; and the "outsiders" who had cast the nine votes believed that he was the unlucky butt, who had been beaten in the game.
"The captain and half the officers voted," whispered Grossbeck at four bells.
"Certainly; that's all right. You and McKeon will meet Pelham and me in the waist at eight bells," replied Shuffles, as he went below.
The first part of the port watch went on duty at eight o'clock, when the secret poll for the choice of a captain, under the new order of events, was closed. Shuffles was in this watch, but as neither his "trick at the wheel" nor his turn on the lookout came within the first hour, he had an opportunity to attend to the important business of the League. Pelham and the two receivers of votes belonged in the second part of the port watch, and there was nothing to prevent them from attending the conference which Shuffles had appointed.
While Shuffles had been teaching the "outsiders" the game of "Don't know Beans," Pelham, as officer of the deck, remained abaft the mizzenmast, and had failed to notice what was taking place in the waist. The officers who were off duty, and who had unconsciously voted for Shuffles, said nothing to those in charge of the ship. In accordance with the requirements of man-of-war discipline, the weather side of the deck was given up to the captain and the officers on duty, while all the idlers were required to keep on the lee side. Captain Gordon was a privileged person. On the weather side, even the denizens of the after cabin did not presume to address him on any question not connected with the discipline of the ship. When he went over to the lee side, it was understood that he was simply a student, and even an ordinary seaman might speak to him when he walked forward.
Shuffles had explained the game to the outsiders on the lee side, out of the hearing of the officer of the deck; and Pelham, entirely satisfied that he was already elected, did not trouble himself about the matter.
If "Don't know Beans" was not much of a game, it was better than nothing, and Shuffles soon found that there was danger of his little scheme being exposed. During the second dog watch, at supper time, and as other opportunities were presented, he told Wilton, Monroe, Adler, and others, that the second lieutenant, seeing so many beans on the deck, wished to know where they came from, and that, to deceive him and the rest of the officers, he had invented the game which he described, and wished them to play while off duty on deck. "Our fellows" thought this was a good joke, and the new pastime was soon understood throughout the ship, and "butts" were appointed in each quarter watch to play it the next day.
"The fellows have all voted, I suppose," said Pelham when the party had obtained a good position for the conference.
"The time is out, whether they have or not," replied Grossbeck.
"All we have to do now is to count the votes," added Shuffles, impatiently, for he was afraid his little trick would be exposed before the result of the ballot was obtained.
"Well, let us have it counted at once," said Pelham, who, having no doubt of the result, had no thought of offering any objection to the fairness of the election.
"We can't count the votes here," suggested McKeon. "Some one would see us, and want to know what we were doing."
"I can't leave the deck; I'm on duty," replied Shuffles.
"Let the receivers count it themselves."
"We ought to see them do it."
"That is not necessary. They don't know how many votes they have."
"I'm sure I don't," said Grossbeck.
"Neither do I," added McKeon.
"I'll tell you how we can manage it, without exciting the attention of any one."
"I will agree to anything that is fair," replied Shuffles.
"Grossbeck shall go forward, and McKeon aft as far as the mainmast, so that each cannot know what the other is about. They can count the votes separately without being seen."
"I don't see how we can," said McKeon.
"Can you tell a pea from a bean by the feeling?"
"Of course we can."
"Where did you put the votes, Grossbeck?" asked Pelham.
"In my trousers' pocket."
"So did I," added McKeon.
"Both of you have on your pea-jackets now, and there is a pocket on each side of them. Take out all the peas first, and put them in the right-hand pocket of your pea-jacket; then all the beans, and put them in the left-hand pocket; then count each."
"Some fellow may see us counting them," said Grossbeck.
"You must take care of that," answered Pelham.
"If they do, it will not make much difference. Some of the fellows were careless, and threw their beans on the deck."
"Did they?" laughed Pelham? "I suppose they had no use for them."
"The second lieutenant saw them, and wanted to know what they meant," added Shuffles.
"Whew!" exclaimed Pelham.
"I made it all right, though I was obliged to invent a new game to throw him off the track."
"Good!" said Pelham. "But we must go on with the counting. When you have found the number of peas and of beans, you will write the result on a piece of paper, each of you. McKeon, you will hand your paper to Shuffles, and, Grossbeck, you will hand yours to me. That's fair—isn't it?"
"Certainly," replied Shuffles.
"Then we will put the two papers together; if they agree, the election is made; if they do not agree, we must do it all over again," continued Pelham.
"All right," added Shuffles.
The two receivers were sent away to count the votes. As one went forward, and the other aft, and the two "Shackles" stood between, no communication whatever could pass from one to the other. It was now quite dark, and most of those off duty had turned in, for the students had become so well accustomed to sea life that they could sleep whenever their presence was not required on deck.
"I hope this thing will be settled now once for all," said Pelham, who feared that some mistake might defeat his hopes.
"So do I," replied Shuffles, who was disturbed by the same dread.
"Have you any idea what the result will be?" asked Pelham, who, in spite of the mutual "toggling," and the mutual assurances of good faith, had some doubts whether his rival would be willing to accept the result.
"Well, I don't know," replied Shuffles, cautiously, and with the same want of confidence which disturbed his companion. "There is no knowing who will be governor till after election."
"Of course not, but you might have some idea of the way the thing is going?"
"I might, but what's the use of talking when we shall know all about it in ten or fifteen minutes?"
"Of course you have some hopes."
"To be sure I have; and I suppose you have, too."
"Certainly I have; if I hadn't, I should have given the thing up without the trouble and risk of a ballot," replied Pelham.
"We both expect it, and it follows that one of us must be disappointed."
"You know the bond."
"I do."
"Here is my hand, Shuffles. I pledge myself over again to abide the result of the vote, whether it is for me or against me," continued Pelham, extending his hand.
"And here is my hand, Pelham, with the same pledge, honor bright," replied Shuffles, as he took the offered hand.
"I am tolerably confident of the result," added Pelham.
"I am quite confident that I shall be chosen," replied Shuffles.
"Don't be too certain, my dear fellow," laughed the fourth lieutenant. "I have taken in a great many recruits."
"I'm glad you have—the more the better. I have also taken in a good many. Pelham, do you know this is very shaky business?"
"Shaky?"
"Yes—between you and me, I mean. If either of us should back down, the whole thing would fall to the ground."
"Back down!" exclaimed Pelham. "Why, after what has passed between us, I consider it impossible that either of us should back down. I am pledged; so are you; and if either of us should back down, I hope he will—fall overboard accidentally."
"So do I," replied Shuffles, heartily.
"My dear fellow, if you should back out, I should be mad enough to help you over the rail, some dark evening, if I had a good chance."
"I don't believe I should feel any better-natured if you should break your agreement. One of us is doomed to disappointment. We have tried to make this thing as fair as possible."
"Certainly we have, and it will be as fair as anything can be. I am entirely satisfied with the voting."
"Are you?"
"Of course I am."
Shuffles was very glad of this acknowledgment in advance of the reception of the result.
"But, after all, Pelham," said he, "there may be an appearance of unfairness in the voting, after the result is declared."
"There may be; but each of us is pledged not to claim anything on account of such an appearance. If the figures of the two receivers agree, that is the end of the whole thing, and you or I will be the captain."
"That's so; but here comes McKeon," replied Shuffles, as the receiver gave him the paper on which the result of the votes he had received was written.
It was too dark to see it, and the rivals waited, in great excitement of mind, for the appearance of Grossbeck. He came, and his paper was handed to Pelham. The conditions of the agreement had now all been complied with, and the two papers were to be placed side by side, where both of the candidates could see them at the same instant. It was necessary, in the darkness, to obtain the use of a light for a moment and they decided to wait till the midshipman on duty in the waist went into the steerage to make the half-hourly inspection.
When one bell struck, the officer left his post, and the conspirators walked up to the binnacle in the waist. By raising one of the slides in the side of the machine, the lamp which threw its light on the face of the compass would enable them to examine the papers.
"Hold your paper by the side of mine," said Pelham as he placed the important document in a position to receive the light from the binnacle when the slide should be moved.
"Open it," replied Shuffles, nervously, as he complied with the direction of his rival.
Pelham raised the slide, and the contents of the papers were read by both.
Peas,........19
Beans,........22
The results given in by the two receivers were the same, and by the terms of the bond, it was an election.
"Shut the slide," said Shuffles.
"Who opened that binnacle?" demanded the first master, walking aft from his station on the forecastle.
"I did, sir," replied Shuffles, unwilling to permit the fourth lieutenant to answer the question. "We were looking at some figures I had made."
The master, finding that the fourth lieutenant was one of the party gathered around the binnacle, said no more, and returned to his place.
"Are you satisfied, Pelham?" asked Shuffles, in the softest of tones.
"I don't understand it," answered the disappointed candidate.
"Don't you? Well, you will remember that neither of us was to raise any question about the fairness of the ballot."
"I don't say a word about its fairness; I only said I did not understand it," answered Pelham, in surly tones.
"I don't understand it any better than you do; but the point just now is, whether you acknowledge me as captain, or not."
"Of course I do. When I pledge myself to do a thing, I always do it, I hail you as captain."
"All right," added Shuffles. "Then nothing more need be said. You have kept your bond like a gentleman and I now appoint you my first officer, as I promised to do."
"Thank you," replied Pelham, in a sneering tone.
"What's the matter, my dear fellow? Are you not satisfied?" demanded Shuffles.
"Entirely satisfied with the result;" but he talked like one who was anything but satisfied.
"It was a fair thing—wasn't it?"
"I suppose it was; I don't know."
"You speak as though you were not satisfied, Pelham."
"I am not disposed to grumble. I only say that I don't understand it."
"What don't you understand?" asked Shuffles, sharply. "The election was conducted on a plan furnished by yourself; the receivers were of your own choice; the results agree; and I can't see, for the life of me, that there is any chance to find fault."
"I don't find fault. The result perplexes me, because I can't see through it."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I don't see where your twenty-two votes came from."
"And I don't see where your nineteen came from," retorted the successful candidate.
"The whole number of votes was forty-one," added Pelham, who was quite sure there was something wrong.
"The long and short of it is, that there are more fellows on board that 'know beans,' than you thought there were," laughed Shuffles.
"Can you tell me where the forty-one votes came from, Shuffles?" demanded Pelham.
"Came from the fellows, of course."
"It's no use to snuff at it, my dear fellow. I do not purpose to set aside the election. I acknowledge you as captain. Can I do any more?"
"You can't; but you seem disposed to do something more."
"I merely wish to inquire into this thing, and find out how we stand. Had you any idea that forty-one fellows belonged to the Chain?"
"I had not," replied Shuffles, honestly. "I was never more surprised in my life, than when I saw Tom Ellis and Andy Groom vote."
"That was all right. Both of them joined."
"I can tell you what took me all aback," interposed McKeon, who, with Grossbeck, had been walking back and forth in the waist.
"No matter what took you all aback," added Shuffles sharply. "The question is settled; what's the use of raking up every thing that may seem to be strange?"
"What was it that took you aback, McKeon?" demanded Pelham.
"It was when the captain voted," replied the receiver.
"The captain!" exclaimed Pelham.
"Yes."
"Do you mean Captain Gordon, McKeon?" asked Pelham, with intense surprise.
"Of course I do."'
"All the officers of the first part of the port watch voted," added Grossbeck.
"They did!" exclaimed Pelham.
"Well, was it any stranger that the officers of the first part of the port watch voted, than it was that those of the second part did so?" inquired Shuffles, with earnestness.
"I think it was," replied Pelham, decidedly.
"Paul Kendall was one of them," said McKeon.
"Paul Kendall! Does any fellow suppose he has joined the Chain?" demanded the defeated candidate.
"Why not?"
"And Captain Gordon?"
"Why not?"
"How did the captain vote?" asked Pelham.
"No matter how he voted," said Shuffles, indignantly "I protest against this raking up of matters which are already settled."
"He voted beans," replied McKeon, who, it is hardly necessary to add, was a Pelham man.
"Then he is one of your friends, Shuffles," continued Pelham, who was beginning to understand how his rival had been elected.
"I don't claim him."
"Did you take the captain into the Chain, Shuffles?"
"I won't answer," replied the captain elect.
"If Captain Gordon and Paul Kendall are members, I would like to know it. I am first officer of the ship under the new order of things, and if I command Gordon to do anything, I mean that he shall obey me."
"Of course you will give him no orders till we are in possession of the ship," added Shuffles, not a little alarmed.
"Well, as Gordon and Kendall are members of the Chain—of course they are, or they wouldn't have voted—we can talk over the matter freely with them," said Pelham, chuckling.
"If you make the signs, and they make them, of course you can," replied Shuffles. "No member can speak to another about the business of the Chain until both of them have proved that they belong, by giving the required signals."
"Shuffles, do you suppose Captain Gordon knows the signs?"
"How should I know? I never tried him. I don't know why he shouldn't make them as well as Tom Ellis."
"Tom Ellis is all right. I vouch for him, for I admitted him myself. Who will vouch for the captain? Who took him in?"
"I don't know."
"I don't; but if anybody has admitted him, and not given him the signs, he ought to be instructed in them. Of course he must have been admitted, or he would not have voted," added Pelham, sarcastically.
"I have nothing more to say about this matter," replied Shuffles, disgusted with the cavils of his first officer.
"Nor I; but I shall satisfy myself whether the captain is a member or not," said Pelham, decidedly.
"Well, you must be very cautious what you do."
"Certainly I shall. I will give him the first sign; if he don't answer it, I shall conclude he is not a member; or, if he is, that he has not been properly instructed."
"Better not say anything to him," said Shuffles.
"Why not? He voted, and it must be all right."
"Don't you say a word to him, unless he proves that he is a member."
"I think he has proved that already by voting."
"You know our rule."
"I do; it requires me to satisfy myself that the person to whom I speak is a member. I am entirely satisfied now that the captain and Paul Kendall belong; they would not have voted if they had not belonged."
This was a "clincher," and even Shuffles had not wit enough to escape the conclusion of the dogmatic reasoner. The captain elect of the League knew very well that nine persons who were not members had voted—that he had secured his election by a gross fraud. He was afraid that Pelham, disappointed by his defeat, would do something to compromise the enterprise; but his own treachery had placed him in such a position that he could say nothing without exposing himself.
"Of course it's all right," added Pelham, "I find we have plenty of friends in the after cabin. As soon as you have any orders to give, Captain Shuffles, I am in a position to execute them to the best advantage."
"When I am ready, I will give them to you."
"It will be an easy matter now to obtain possession of the ship; in fact, all you have to do is to order Captain Gordon to turn the command over to you. He has been 'toggled,' and must obey his superiors—of course he has been toggled; he couldn't have voted if he hadn't been."
Shuffles was terribly exercised by the repeated flings of his disconcerted rival. He was already satisfied that the enterprise had come to an end, unless Pelham could be quieted; and he was about to propose a new ballot, when he was ordered by the quartermaster on duty to take his trick at the wheel.
"What does all this mean?" demanded Pelham of the receivers, when the captain-elect had gone to his duty.
"I only know that the captain and all the officers of the first part of the port watch voted, and other fellows who would no more join this thing than they would jump overboard," replied McKeon.
"How could they vote—how could the captain vote—without understanding the whole thing?" demanded Pelham, perplexed at the inconsistency of the facts.
"I think I know something about it," added Grossbeck.
"What do you know?"
"Haven't you heard of the new game?"
"What new game?"
"Shuffles said something about it, but I did not comprehend his meaning."
Grossbeck explained the game, whose history had been circulated among "our fellows."
"And this game was played while the voting was going on?" said Pelham, who began to see the trick which his rival had put upon him.
"I didn't know anything about it till supper time," answered Grossbeck.
"I see it all," continued Pelham. "The receivers were the 'butts,' and about a dozen fellows voted for Shuffles, including Gordon and Kendall, supposing they were simply playing 'Don't know Beans.'"
It did not require a great deal of penetration on the part of the fourth lieutenant to comprehend the trick of his rival. He was indignant and angry, and all the more so because he had been outwitted, even while he was attempting to outwit his unscrupulous competitor.
The next day, the quarter watches off duty played "Don't know Beans" to their satisfaction. It was found, when everybody was watching the "butts," that very few could deposit their beans without detection. A few hours' trial of the new pastime convinced all except "our fellows" that it was a senseless game, and it was speedily abandoned.
On the nineteenth day of the voyage, the Young America encountered another gale, but it was not nearly so severe as the one through which she had passed when off Cape Sable. The ship ran for twelve hours under close-reefed topsails; but as the gale came from the south-west, she laid her course during the whole of it, and behaved herself to the entire satisfac tion of all on board. On the following day, the wind had hauled round to the north-west, and the sea subsided, so that the ship went along very comfortably.
Notwithstanding his doubts of the good faith of Pelham, who, however, nominally adhered to the terms of the compact, Shuffles arranged his plans for the capture of the ship. He had decided to defer the grand strike until the ship had come up with Cape Clear, so that the faculty, and all the students who would not take a part in the enterprise, might be put on shore immediately. In the course of three days, the land would probably be sighted. The rising was to take place in Pelham's watch, the officers of which were members of the League. All the details had been carefully arranged, and trusty "links" appointed to perform the heavy work. As soon as the "old folks" had been locked up in the cabin, and the new captain had taken the command, the ship was to be headed for the shore. The great event was to come off at six o'clock in the afternoon of the twenty-third or twenty-fifth day. The ship would be near the coast for at least a part of two days. If she was within six hours' sail of the land on the twenty-third day out, when Pelham would have the second part of the first dog watch, the rising was to take place then; if not, it was to be deferred till the twenty-fifth day, when the watches were again favorable.
Shuffles communicated with his discontented first officer as often as he could, and unfolded his plans without reserve. Pelham listened, and, still professing his willingness to obey his superior officer, promised to do all that was required of him.
"In your watch, Pelham, you will see that the helm is in the hands of some of our fellows," said Shuffles.
"Certainly," replied Pelham, with more indifference than suited the enthusiastic chief of the enterprise "By the way, Captain Shuffles, have you laid out any work for Captain Gordon to do?"
"What's the use of talking to me about him now that we are on the very point of accomplishing our purpose?" demanded Shuffles, with deep disgust.