HEAVING THE LOG.
The Young America, under topsails and top-gallant sails, was making
about ten knots an hour. After passing the last island in the bay, she
was headed to the south-east, which brought the wind over the starboard
quarter. The ship was of the clipper class, though not as sharp as many
of this model. It was found that her sailing ability was excellent, and
Mr. Lowington and Mr. Fluxion expressed much satisfaction at her
performance, both in respect of speed and weatherly qualities.
When the ship left her moorings, the principal had not decided where to
go, or how long to remain at sea, intending to be governed by the
circumstances of the hour. It had never been his purpose to keep her at
one anchorage, but to go from port to port, remaining a few days or a
few weeks at each, as the discipline of the ship and the progress of the
boys in their studies suggested. There were many elements of seamanship
which could not be effectively practised while the ship lay at anchor,
such as heaving the log, sounding and steering, though the boys had been
carefully instructed in the theory of these operations.
The instructor in mathematics, the boatswain, the carpenter, and the
sailmaker, all of whom were good seamen, were in great demand as soon as
the ship was under way; but when she had sea-room enough, the helm was
handed over to the boys, under the charge of a juvenile quartermaster.
Peaks stood by, and gave the necessary directions, till the students
were able to do the work themselves.
"Now, my lads, we will heave the log," said the boatswain, when the ship
was well out from the land.
"We know how to do that," replied Smith, one of the quartermasters.
"I dare say you do, young gentlemen; but in my opinion, you can't do it.
You know how to write a psalm, but I don't believe you could write one,"
added Peaks. "You have to learn how to do these things by the feeling,
so that they will do themselves, so to speak. After-guard, stand by to
haul in the log-line. Here, quartermaster, you will hold the glass, and
the officer of the deck will throw the chip."
"We know all about it, Mr. Peaks," repeated Smith.
"I know you do; but you can't tell within five knots how fast the ship
is going," laughed the boatswain. "Let's do it right a few times, and
then you can be trusted."
The quartermaster took the glass, and Gordon, then officer of the watch,
the chip, which he cast into the water over the stern of the ship.
"Turn!" said he, when the stray line had run out.
Now, Smith, at this particular moment, was watching a vessel over the
quarter, and he did not instantly turn the glass, as he should have
done; but Peaks said nothing.
"Up!" cried the quartermaster, when the sand had all run through the
glass.
Gordon stopped the reel from which the line was running out, and noted
the mark.
"Seven knots," said he.
"Not right," replied the boatswain, sharply. "This ship is going nine or
ten knots an hour, and any man who has snuffed salt water for six months
could guess nearer than you make it. Now try it once again, and if you
don't hit nearer than that next time, you may as well throw the reel
overboard, and hire a Yankee to guess the rate of sailing."
"I thought we knew all about it," added Smith.
"I think you do, young gentlemen; but you were star-gazing when you
ought to have been all attention. The line ran out two or three knots
before you turned the glass."
Gordon took the chip again. It was a thin piece of board, in the form of
a quarter circle. The round side was loaded with just lead enough to
make it float upright in the water. The log-line was fastened to the
chip, just us a boy loops a kite, two strings being attached at each end
of the circular side, while the one at the angle is tied to a peg, which
is inserted in a hole, just hard enough to keep it in place, while there
is no extra strain on the board, but which can be drawn out with a smart
pull. When the log-line has run out as far as desired, there would be
some difficulty in hauling in the chip while it was upright in the
water; but a sudden jerk draws the peg at the angle, and permits the
board to lie flat, in which position the water offers the least
resistance to its passage.
The half-minute glass used on board the Young America, held by the
quartermaster, was like an hour glass, and contained just sand enough to
pass through the hole in the neck in thirty seconds. The log-line was
one hundred and fifty fathoms in length, and was wound on a reel, which
turned very easily, so that the resistance of the chip to the water
would unwind it. The log-line is divided into certain spaces called
knots, the length of each of which is the same fractional part of a mile
that a half minute is of an hour. If there be sixty-one hundred and
twenty feet in a nautical mile, or the sixtieth part of a degree of a
great circle, which is not far from accurate, and the ship be going ten
knots an hour, she will run sixty-one thousand two hundred feet in an
hour. If the chip were thrown overboard at eight o'clock, and the line
were long enough, the ship would have run out sixty-one thousand two
hundred feet, or ten miles, at nine o'clock, or in one hour. In one
minute she would run one sixtieth of sixty-one thousand two hundred
feet, which is ten hundred and twenty feet; in half a minute, five
hundred and ten feet.
The half-minute glass is the measure of time generally used in heaving
the log. While the sand is dropping through, the line runs out five
hundred and ten feet, the ship going ten knots an hour being the basis
of the calculation. One knot, therefore, will be fifty-one feet. If the
line pays out five hundred and ten feet in thirty seconds, by the glass,
the ship is going ten knots an hour. If it pays out four hundred and
eight feet in half a minute, or eight hundred and sixteen feet in a
minute, she will pay out a mile in as many minutes as eight hundred and
sixteen feet is contained in sixty-one hundred and twenty feet, which is
seven and a half minutes. Then the ship goes a mile in seven and a half
minutes, or eight miles an hour.
A knot on the log-line is therefore invariably fifty-one feet; and the
number of knots of the line run out in half a minute indicates also the
ship's speed per hour, for fifty-one feet is the same part of a nautical
mile that half a minute is of an hour. The calculations are given
without allowances, merely to show the principle; and both the glass and
the line are modified in practice.
On board the Young America, ten fathoms were allowed for "stray line;"
this length of line being permitted to run out before the measuring
commenced, in order to get the chip clear of thee eddies in the wake of
the ship. The ten fathoms were indicated by a white rag, drawn through
the line; and when the officer paying out comes to this mark, he orders
the quartermaster to turn the glass, and the operation actually begins.
At every fifty-one feet (or forty-seven and six tenths, making the
allowances) there is a mark--a bit of leather, or two or more knots. The
instant the sands have all run through the glass, the quartermaster
says, "Up," and the officer notes the mark to which the line has run
out. Half and quarter knots are indicated on the line.
"Now, quartermaster, mind your eye. When the officer of the deck says,
'Turn,' you repeat the word after him, to show that you are alive,"
continued Peaks.
"Ready!" said Gordon.
"Ready!" replied Smith.
The lieutenant threw the chip into the water, and when the stray line
had run off, he gave the word to turn the glass.
"Turn!" repeated Smith.
Gordon eased off the log-line, so that nothing should prevent it from
running easily.
"Up!" shouted Smith; and Gordon stopped the line.
"Very well," added Peaks. "What's the mark?"
"Ten and a quarter," replied the officer.
"That sounds more like it. I knew this ship was going more than seven
knots. You see, young gentlemen, you can't catch flies and tend the
log-line at the same time. Now, you may try it over again."
The experiment was repeated, with the same result. Other officers and
seamen were called to the quarter-deck, and the training in heaving the
log continued, until a reasonable degree of proficiency was attained.
"Land ho!" cried the lookout on the top-gallant forecastle, at about
eleven o'clock in the forenoon.
"Where away?" called the officer of the deck.
"Dead ahead, sir."
"What is that land, Mr. Lowington?" asked Paul Kendall.
"Don't you know?"
"I'm sure I don't."
"Then you should study your map more. Look at the compass, and tell me
how she heads."
"South-east, sir," replied Paul, after looking into the binnacle.
"Now, what land lies south-east of Brockway Harbor?" asked the
principal.
"Cape Cod, I think."
"You are right; then that must be Cape Cod."
"Is it, really?"
"Certainly it is," laughed Mr. Lowington. "Have you no faith in your
map?"
"I didn't think we could be anywhere near Cape Cod. I thought it was
farther off," added Paul, who seemed to be amazed to think they had
actually crossed Massachusetts Bay.
"The land you see is Race Point, which is about forty miles from the
entrance to the bay, at the head of which Brockway is located. We have
been making about ten knots an hour, and our calculations seem to be
very accurate. By one o'clock we shall come to anchor in Provincetown
Harbor."
This prediction was fully verified, and the Young America was moored off
the town. Those who had been seasick recovered as soon as the motion of
the ship ceased; and when everything aloft and on deck had been made
snug, the crew were piped to dinner.
In the afternoon, part of the students were permitted to go on shore;
the band played, and several boat-races took place, very much to the
delight of the people on shore, as well as those on board. At six
o'clock the ship was opened for the reception of visitors, who came off
in large numbers to inspect the vessel. After dark there was a
brilliant display of fireworks, and the Young America blazed with
blue-lights and Roman candles, set off by boys on the cross-trees, and
at the yard-arms. At ten the festivities closed, and all was still in
the steerage and on deck.
The next morning, the ship got under way, and stood out of the harbor,
bound for Brockway again. She had a light breeze, and a smooth time, and
the boys had the satisfaction of seeing every rag of canvas spread,
including studding-sails alow and aloft; but it was not till after dark
that the ship came to anchor at her former moorings.
Wilton and Monroe were released from confinement in the morning, and
permitted to go on deck. Whatever their shipmates might have said, they
felt that they had been severely punished, especially as they had failed
in their runaway expedition. Wilton did not feel any more kindly towards
Shuffles when he was released than when he had been ordered to his room.
He felt that his late crony had been a traitor, and he was unable to
take any higher view of the circumstances.
"Wilton," said Mr. Lowington, when he met the runaway on deck, the day
after the Fourth, "I told you that you had made a mistake. Do you
believe it yet?"
"I suppose I do, sir."
"You suppose you do! Don't you know?"
"Yes, sir, I think I did make a mistake," replied Wilton, who found it
very hard to acknowledge the fact.
"I do not refer to your punishment, when I allude to the consequences of
your misdeed, for that was very light. You have fallen very low in the
estimation of your superiors."
"Do you mean Mr. Shuffles, sir?"
"I did not mean the officers exclusively, though I believe they have a
proper respect for the discipline of the ship."
"I don't think Shuffles need to say anything."
"He hasn't said anything."
"He is worse than I am."
"Shuffles has done very well, and merits the approbation of the
principal and the instructors."
"They don't know him as well as I do," growled Wilton.
"They probably know him better. Your remarks do not exhibit a proper
spirit towards an officer. He defeated your plan to escape, but he did
no more than his duty. He would have been blamed, perhaps punished, if
he had done any less."
"I don't find any fault with him for doing his duty, but I don't like to
be snubbed by one who is worse than I am. If you knew what I know, sir,
you would turn him out of the after cabin."
"Then it is fortunate for him that I don't know what you know," replied
Mr. Lowington, sternly. "If you wish to injure him in my estimation, you
will not succeed."
"He is going to get up a mutiny one of these days. He told me all about
it," continued Wilton, desperately, when he found that the principal was
in no mood to listen to his backbiting.
"That will do, Wilton? I don't wish to hear anything more about that
matter. Your testimony against Shuffles, under present circumstances, is
not worth the breath you use in uttering it."
"I thought it was my duty to tell you, if any one was trying to get up a
mutiny."
"You did not think so; you are telling me this story to revenge yourself
against the third lieutenant for his fidelity. Whether there is, or is
not, any truth in what you say, I shall take no notice of it."
"It is all true, sir. He did speak to me about getting up a mutiny,
locking up the professors, taking the ship, and going round Cape Horn;
and he will not deny it."
"He will have no opportunity to deny it to me, for I shall not mention
the subject to him. Go to your duty, and remember that you have injured
yourself more than Shuffles by this course."
Wilton hung his head, and went forward, cheated of his revenge, and
disconcerted by the rebuke he had received.
Mr. Lowington was quite willing to believe that Shuffles had talked
about a mutiny, while he was in the steerage, but there was at least no
present danger of an extravagant scheme being put into operation. He
understood Shuffles perfectly; he knew that his high office and his
ambition were his only incentives to fidelity in the discharge of his
duty; but he had fairly won his position, and he was willing to let him
stand or fall by his own merits. He was not a young man of high moral
principle, as Paul Kendall, and Gordon, and Carnes were; but the
discipline of the ship was certainly doing wonders for him, though it
might ultimately fail of its ends.
The ship came to anchor, the band was sent on shore, and the Fourth of
July holidays were ended. On the following morning the studies were
resumed, and everything on board went on as usual. A few days later, the
ship went on a cruise to the eastward, spending a week in each of the
principal ports on the coast. The students soon became so accustomed to
the motion of the ship, that none of them were seasick and the
recitations were regularly heard, whether the Young America was in port
or at sea.
When the cold weather came, stoves were put up in the cabins and in the
steerage, and the routine of the ship was not disturbed; but Mr.
Lowington dreaded the ice and snow, and the severe weather of
mid-winter, and in November, the Young America started on a cruise to
the southward, and in the latter part of December she was in Chesapeake
Bay. In March she returned to Brockway. By this time the crew were all
thorough seamen, and had made excellent progress in their studies. Mr.
Lowington was entirely satisfied with the success of his experiment, and
was resolved to persevere in it.
The boys were in splendid discipline, and there had not been a case of
serious illness on board during the year. Besides the six hours of study
and recitation required of the pupils per day, they were all trained in
gymnastics by Dr. Winstock, the surgeon, who had a system of his own,
and was an enthusiast on the subject. This exercise, with the ordinary
ship's duty, kept them in excellent physical condition; and while their
brown faces and rosy cheeks indicated a healthy state of the body, their
forms were finely developed, and their muscles scientifically trained.
Greek and Latin, German and French, with the ordinary English branches
pursued in high schools and academies, were taught on board, and the
instructors were satisfied that the boys accomplished twice as much as
was ordinarily done in similar institutions on shore, and without injury
to the students. Everything was done by rule, and nothing was left to
the whims and caprices of teachers and scholars. Just so much study was
done every day, and no more. There was no sitting up nights; there were
no balls and parties, theatres and concerts, to interfere with the work;
no late suppers of escalloped oysters and lobster salads to be eaten.
Boys who had bad habits were watched, and injurious tendencies
corrected.
But the students enjoyed their life on shipboard. As the vessel went
from port to port, new scenes were opened to them. Those who could be
trusted were allowed to go on shore in their off-time; and as all their
privileges depended upon their good conduct, they were very careful to
do their duty, both as students and as seamen, cheerfully and
faithfully.
The Young America dropped her anchor in Brockway Harbor on the 5th of
March, on her return from her southern cruise. The first term of the
second year was to commence on the 1st of April, and it was understood
that the ship would sail for Europe on the last day of March. The vessel
needed some repairs, and all the students were allowed a furlough of
twenty days to visit their homes.
Several of the larger boys, including Carnes, had obtained places in the
navy, and were not to return. Two or three were to enter college in the
summer, and a few were to go into mercantile houses; but these vacancies
would be more than filled by the applicants who had been waiting months
for an opportunity to join the ship.
After the departure of the students, the Young America was docked, and
the necessary repairs made upon her. She was thoroughly cleansed and
painted, and came out as good as new. Before the return of the boys, her
provisions, water, and stores, were taken on board, and all the
preparations made for a foreign voyage. On the 25th of the month she was
anchored again at her old moorings, and in the course of the next two
days all the instructors and pupils were in their places. There were
eleven new boys.
"Young gentlemen," said Mr. Lowington, as he mounted his usual rostrum,
"I am happy to see you again, and to welcome you on board. Our
experience during the coming season will be much more interesting and
exciting than that of the last year. We shall proceed immediately to
Europe, and all who are worthy of the privilege will have an opportunity
to visit the principal cities of Europe--London, Paris, Naples, St.
Petersburg. We shall go up the Baltic and up the Mediterranean, in this
or a subsequent cruise, and I can safely promise you, not only an
interesting, but a profitable trip. In a circular I have informed your
parents and guardians of my purposes, and you are shipped this time for
a foreign voyage, with their consent and approval."
This speech caused no little excitement among the boys, who anticipated
a great deal from the summer voyage. It was no small thing to visit
London, Paris, and St. Petersburg, and not many boys obtain such an
opportunity.
"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."
"Rather steep," whispered one of the new comers.
"That's so, but he means it," replied an old student.
"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.