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Page 44
"We shall be at sea, out of sight of land, for twenty or thirty days,"
continued Mr. Lowington. "We shall encounter storms and bad weather,
such as none of you have ever seen; for in going from port to port, last
season, we were enabled to avoid all severe weather. We shall go to sea
now with no harbor before us till we reach the other side of the
Atlantic, and we must take whatever comes. But the ship is as strong as
a ship can be built, and with good management she would stand any gale
that ever blew. Good management includes good discipline, and every
officer and seaman must be faithful in the discharge of his duty, for
the safety of the ship and all on board of her will depend upon the
fidelity of each individual.
"Young gentlemen, there are eleven new scholars: they must take the
vacant berths after the ship's company is organized on the old plan. The
offices will be given out and the berths drawn by the merit roll for
January, February, and a portion of March--only about nine weeks of term
time."
Shuffles, who stood near the principal, looked very much disconcerted
when this announcement was made, and whispered to Paul Kendall that it
was not fair to distribute the offices by last year's record. While the
Young America was lying at anchor in Chesapeake Bay, in December,
Shuffles, then second lieutenant, had received a letter from his mother,
in which she had informed him that his family would visit Europe in the
following spring, and that he would leave the ship, and form one of the
party. This information had caused him to relax his efforts as a
student, and he had fallen very low in rank. This was the reason why the
proposed distribution of offices was not fair.
When Shuffles went home on his furlough of twenty days, he had behaved
so badly that his father refused to have him form one of the party in
the trip abroad, and compelled him to return to the ship for another
year of wholesome discipline under Mr. Lowington. Angry and indignant,
Shuffles did return and the announcement that the offices were to be
distributed by the merit roll did not add to his equanimity.
"I will now read the record of marks," said the principal, "and announce
the officers for the next term."
The boys were silent and anxious; for places in the after cabin were
more highly valued than ever, now that the Young America was going to
Europe.
CHAPTER VIII.
OUTWARD BOUND.
Mr. Lowington read the merit roll, announcing the officers as he
proceeded. The occupants of the after cabin, who were appointed for the
succeeding three months, during which time the ship crossed the
Atlantic, and visited various European ports, were as follows:--
CHARLES GORDON, _Captain._
Joseph Haven, _First Lieutenant._
Paul Kendall, _Second "_
Samuel Goodwin, _Third "_
Augustus Pelham, _Fourth "_
William Foster, _First Master._
Henry Martyn, _Second "_
Thomas Ellis, _Third "_
Joseph Leavitt, _Fourth "_
Joseph O. Rogers, _First Purser._
Edward Murray, _Second "_
George W. Terrill, _First Midshipman._
John Humphreys, _Second "_
Mark Robinson, _Third "_
Andrew Groom, _Fourth "_
The students mentioned in the list made the required promise to behave
themselves like gentlemen, and faithfully discharge the duties of their
several offices, and were duly installed in their new positions in the
after cabin. Most of them had been officers before, but all of them were
higher in rank than at any former period. Richard Carnes had been
captain four terms, for no one could get ahead of him.
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