Oliver Optic

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

“ Did you ever know me to make a failure of anything that I attempted?"
"Yes, I have."
"What?"
"You failed to get elected captain when we first came aboard of the ship."
"That was only because we had just come on board? the fellows didn't know me, and I didn't know them. We are better acquainted now, and I am just as sure of success as though we had already won it," added Shuffles, confidently. "I don't believe in making failures."
"I don't believe there is more than one chance in ten for you to succeed," continued the sceptic.
"There isn't more than one chance in ten for us to fail. ”

“ But, young gentlemen, I believe in discipline and progress, as most of you know. I expect every student to do his whole duty; and I wish to tell you now, that misconduct, and failures at recitation, will bring heavy disappointments upon you. If you do nothing for yourselves, you need expect nothing from me. For example, when the ship is going up the Thames, if any one of you, or any number of you, should be guilty of flagrant misconduct, or gross neglect of your studies, you will see no more of the city of London than you can see from the cross-trees, for you shall not put a foot on shore. ”

“ 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." ”

“ We shall not use any hard words, that outsiders can understand; and if any of them happen to hear anything that don't concern them, they will not know what it means. Will you join, or not?"
"I will," replied Wilton, desperately.
The strange words which Shuffles used, and the confidence he manifested in the success of his project, carried the hesitating lookout man. He was fascinated by the "clap-trap" which the leader of "our fellows" had adopted to help along his scheme, for it promised to afford no little excitement during the voyage.
"Now you talk like a man, Wilton," replied Shuffles. ”

“ He takes every man's money away from him, whether he is accused of gambling or not. Do you think he had any right to do that?"
"He hasn't made any law; but if you want law, I'll give you some!" laughed Paul, who was disposed to treat the subject very good-naturedly, especially as there was so much loose indignation floating about the decks.
"I don't mean law alone, but justice," added Shuffles. "I call it high-handed injustice to take the fellows' money away from them." ”

“ Give me your orders, and I will obey them."
"But you have exposed the whole thing," retorted Shuffles. "What can we do now, when Kendall and the captain know all about it?"
"They don't know any more than the law allows. Besides, they are members. Didn't they vote for you? Didn't they know beans?" continued Pelham, in the most tantalizing of tones.
"Do you mean to insult me?" demanded Shuffles, unable to control his rage.
"Not I. I respect you too much. You are the captain—that is to be—of the ship," laughed Pelham. "The captain, the second lieutenant, and all the flunkies, voted for you? ”

“ Winstock, the surgeon.
"Drinking and gambling!" ejaculated the chaplain. "What are we coming to?"
"I fear there are other vices of which we know nothing yet," added the doctor.
"Why, I'm afraid the Academy Ship will prove to be a failure, after all," sighed Mr. Agneau.
"Not at all," argued Dr. Winstock. "We are in position here to treat these evils properly. There are no fond mothers and indulgent fathers to spoil the boys, when the discipline becomes sharp."
"What can we do?" demanded the chaplain. "Moral and religious influences seem to have no effect." ”

“ Young Lowington had a taste for the sea, and his father finally procured a midshipman's warrant for him to enter the navy. The strict discipline of a ship of war proved to be the "one thing needful" for the reformation of the wild youth; and he not only became a steady young man, but a hard student and an accomplished officer. The navy made a man of him, as it has of hundreds of the sons of rich men, demoralized by idleness and the absence of a reasonable ambition. ”

“ Before eight bells in the forenoon watch, the royal and top-gallant yards had been sent down, and the ship was laid to under a close-reefed main-topsail, which the nautical gentlemen on board regarded as the best for the peculiar conditions which the Young America presented.
When a ship is laying to, no attention is paid to anything but the safety of the vessel, the only object being to keep her head up to the sea. In the gale, the Young America lay with her port bow to the wind, her hull being at an angle of forty-five degrees, with a line indicating the direction of the wind. ”

“ For instance, when the steward carries the coffee into the professors' cabin, one fellow might engage his attention, while another drops a lump of salt, a handful of pepper, or a piece of tobacco into the urn."
"I don't want to hear any more of such low-lived tricks," interposed the magnificent conspirator. "If you want to pipe to mischief, let us do it like men."
"What would you do? Fifty of the fellows, at least, will go into anything to punish Lowington for his tyranny."
"Join the Chain, then," said Shuffles, in a whisper, and with a suitable parade of mystery. ”

“ 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." ”

“ Every boy on board this ship has a pocket full of sovereigns for his European expenses. They are all young nabobs, and if you ever let them go ashore, you will have your hands full, Mr. Lowington. They will drink beer and wine, visit bad places, gamble and carouse. While they have plenty of money, you can hardly prevent them from being a nuisance to you and to themselves."
"There is a great deal of force in what you say, Dr. Winstock."
"Money will be the root of all evil to these boys, most emphatically. Those who are disposed to gamble will do so while they have money." ”

“ He put me in irons!" exclaimed Shuffles, still groaning under this indignity. "I have been insulted and outraged, and I will teach him that Bob Shuffles is not to be treated in that manner! I will be revenged upon him, if it costs me my life."
"The fellows won't go into any such desperate game as that," replied Wilton, cautiously.
"But there will be fun in the thing," added the malcontent, softening his tone. "We shall have the ship all to ourselves. We needn't trouble ourselves anything about Latin and Greek, and trigonometry and algebra. We shall go in for a good time generally." ”

“ 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 principal; "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? ”

“ No ship can absolutely defy the elements, and there is no such thing as absolute safety in a voyage across the ocean; but there is far less peril than people who have had no experience generally suppose. The Cunard steamers have been running more than a quarter of a century, with the loss of only one ship, and no lives in that one—a triumphant result achieved by strong ships, with competent men to manage them. Poorly built ships, short manned, with officers unfit for their positions, constitute the harvest of destruction on the ocean. ”

“ The chaplain was a tender-hearted man, and he thought that some gentle words might touch the feelings of the prisoner, and bring him to a sense of duty. With the principal's permission, therefore, he paid a visit to Shuffles in the evening.
"I am very sorry to find you here, Shuffles," said Mr. Agneau, when he had locked the door behind him. {149}
"Has Lowington sent you to torment me?" demanded the prisoner.
"Mr. Lowington, you mean," added the chaplain, gently.
"No, I mean Lowington. When a man has abused and insulted me, I can't stop to put a handle to his name." ”

“ A young gentleman, feeling that he has been slighted, or his merit overlooked, permits himself to fall into a mental condition in which he feels no responsibility for his conduct; in which he recklessly breaks through all regulations, places himself in an attitude of opposition to constituted authority, and seems to court the heaviest penalty which can be inflicted upon him for disobedience, impudence, and rebellion.
The fourth lieutenant of the Young America had worked himself up to this disagreeable pitch. ”

“ It was the first case of severe discipline that had occurred on board, and it created a tremendous sensation among the students.
Mr. Lowington stood with folded arms, watching the vain struggles of the culprit, until he was reduced to a state of comparative calmness. He looked sad, rather than angry, and his dignity was not impaired by the assault upon his authority.
"Shuffles, I am sorry to see one who has been an officer of the ship reduced to your condition; but discipline must and shall be maintained," said the principal. "We are on the high seas now, and disobedience is dangerous. ”

“ 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 association had been established among them. ”

“ We are all weak and erring, and we can't afford to despise any one. On the contrary I like you," replied Paul, giving Shuffles his hand.
"You treat me better than I deserve, Paul; but if you are my friend, I shall be all the better for it; and I hope you will not be worse."
The end of the conspiracy had been reached. Before the ship came to anchor in the Cove, every boy on board had drawn his order on the principal for ten shillings, and the members of the League were veiled beneath the mass of names. ”

“ Paul Kendall, who had not occupied a berth in the steerage since the first organization of the ship, was greatly surprised and grieved to learn that some of the crew were addicted to vicious practices. Gambling was an enormous offence, and he was not quite willing to believe that such a terrible evil had obtained a foothold in the ship. He could hardly conceive of such a thing as boys engaging in games of chance; only the vilest of men, in his estimation, would do so. ”

“ It would influence some; but others are not to be influenced in any way: a strong arm alone will meet their case."
"We can take the props from them," said Mr. Lowington.
"You must go a step farther than that; you must search the berths and lockers for cards, dice, or other gambling implements. Even then you will not have struck at the root of the evil."
"What is the root of the evil?" asked the principal.
"Money, sir!" replied the doctor, with unusual energy.
"That is said to be the root of all evil," added Mr. Lowington, with a smile. ”

“ The Young America was to be officered and manned by the students. They were to work the ship, to make and take in sail, to reef, steer, and wash down decks, as well as study and recite their lessons. They were to go aloft, stand watch, man the capstan, pull the boats; in short, to do everything required of seamen on board a ship. Mr. Lowington was to lure them into the belief, while they were hauling tacks and sheets, halyards and braces, that they were not at work, but at play. ”

“ Wilton, Monroe, and Adler, had discussed the matter, and reached the conclusion that Pelham had been knocked over by the shaking of the staysail sheet, or that he had really fallen accidentally. They had been appalled and horrified by the event; and those who were disgusted with the League were not disposed to betray its secrets; for it was possible, though not probable, that the mishap which had befallen Pelham was an incident in the history of the "Chain."
When a wicked man or a wicked boy exceeds his average wickedness, the excess sometimes produces a moral reaction. ”

“ I'm a goner!" added Pelham, with a smile.
"What made you mad?"
"The captain snubbed me; then Lowington came the magnificent over me. A single slip throws a fellow here."
A single slip in the great world throws a man or woman; and young men and young women should be {240} taught that "single slips" are not to be tolerated. More children are spoiled by weak indulgence than by over-severe discipline. But a boy had a better chance to recover from the effects of his errors in the Young America, than men and women have in the community. ”

“ Suppose we get the ship, Shuffles, who are to be the officers?" asked Pelham.
"We shall have good fellows for officers. You will be one, of course."
"I suppose I am higher in rank now than any fellow who has joined the Chain."
"Yes, that's a fact; but we are not going to mind who are officers now, or who have been before. We intend to take the best fellows—those who have done the most work in making the Chain."
"Whether they are competent or not," added Pelham.
"All the fellows know how to work a ship now, except the green hands that came aboard this year." ”

“ I'm afraid the pistol might go off, and hurt somebody."
"I suppose you could raise objections all night," added Shuffles, contemptuously. "I'm not going to have any man tyrannize over me, Wilton. I suppose if Lowington wants to pull every fellow's teeth out, you won't object."
"I'm as much opposed to his tyranny as you are, and I will do anything that is reasonable; but I want to know whether the water is hot or cold before I put my fingers into it. What's the use of blundering into an enterprise, and making a failure of it?" ”

“ As the ship's head met the heavy seas, a great deal of spray was dashed on deck, and the position of the lookout-men on the top-gallant forecastle was not as comfortable as if the weather had been warmer. There was no dodging; every student was obliged to stand at his post, wet or dry, blow high or blow low.
Wilton had been discharged from confinement in the brig, where Mr. Agneau had visited him, giving him good advice and religious instruction, as he did to all who were punished in any manner, and was now with his watch on deck. ”