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Page 124
"You jumped in after him, and saved him, they say," added Wilton; "so, I
suppose, it was really an accident."
Shuffles still made no reply.
CHAPTER XX.
THE END OF THE CHAIN LEAGUE.
The fact that Shuffles had plunged into the sea, and labored so
effectively for the rescue of the fourth lieutenant, blinded the eyes of
"our fellows," who, knowing the penalty of treachery to the "Chain,"
might otherwise have suspected that he had "fallen overboard
accidentally," or, in other words, that he had been pushed into the
water by his unscrupulous rival. 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. A person who tipples
moderately may have the drunkard's fate vividly foreshadowed to him by
getting absolutely drunk himself, and thus be induced to abandon a
dangerous practice. That loathsome disease, small pox, sometimes leaves
the patient better than it finds him; and through, and on account of,
the vilest sin may come the sinner's reformation.
Shuffles had exceeded himself in wickedness; and the fact that his foul
design was not even suspected by any other person than his intended
victim did not diminish his self-reproaches. He shuddered when he
thought of the remorse which must have gnawed his soul during the rest
of his lifetime if Pelham had been drowned. He would have been a
murderer; and while so many knew the penalty of treachery to the League,
he could hardly have escaped suspicion and detection.
A reaction had been produced in his mind; but it was not a healthy
movement of the moral nature. It was not so much the awful crime he had
impulsively committed, as the terrible consequences which would have
followed, that caused him to shrink from it. It was an awful crime, and
his nature revolted at it. He could not have done it without the impulse
of an insane passion; but it was dreadful because it would have shut him
out from society; because it would have placed the mark of Cain upon
him; because the dungeon and the gallows were beyond it,--rather than
because it was the sacrifice of a human life, of one created in the
image of God.
Shuffles was in a state of terror, as one who has just escaped from an
awful gulf that yawned before him. He was not sincerely penitent, as one
who feels the enormity of his offence. He was not prepared to
acknowledge his sin before God, whose law he had outraged.
When Pelham came on deck, on the day after the exciting event, he
greeted Shuffles with his accustomed suavity, and seemed not to bear any
malice in his heart against the author of his misfortune. Officers and
seamen as well as the principal and the professors, congratulated him
upon his escape from the peril which had menaced him; and all commended
Shuffles for his prompt and noble efforts in rescuing him. Pelham
dissented from none of their conclusions, and was as generous in his
praise of the deliverer as the occasion required.
Shuffles was rather astonished to find himself a lion on board, and at
being specially thanked by Mr. Lowington for his humane exertions in
saving a shipmate. He was so warmly and so generously commended that he
almost reached the conclusion himself that he had done a good thing. He
was not satisfied with himself. He was in the power of Pelham, who, by a
word, could change the current of popular sentiment and arraign him for
the gravest of crimes. If the fourth lieutenant spoke, Shuffles realized
that he should be shunned and despised, as well as hated and feared, by
all on board the ship. It was quite natural, therefore, for him to
desire a better understanding with Pelham.
The League had fallen into contempt, at least for the present. Even "our
fellows" would not have spirit enough to strike the blow; besides, the
terrible gulf from which Shuffles had just escaped was too vivid in his
mind to permit him to place himself on the brink of another. So far the
reaction was salutary.
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