My father has wine on his table, and I always was allowed to drink one gla.s.s."
"Can it be!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the chaplain. "A youth of seventeen----"
"I"m eighteen now, sir."
"A youth of eighteen in the habit of taking wine!" groaned Mr. Agneau.
"I drank a great deal more than my father knew of while I was at home."
"I am amazed!"
"I knew you would be, sir; but I have told you the truth now."
"But where did you get your liquor to-day?"
"It was wine, sir."
"Where did you get it?"
"I brought two bottles on board with me when I reported for duty yesterday."
"This is terrible, Shuffles! Do you know what an awful habit you are contracting, my dear young friend?"
"I never thought much about it till to-night. It has got me into such a sc.r.a.pe this time, that I don"t believe I shall ever drink any more."
"As you respect yourself, as you hope for peace in this world, and peace in the next, never put the cup to your lips again. "Wine is a mocker; strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
Did you drink the two bottles?"
"No, sir; only part of one bottle," replied Shuffles, with commendable promptness.
"Where is the rest of it?"
"Under my berth-sack."
"Are you willing I should take possession of it, and hand it to Mr.
Lowington?"
"I will agree to anything which you think is right."
"Then I will take the wine and throw it overboard."
"Just as you think best, sir. You will find the two bottles in my berth, No. 43, Gangway D,--the forward one on the starboard side."
"I hope you will never touch the wine-cup again."
"I will not--till next time," added Shuffles, as the chaplain moved towards the door of the brig.
""Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder,"" continued the chaplain, as he pa.s.sed out of the lock-up.
Mr. Agneau went to the prisoner"s berth, and found the two bottles of wine. They were a sufficient explanation of the remarkable conduct of Shuffles. The youth had "drank wine, and was drunken," otherwise he would not have been guilty of such flagrant disobedience. Though in his own estimation the excuse was worse than the original fault, yet it was an explanation; and if the root of the evil could be removed, the evil itself would cease to exist. The wine could be thrown overboard, and as no more could be obtained during the voyage, the good conduct of the young tippler would be insured, at least till the ship reached Queenstown, which was the port to which she was bound.
With the two bottles in his hands, the chaplain returned to the professors" cabin. Mr. Lowington was on deck. He did not deem it prudent to leave the ship in the hands of the students, at first, without any supervision, and it was arranged that the princ.i.p.al, Mr. Fluxion, and Mr. Peake, the boatswain, should take turns in observing the course and management of the vessel. Mr. Agneau carried the prize he had captured on deck, and informed Mr. Lowington what had just transpired in the brig.
"I knew the boy drank wine when he was at home," replied the princ.i.p.al; "and if he is ruined, his father must blame himself."
"But it is really shocking!" exclaimed the chaplain as he tossed one of the bottles of wine over the rail. "How can a parent permit his son to drink wine, when he knows that more men are killed by intemperance than by war and pestilence? I am amazed!"
"So am I, Mr. Agneau."
"The boy is hardly to blame for his conduct, since he contracted this vicious habit under the eye of his father."
"The discipline of the ship must be preserved."
"Certainly, Mr. Lowington."
"And the boy is just as much to blame for his act of disobedience as though it had been done in his sober senses."
"But you can afford to pardon him, under the circ.u.mstances."
"I will do that when he is willing to make a proper acknowledgment of his offence in the presence of the ship"s company, before whom the act was committed."
"He is quite ready to do so now."
"If he will say as much as that to me, he shall be released at once."
"He will, sir."
"It is very strange to me that I noticed nothing peculiar in the boy"s speech or manner at the time," added the princ.i.p.al. "He certainly did not seem to be intoxicated."
"Probably he had taken just enough to inflame his evil pa.s.sions, without affecting his manner," suggested the chaplain.
"I did not even discover the odor of wine upon him."
"Perhaps you did not go near enough to him. If you please, Mr.
Lowington, we will go down and see him; and you can judge for yourself whether or not it is prudent to release him."
"I will."
"Thank you, sir. I feel a deep interest in the young man, and I hope he may yet be saved."
When Mr. Agneau left the brig, after his second visit, Wilton, who was very anxious to know what Shuffles meant by "making a chain," came out of his mess room. He had been watching the chaplain, and wondering what the prisoner could have to say to him.
"What"s up, Shuffles?" asked Wilton, when Mr. Agneau had left the steerage.
"I"ve been smoothing him down," laughed Shuffles, with an audible chuckle. "I have concluded not to stay in here any longer."
"What do you mean?"
"I"m coming out pretty soon, though it has cost me a bottle and a half of old sherry to get out," laughed Shuffles.