MAKING A CHAIN.
The chaplain was too glad of an opportunity to converse with the
prisoner to refuse his request, and he hastened to the brig, hoping to
find Shuffles in a better state of mind than when he had visited him
before. Mr. Agneau entered the lock-up, and was securing the door behind
him, when the prisoner spoke.
"You needn't lock it, sir; I will not attempt to escape," said he. "I
sent for you to apologize for my rudeness."
"Indeed! Then I am very glad to see you," replied the delighted
chaplain. "I have been sorely grieved at your misconduct, and I would
fain have brought you to see the error of your ways."
"I see it now, sir," replied Shuffles, with apparent penitence. "I'm
afraid I am a great deal worse than you think I am, sir."
"It is of no consequence what I think, Shuffles, if you are conscious of
the wrong you have done," added the worthy chaplain. "You behaved
exceedingly well last year, and it almost broke my heart to see you
relapsing into your former evil habits."
"I am grateful to you for the interest you have taken in me, and I
assure you I have often been encouraged to do well by your kind words,"
continued the penitent, with due humility. "I have done wrong, and I
don't deserve to be forgiven."
"'He that humbleth himself shall be exalted,'" said Mr. Agneau,
gratified at the great change which had apparently been wrought in the
prisoner. "If you are really sorry for your offence, Mr. Lowington, I
doubt not, will pardon you, and restore you to favor again."
"I don't deserve it, sir. Since you left me, I have been thinking of my
past life. I dare not tell you how bad I have been."
"You need not tell me. It is not necessary that you should confess your
errors to me. There is One who knows them, and if you are sincerely
repentant He will pity and forgive you."
"I think I should feel better if I told some one of my misdeeds."
"Perhaps you would; that is for you to judge. I will speak to Mr.
Lowington about you to-night. What shall I say to him?"
"I hardly know. I deserve to be punished. I have done wrong, and am
willing to suffer for it."
The tender-hearted chaplain thought that Shuffles was in a beautiful
state of mind, and he desired to have him released at once, that he
might converse with him on great themes under more favorable
circumstances; but Shuffles still detained him.
"I'm afraid I have ruined myself on board this ship," continued
Shuffles, persisting in his self-humiliation.
"If you manfully acknowledge your fault, you will be freely and
generously forgiven."
"Mr. Lowington hates me now, after what I have done."
"O, far from it!" exclaimed the chaplain. "It will be a greater
satisfaction to him than to you to forgive you. You are no longer of the
opinion that you were unfairly used in the distribution of the offices,
I suppose."
"Mr. Agneau, I was beside myself when I resisted the principal. I should
not have done it if I had been in my right mind."
"You were very angry."
"I was--I was not myself."
"Anger often makes men crazy."
"You don't understand me, Mr. Agneau."
"Indeed, I do. You mean that you deluded yourself into the belief that
you had been wronged, and that you ought not to obey the orders of your
officers, and of the principal. The force that was used made you so
angry that you did not know what you were about," added the sympathizing
chaplain.
"In one word, Mr. Agneau, I had been drinking," said Shuffles, with
something like desperation in his manner, as he bent his head, and
covered his face with his hands.
"Drinking!" gasped the chaplain, filled with horror at the confession.
"I told you I was worse than you thought I was," moaned Shuffles.
"Is it possible!"
"It is true, sir; I say it with shame."
"Are you in the habit of taking intoxicating drinks?" asked the
chaplain, confounded beyond measure at this complication of the
difficulty.
"I am not in the habit of it, because I can't get liquor all the time.
My father has wine on his table, and I always was allowed to drink one
glass."
"Can it be!" ejaculated the chaplain. "A youth of seventeen----"
"I'm eighteen now, sir."
"A youth of eighteen in the habit of taking wine!" groaned Mr. Agneau.
"I drank a great deal more than my father knew of while I was at home."
"I am amazed!"
"I knew you would be, sir; but I have told you the truth now."
"But where did you get your liquor to-day?"
"It was wine, sir."
"Where did you get it?"
"I brought two bottles on board with me when I reported for duty
yesterday."
"This is terrible, Shuffles! Do you know what an awful habit you are
contracting, my dear young friend?"
"I never thought much about it till to-night. It has got me into such a
scrape this time, that I don't believe I shall ever drink any more."
"As you respect yourself, as you hope for peace in this world, and peace
in the next, never put the cup to your lips again. 'Wine is a mocker;
strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.'
Did you drink the two bottles?"
"No, sir; only part of one bottle," replied Shuffles, with commendable
promptness.
"Where is the rest of it?"
"Under my berth-sack."
"Are you willing I should take possession of it, and hand it to Mr.
Lowington?"
"I will agree to anything which you think is right."
"Then I will take the wine and throw it overboard."
"Just as you think best, sir. You will find the two bottles in my berth,
No. 43, Gangway D,--the forward one on the starboard side."
"I hope you will never touch the wine-cup again."
"I will not--till next time," added Shuffles, as the chaplain moved
towards the door of the brig.
"'Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color
in the cup, at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an
adder,'" continued the chaplain, as he passed out of the lock-up.
Mr. Agneau went to the prisoner's berth, and found the two bottles of
wine. They were a sufficient explanation of the remarkable conduct of
Shuffles. The youth had "drank wine, and was drunken," otherwise he
would not have been guilty of such flagrant disobedience. Though in his
own estimation the excuse was worse than the original fault, yet it was
an explanation; and if the root of the evil could be removed, the evil
itself would cease to exist. The wine could be thrown overboard, and as
no more could be obtained during the voyage, the good conduct of the
young tippler would be insured, at least till the ship reached
Queenstown, which was the port to which she was bound.
With the two bottles in his hands, the chaplain returned to the
professors' cabin. Mr. Lowington was on deck. He did not deem it prudent
to leave the ship in the hands of the students, at first, without any
supervision, and it was arranged that the principal, Mr. 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? I am amazed!"
"So am I, Mr. Agneau."
"The boy is hardly to blame for his conduct, since he contracted this
vicious habit under the eye of his father."
"The discipline of the ship must be preserved."
"Certainly, Mr. Lowington."
"And the boy is just as much to blame for his act of disobedience as
though it had been done in his sober senses."
"But you can afford to pardon him, under the circumstances."
"I will do that when he is willing to make a proper acknowledgment of
his offence in the presence of the ship's company, before whom the act
was committed."
"He is quite ready to do so now."
"If he will say as much as that to me, he shall be released at once."
"He will, sir."
"It is very strange to me that I noticed nothing peculiar in the boy's
speech or manner at the time," added the principal. "He certainly did
not seem to be intoxicated."
"Probably he had taken just enough to inflame his evil passions, without
affecting his manner," suggested the chaplain.
"I did not even discover the odor of wine upon him."
"Perhaps you did not go near enough to him. If you please, Mr.
Lowington, we will go down and see him; and you can judge for yourself
whether or not it is prudent to release him."
"I will."
"Thank you, sir. I feel a deep interest in the young man, and I hope he
may yet be saved."
When Mr. Agneau left the brig, after his second visit, Wilton, who was
very anxious to know what Shuffles meant by "making a chain," came out
of his mess room. He had been watching the chaplain, and wondering what
the prisoner could have to say to him.
"What's up, Shuffles?" asked Wilton, when Mr. Agneau had left the
steerage.
"I've been smoothing him down," laughed Shuffles, with an audible
chuckle. "I have concluded not to stay in here any longer."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm coming out pretty soon, though it has cost me a bottle and a half
of old sherry to get out," laughed Shuffles.
"I don't know what you mean."
"I told the parson that I was drunk when I disobeyed orders, and that I
was very sorry for it, and wouldn't get drunk any more."
"Did you tell him that?"
"I did; I assured him I was the worst fellow in the whole world, and
ought to be hung, drawn, and quartered for my wickedness; and he
swallowed it as a codfish does a clam."
"And you gave him all the wine?"
"No, I didn't; I gave him one full bottle, and what was left in the one
from which we drank this afternoon. I have two more."
"We were going to have a good time with that wine."
"I have enough left."
"Where is it?"
"In my locker."
"They may find it."
"No, they won't; I will put it in some other place before inspection
day. There is plenty of wine in the medical stores. It was a good joke
for the parson to suppose I was drunk."
"Perhaps you were," suggested Wilton.
"I felt good; but I was as sober as I am now."
"The drink I took went into my head, and I felt as though I was going up
in a ballon."
"That was because you are not used to the article. It waked me up a
little, but I knew what I was about."
"I think you were a confounded fool to do what you did."
"Wilton, I'm not going to live in the steerage--you may take my word for
it. I've been an officer too long to come down to that. If we don't
succeed in making a chain, I shall quit the concern the first time I put
my foot on shore in Ireland."
"What do you mean by making a chain?" asked Wilton, eagerly.
"A chain is strong."
"Well; what of it?"
"It is composed of many links. Can't you understand that?"
"Hush up! Some one is coming," said Wilton, as he walked away from the
brig.
"Here! who is that?" demanded Mr. Lowington, as he saw Wilton moving
away from the lock-up.
"No. 59, sir--Wilton," replied he. "I was just going on deck to find
you, sir."
"To find me?" asked the principal.
"Yes, sir. Shuffles called me when I was passing, and wished me to tell
you he wanted to see you very much. I was just going after you, sir."
"If there is any blame, sir, it rests on me," interposed Shuffles,
through the bars of his prison.
Mr. Lowington unlocked the door of the brig, and entered, followed by
Mr. Agneau, leaving Wilton to congratulate himself on the result of the
lies he had uttered.
"I am told you wish to see me, Shuffles," said the principal.
"Yes, sir; I wish to say that I am extremely sorry for what I have
done."
"I thought you were crazy when you refused to obey; and now I find you
were."
"I had been drinking, sir, I confess."
"Mr. Agneau has told me your story; it is not necessary to repeat it
now. To-morrow I shall require you to acknowledge your error at muster,
and promise obedience in the future. Are you willing to do so?"
"I am, sir."
"You are discharged from confinement then, and will at once return to
your duty," replied Mr. Lowington, upon whom Shuffles did not venture to
intrude his extremely penitential story. "To which watch do you belong?"
"To the port watch, first part, sir."
"It will be on deck during the first half of the mid watch, from twelve
till two," added the principal, as he came out of the brig.
Mr. Lowington made no parade of what he had done. He never subjected any
student to unnecessary humiliation. He indulged in no reproaches, and
preached no sermons. He went on deck, intending to leave the culprit to
the influence of the better thoughts which he hoped and believed had
been kindled in his mind by the events of the day. Mr. Agneau remained a
moment to give a final admonition to the penitent, as he regarded him,
and then went to his cabin.
"Are you going to turn in, Shuffles?" asked Wilton.
"Not yet. Are there any of our fellows below?"
"Plenty of them."
"Our fellows" was a term applied to that portion of the crew who were
understood to be ready for any scrape which might be suggested. 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. They knew and were known of each other.
On the other hand, it is equally true, that there was a bond of sympathy
and association among the good boys, as there is among good men. If a
good man wishes to establish a daily prayer meeting, he does not apply
to the intemperate, the profane swearers, and the Sabbath breakers of
his neighborhood for help; there is a magnetism among men which leads
him to the right persons. If a bad man intends to get up a mob, a
raffle, or a carousal, he does not seek assistance among those who go to
church every Sunday, and refrain from evil practices, either from
principle or policy. He makes no mistakes of this kind.
In every community, perhaps one fourth of the whole number are
positively good, and one fourth positively bad, while the remaining two
fourths are more or less good or more or less bad, floating undecided
between the two poles of the moral magnet, sometimes drawn one way, and
sometimes the other.
The Young America was a world in herself, and the moral composition of
her people was similar to that of communities on a larger scale. She had
all the elements of good and evil on board. One fourth of the students
were doubtless high-minded, moral young men, having fixed principles,
and being willing to make great sacrifices rather than do wrong. As good
behavior, as well as proficiency in the studies, was an element of
success in the ship, a large proportion of the positively good boys were
in the after cabin.
Another fourth of the students were reckless and unprincipled, with no
respect for authority, except so far as it was purchased by fear of
punishment or hope of reward. Occasionally one of this class worked his
way into the cabin by superior natural ability, and a spasmodic attempt
to better his condition on board.
The rest of the ship's company belonged to the indefinite, undecided
class, floating more or less distant from the positive elements of good
or evil. They were not bad boys, for, with proper influences, they could
be, and were, kept from evil ways. They were not good boys on principle,
for they could be led away in paths of error.
"Our fellows" were the positively bad boys of the floating academy; and
they existed in no greater proportion in the ship's company than in the
communities of the great world. To this class belonged Shuffles, Wilton,
Monroe, and others. To the positively good boys belonged Gordon,
Kendall, Martyn, and others--not all of them in the after cabin, by any
means.
Shuffles and Wilton walked forward to find some of these kindred
spirits. They seemed to know just where to look for them, for they
turned in at Gangway D. Over each of the six passages from which the
mess rooms opened, a lantern was suspended, besides four more in the
middle of the steerage. It was light enough, therefore, in the rooms for
their occupants to read coarse print.
In the lower berths of mess room No. 8 lay two students, while another
sat on a stool between them. Their occupation was sufficient evidence
that they belonged to "our fellows," for they were shaking props for
money, on a stool between the bunks. As Shuffles and Wilton approached,
they picked up the props and the stakes, and drew back into their beds.
"It's Shuffles," said Philip Sanborn. "How did you get out?"
"Worked out," replied Shuffles, gayly.
"You don't mean to say you broke jail?"
"No; that would have been too much trouble. There was an easier way, and
I took that."
"How was it?"
"Why, I soft-sawdered the parson, and he soft-sawdered Lowington."
"It's all right; go ahead with the game," said Lynch, as he produced the
props again.
Sanborn placed the money on the stool, consisting of two quarters in
fractional currency. Lynch shook the props, and dropped them on the
stool.
"A nick!" exclaimed he, snatching the money. "I'll go you a half now."
"Half it is," replied Sanborn, as he placed the requisite sum on the
money the other laid down.
Lynch rattled the props, and threw them down again.
"A browner!" cried he, intensely excited, as he seized the money with
eager hand.
"Don't talk so loud, you fool!" added Sanborn. "The fellows are asleep
above us, and you will wake them up. I'll go you a half again."
"Half it is!" replied Lynch, in a whisper, as he shook again.
"An out!" said Sanborn, picking up the money.
"Three bells! Dry up!" interposed Wilton. "One of the officers of the
deck will be down in a minute."
The young gamblers put away the implements, and drew back into their
berths until the inspecting officer had looked into the room. When the
master had gone on deck again, the play was resumed, and Shuffles and
Wilton watched it with deep interest.
Gambling was a new thing on board the Young America. It had not been
practised at all in the preceding year, having been introduced by
Shuffles and Monroe, who had visited a prop saloon in the city where
they resided, during their late furlough. Each of them had brought a set
of props on board, with which they intended to amuse themselves during
the voyage. As yet, the practice was confined to a few of "our
fellows;" but the crew in the steerage were certainly in very great
danger of being carried away by the passion for gaming, for it was
spreading rapidly.
The prop-shaking was carried on in the mess rooms, while the students
were off duty. Shuffles had played with half a dozen boys the night
before; Sanborn and Lynch had been engaged in the game since the first
watch was set, and another party had been employed in the same manner in
another room. All of the boys were supplied with money in considerable
sums, generally in sovereigns and half sovereigns, for use when they
reached Europe. It was changing hands now, though no one had as yet been
particularly lucky.
"Have a game, Shuffles?" said Lynch, when Sanborn declared that he had
no money left but gold.
"No," replied Shuffles, "I shall not play any more."
"Why not?"
"I haven't time; and I don't want to become too fond of it."
"Haven't time!" exclaimed Lynch.
"No; I've got a big job on my hands."
"What's that?"
"Making a chain."
"Making a what?"
"Making a chain."
"A watch chain?"
"I think it will be a watch chain; but I'll tell you about it when we
are alone. Do you understand?"
"No, I don't."
"Keep still then."
Shuffles turned in, and the others followed his example. He did not
sleep, if they did, for his soul was full of rage and malice. He was
studying up the means of revenge; and he had matured a project, so
foolhardy that it was ridiculous, and his mind was fully occupied with
it.
At twelve o'clock he was called to take his place with the first part of
the port watch on deck. Belonging to each quarter watch, there were five
petty officers, four of whom were to call the portion of the crew who
were to relieve those on duty. Shuffles was called by one of these.
The wind was freshening when he went on deck, and the ship was going
rapidly through the water. At the last heaving of the log she was making
eleven knots, with her studding sails still set. Mr. Fluxion came on
deck at eight bells.
Wilton, Sanborn, and Adler were in the watch with Shuffles, and the
malcontent lost not a moment in pushing forward the scheme he had
matured. Fortunately or unfortunately, he was placed on the lookout with
Wilton, and the solitude of the top-gallant forecastle afforded them a
good opportunity for the conference.