"I don"t know what you mean."
"I told the parson that I was drunk when I disobeyed orders, and that I was very sorry for it, and wouldn"t get drunk any more."
"Did you tell him that?"
"I did; I a.s.sured him I was the worst fellow in the whole world, and ought to be hung, drawn, and quartered for my wickedness; and he swallowed it as a codfish does a clam."
"And you gave him all the wine?"
"No, I didn"t; I gave him one full bottle, and what was left in the one from which we drank this afternoon. I have two more."
"We were going to have a good time with that wine."
"I have enough left."
"Where is it?"
"In my locker."
"They may find it."
"No, they won"t; I will put it in some other place before inspection day. There is plenty of wine in the medical stores. It was a good joke for the parson to suppose I was drunk."
"Perhaps you were," suggested Wilton.
"I felt good; but I was as sober as I am now."
"The drink I took went into my head, and I felt as though I was going up in a ballon."
"That was because you are not used to the article. It waked me up a little, but I knew what I was about."
"I think you were a confounded fool to do what you did."
"Wilton, I"m not going to live in the steerage--you may take my word for it. I"ve been an officer too long to come down to that. If we don"t succeed in making a chain, I shall quit the concern the first time I put my foot on sh.o.r.e in Ireland."
"What do you mean by making a chain?" asked Wilton, eagerly.
"A chain is strong."
"Well; what of it?"
"It is composed of many links. Can"t you understand that?"
"Hush up! Some one is coming," said Wilton, as he walked away from the brig.
"Here! who is that?" demanded Mr. Lowington, as he saw Wilton moving away from the lock-up.
"No. 59, sir--Wilton," replied he. "I was just going on deck to find you, sir."
"To find me?" asked the princ.i.p.al.
"Yes, sir. Shuffles called me when I was pa.s.sing, and wished me to tell you he wanted to see you very much. I was just going after you, sir."
"If there is any blame, sir, it rests on me," interposed Shuffles, through the bars of his prison.
Mr. Lowington unlocked the door of the brig, and entered, followed by Mr. Agneau, leaving Wilton to congratulate himself on the result of the lies he had uttered.
"I am told you wish to see me, Shuffles," said the princ.i.p.al.
"Yes, sir; I wish to say that I am extremely sorry for what I have done."
"I thought you were crazy when you refused to obey; and now I find you were."
"I had been drinking, sir, I confess."
"Mr. Agneau has told me your story; it is not necessary to repeat it now. To-morrow I shall require you to acknowledge your error at muster, and promise obedience in the future. Are you willing to do so?"
"I am, sir."
"You are discharged from confinement then, and will at once return to your duty," replied Mr. Lowington, upon whom Shuffles did not venture to intrude his extremely penitential story. "To which watch do you belong?"
"To the port watch, first part, sir."
"It will be on deck during the first half of the mid watch, from twelve till two," added the princ.i.p.al, as he came out of the brig.
Mr. Lowington made no parade of what he had done. He never subjected any student to unnecessary humiliation. He indulged in no reproaches, and preached no sermons. He went on deck, intending to leave the culprit to the influence of the better thoughts which he hoped and believed had been kindled in his mind by the events of the day. Mr. Agneau remained a moment to give a final admonition to the penitent, as he regarded him, and then went to his cabin.
"Are you going to turn in, Shuffles?" asked Wilton.
"Not yet. Are there any of our fellows below?"
"Plenty of them."
"Our fellows" was a term applied to that portion of the crew who were understood to be ready for any sc.r.a.pe which might be suggested. Shuffles had coined the expression himself, while at the Brockway Academy, and introduced it on board the ship. Without concealment or palliation, they were bad boys. By the discipline of the ship they were kept in good order, and compelled to perform their duties.
As in every community of men or boys, where persons of kindred tastes find each other out, the bad boys in the Young America had discovered those of like tendencies, and a bond of sympathy and a.s.sociation had been established among them. They knew and were known of each other.
On the other hand, it is equally true, that there was a bond of sympathy and a.s.sociation among the good boys, as there is among good men. If a good man wishes to establish a daily prayer meeting, he does not apply to the intemperate, the profane swearers, and the Sabbath breakers of his neighborhood for help; there is a magnetism among men which leads him to the right persons. If a bad man intends to get up a mob, a raffle, or a carousal, he does not seek a.s.sistance among those who go to church every Sunday, and refrain from evil practices, either from principle or policy. He makes no mistakes of this kind.
In every community, perhaps one fourth of the whole number are positively good, and one fourth positively bad, while the remaining two fourths are more or less good or more or less bad, floating undecided between the two poles of the moral magnet, sometimes drawn one way, and sometimes the other.
The Young America was a world in herself, and the moral composition of her people was similar to that of communities on a larger scale. She had all the elements of good and evil on board. One fourth of the students were doubtless high-minded, moral young men, having fixed principles, and being willing to make great sacrifices rather than do wrong. As good behavior, as well as proficiency in the studies, was an element of success in the ship, a large proportion of the positively good boys were in the after cabin.
Another fourth of the students were reckless and unprincipled, with no respect for authority, except so far as it was purchased by fear of punishment or hope of reward. Occasionally one of this cla.s.s worked his way into the cabin by superior natural ability, and a spasmodic attempt to better his condition on board.
The rest of the ship"s company belonged to the indefinite, undecided cla.s.s, floating more or less distant from the positive elements of good or evil. They were not bad boys, for, with proper influences, they could be, and were, kept from evil ways. They were not good boys on principle, for they could be led away in paths of error.
"Our fellows" were the positively bad boys of the floating academy; and they existed in no greater proportion in the ship"s company than in the communities of the great world. To this cla.s.s belonged Shuffles, Wilton, Monroe, and others. To the positively good boys belonged Gordon, Kendall, Martyn, and others--not all of them in the after cabin, by any means.