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Page 20
"Nothing! Why, I feel like a counterfeit gold dollar, in this rig, when
I know no more about a ship than I do about the inside of the moon."
"You will learn in due time. You will go on deck now, young gentlemen;
and remember that, as officers, you are not to be familiar with the crew
while you are on duty."
"Can't we speak to them?" asked Kendall, who was not disposed to be so
exclusive as naval discipline required him to be.
"Not while you are on duty, except when it is necessary to do so. We
will now assign the berths in the steerage to the crew."
As the boys came on board, they had taken the berths as they pleased.
Shuffles had selected a room, and invited his "cronies" to occupy the
bunks it contained with him. The berths were now to be distributed by
lot. Professor Mapps had provided seventy-two slips of paper, on each of
which he had written a number. The boys were mustered into line, and
drew out these numbers from the package. As each student drew his slip,
the purser wrote down his name in a book, with the number he had drawn.
In the steerage, each berth had its own number, which was also applied
to a locker, and a seat at one of the mess tables. When the drawing was
completed each student had his berth, his clothes locker, and his seat
at meals. Many of them were extremely dissatisfied when they found that
they had been separated from their "cronies;" but the principal was
firm, and would not allow a single change to be made.
By this time it was twelve o'clock, and Boatswain Peaks piped all hands
to muster. The ensign was hoisted, and saluted with three cheers, in
which all hands, young and old, joined. When this ceremony was finished,
the crew were piped to dinner, and the officers went to their cabin,
where the steward had set the table for them for the first time. They
dined like lords, though upon the same fare as their companions in the
steerage.
CHAPTER IV.
OFFICERS AND SEAMEN.
After dinner the organization of the crew was continued. All hands were
"piped to muster," and by this time most of those who had been
disaffected at the drawing of berths had recovered their natural
equanimity, and all were intensely interested in the arrangement of the
details. None of the boys knew what was coming, and their curiosity kept
them in a continuous state of excitement.
"All who have drawn even numbers will take the starboard side of the
ship," said Mr. Lowington from his perch on the hatch. "All who have
drawn odd numbers will take the port side."
"This is the starboard side, my lads," added Mr. Fluxion, the instructor
in mathematics--who, like the principal, had been a naval officer,--as
he pointed to the right, looking forward.
Some had already forgotten their numbers, and there was considerable
confusion before the order could be obeyed.
"Young gentlemen, the books will be opened to-day; and a student who
forgets his number again will lose a mark," said Mr. Lowington. "Are
they all in their places, Mr. Fluxion?"
"They are, sir," replied the instructor, who had just counted them.
"Young gentlemen, you are thus divided into two equal parts--the
starboard and the port watches. Now form a straight line, toe the crack,
and call your numbers in order, beginning with the starboard watch."
The boys eagerly followed this direction, though some assistance was
required from the instructors in repressing their superfluous
enthusiasm.
"Very well," continued Mr. Lowington, when the students were formed in
two lines. "Every boy in the starboard watch whose number is divisible
by four, step forward one pace. Number three in the port watch, do the
same. Mr. Mapps, oblige me by seeing that every alternate boy in the
line steps forward."
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