i 
 a 
 
 ^srfv 
 
THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 
 ENDOWED BY THE 
 
 DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC 
 
 SOCIETIES 
 
 School 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00022094733 
 
 U/i£_ 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hil 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/joebentlynavalcaOOclar 
 
JOE BENTLY 
 
 NAVAL CADET 
 
 BY 
 
 H. H. CLARK, U. S. NAVY. 
 
 Author of Boy Life in the United States Navy, etc. 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 D LOTHROP COMPANY 
 
 WASHINGTON STREET OPPOSITE BROMFIELD 
 
Copyright, 1889, 
 
 BY 
 
 Lothrop Company. 
 
To the Naval Cadets of the United States Ships 
 Trenton and Lancaster 
 
 With whom I have recently been abroad in the world, 
 in sincere appreciation of their manly character and 
 professional ability, and with the hope for each of them 
 of an honorable career in the service of their country, 
 this story of a cadet's life in the Navy is respectfully 
 dedicated by the Author. 
 
 9594.70 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Joe at the Naval Academy .... 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Joe is introduced to Mrs. Pepper . . 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 He receives Orders . . . . -37 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Assigned to his Division .... 54 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 First Duty ....... 68 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Schopy's Sketch ...... 83 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER .... 98 
 
 3 
 
 3^3471 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Breaking in Cadets 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Forced to a Compromise 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 A spent Shell 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Naval Brigade 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Fixing a Torpedo . 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Katie and Maud 
 
 "3 
 
 129 
 
 H5 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 A mysterious Voice . . . . I 6 1 
 
 *75 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Joe and Lieutenant Bloomsbury . . .191 
 
 204 
 
 219 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Letting the Cat out of the Bag . . 235 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 The Spring Keeps Bubbling . . .251 
 
CONTEXTS. 5 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Mrs. Pepper's Scheme . . . . .267 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 That Annapolis Girl ..... 285 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 A Cabin Tempest . . . . . .306 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 Mr. Long ....... 327 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 The Daybreak's Reception .... 346 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Katie's golden lily of a Yacht . . . 367 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 The rising young Lawyer 
 
 : 9 2 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 In the Hollow of his Hand . . . 409 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 A Suitable Reward . . . . -424 
 
JOE BENTLY, NAVAL CADET. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 JOE AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY. 
 
 FOUR swift, happy, hard-working years have 
 passed, and our old friend and hero, Joe 
 Bently, is no longer a cadet at the United States 
 Naval Academy, Annapolis. We took our leave 
 of Joe, it will be remembered, alongside the Mes- 
 sagerics Imperiales steamer at Smyrna, Turkey, 
 about to sail for Marseilles. Aside from his grief 
 at parting from his ship and shipmates, we find 
 him now more elated, if possible, over his success- 
 ful graduation than over the eventful and happy 
 fortune attending his appointment to the Acade- 
 my. Joe has done well. A few of his class have 
 maintained a higher average in languages, but in 
 English studies and mathematics, he has taken 
 second rank. In strictly professional branches, 
 however — - such as seamanship, ordnance, steam 
 engineering, etc., and in all drills — none has ex- 
 ceeded him. 
 
 7 
 
8 JOE AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY. 
 
 He has also been very popular, alike with the 
 cadets, officers, and professors. He has never 
 been guilty of hazing, and woe has befallen sev- 
 eral boys who in their innocence attempted to 
 haze him. He has not been a perfect boy, but 
 judged by a fair standard of boyish prupriety, he 
 has at all times during his course, in character 
 and conduct, preserved excellent standing. 
 
 Now, on the evening of his release from the 
 stern tutelage and supervision of his instructors, 
 he is sauntering along that part of the shore com- 
 prised in the Academy grounds, meditating upon 
 the happy years that have flown, and prospecting 
 on what, in the way of duty, will come next. A 
 leave of absence is about to be granted him, 
 which, in the case of cadets is necessarily short, 
 owing to the exigences of the Service, and the 
 need of thoroughly equipping them with the 
 knowledge of an officer's duties and responsibili- 
 ties at sea. 
 
 The sun is nearly set, and we can scarcely 
 refrain from a critical survey of Master Joe's per- 
 son as he stands, or rather jaunts along, in the 
 slanting light. He has nearly reached the dimen- 
 sions of manhood. Tall, rather slender than oth- 
 erwise, solidly knit, set up with military precision 
 but without stiffness, freckles all scoured out, a 
 slight appearance about the lip faintly suggesting 
 a mustache, a marked ease of bearing, all of 
 
JOE AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY. 9 
 
 which, together with a quiet, genial manner, unite 
 in a combination of details that make Joe an un- 
 usually presentable young cadet. 
 
 Joe is not alone. A classmate not far from his 
 own age and size accompanies him. This young 
 gentleman is also quite noticeable. Without, per- 
 haps, being strikingly handsome, he is exceedingly 
 good-looking. He is a bright-eyed, round-faced, 
 jovial fellow; has a fine figure, shown to its best 
 advantage by its thorough military setting up, and 
 is very sprightly in all his movements and conver- 
 sation. He looks like a very daring, impetuous 
 young fellow, and, taken all in all, produces a most 
 agreeable impression. The two boys have been 
 very warm friends ever since they entered the 
 Academy. His name is Harry Edgerton, and he 
 is just now sounding Joe as to his preference for 
 sea duty. Joe is giving a decided expression in 
 favor of the old cruising ground, so full of pleas- 
 ant and thrilling memories. 
 
 "I prefer China or the South Pacific," said 
 Harry. "No European or home squadron for 
 me," he added with. emphasis. "I got enough of 
 home cruising in the Constellation and Dale, and 
 I don't care to see Europe till I'm high up on the 
 
 list." 
 
 "That will be a very long time," remarked Joe, 
 laughing at Harry's allusion to the Navy Register. 
 "We've got to be cadets two years yet." 
 
IO JOE A.T THE NAVAL ACADEMY. 
 
 "Well, I don't much care," said Harry. "I 
 suppose I got my ideas up on the Ouranos. But 
 didn't we just have a jolly time in her ? " 
 
 This observation was followed by a deluge of 
 reminiscences. The Ouranos was a fine steam 
 yacht owned by Harry's father. He had permit- 
 ted Harry, during his last summer vacation, to go 
 on a cruise in through the sound and along the 
 coast as far as Bar Harbor and Eastport, inviting 
 as many of his young friends and classmates as 
 he saw fit to accompany him. The cruise was a 
 glorious one, the yacht having been well handled. 
 After being practically master of the yacht, though 
 for so short a time, we do not wonder at Harry's 
 ambitious reference to the "navy list." 
 
 " Wouldn't it be a stroke of luck if we should 
 get orders to the same ship?" resumed Harry. 
 
 "Couldn't be anything better," replied Joe. 
 "The chance is very much in our favor, too." 
 
 " How's that ? " 
 
 " Why, don't you see ? The whole class num- 
 bers thirty, and they probably won't send less than 
 six to any single ship. That gives us one chance 
 in five for being together." 
 
 "So it does," said Harry. "But I hope they 
 won't send us to one of the big ships. A little 
 ship, a roving commission, a lively old war, and a 
 shipwreck, figure up my nautical aspirations for 
 the next two years." 
 
JOE AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY. I 1 
 
 " No doubt the Navy Department can accom 
 modate you with everything but the war," laughed 
 Joe. " Perhaps they may throw that in after a 
 while, too. You're all right for the shipwreck. 
 They say they've got to put hoops on some of 
 the ships to hold them together another cruise. 
 But here comes Schopenhauer." 
 
 Both cadets turned sharply about to get a good 
 look at the new comer, who was hurrying to over- 
 take them. 
 
 A certain comical cheerlessness about Schopen- 
 hauer made him more welcome than otherwise. 
 His real name was Swem, but owing to his 
 lugubrious and pessimistic way of looking at 
 things the cadets had dubbed him with the sig- 
 nificant name of Schopenhauer. It had been lit- 
 erally tacked upon him, for he had found it one 
 morning fastened to his blouse with brass-headed 
 nails. The most noticeable thing about this cadet 
 was that he seemed, in nautical phrase, very much 
 down by the head. A wrong distribution of 
 weights in his nature, so to speak, had left him 
 fatally cast down. Even his voice persisted in 
 the falling inflection. 
 
 "What's the matter now, Schopy ? " called Joe. 
 Schopy was the cadet's abridgement of Schopen- 
 hauer. 
 
 "I'm taking my last look round," Swem an- 
 wered, coming to a halt. 
 
12 JOE AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY. 
 
 "Why, you going to resign?" asked Joe and 
 Harry together. 
 
 Swem's one hope was to get out of the Navy, 
 which he cordially hated. 
 
 " No such good luck. But I'll probably be 
 ordered to Panama or the coast of Africa, and I 
 might as well be dead." 
 
 "Oh, you won't die," exclaimed Harry, bringing 
 his hand hard down on Swem's shoulder and whirl- 
 ing him completely round. " You're not the kind 
 that goes off easily. Besides, you're an equatorial 
 plant. Don't you see how you droop, and how 
 shady you are ? " 
 
 "Come, come, Schopy, cheer up," said Joe, very 
 kindly. " You mustn't take such a gloomy view 
 of things." 
 
 "Well," continued Swem, "I don't like the 
 prospect. I would resign in a minute if it wasn't 
 for my father. He thinks I'm made in the Navy. 
 The speakers to-day in the chapel all thought so, 
 too. If they could only see the Government's 
 wards, as they called us, three weeks from now 
 going for sand " — 
 
 "Or milk for the Admiral's baby," interrupted 
 Harry, with an air of comical depression. 
 
 " It isn't becoming in us to want to pick our 
 stations, or to speak slightingly of our duties when 
 we're just out of the Academy," said Joe. 
 
 " That's all very well for you fellows who'll be 
 
JOE AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY. 1 3 
 
 Coburgers all your lives, to say. You'll get the 
 best thing, anyway." 
 
 " We don't want to be Coburgers. And we've 
 just been saying we don't want the best thing," 
 said Joe warmly. "The harder our duty is at 
 first the better." 
 
 " I only ask for something that will wake me 
 up — stir my blood," remarked Harry, "whether 
 it's at the Equator or the North Pole." 
 
 "Good evening, young gentlemen," pleasantly 
 observed some one hitherto unnoticed. "Won't 
 you join us in our walk ? " 
 
 The cadets recognized the voice as that of 
 
 Commander , commandant of cadets. They 
 
 wheeled quickly, bringing their hands to their 
 caps in a prompt salute. Fearing that their con- 
 versation might have been overheard, they con- 
 fronted the commandant with a slight air of 
 embarrassment. But he showed no sign of having 
 caught a word. Like themselves, he was out for 
 a stroll, accompanied by his wife and two little 
 daughters. The commandant was widely known 
 as a distinguished officer of the Navy. His ideal 
 of his profession was very high, and while endeav- 
 oring to realize it in his own official character, he 
 sought earnestly to impress it upon the cadets. 
 They all held him in the highest admiration and 
 respect. He had won Joe's esteem especially, and 
 had been to him an inspiring example of what 
 
14 JOE AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY. 
 
 may be achieved by devotion to study and duty. 
 Just now he was enthusiastic over the efforts 
 being made in Congress to rehabilitate the Navy. 
 
 "I presume you're anxious to get away, now," 
 the commandant observed as the cadets joined 
 the party. " Your orders are here ; they came by 
 the afternoon mail." 
 
 " May I take the liberty of asking what they 
 are, sir?" respectfully inquired Joe. 
 
 " Oh, the customary orders : directing you to 
 proceed to your home, and hold yourself in readi- 
 ness for sea-duty." 
 
 "Thank you, sir," responded Joe. 
 
 " By the way " pursued the commandant, Com- 
 mander Farradale has requested me to use my 
 influence to get some three or four of the gradu- 
 ating class assigned to his ship. She's small, but 
 quite new, and has modern appliances." 
 
 Unobserved by the commandant, the three 
 cadets glanced at one another significantly. 
 
 " If any, or all of you, would like to go, I think 
 I can arrange it for you," continued the com- 
 mandant. 
 
 "We'd like very much to go, sir," impulsively 
 answered Harry. 
 
 " Yes, sir, we would indeed," said Swem, sud- 
 denly brightening up as the Panama and African 
 spectres went down under the commandant's prop- 
 osition. 
 
JOE AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY. 1 5 
 
 Joe very modestly expressed his pleasure, and 
 asked if the ship referred to did not have the 
 latest improvements in ordnance, etc. 
 
 " Late, but not the latest," returned the com- 
 mandant. " I hope you will not be very far up on 
 the list before we have new ships, new guns — in 
 fact a new Navy in every sense of the word." 
 
 " It looks as if we'll have to be alive to keep up 
 with the advance of naval science," said Joe. 
 
 "' You will, indeed ! I know of no profession 
 more exacting. I see no leisure for the future 
 naval officer. The Navy has grown to be practi- 
 cally a school of science." 
 
 "Just think of the things not strictly belonging 
 to the profession that we have to make ourselves 
 proficient in," said Harry; "history, international 
 law, languages, and their like." 
 
 "Yes," laughed the commandant, "an officer 
 must have a good knowledge of history, be an 
 accomplished linguist, and quite an able jurist; he 
 must know how to sail a ship, fight a battle, take 
 charge of an ordnance foundry, conduct an astro- 
 nomical observatory, and escort a queen over the 
 ship's side." 
 
 The cadets all laughed heartily over this sum- 
 mary of an officer's duties and accomplishments. 
 
 " I thought the remarks of the Secretary of the 
 Navy, just before he handed us our diplomas, very 
 much to the point, too, sir," resumed Joe. 
 
1 6 JOE AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY. 
 
 " O yes ! You mean that part of his address 
 in which he spoke of the Navy in its representa- 
 tive capacity. It is true, as he said, that the peo- 
 ple of other nations will judge of the country 
 about as they judge of you. The Navy has moral 
 and intellectual as well as military significance." 
 
 " I beg pardon, sir," said Harry, interrupting 
 the conversation, " I think the orderly is coming 
 now with our orders." 
 
 All looked in the direction indicated by Harry, 
 and saw the superintendent's orderly hastily ap- 
 proaching them, holding a package of papers in 
 his hand. The superintendent, realizing the brief 
 stay the cadets would be able to make at their 
 homes, had sent his orderly out of office hours to 
 deliver their orders. 
 
 A glance at the papers sufficed. The contents 
 were of the agreeable nature already disclosed. 
 Bidding the commandant a hasty good-by, with- 
 out having forgotten, however, to first thank him 
 for his helpful interest in them, they started off 
 with no little celerity for their valises and the 
 train : Swem to catch the Chicago night express 
 from Baltimore, and Harry and Joe the Pullman 
 for New York, whence, next morning, Joe would 
 start for his home in Maine, paying a promised 
 visit to the Astons in Portland, on the way. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 
 
 JOE'S friends, the Astons, had by no means lost 
 track of him. Mr. Aston regarded him as a 
 sort of protege of his ; and during his course at 
 Annapolis he had written him a number of warm 
 letters. Singularly enough, Joe had not seen any 
 member of the family since his first and only visit 
 to Portland. Most of the time Katie had been 
 away at school or abroad with her mother, and Mr. 
 Aston, as he expressed it, had led a Bedouin 
 life. Whenever the Constellation, on her practice 
 cruises, had touched at Portland, Joe had gone 
 round to Mr. Aston's house, only to find the in- 
 mates gone and the house closed for the season. 
 But he had kept up a pretty regular correspond- 
 ence with his friends, the time devoted to it being 
 generally a theft from his well-earned periods of 
 recreation. Katie had just graduated, as well as 
 Joe. She was just as much delighted over the 
 fact that she was no longer a schoolgirl as was he 
 that he was no longer an Annapolis cadet. 
 
 Katie's school education now being completed, 
 the Astons' hospitable mansion was once more 
 17 
 
1 8 JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 
 
 thrown open, and the family life resumed. Know- 
 ing that Joe would be granted a short leave of 
 absence, and feeling that it would be pleasant to 
 renew the former friendship, just previous to the 
 closing exercises at the Academy, Mr. Aston sent 
 him a cordial invitation to stop over on his way 
 home, and spend a few days with them in Port- 
 land. 
 
 Joe started on his journey East in a state of 
 great indecision. For a long time he debated 
 with himself whether it would not be better to 
 defer his promised visit until on his return from 
 his own home with orders to join some ship. Was 
 it the fear that his orders, when they came, might 
 oblige him to report without delay, or the old-time 
 diffidence, which, notwithstanding his brave de- 
 meanor, still clung to him, that occasioned this 
 vacillation ? Whichever it might be, after much 
 backing and filling, just before the arrival of the 
 train at Boston, Joe's decision was reached. He 
 would stop off at Portland. 
 
 Having a few hours to himself in Boston, he 
 spent them in getting a new outfit. He was 
 about to embark upon a new life, and so far as his 
 military equipment was concerned, he desired to 
 take a brand-new start. A sword was the first 
 thing he bought ; and it was the best one he 
 could find in the city. As he saw it doubled up 
 and almost tied into a knot, he felt assured that it 
 
JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 1 9 
 
 would not break even if he should ever have occa- 
 sion to use it in battle. 
 
 Joe was not anticipating war. But war is what 
 swords are made for, he reasoned, so why not 
 select as good an one as he would have done had 
 the country been under arms ? A fashionable 
 tailor assured him that, so far as uniform was con- 
 cerned, he could give him a perfect military set- 
 ting off. He claimed to have done so by hundreds 
 of Army and Navy officers, and it would be simply 
 impossible for him to fail in his case. Gold foul 
 anchors for his Service coat, the daintiest threads 
 of gold lace, with gold stars, to be worn on the 
 sleeves of his full dress coat, shoulder knots to 
 decorate the shoulders of the same, any number 
 of brass buttons, a cap, and, last of all, a binocu- 
 lar glass and a sextant completed his purchases at 
 the shops and stores. 
 
 Arriving at Portland, Joe was in no particular 
 haste to leave the train. In fact, he was so dila- 
 tory that he was the last passenger to get out of 
 the car. How delighted he would have been 
 could another half-hour have been added to the 
 journey. How easy it would then be, he thought, 
 to collect himself, and prepare for his ordeal. 
 But who has a better right to be bashful than a 
 cadet, especially when, as in Joe's case, he cannot 
 help it ? In many respects it is his constitutional 
 privilege ; nor can the Government, which can 
 
20 JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 
 
 order him to be brave, with all its might of au- 
 thority, order him likewise not to be bashful. 
 Diffidence, however, is so seldom encountered in 
 those just graduated from civil and military insti- 
 tutions, that we shall be obliged to pardon Joe for 
 not rushing into Mr. Aston's arms, when finally he 
 descried that gentleman waiting for him on the 
 platform. Joe had telegraphed from Boston that 
 he was en route — a piece of presumption he never 
 would have been guilty of, had not Mr. Aston, as 
 it were, commanded it. 
 
 Joe caught sight of Mr. Aston first. There he 
 stood, scanning the passengers as if he feared our 
 hero had grown out of his remembrance, and 
 might pass unobserved. As it was he was taken 
 by surprise. Joe stood beside him a full quarter 
 of a minute, Mr. Aston having meanwhile turned 
 to shake hands with a friend, before he was recog- 
 nized. Then Mr. Aston seemed a little in doubt 
 as to whether it were really Joe, after all. But 
 presently, being convinced that it was the young 
 man of whom he was in search, Joe found his 
 hand in the most vise-like grip it had encountered 
 for years. 
 
 "I was afraid," he began, in the same old 
 cheery voice, " that you were going to give us the 
 slip, after all. Why," he continued, "how you've 
 grown!" And he gave Joe a smart turn round. 
 "Tar all gone, too, and gait as steady as a canal 
 
JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 21 
 
 boat. Well, well ! there's nothing like putting a 
 boy on the outside of himself. I like you 
 Annapolis fellows and West Pointers when you're 
 not spoiled, and I guess you're not." 
 
 Joe tried to get a word in edgewise as they 
 came out of the depot in sight of the hack stand. 
 But here, while he was endeavoring to insert the 
 smallest wedge of a remark, Mr. Aston fairly 
 startled him by calling out, "John, John, don't let 
 that fellow take your hub off." 
 
 Joe glanced in the direction of Mr. Aston's 
 coachman, and saw that humble official doing his 
 utmost to get out of the way of a heavy wagon 
 that was coming down upon him at a lively pace. 
 The horses attached to it were badly frightened, 
 and their driver had well-nigh lost control of 
 them. Presently, in spite of John's skilful ma- 
 noeuvres, the vehicles crashed into each other, 
 greatly to the disfigurement of Mr. Aston's hand- 
 some carriage. 
 
 "No fault of yours, John; no fault of yours," 
 Mr. Aston said kindly, stooping to examine the 
 abraided wheels. 
 
 John, who, before entering Mr. Aston's service, 
 had not been used to such consideration, touched 
 his hat, and Joe saw an expression of deep grati- 
 tude in his eyes. "Wonder if I'll get out of my 
 first scrape on board ship as easily as that," he 
 said to himself. And then he reflected that it 
 
22 JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 
 
 would depend very much on the nature of the 
 scrape, as well as upon that of the captain. 
 
 Mr. Aston's cordial greeting and the accident 
 to the carriage served Joe an excellent turn. By 
 the time he was fairly seated his embarrassment 
 had well-nigh left him. On the drive from the 
 depot Mr. Aston kept up a running fire of ques- 
 tions, most of which he himself answered, greatly 
 to his young guest's amusement. It was not long 
 before Joe caught sight of the old owls, and just 
 beyond, the mansion hove in view. His next dis- 
 covery was Mrs. Aston and Katie sitting out on 
 the veranda. Joe had a good look at them before 
 they saw him. A glance showed him that Mrs. 
 Aston had changed but little. She was the same 
 quiet, dignified lady he used to know. But Katie 
 — what should he say of her! The bright, pretty 
 schoolgirl of former years was hardly recognizable 
 in the young lady now before him. 
 
 Joe blushed crimson as he alighted from the 
 carriage, and Mrs. Aston and Katie came forward 
 to greet him. But the warm welcome they ex- 
 tended put him quite at his ease. 
 
 "It's a very long time since we last saw you," 
 said Mrs. Aston. " How you have changed. I 
 never should have suspected it." 
 
 " Oh ! I don't think he has changed so very 
 much, mamma," said Katie, regarding Joe's fine 
 physique with a quick glance. "Only he isn't a 
 boy any longer." 
 
JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 23 
 
 Joe thought from the mischievous look which 
 she gave him that she was inclined to rally him a 
 little on his old-time awkwardness, but a glance 
 from Mrs. Aston deterred her. 
 
 While Mrs. Aston and Katie commented on the 
 changes which the last few years had wrought in 
 all of them, Joe took occasion to further note some 
 of the changes which Katie had undergone. As 
 already intimated, she had grown to be a remarka- 
 bly pretty girl. The expression of her face was 
 very sweet. She was of medium height, of rather 
 slight figure, and was possessed of that charm of 
 manner which is the outcome of good breeding 
 and education. She was evidently no hot-house 
 plant, but a girl of the air and the sunshine, 
 browned and hardened by frequent sojourns in the 
 mountains and at the seashore. The same old 
 look of mischief that used to shoot terror through 
 Joe's soul still sparkled in her bright eyes. 
 
 Most of the talking was done by Mrs. Aston 
 and Katie. The hard work of winning a commis- 
 sion in the Navy had left Joe little time for the 
 enjoyment of ladies' society. His taciturnity, 
 therefore, on this occasion, is not to be wondered 
 at. But little by little they drew him out. It 
 was not long before he gave them some fresh and 
 lively details of his life at Annapolis. In fact, his 
 sudden verbal facility surprised him so much that 
 he feared he was monopolizing the conversation. 
 
24 JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 
 
 "O, Mr. Bently ! " said Katie, springing impul- 
 sively from her chair, "are you fond of riding ? " 
 
 Joe acknowledged that he was, but secretly 
 wished that Katie would not address him as Mr. 
 Bently. 
 
 "Papa," she went on, "has just bought me 
 such a lovely horse. Let's go out and see him ! " 
 And she led Joe a brisk chase over the gravelled 
 driveway to the stable. "John, John," she called, 
 "bring out Forrest." 
 
 A beautiful young horse was led out for Joe's 
 inspection. 
 
 "Wasn't it kind in papa," she went on, "to 
 make me such a present ? " 
 
 To this Joe likewise assented. 
 
 " I haven't tried him yet," she continued. 
 "He's only been here two days. I was going to 
 send round after Ned Brentford to go out with me 
 to-morrow, but it won't be necessary now." 
 
 " Who is Ned Brentford ? " Joe said to himself. 
 
 " We'll give him a run to Gorham. There's a 
 good road out there. Don't you think Forrest is 
 a pretty name, Mr. Bently ? Oh ! he's perfectly 
 kind," she went on, as Joe ventured to suggest 
 that she had better be a little more careful in 
 going around him. " See how fond he is of me 
 already." 
 
 Joe easily comprehended how this could be. 
 The horse rubbed her arm caressingly with his 
 
JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 2$ 
 
 nose, and presently began rubbing very hard. 
 " No, no, sir, I haven't any sugar. I always give 
 him sugar, you know," she added, laughing, as 
 Joe put out his hand to prevent her being pushed 
 over. "John, can't you get me a lump?" 
 
 So John brought sugar from the stable where it 
 was daily served out as a kind of ration to the 
 horse, and Forrest was pacified. Meanwhile Joe 
 had caught somewhat of Katie's enthusiasm, and 
 he praised Mr. Aston's gift with all the fine epi- 
 thets usually applied to such noble specimens as 
 Forrest. 
 
 "You see," pursued Katie, "between him and 
 the Celeste I am anticipating a pretty good time 
 this summer. This is the Celeste's first season, 
 you know, as well as Forrest's and mine." 
 
 Joe ventured to ask who or what the Celeste 
 was. 
 
 "Why, haven't you heard of the Celeste ? An 
 account of her has been in all the papers. She's 
 papa's new yacht. She's a perfect beauty, isn't 
 she, Forrest ? " Katie fell to caressing the horse 
 again. "John," she concluded, as they left the 
 stable, " see that Topham is all ready for Mr. 
 Bently in the morning. We're going to try 
 Forrest." 
 
 Katie still continued to address him as Mr. 
 Bently To Joe's ear this formality had an alto- 
 gether unnatural sound. In her occasional letters 
 
26 JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 
 
 she had always called him Joe, and he saw no rea- 
 son why she should not do so now. At last, with 
 some hesitation, he asked her if she would not as 
 lief call him Joe as she always had done, and, he 
 added, "Won't you permit me to call you 
 Katie ? " 
 
 Katie was not a little amused at his red face 
 and earnest manner. " I shall be glad to have 
 you do so," she said, graciously ; " but I thought 
 naval cadets were so dignified, you know." 
 
 However, she immediately addressed him as 
 Joe, at which they both laughed heartily. Joe at 
 once returned the compliment, awkwardly enough 
 it seemed to him. But he felt, as the conversa 
 tion went on with less constraint, on his part at 
 least, that the ice was broken, and they were 
 again the boy and girl. 
 
 Meanwhile they continued to walk about the 
 grounds. Katie gave him a description of every- 
 thing they saw, from the noble old trees, many of 
 which had stood there since Colonial times, to the 
 owls on the gateway, soon to be illuminated with 
 the electric light. Finally they reached the 
 veranda. As Katie left him to prepare for din- 
 ner, he thought her by far the most delightful lit- 
 tle companion he had ever known. 
 
 When Joe came down to dinner he found the 
 family waiting for him out on the veranda. There 
 was a lady present whom he had not previously 
 
JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 2J 
 
 seen — a Mrs. Pepper from Providence; and he 
 was at once introduced. Ungenerous or unjust 
 sentiments were wont to receive no indulgence in 
 his breast ; but something about this woman 
 made him think that in her case the right name 
 and nature had combined. It struck him that a 
 very little of her would go a long way. 
 
 It fell to his lot to be her escort to the dining 
 hall, and to entertain her at dinner ; by no means 
 an agreeable task. She was very curious to know 
 all about the Navy, and plied Joe with every sort 
 of question. She asked him if the officers did not 
 all drink and gamble ; and remarked that she had 
 heard strange stories even about the chaplains. 
 The most singular thing about her was, that when 
 he attempted to set matters right she would not 
 listen to him, but would keep right on asking 
 questions more absurd than ever. Finally she 
 said, " What do naval officers have to do, anyway ? 
 I never could see that they have a thing to do." 
 
 Without trying to enlighten her this time, Joe 
 thought if she had phrased it, " What do not naval 
 officers have to do," she would have hit about the 
 truth of it. 
 
 "Do," said Mr. Aston, "it's a very hard life; 
 full of sacrifices and dangers, as well as endless 
 fussiness and work. I should not care to have a 
 boy of mine enter the Navy." 
 
 "Why, papa?" asked Katie. 
 
28 JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 
 
 " Because in time of peace there's no career fot- 
 a naval officer ; to say nothing of the hardships he 
 has to undergo." 
 
 "No career!" exclaimed Katie. "You forget 
 that they all get promoted to be admirals and 
 commodores. They wear such handsome uni- 
 forms, too ; and command squadrons and ships. 
 I'm sure I hope Joe won't think of leaving the 
 Navy." 
 
 Everybody laughed at Katie's queer compen- 
 dium of a naval officer's preferments. 
 
 "There it is," said Mr. Aston. "It's brass 
 buttons, after all. Brass goes for a good deal 
 more than gold in this country. But, Katie dear, 
 you're a little mixed on the order of promotion 
 and the precedence of command. It's a commo- 
 dore and an admiral, a ship and a squadron." 
 
 "Oh! well," laughed Katie, "I got it all in. 
 I never could understand it." 
 
 "As for leaving the Navy," remarked Joe, 
 " I'm hardly in it yet. I have to serve two years 
 afloat before I can get my first commission ; if I 
 do not fail even then. Besides, I owe the Gov- 
 ernment a good deal for my education." 
 
 "That's high moral ground," said Mr. Aston. 
 "You might wait until you get your commission. 
 Then, if there should ever happen to be a war, 
 which is altogether unlikely, you could go back 
 again." 
 
JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 29 
 
 " Yes ; I hope you will leave the Navy and 
 study law. It's no place for a young man," inter- 
 jected Mrs. Pepper. 
 
 Mrs. Aston and Katie protested against any 
 such idea. They did not see how a young man 
 could aspire to anything higher than a commission 
 in the Army or Navy. And, furthermore, they 
 thought it altogether too bad for Mr. Aston and 
 Mrs. Pepper to throw cold water on such a lauda- 
 ble ambition. 
 
 Joe felt very grateful for their warm defense of 
 a naval career, while Mr. Aston exploded with 
 merriment over their sharp arraignment of him. 
 Joe could see that, although Katie was the apple 
 of her father's eye, he delighted in teasing her. 
 He also detected that a good deal of Mr. Aston's 
 opposition to the Navy was simulated. 
 
 " What has become of that dear old sailor you 
 used to write about, Mr. Bently — Joe, I mean?" 
 suddenly propounded Katie. 
 
 "Oh! you mean old Dicky Dawson." 
 
 " Yes, Dicky Dawson. Do you think you will 
 ever see him again ? " 
 
 " I expect, sometime, to be shipmate with him 
 again. The Navy is a small place, you know. I 
 may find him on my first ship." 
 
 "That would be splendid. But where did you 
 last hear from him ? " 
 
 " In the hospital at Ville Franc Jie, all battered up." 
 
30 JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 
 
 " Another case of saloon frescoing?" observed 
 Mr. Aston, smiling at Katie's interest in the old 
 sailor. 
 
 " Papa, you mustn't talk so about Dicky Daw- 
 son. Didn't he save Joe from the bashi-bazouks ? 
 I wish we could have him on the Celeste. Old 
 sailors are so quaint and full of yarns." 
 
 "Yes, and of something else, too," laughed Mr. 
 Aston, bent on teasing Katie. 
 
 " Papa, I think you're too bad. You haven't 
 said a nice thing about the Navy," pouted Katie. 
 " If you don't like it, what made you encourage 
 Joe to go to the Academy ? " 
 
 " I beg a thousand pardons," said Mr. Aston, 
 with mock humility, " I hope I've given no 
 offense." 
 
 A sly twinkle in his eye led Joe to believe that 
 Mr. Aston was trying to make it easy for Mrs. 
 Pepper, toward whom Mrs. Aston and Katie had 
 developed a very strong opposition. This lady 
 was a distant relative of Mr. Aston's, and it 
 began to look to Joe as if her visits were re- 
 garded, by the feminine portion of the family at 
 least, as in the nature of an adversity. But Mrs. 
 Pepper seemed to improve a little as the dinner 
 progressed. Her opinions, Joe discovered, were 
 apt to vary with her impulses. He saw that she 
 was inclined to be affable or acidulous, according 
 as people agreed with or opposed her. He 
 
JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 3 1 
 
 thought she dwelt a little too long on Roger Wil- 
 liams, What Cheer, and other things peculiar to 
 Providence ; but Joe was rather fond of the local 
 history of that city himself. Yet he was forced 
 to admit to himself that in not a few ways Mrs. 
 Pepper was the strangest lady he had ever met. 
 
 Finally, as they left the table, Katie exclaimed, 
 " Papa, please don't use Topham to-morrow ! Joe 
 and I are going to give Forrest a run. Don't 
 say, No," thinking she discovered a negative 
 expression on her father's face. 
 
 Mr. Aston did not say No. He seldom did 
 to Katie. But looking askance at Joe, Mrs. Pep- 
 per remarked, "Why, Franklin, I shouldn't think 
 you would permit a young girl like Katie to be 
 the first to ride a strange horse." 
 
 " I don't think there is any occasion for alarm," 
 returned Mr. Aston very pleasantly. " John will 
 go as groom, and if Forrest should cut up, Mr. 
 Bently can shift saddles. Topham is as steady as 
 a centre-board yacht. I think I can trust her," 
 he concluded, looking fondly at Katie. 
 
 As Mrs. Pepper has somewhat to do with the 
 happiness of two of the young people at least, of 
 this story, a word further concerning her may not 
 be out of place. She is a lady of some means. 
 Her home is in the shadow of Brown University, 
 in Providence. She has nothing to do in the 
 world but seek her own happiness, and minister 
 
32 JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 
 
 to the happiness of people around her. From 
 what has already been said of her it would seem, 
 if the happiness of people around her is her chief 
 aim in life, that desire and tact in her case are 
 wholly at variance. 
 
 She is very much attached to the Astons, and 
 pays them long visits whenever she takes it into 
 her head to do so. She is interested in all their 
 affairs, speaks her mind freely to them on all sorts 
 of subjects — in short, makes herself one of the 
 family. She prides herself on the keenness of 
 her perceptive faculties, and thinks herself unusu- 
 ally sharp and clever. 
 
 Having heard a great deal first and last about 
 Joe Bently, through him chiefly her attention had 
 been called to naval subjects. For some time 
 Mrs. Pepper had cherished a certain notion, and 
 the moment her eyes fell upon this handsome, 
 manly cadet, it suddenly became a positive and 
 alarming conviction. But we will allow her to 
 speak for herself at all proper times and places ; 
 or find some spokesman for her, who, we trust, 
 will do her no great injustice. It would have 
 been a pleasure not to have introduced Mrs. Pep- 
 per to the reader ; but then Joe's story could have 
 been only half told without it, and that would have 
 made it too much like a biography. 
 
 How could Joe long remember Mrs. Pepper's 
 caustic remarks and sour looks in the society of 
 
JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. $$ 
 
 such a girl as Katie Aston ? And notwithstand- 
 ing that lady gave him a most unfriendly look as 
 he and Katie rode away next morning, it was in- 
 stantly forgotten. To tell the truth, she had had 
 quite a depressing effect upon Joe. But once 
 upon the road his old buoyancy of spirits returned. 
 
 How fresh and sweet his young companion 
 looked under the touch of the crisp, cool breeze 
 coming out of the northwest ! How really beauti- 
 ful she seemed in the glorious sunshine ! 
 
 Joe was quite as much at home in the saddle as 
 in a ship's top. They had gone but a little dis- 
 tance before he became impatient to "crack on," 
 as sailors say, to see how much speed Tophan* 
 could carry, but regard for Katie's safety with her 
 new horse restrained him. A word of caution to 
 his young mistress from John, who was following 
 pretty closely, also had due weight with him. 
 Katie, on her part, knew very well what was la his 
 mind ; but she had no intention of keeping For- 
 rest down. They had hardly left the city before 
 they came to a long even stretch of wood. For- 
 rest seemed to sniff in from the very air his 
 young mistress' purpose. His whole frame 
 quivered beneath the first gentle indications that 
 his speed was to be tested. 
 
 At a point fixed in her own mind, to Joe's sur- 
 prise and the groom's consternation, she fearlessly 
 gave rein to the excited horse. He was off like 
 
34 JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 
 
 the wind, but as true and even in his movement 
 as a bird. Topham sprang forward to the con- 
 test. For a moment it was neck and neck 
 between the two horses, then Joe was gradually 
 distanced, till far in advance, the clever little 
 horsewoman drew up at an improvised reaching 
 post, and turned, laughing at her escort's discom- 
 fiture. Presently John came tearing down upon 
 them, looking quite frightened. "Ye oughtn't to 
 do so, Miss ; indeed ye oughtn't ! " he exclaimed. 
 "I had strict orders not to let you do so." 
 
 "Who gave you such orders ? " asked Katie. 
 
 "Yer Aunt Pepper, Miss." (Katie always 
 addressed Mrs. Pepper as Aunt or Auntie, al- 
 though the relationship was distant and vague.) 
 
 "Oh!" laughed Katie. "But why don't you 
 admire Forrest ? " she went on. " Didn't he do 
 nobly ? " And she leaned forward and patted the 
 horse's handsome neck in gentlest approval. 
 
 Joe's thoughts were not upon the beautiful 
 animal Katie rode, but upon the gentle rider. If, 
 just then, he had appraised her as the most beauti- 
 ful girl the sun ever shone upon, it would have 
 been no wonder. Her rich brown hair had been 
 daintily gathered about her pretty forehead, into 
 what her young lady friends called "the sweetest 
 little puffs in the world " ; her eyes sparkled with 
 excitement, and her cheeks glowed with the 
 bright color and perfect health of youth. As she 
 
;0E IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 35 
 
 sat her horse, the embodiment of maidenly dignity 
 and grace, Joe thought he had never before seen 
 such a picture. 
 
 It must be confessed that his admiration was qf 
 an aesthetic, rather than a sentimental nature. 
 And how strange it was that in nearly all his 
 mental processes everything should be referred to 
 a ship ! Even now, as he looked at Katie, th^ 
 vision of a ship came into his mind. He had 
 read on the train that the most harmonious thing 
 in nature is a ship under full sail, and he was now 
 debating with himself whether a beautiful girl on 
 a beautiful horse be not a more harmonious ad- 
 justment of things. It need hardly be said that 
 the result was in Katie's favor. 
 
 Quite an important feature in Joe's visit was 
 his meeting with Ned Brentford, the young gen- 
 tleman whose place he had taken on the ride. 
 Young Brentford called several times during Joe's 
 stay. Mr. Aston introduced him as "The scion 
 of an old Portland family." He was very fond of 
 referring to Ned in this manner ; for there were 
 certain aristocratic notions he was known to cher- 
 ish respecting his ancestry. Brentford was Joe's 
 senior by two years. He was a very agreeable, 
 fine-appearing young fellow, and a great favorite 
 with the Astons. Even Mrs. Pepper, who had 
 tried by every possible means to make Joe uncom- 
 fortable, bestowed only smiles and flattery upon 
 
36 JOE IS INTRODUCED TO MRS. PEPPER. 
 
 Ned. Had Joe been less high-minded, he might 
 have cherished only envy toward this young man 
 who filled such a large place in the good graces of 
 his friends. But instead, his own esteem and 
 friendship were freely given him, and by the time 
 he was ready to take his leave Joe and Brentford 
 had become fast friends. 
 
 The end of Joe's visit came all too quickly. 
 Ned and Katie accompanied him to the depot. 
 As he bade them farewell, Katie playfully re- 
 marked, " Don't let me see you again, sir, until 
 you have distinguished yourself." Then, stepping 
 forward with him to the car platform, she added, 
 " I hope you won't be discouraged by what papa 
 and Aunt Pepper said about the Navy. I'm sure 
 papa was only in jest," and with another good-by 
 the train was off. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 
 
 IN one respect Joe had been disappointed with 
 his visit. He could not understand why Mr. 
 Aston should be so opposed to his remaining in 
 the Navy. But this is easily explained. Quite 
 recently Mr. Aston had become a member in a 
 large ship-building company, consequently it had 
 occurred to him that a fine field in naval architec- 
 ture might be opened to Joe in their service. 
 Joe's course at Annapolis, he thought, would be 
 an admirable equipment for beginning such work ; 
 and in a few years he might thus become invalu- 
 able to the company. They were hopeful of se- 
 curing contracts from the Government for build- 
 ing cruisers, and in this department Joe's talents 
 and knowledge would find large scope. The sal- 
 ary, of course, would be much larger than he 
 would receive in the Navy for years. 
 
 But it was not so much Joe's interest as that 
 
 of the company, Mr. Aston was looking at ; he 
 
 regarded Joe's prospects as good enough. When, 
 
 however, the matter was broached to Mrs. Aston 
 
 37 
 
38 HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 
 
 and Katie, they unitedly and peremptorily op- 
 posed it. 
 
 "Papa," Katie said, "wants Joe to be nothing 
 but a common shipbuilder." "His whole soul is 
 wrapped up in the Navy," Mrs. Aston remarked, 
 "and it would be cruel to tempt him out of it." 
 And that was the end of Mr. Aston's scheme. 
 
 A perfect ovation awaited Joe at his own 
 home. He was lionized by the young people of 
 his own age, and the small boys spent sleepless 
 nights in thinking about what he told them of 
 a man-of-war. He was greatly amused at the pre- 
 vailing ideas of the Navy. "Where is the Navy 
 now ? " was a question of hourly recurrence. 
 One old man asked him when he expected to be 
 general ; another, if he would not have to wait 
 several years before he could become an admiral. 
 Scarcely had he reached his father's house before 
 a. neighbor, who was present at the family jubilee, 
 stepped forward and asked, " How much be you 
 a gettin' now, Joe?" Poor Joe was fairly con- 
 founded, however, when a good old lady inquired 
 if they had any baptisms and class-meetings in 
 the Navy. 
 
 One morning, as he was about to start on a 
 grand hunting and fishing expedition, gotten up 
 in his honor, a great formidable appearing docu- 
 ment was put in Joe's hand. Hastily breaking 
 the seal, he read : 
 
HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 39 
 
 Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, 
 Washington, D. C, June 25th, iS— . 
 Sir: 
 
 Proceed to Newport, R. I., without delay, and report to Com- 
 mander W. N. Farradale for duty on board the United States 
 Steamer Daybreak. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Chief of Bureau. 
 
 Naval Cadet Joe Bently, U. S. N., 
 
 Aroostook Co., Maine. 
 
 Forty-eight hours after the receipt of this digni- 
 fied missive, Joe was repeating the journey so 
 eventful in other years, on his way to join his new 
 ship. 
 
 During the twenty minutes of waiting at the 
 depot in Portland, his thoughts were with his 
 friends, the Astons. He would have liked to take 
 a run across the city to pay them a brief call. He 
 wondered, were he able to do so, whether he 
 would again encounter Mrs. Pepper. Somehow, 
 this woman had been very obnoxious to Joe. The 
 impressions she had left upon him had grown into 
 strange distinctness. The frown she gave him 
 on the morning of his ride with Katie, the little 
 biting sarcasms of her speech, her evident pleas- 
 ure on his departure, he could not forget. It all 
 came to mind now with much more completeness 
 
40 HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 
 
 of detail than the pleasant things of his visit, as 
 disagreeable things are apt to do. Joe liked to be 
 well thought of, and Mrs. Pepper's evident hostil- 
 ity to him gave him no little concern. 
 
 His eyes meanwhile kept wandering to the spot 
 where Katie had stood the week before when she 
 bade him farewell. It had a strange fascination 
 for him. He began recalling the incidents of his 
 visit with which Katie was more particularly con- 
 nected. It was a most pleasant mental exercise. 
 It was almost like passing through them again. 
 How glad he was that he was permitted to regard 
 such a sweet, beautiful girl as Katie Aston, as his 
 friend ! And as the train resumed its journey, 
 and the city dropped from view, his heart was full 
 of warm, chivalrous impulses toward his friends ; 
 but he did not realize how fast one of the little 
 family group was becoming its bright particular 
 star. 
 
 At Boston, he found a fine new uniform waiting 
 him, and next morning, in prompt obedience to 
 his orders, he stood upon the wharf at Newport, 
 waiting for the nine o'clock boat, in which he was 
 to take passage to the ship. Harry and Swem, 
 who had not been forgotten by the commandant 
 of cadets, were with him. How resplendent they 
 looked in their handsome uniforms, their bright 
 new swords dangling at the proper angle from 
 their sides. They might be pardoned for feeling 
 
HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 4 1 
 
 a little "set up" over their fine appearance. This 
 momentary flush of self-consciousness, however, 
 was doubtless caused by the admiring glances of a 
 group of very young ladies, who stood upon an- 
 other part of the wharf waiting to go on board 
 the little steamer Eolus for a trip across the bay. 
 Presently the boat hove in view, rounding the 
 lower end of Goat Island, and in a few moments 
 the cadets, under the smart strokes of the well- 
 trained crew, were placed alongside the ship. 
 
 A fine little craft was the United States ship 
 Daybreak. She was a third-rate steamer, devia- 
 ting from vessels of her class in the Navy, by 
 belonging to a more modern type. She was the 
 handsomest ship of the Navy. With her yellow 
 masts, inclined smoke-stack, and black, freshly- 
 painted hull, she had a decidedly rakish appear- 
 ance. "Saucy enough for a yacht," the sailors 
 used to say, "but light material for a man-of-war." 
 
 The Daybreak was bark-rigged, had quite pow- 
 erful engines, made commendable speed under 
 steam or sail, and would be, in time of war, a valu- 
 able auxiliary to still more modern and formidable 
 ships. She had been in commission about a year, 
 and, excepting a short cruise in the interest of 
 American fishermen, had never been out of United 
 States waters. She was now lying temporarily at 
 Newport, waiting orders from the flagship of the 
 North Atlantic Squadron. 
 
42 HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 
 
 It must be confessed that the cadets mounted 
 the gangway rather tremulously, and the rattling 
 of their swords as they stepped over the side, was 
 quite startling to them. The ordeal through 
 which a cadet passes on presenting himself for 
 his first duty after graduation, if not fiery, is ex- 
 ceedingly trying. Life on board ship is not alto- 
 gether new to him, for he has learned something 
 of it on his practice cruises ; but he has entered a 
 new realm of duty and responsibility. So he is, 
 of course, anxious to acquit himself worthily in 
 his new sphere, and it is with no little dread that 
 he reports to the one whose judgment is to largely 
 determine the measure of his success. Therefore 
 it is not to be wondered at that Joe and his com- 
 rades felt no little trepidation as they stepped for 
 the first time upon the Daybreak's deck, to for- 
 mally present themselves for their new duty. 
 
 Commander, or Captain Farradale — the title 
 by which he was addressed — was a man combin- 
 ing in himself rare qualities of mind and heart. 
 As a commanding officer, he had attained great 
 popularity in the Navy. There was not an officer 
 or man on board the Daybreak who did not regard 
 himself as extremely fortunate in being under his 
 command. He was never brusque, never out of 
 humor, yet everybody was on the alert to carry 
 out his orders and wishes. If circumstances re- 
 quired it he could be severe, but circumstances 
 
HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 43 
 
 seldom required it on board the Daybreak. He 
 knew how to get the best things out of officers 
 and men without resorting to antique naval meth- 
 ods. His theory was, that an unhappy ship, an 
 insubordinate and indolent crew, were a reproach 
 to the commanding officer ; and a cleaner, trim- 
 mer ship than his, a better drilled crew, or a more 
 contented ship's company, could not be found in 
 any navy. 
 
 The moment the cadets stepped over the cabin 
 threshold, they recognized at a glance the cap- 
 tain's character. Joe, being spokesman, intro- 
 duced the trio, and explained that they had all 
 been ordered to the Daybreak, and had come to 
 report to him. The captain gave them a cordial 
 greeting, and after endorsing their orders, told 
 them that he very much hoped they would like 
 the ship. He said that so far as he was able 
 to judge, the Daybreak was a happy ship; and 
 he was glad to say that everybody seemed to 
 make his duties more a matter of pleasure and 
 pride, rather than a task and a bugbear. Taking 
 them slightly into his confidence, he remarked 
 that they would no doubt be pleased with the 
 cruise, as he had received intimations the day 
 before that it would be very desirable. Then he 
 politely dismissed them, saying that there would 
 be no duty for them that day, and they could 
 spend it in getting settled in their new quarters. 
 
44 HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 
 
 "He's a trump!" exclaimed Harry as they 
 reached the quarter deck, in a tone sufficiently 
 loud to be heard by an old quartermaster on the 
 poop, who chuckled an inaudible response. 
 
 The cadets' quarters were already occupied by 
 an ensign, a cadet of the graduating class of the 
 year before, an assistant engineer, an assistant 
 surgeon, a second lieutenant of marines, and a 
 pay-master's clerk. These officers constituted 
 the steerage mess. Each member of the mess 
 happened to be present to receive the cadets as 
 they filed down the starboard ' steerage ladder. 
 The ensign, the senior in rank, acted as host of 
 the occasion. Giving each cadet a hearty wel- 
 come, he introduced the other members of the 
 mess, who did likewise. In his impulsive way 
 Harry whispered to Joe, "I call this an A I 
 reception." 
 
 Joe quickly ran over to himself the names that 
 had been given him. He rather prided himself 
 on his ability to remember names. He dis- 
 covered that, oddly enough, they fell into allitera- 
 tive couplets. The ensign and the cadet paired 
 as Arlington and Austy ; the assistant surgeon 
 and second lieutenant of marines, as Cardington 
 and Coverly ; while the assistant engineer and the 
 pay clerk rejoiced in the cognomens of Henlington 
 and Hubbins. 
 
 The formalities were of short duration, and the 
 
HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 45 
 
 cadets began the business of getting settled. 
 The steerage proper was divided into two com- 
 partments, one on the starboard and the other on 
 the port side. The space between, a portion of 
 the berth deck, went by the name of steerage 
 country. The common mess-table was in the 
 starboard steerage. With this exception, how- 
 ever, the mess was divided between the two sides 
 of the ship, the ensign and cadets having their 
 quarters on the starboard, and all the others on 
 the port side. Both steerages were very small ; 
 so minified, indeed, that the table, when drawn 
 out to its fullest length, came squarely against the 
 lockers at one end, and the bulk-head at the 
 other. Whenever they might desire to be seated 
 at table, as a whole, they could only do so by sol- 
 idly wedging themselves together, suggesting to 
 Joe a table of a country hotel during a convention. 
 
 The introductions were barely over when 
 Schopy's sad eye detected at a glance the untold 
 miseries awaiting him in such contracted quarters. 
 
 " I didn't know," he remarked with a very lugu- 
 brious accent, " that I was going to be ordered to 
 a cattle car." 
 
 " Oh ! you'll get used to it," said the young 
 marine officer, laughing at Swem's crest-fallen as- 
 pect. "You'll shrink to it, like the rest of us." 
 
 "It's one of the sweat-boxes of the old Navy," 
 added Hubbins, the pay clerk. 
 
46 HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 
 
 "You mustn't mind our old Schopy," said 
 Harry. "He's in the Navy anyway under com- 
 pulsion, and gets a little morbid over it." 
 
 "It will either kill or cure him," said Hubbins. 
 
 " Didn't you say his name was Swem ? " asked 
 Arlington, the ensign, aside, of Joe. 
 
 "Oh! Schopenhauer is only a nickname," 
 laughed Joe. " You see, he looks on the dark 
 side of everything, and that's how it got fastened 
 on to him." 
 
 " Wasn't Schopenhauer the great German pessi- 
 mist ? " inquired Arlington, the name having 
 awakened a new train of thought in his mind. 
 
 "I think I've read that he was," modestly re- 
 turned Joe. 
 
 " We're sailors, not cow-boys, Schopy," said 
 Harry, calling Arlington's and Joe's attention 
 back to the subject under discussion. "We can't 
 expect all creation inside a man-of-war." 
 
 "The quarters are a little snug, that's a fact," 
 observed Arlington. " But you'll soon get accus- 
 tomed to them. By the way, I presume you 
 would like to get your traps stowed when you're 
 ready ; those two lockers, to port there, belong to 
 you. You'll have to sling your hammocks in the 
 steerage country — unless one of you would prefer 
 to sleep in here on the table." 
 
 Everybody but the cadets looked amused at 
 this suggestion. 
 
HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 47 
 
 "You'd better speak for the table, Mr. Swem," 
 said Coverly, with a knowing look. " I use the 
 table on the other side for that purpose, and it 
 works like a charm." 
 
 " I don't see why it should be so very funny, 
 sleeping on a table," observed Swem, who saw 
 that there was something behind Coverly' s re- 
 mark. "I detest a hammock, so I'll take the 
 table." 
 
 "It's a little awkward, having only one wash- 
 basin and looking-glass," resumed Arlington. 
 "We have to wait a little, mornings, like hanging 
 round a ticket office ; but it does very well." 
 
 " Yes, lovely," interrupted the young marine 
 officer. 
 
 " We flatter ourselves that we have a well-regu- 
 lated mess," continued the ensign. "We find it 
 rather annoying to have so many things in com- 
 mon. It keeps us treading on one another's toes ; 
 and of course we have our little jars and an 
 occasional set-to, but that's a mere bagatelle." 
 
 "A mere bagatelle," drawled Coverly, looking 
 straight at the assistant engineer and the pay- 
 clerk, who colored perceptibly. 
 
 This was followed all round by considerable 
 badinage and raillery. The day before, Hubbins 
 and Henlington had had high words over the lava- 
 tory, followed by a genuine steerage racket. The 
 whole mess, including several wardroom officers, 
 
48 HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 
 
 had been present as spectators. Any allusion to 
 this episode was painful in the extreme to the 
 combatants, as their wounds, neither of body nor 
 spirit, had yet healed. 
 
 While the chaffing was going on, Joe bestowed 
 his first thoughtful attention upon his own mess- 
 mates. On the whole, he was rather pleased with 
 them. He was very favorably impressed with 
 Arlington, the ensign, who had so pleasantly 
 expatiated on the general scantiness of the steer- 
 age quarters and the mess-traps. He seemed so 
 full of good nature, and so inclined to apologize 
 for everything, that Joe queried a little whether 
 he could be ingenuous in it all. But a glance at 
 Arlington's face assured him that he was the soul 
 of sincerity and frankness. He was caterer of 
 the mess, and nothing could exceed his interest 
 and helpfulness in getting the new-comers estab- 
 lished. Austy, the cadet, was very quiet, and had 
 an absorbed, abstracted look. It appeared to Joe 
 as if he were all the time wrestling with some 
 difficult problem in physics. His large head and 
 slight physique, with the gold-bowed glasses 
 perched upon his nose, and his look of engross- 
 ment, marked him in Joe's mind as very much of 
 a student. A sheet of paper with instruments 
 alongside, indicated the immediate cause of his 
 preoccupation. 
 
 " What is it this time, Austy ? " inquired Cov~ 
 
HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 49 
 
 erly, "a gun-carriage, a car-coupler, or a boot- 
 buttoner ? " 
 
 Austy answered with a smile. 
 
 "You see," continued Coverly, "he thinks he's 
 a Watts or a Robert Fulton. He'll astonish the 
 world, some day, with his inventions. It's mess- 
 school time, anyway. Little Pills, where are your 
 Therapeutics ? " 
 
 The assistant surgeon flushed up a little at be- 
 ing thus addressed before the cadets, but he kept 
 quiet. He was very young for the position he 
 had attained, but it had been won by exceptional 
 devotion to his studies. He was now working 
 night and day for his second examination, at 
 which time he was ambitious of making several 
 numbers for himself. Joe was much pleased with 
 his quiet, thoughtful aspect, and his polished ad- 
 dress and manners. Presently this youthful doc- 
 tor was called to the sick bay. 
 
 "I'd like to show you something on the other 
 side," said Coverly, motioning the cadets to ac- 
 company him to the port steerage. "We have a 
 few mess curios over there. Hubbins is our an- 
 tique," he added, glancing slyly at the pay clerk. 
 
 Hubbins' retort, not a mild one, was lost on 
 Coverly, who by this time stood in the doorway of 
 the opposite steerage. For the first time, Joe 
 took special notice of Hubbins. He saw that he 
 was a long way past middle life. His hair was 
 
5<3 HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 
 
 nearly all gone, the few remaining spears being 
 about as thick as sprouting oats, and under the 
 uncompromising use of the brush, they had been 
 trained to stand up as straight as young corn. 
 Hubbins had been in the Navy so long that the 
 present admiral of the North Atlantic Squadron 
 had been with him as a midshipman on his first 
 cruise. 
 
 "That's what a man gets, having to live with 
 boys all his life," growled Hubbins. "I might 
 have been an admiral by this time, if I hadn't 
 been a fool." 
 
 Before Joe could learn what the precise act of 
 stultification was that had deprived Hubbins of a 
 commission in the highest grade of the Navy, 
 Coverly was all ready to exhibit the mess curios. 
 "Boy," he sung out to the colored servant, "open 
 that drawer." 
 
 "De doctor tell me nebber to 'low no one to 
 see in dat drawer, sir," replied the darky, with a 
 frightened look. 
 
 "He never told me that. Give me the key." 
 
 The boy unwillingly surrendered the key which 
 the doctor had entrusted to him. 
 
 "Oh! I see," laughed Harry. "It's a skel- 
 eton." 
 
 "Yes, a skeleton," said Hubbins. "There's al- 
 together too much Egyptian feast business in this 
 mess. Just look in that drawer, there." 
 
HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 5 I 
 
 Joe did as he was told. He saw not only a 
 skeleton, but some half-dozen skulls. 
 
 " I don't think the doctor will thank us for this, 
 Coverly," remarked Austy. 
 
 " Thank us," said the young assistant engineer, 
 whose dreams were often disturbed by frightful 
 visions of the anatomical cabinet, "he knows if 
 we should report him, his beautiful collection 
 would soon be dumped on the beach." 
 
 "You see," mildly explained Arlington, "the 
 doctor is very fond of comparative anatomy, and 
 is collecting specimens. The skeleton is that of 
 an Aztec of the time of Cortez, and the skulls 
 are from Labrador, the South Sea Islands and 
 Australia." 
 
 "They're Digger Injins, skeletons and all," 
 said Hubbins. 
 
 " Why doesn't he keep them in the sick bay ? " 
 inquired Joe. 
 
 " It wouldn't be cheerful for the men to have 
 them knocking round there," rejoined Hubbins. 
 
 "The trouble is," observed Coverly, "the doc- 
 tor has them spread out about twice a week under 
 a lantern, after the steerage lights are out, and 
 Hubbins can't turn in his hammock without being 
 grinned at. Somebody tucked one under his arm 
 while he was asleep, the other night." 
 
 "Yes, somebody," said Hubbins, with emphasis. 
 "What's your specialty, Mr. Bently ? " he con- 
 tinued, turning abruptly to Joe. 
 
52 HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 
 
 "Oh! I haven't any," laughed Joe. 
 
 "Well, you'd better get one, if it's nothing bet- 
 ter than picking tunes out of a zithern, like Cover- 
 ly. A cadet without his specialty nowadays is 
 like a young brave without his scalp. You'll 
 never amount to anything in the Navy without a 
 specialty." 
 
 " Hubbins thinks the cadets are all professors, 
 nowadays," laughed Arlington. 
 
 " Professors of everything but their business — 
 seamanship," retorted Hubbins. 
 
 " Oh ! let up on the cadets, Hubbins," put in 
 Austy, looking up from his tracing paper. 
 "These new fellows will take you literally." 
 
 "Between C overly and Hubbins," remarked Ar- 
 lington in a low tone to Joe, "we have lots of fun. 
 Hubbins is thoroughly kind-hearted ; but it's too 
 bad, as he says, that he has to live in the steerage 
 with boys. You'll get to like him very much." 
 
 "I think I shall," replied Joe; "and Coverly 
 and Henlington, too." 
 
 " The worst thing about Coverly," pursued Ar- 
 lington, " is that he's always playing practical 
 jokes on us. It was he who tucked the skull un- 
 der Hubbins' arm. Henlington, by the way, is a 
 fine messmate, but a little peculiar. He is a great 
 experimentist. Why, the other day, just to learn 
 how people feel when intoxicated, he drank a glass 
 of whiskey for the first time in his life." 
 
HE RECEIVES ORDERS. 53 
 
 Joe looked incredulous. 
 
 " I can assure you that it was only experimen- 
 tal," resumed Arlington. " He was determined 
 to know for himself, if there is anything in the 
 sensation to excuse a man for getting drunk." 
 
 "Did he find out ? " 
 
 " I should say he did. He didn't get out of his 
 hammock for two days. He doesn't say much 
 about it, but I notice he never touches whiskey, 
 now." 
 
 " Doesn't Coverly run him a good deal about 
 it ? " 
 
 " He did, but it's got to be an old story. You 
 will find Henlington a put-yourself-in-his-place 
 kind of fellow, and very intelligent." 
 
 "The young gentlemen's traps is here, sir," 
 said the coxswain of the second cutter, putting his 
 head inside the door, and the work of unpacking 
 began. 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 
 
 T did not take long for the cadets to dispose 
 of their luggage. Men-of-wars-men have a 
 larger bump of order than any other class of men 
 in the world. Their facile aptitude in every 
 sort of ship stowage, would excite the stevedore's 
 envy. Joe was a most accommodating shipmate. 
 He good-naturedly disposed of Swem's replete 
 wardrobe in their single locker, leaving but little 
 space for his own. He likewise relieved Harry's 
 perplexity by stretching his drawer under the tran- 
 som to its utmost capacity, thus providing for the 
 excess of that young gentleman's outfit, which, 
 through the affectionate agency of his sisters and 
 an admiring cousin, assumed undue proportions. 
 Order was soon restored to the little steerage, 
 whose general appearance a few moments before, 
 might well have suggested that the place had 
 "been struck by lightning." 
 
 Out of the kindness of his heart, Joe decided 
 to take Swem under his special wing. He real- 
 ized that he was ill-adapted to the Service, and 
 
 54 
 
ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 55 
 
 foresaw that not a few disagreeable things were in 
 store for him. Therefore he at once established 
 a highly praiseworthy, but exceedingly inconven 
 ient partnership. 
 
 By this time, also, Joe had pretty well made up 
 his mind as to what his ship-life was likely to be. 
 He was aware that in the familiar relations and 
 intercourse of the steerage, he would be looked 
 upon as only a boy, and be treated accordingly. 
 Nevertheless, he was resolved to maintain his dig- 
 nity as a young officer. For Joe's standard of 
 what a cadet ought to be, was a high one ; so he 
 was determined, and without making any fuss 
 about it either, to live up to it as well as he could. 
 
 No sooner was the last bit of toggery stowed 
 away — no doubt to its own happy satisfaction, 
 could it have had its say — than Joe and Harry 
 set out to explore the ship. For they were boys 
 enough to be completely under the spell of a man- 
 of-war. To them, a fine ship seemed a kind of 
 sweetheart. One who was possessed of a touch 
 of genuine pride and self consciousness. At 
 least, the Daybreak appeared to know how to fill 
 their minds with all sorts of pretty conceits about 
 herself. 
 
 Thoroughly prepossessed with the Daybreak, 
 the cadets began what might be termed a recon- 
 naissance of the vessel. They had planned an in- 
 telligent survey, as they wished to get the ship, as 
 
5 r ) ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 
 
 it were, under their hand — to be on easy terms 
 with her from the beginning. Arlington had kind- 
 ly volunteered to accompany them. A glance suf- 
 ficed to show that everything was in apple-pie 
 order. The berth deck, the point of their setting 
 out, had an air of fastidious neatness. The mate 
 of the berth deck seemed to have but one thought 
 in mind — that the admiral might pounce down 
 upon it some day when it was not ready for 
 inspection. As they went on, Arlington informed 
 them that Austy was mate of the berth deck, and 
 that he was so fussy about it, that had it been en- 
 dowed with ears and finger nails, he would have 
 inspected them thrice daily. "The marines and 
 berth-deck cooks call him ' Old Mortality,' " he 
 concluded with a laugh. 
 
 The armory, the engine and fire-rooms, the 
 holds, the store-rooms, the magazine and shell- 
 room passages seemed almost to obtrude addi- 
 tional testimony upon Joe and Harry as to the 
 order and cleanliness that pervaded the Daybreak 
 from keelson to main-truck. 
 
 " You see," said Arlington as they reached the 
 spar deck, " Captain Farradale insists that things 
 can be kept ship-shape with half the ordinary work 
 and trouble. Dirt and disorder he can't and 
 won't stand. The men all know it, and a spot of 
 tar on deck or a towel hanging out of a port 
 makes a lively old skirmish among them." 
 
ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION*. 5 7 
 
 As regarded order and cleanliness, Joe and 
 Harry thought they knew how a ship ought to be 
 kept, for it had been dinned into them, yet they 
 regarded the bright, well-kept decks of the Day- 
 break with a feeling akin to wonder. Everything 
 as by instinct seemed to know its proper place. 
 Several gratings which, for some purpose or other, 
 had been taken from their places over the engine- 
 room hatch and stood up against the coaming, 
 seemed to be having a fit of the sulks. 
 
 Once upon the spar deck, which Arlington in- 
 formed them was the finest of any wooden ship 
 afloat, Joe was lost to everything but the battery. 
 Had he been disposed to answer Hubbins' ironical 
 question, and expressed his preference for a spe- 
 cialty, it would undoubtedly have been ordnance. 
 The guns with their carriages were nearly all new. 
 Inferior, Arlington said, to those of other navies, 
 but still the best in the United States Navy. 
 They were highly interesting, as they indicated a 
 public awakening to the urgent subject of national 
 defense. While the guns were not of sufficient 
 calibre to sink an enemy's ship, they would with- 
 out question, he thought, send her home for re- 
 pairs. By a process of daily friction under the 
 sharp eyes of the division officers, these guns had 
 acquired a brilliancy of polish that made all visits 
 ing gun-captains from other ships green with envy. 
 
 "What's the name of that old gun-captain?" 
 
58 ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 
 
 asked Harry. "He looks as if he'd like to run me 
 through for daring to brush up against his gun." 
 
 "Oh! that's old Binder," laughed Arlington. 
 " He's quite a character. A lady, who was visit- 
 ing the ship the other day, couldn't keep her fin- 
 gers off that gun, it was so bright. It was too 
 much for old Binder. Stepping up to her, he 
 gave a comical douse to his cap and asked if she 
 wouldn't please keep her ' dirty paws offen that 
 gun.' He didn't mean to be impertinent, but the 
 captain clapped him in the brig for it." 
 
 The cadets spent some time in the close exami- 
 nation of a new Hotchkiss revolving cannon and a 
 Gatling gun, just received from the Washington 
 Navy Yard. 
 
 Arlington explained the mechanism of each one, 
 and also said that in their way they were as deli- 
 cate in their construction as a chronometer. The 
 Gatling gun, he declared, was a perfect prodigy in 
 the way it could reel off the shot. "This bat- 
 tery," continued the young man, with considerable 
 pride, " and these small pieces, would be more 
 effective in action in our day than anything afloat 
 in the war, on either side." 
 
 An interesting conversation on ordnance en- 
 sued, which was presently interrupted by a sort of 
 swooping down upon them of the executive officer. 
 It was the first time Joe and Harry had seen him. 
 They tried to find him upon leaving the cabin, but 
 
ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 59 
 
 soon abandoned the search, as the executive was 
 burrowing among all sorts of ship chandlery down 
 in the yeoman's store-room. This officer was a 
 man of quite large stature, with clean-cut features, 
 and an eye so keen as to be almost piercing. His 
 expression was kindly, and his manner very brisk. 
 There was an air about him which plainly told all 
 delinquents that the only way to keep on the 
 good side of him was by the strictest attention to 
 duty. 
 
 His appearance was so much in the nature of 
 an apparition that, before they had been intro- 
 duced to him and drawn into an animated conver- 
 sation, the cadets were uncertain as to what sort 
 of an impression he had made upon them. They 
 had indulged in no little conjecture as to what 
 this new executive would be like. For they knew 
 how much a ship's happiness depends upon her 
 first lieutenant. While in a sense the captain of 
 a man-of-war may be said to reign, in a certain 
 other sense the executive officer may be said to 
 rule. Therefore, to these young subalterns, Mr. 
 Moncrief — for this was his name — was an object 
 of much curiosity and solicitude. 
 
 Mr. Moncrief prided himself upon one of his 
 strong points. No one could be in his presence 
 long without having it brought pointedly to his 
 attention. And this was his talent for getting 
 more work out of men and officers than any other 
 
60 ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 
 
 executive in the Navy. He flattered himself that 
 this was done not so much by his authority over 
 them, either. Indeed, those who knew him best 
 admitted that it was accomplished by genuine tact, 
 and by the force of his own character and exam- 
 ple. That there was any limit to a cadet's capac- 
 ity for work, he scarcely seemed to recognize. 
 This, to be sure, was a compliment to the cadet, 
 but also an occasion for alarm as well, should he 
 at any time permit his efforts to slacken. 
 
 Mr. Moncrief lost no time in giving the cadets 
 a vision of their duties, and it could not be called 
 a bird's-eye view, either. His remarks were but 
 the prologue to the many acts and scenes which 
 followed in the development of his supreme idea. 
 As he delivered his mind of his expectations 
 touching the cadets, he caught an expression of 
 comical bewilderment depicted in their countenan- 
 ces. He himself seemed quite struck by the lav- 
 ishness of his own exactions upon them, but could 
 not forego concluding his observations with the 
 old naval saw that "a cadet's duties are multitu- 
 dinous, multifarious and never ceasing." 
 
 "Does he mean all that for us ? " asked Harry, 
 quite out of breath as Mr. Moncrief hurried away 
 in answer to a message from the captain. 
 
 "Mean it?" replied Arlington, "you'll find out 
 he means it. He's the hardest-working executive 
 in the Navy. Why, there isn't a morning that he 
 
ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 6l 
 
 doesn't spend half the watch on deck, and he's 
 always the last to turn in. There's no let up to 
 him." 
 
 "I'm not afraid of him," said Joe complacently. 
 " But what did he mean by saying we must be 
 ready for a good deal of extra duty ? " 
 
 "I object to the phrase," remarked Harry. 
 "Extra duty is a punishment on board ship." 
 
 " Of course he didn't mean to insinuate that 
 we'd get extra duty in the sense that the men do," 
 observed Joe. 
 
 "O, no!" said Arlington. "He only thinks 
 that a naval officer can't know too much, and he'll 
 keep you busy." 
 
 " Can't you give us some examples of what we'll 
 have to do?" Joe asked. 
 
 "Well, for one thing, you'll probably have to 
 survey this harbor, and every other one we go into, 
 as for that matter. He thinks that every naval 
 officer should know how to pilot any ship into any 
 harbor, from Key West to Eastport. When I 
 was with him as a midshipman,* I had so much of 
 this kind of work to do, that I ran a little hydro- 
 graphic office on my own hook." 
 
 " Oh ! I didn't know you had been with him 
 before," said Joe. 
 
 " Yes, I know all about him. First of all, he 
 took the greatest interest in my journal. One 
 
 * The old name for navel cadet. 
 
62 ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 
 
 day he told me I was running short of material, 
 and I'd better go ashore and learn all I could 
 about the Brooklyn Bridge. After I had written 
 up its history, he made me work out the tensile 
 strength of the cables. When the ship happened 
 to be near enough, he sent me to Chester to study 
 up John Roach's establishment. Another time-, 
 I had to do the same thing by the South Boston 
 Iron Works. I will show you the record of my 
 visits." 
 
 " He surely didn't overlook ths Torpedo Sta- 
 tion ? " queried Joe, glancing over the taffrail at 
 Goat Island. 
 
 " O, no ! that was the most important of all, 
 excepting his hobby — handling ships in action 
 under sail." 
 
 " He lives at the wrong time, then," said Harry. 
 " What a splendid aid he would have made to 
 Decatur or Perry ! The fighting ship of the fu- 
 ture won't have sails. She'll be a kind of huge 
 raft like the Dandolo,* for carrying big guns." 
 
 " Sails will never be abandoned, you may rest 
 assured," said Joe. " A very slight accident 
 would disable the most perfect machinery afloat." 
 
 "Yes," added Arlington, "bearings might get 
 hot, a shell might explode in the engine-room, or 
 the propellers be shot away. Then, where would 
 your raft be ? No, tacks and sheets will never 
 
 * Italian man-of-war. 
 
ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 63 
 
 be displaced by coal-whips," he concluded, with 
 emphasis. 
 
 " But how does Mr. Moncrief manage his hob- 
 by ? " asked Joe. 
 
 " Oh ! he has a special drill once a week. The 
 ship is supposed to have an enemy's shot in her 
 boilers, or her machinery to have broken down, 
 and she has to fight under sail alone, or surrender. 
 Then the sails are handled to suit every conceiv- 
 able manoeuvre. He has a war game too, which 
 they play in the ward room evenings, for recrea- 
 tion. He'll have you in before long to try a 
 hand at it," and he gave him an amused look. 
 
 "I don't like sham fighting," said Harry. "It's 
 too much like learning to shoot with an air gun." 
 
 "Edgerton's spoiling for a war," laughed Joe. 
 
 "Well, I never could get up any enthusiasm 
 over playing at war," urged Harry. "It's a cir- 
 cumlocution office. About all you learn is how 
 not to do it." 
 
 "You can't get up a war just to learn how to 
 fight, that's a sure case," remarked Arlington. 
 "But just wait till the squadron drills come off; 
 you'll forget whether you're at the bombardment 
 of Fort Fisher, or the battle of Trafalgar." 
 
 "That will be splendid," put in Joe. 
 
 "If I had my way," continued Arlington, "I'd 
 use up two or three of the old ships every summer 
 in sham battles. First, I'd shell them; then I'd 
 
64 ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 
 
 let them taste a torpedo. If that didn't sink them, 
 I'd try ramming." 
 
 " How about the killed and wounded ? " laughed 
 Harry. 
 
 "Oh! I wouldn't have anybody on board. I'd 
 tow them out to sea as the Italian ships do, and 
 clear for action. But it's hard to learn to fight 
 without fighting. By the way, I liked Captain 
 Farradale's idea, when I was with him as a mid- 
 shipman in the Constellation." 
 
 "What did he do?" asked Joe, eager for infor- 
 mation touching his new captain. 
 
 "Why, he used to get the ship into all sorts of 
 scrapes, just to teach us how to handle her. One 
 day, coming into Newport, he ran her nose into 
 Goat Island. We worked nearly a week to get 
 her off. Sometimes in tacking he would let her 
 miss stays. Once he allowed her to be taken 
 aback in a pretty stiff breeze, and several times we 
 had to claw off a lee shore for dear life. I shall 
 never forget one day at boat drill in Boston Har- 
 bor"— 
 
 " Good morning, Commodores ! Fighting your 
 battles over again, I see." 
 
 The cadets turned quickly, and saw a gentle- 
 man whom Arlington presently introduced as 
 Lieutenant Bloomsbury. He stood regarding 
 them with a highly amused aspect. He was fat 
 and jolly, had a look of irrepressible, as well as 
 
ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 65 
 
 inexhaustible, good-nature. The heartiness with 
 which he shook hands, and the ringing welcome 
 he gave them, quite touched Joe and Harry. But 
 he had just time to say a few words when, much 
 to their disappointment, he was called away. 
 
 "He's the Mark Tapley of the ship," Arlington 
 observed, when Mr. Bloomsbury was out of ear- 
 shot. "Only, if anything, there's more fun in 
 him. You'll like him best of all the watch-offi- 
 cers. Did you ever hear of the midshipman who 
 pinned the two commodores together by their 
 coat-tails ? " continued Arlington, laughing heartily. 
 "Well, he's the one that did it." 
 
 The cadets had*heard the story, but it seemed 
 doubly amusing now that they had seen the auda- 
 cious perpetrator. 
 
 " Oh ! I forgot all about the watch-officers," 
 said Joe. "Who are they?" And he fell to mus- 
 ing how pleasant it would be should it fall to his 
 lot to be in Mr. Bloomsbury's division, and to be 
 gentleman of his watch.* 
 
 Arlington explained that there were four of 
 them ; that in port they were in four watches, and 
 at sea in five. "I am the fifth," he said, "as I 
 stand a regular watch at sea." 
 
 "Do the cadets ever have the deck at sea?" 
 Harry inquired. 
 
 * The cadet on duty on the port side of the quarter deck is entitled, 
 "Gentleman of the watch." 
 
66 ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 
 
 "In good weather Captain Farradale always 
 turns it over to them. Of course with a regular 
 watch-officer standing by to see that nothing goes 
 wrong. But I want to tell you more about Mr. 
 Bloom sbury." 
 
 Joe and Harry eagerly assented. 
 
 "Mr. Bloomsbury," Arlington went on, "does 
 not agree with Mr. Moncrief in his idea of a fight- 
 ing ship. He would dispense with sails alto- 
 gether. You'd laugh to hear them discuss the 
 relative merits of either kind of ship over the war- 
 game. He thinks in an engagement, the masts 
 would be the first thing to be shot away. This 
 would be likely to kill half the people on deck, and 
 silence the pivot guns by obstructing the car- 
 riages. Or it would make such a tangle that the 
 ship would become unmanageable. You must get 
 him to show you a ship he has modeled." 
 
 "What is it like?" Joe asked, much interested. 
 
 "It suits Mr. Edgerton's idea to a T. It is not 
 much more than a raft. He has telescopic ar- 
 rangements where the masts ought to be ; so if 
 anything should happen the engines, the tubes — 
 that's what they are — could be run up like a 
 smoke-stack, and be rigged as jury masts. There 
 is great sport in the wardroom over the style of 
 ship that ought to be built for the new Navy ; a 
 little War of the Roses, you know." 
 
 During the intervals of conversation, Joe was 
 
ASSIGNED TO HIS DIVISION. 6j 
 
 getting everything pretty well in mind. He dis- 
 liked details as much as Harry, but he well knew 
 that it is only by the strictest attention to such, 
 that success in any sphere can be won. The lad- 
 der on which he was to work his way up was to 
 be constructed out of a minute and thorough 
 knowledge of his profession. He experienced a 
 thrill of genuine pride as the thought came home 
 to him that he was now a part of the Daybreak's 
 complement, and he began to grow impatient for 
 the next day to come, when he would be assigned 
 to duty. 
 
 A few hours later, it was with great pleasure 
 that Joe received a message from the executive 
 officer to come to him on the quarter deck. After 
 a little preliminary instruction as to what would 
 be expected of him, it was with no little delight 
 that he received the information that he was to be 
 in Mr. Bloomsbury's division, and that he would 
 begin his tour of duty on deck by being gentle- 
 man of his watch. His first duty, however, would 
 be to go ashore in charge of the market boat early 
 the next morning. Joe never dreamed that Mr. 
 Bloomsbury had promptly asked that he might be 
 assigned to his division. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 FIRST DUTY. 
 
 JOE'S weather eye was already open when he 
 was called next morning to go ashore in 
 charge of the market-boat. Upon reaching the 
 deck, he found one of the loveliest of the beauti- 
 ful summer mornings for which Newport is cele- 
 brated the world over. The sun was just rising 
 upon Narragansett Bay, and the islands and slight 
 eminences all around were tinged with a deep and 
 brilliant orange. The fishermen were putting off 
 in the first puff of the land breeze, and the sails 
 of the cat-boats were flapping at their single masts 
 as if irritated because no passengers would come 
 to enjoy this luxurious morning upon the bay. 
 Far away toward Point Judith, a fleet of yachts 
 was coming in. Every inch of canvas was shaken 
 out, and the white sails, catching the now broad 
 glow of the morning, flashed in gorgeous colors, 
 according as they came up into or fell away from 
 the slanting light. 
 
 But Joe had no time to devote to mere idle gaz- 
 ing. Hammocks had been piped up, and were 
 
 6S 
 
FIRST DUTY. 69 
 
 already neatly stowed in the nettings, and coffee 
 was now being served out to the crew. To a 
 young officer like Joe, how much more inspiration 
 is there in a cup of genuine Java and Mocha, than 
 in the most brilliant morning that ever shone upon 
 the earth. So at the galley, from a cup of no 
 transparent hue or fragile texture, Joe quaffed the 
 morning beverage of a man-of-war. 
 
 With keenest pleasure he listened to the same 
 old babble of other days. There were the same 
 growls of the cooks, the same caustic observations 
 from the stewards over the elusive tendencies of 
 the colored servants, the identical quips and jokes, 
 and sharp, wordy rencounters with which he had 
 formerly been so familiar. Soldiers' camps and 
 men-of-war decks at reveille, from day to day, will 
 witness the enactment of the same lively drama so 
 long as the world shall stand. 
 
 Coffee and pipes, apprentice-boy nonsense and 
 skylarking, everything over with but growling, 
 which is as constant as a ship's chronometer, the 
 day's work began. The boatswain, bluff and pip- 
 ing as a nor'wester, roused out the dinghy's crew, 
 and soon, at a distance from the ship, he was cant- 
 ing his head about like a parrot, to see that every 
 yard was square, and every rope marking as 
 straight a line as though it had been drawn with 
 chalk upon a blackboard. The petty officers were 
 hunting up men and boys from their respective 
 
yO FIRST DUTY. 
 
 parts of the ship, and many of the said men and 
 boys were scampering for the tops, while others 
 were scurrying swabs, buckets and squilgees along 
 the decks, preparatory to washing down. 
 
 Indeed, in the general displacement of things, 
 the ship had an appearance as of the near explo- 
 sion of a torpedo, which, while it might leave the 
 vessel uninjured, in forecastle parlance, would 
 knock everything into a cocked hat. So with the 
 scrubbing of decks, the creaking of pulleys, as the 
 day's boats were being lowered, the calls of the 
 boatswain's mates for shirkers and blacklisters, 
 the humming of tunes and the occasional burst of 
 a song, the work went merrily on, a medley chal- 
 lenging description. 
 
 Some little delay took place in getting the cut- 
 ter manned. Joe did not know her crew, and a 
 number of them were in no hurry to heed the 
 bugle-call. A sharp reprimand, however, from the 
 officer of the deck sent them out along the boom 
 and down the Jacob's ladder into the boat as if a 
 boatswain's mate were in hot pursuit, armed with 
 the old navy-cat. A moment more and the cutter 
 shot up to the gangway. Taking in her usual 
 load of stewards, market-baskets and pet dogs, 
 with our hero duly installed as cadet in charge, she 
 was off and away. 
 
 A dozen or more steam yachts lay in the har- 
 bor, and their boats for marketing were likewise 
 
FIRST DUTY. /I 
 
 shoving off all around in greatest haste. Their 
 crews bent to the oars as if the gun-cotton stored 
 at the Torpedo Station were about to explode, and 
 they were pulling from an impending catastrophe. 
 But it was only a challenge to the cutter's crew. 
 That crew, however, had already sniffed it in the 
 air, and their blood was up. In a moment the 
 boat was leaping through the water, tossing it at 
 her antagonists in disdainful spray. It was the 
 usual morning contest, and very soon, with every 
 competitor astern, the cutter rounded in to her 
 landing as gracefully as though the race had been 
 a regatta, with thousands of spectators watching 
 it from the shore. 
 
 What is generally an inane waiting of an hour 
 or more, while the stewards haggle with butchers 
 and grocerymen and quarrel with one another, 
 proved not without interest or incident to Joe. 
 First, he busied himself with looking at the water- 
 front of Newport. His powers of observation had 
 been well trained, and he always endeavored to 
 turn them to good account. 
 
 It was well for him, as this work began, that he 
 gave momentary attention to the usual habitues 
 of the wharves. Though it was early in the morn- 
 ing, they seemed to be out in full force. They 
 stood or sat as quiet as so many idols. Some 
 were holding fishing-rods and pretending to fish. 
 He wondered what the fascination could be which 
 
/'.2 FIRST DUTY. 
 
 held these dummies for hours fast to one spot 
 with seldom so much as a smelt to reward them 
 for their toil. But Joe could not appreciate the 
 luxury of perfect repose, nor the simple joy of 
 seeming to do something by doing absolutely 
 nothing. 
 
 One of the figures amused him very much. It 
 wore a sailor's rig of fifty years ago, the whole 
 crowned by what had once been a glazed hat. 
 This hat looked as if it had once afforded grazing 
 ground for some kind of insect, and had been so 
 closely cropped that, with the exception of a glazed 
 spot here and there about as big as the head of a 
 pin, it represented a barren waste. The image 
 was furthermore adorned with a wooden leg, bear- 
 ing every evidence of home manufacture, its 
 whole length protruding from the wharf. Pres- 
 ently the image began to wriggle about, and the 
 leg, which had been carelessly strapped on, slipped 
 off. Joe had been regarding it with curiosity, not 
 to say suspicion, and in the nick of time thought 
 it would do no harm to make room for it in the 
 sternsheets of the boat. And, as acting upon this 
 impulse, he sprang forward, it came clown with a 
 tremendous thump, striking the place where he 
 had been sitting. 
 
 "Fire that leg up here, will yer ? " called the 
 figure-head, in a gruff voice. "It was fortunit 
 you was there, or I'd a lost it." 
 
FIRST DUTY. " 3 
 
 "It was extremely fortunate," said Joe; "not 
 to mention the fact that it nearly cost me my 
 head." 
 
 " Young man, if you don't lose yer head afore 
 it gits mashed by a wooden leg, you'll keep it a 
 long time. If it warn't for them brass buttons, 
 and that ar' sword as you couldn't spear a sculpin 
 with, you wouldn't think so much o' that precious 
 head." 
 
 "Well, it's worth more to me than your wooden 
 leg is to you, and I hope you'll be more careful 
 another time." 
 
 "Young man," continued the image, very sol- 
 emnly and slowly, "John 'Bunnion' says : 
 
 ' He as is down need fear no fall; 
 He as is low, no pride.' " 
 
 "John Bunyan said it, did he? Well, I hardly 
 think he was describing a man in a boat, with a 
 wooden leg coming down on top of his head," said 
 Joe, laughing. 
 
 " Young man, don't make fun o' yer betters. 
 You'll live a long time accordin' to my way o' 
 thinkin' afore you're as big a man as ole John 
 ' Bunnion.' ' 
 
 "I think that's very likely." 
 
 " Gimme that leg, and don't stan' there a makin' 
 fun o' me as has to wear a wooden leg, as was 
 
74 FIRST DUTY. 
 
 lost in battle, as he's waitin' to git a pension for, 
 an' has to fish for a livin'." 
 
 By the time the image had finished speaking, 
 the whole boat's company were in a roar of laugh- 
 ter at his unconscious drollery. Joe could see 
 the old man's eyes flash at this demonstration, 
 and he directed the coxswain to toss back the 
 wooden limb. 
 
 "Here," he sung out, "is something that will 
 keep you in fish for one day," and he pitched up a 
 fifty-cent piece, which the old sailor grabbed as 
 quickly as an ostrich would pick up a penny. 
 
 The wooden leg having been duly restored, Joe 
 got out his pocket compass, and began getting 
 the bearing of different points and objects around. 
 He had become quite absorbed in this occupation, 
 when he was interrupted by one of the bow oars- 
 men asking if he might not have permission to go 
 up town. Joe had received strict orders not to 
 allow any member of the crew to leave the boat. 
 
 "I beg pardon, sir," said the coxswain; " Con- 
 ners wants some grog." 
 
 Conners was the man's name. 
 
 Something had been out of joint with this man 
 all the morning. He appeared sullen and insub- 
 ordinate, and when the rest of the crew had 
 thrown themselves into the race with greatest 
 zest, he only mechanically dipped his oar. 
 
 Our hero gave him a peremptory order not to 
 
FIRST DUTY. 75 
 
 leave the boat. But by this time Conners had 
 taken the matter into his own hands, and, having 
 cleared the boat with one spring, he was half-way 
 up the wooden steps leading to the wharf. 
 
 "Get back into the boat," shouted Joe, his face 
 flushed and his frame quivering with excitement. 
 
 "I'll come back in a minute, sir. I only want 
 to go to the head of the wharf," Conners replied. 
 
 Giving a hasty order for everybody to stay in 
 the boat, Joe was out of her in an instant, clearing 
 several steps at a bound. Conners was quite a 
 large man, and very nimble of foot. When, there- 
 fore, he saw Joe in full pursuit, he took to his 
 heels, and led him a smart race up the wharf. 
 But he had not counted on our hero's length of 
 limb and athletic training, and by the time they 
 reached Water Street Joe had a solid grip upon 
 his prize, or what he was determined at any haz- 
 ard, to make his prize. Joe had seen men jump 
 boats before, and on his first trip as cadet in 
 charge, he did not propose to undergo the humili- 
 ation of having to report that one of his men had 
 gotten away. 
 
 Not many people were stirring about the street. 
 But to Joe's consternation, the few there were 
 began to form in a crowd. Even the dummies left 
 their lines to take care of themselves, and came 
 running up from the wharves. A side glance 
 showed him his old friend with the wooden leg, 
 
y6 FIRST DUTY. 
 
 bowling along at a double-quick. Joe was exceed- 
 ingly mortified at all this, but having attempted 
 Conners' capture, he was bound to complete it. 
 
 Luckily for him, Conners had no intention of 
 engaging in a pugilistic encounter. Such an en- 
 counter would have ended badly for Joe. His 
 antagonist was not yet thirty, and his active sea- 
 life had given him an alertness of movement and 
 hardness of muscle which Joe had not yet ac- 
 quired. But had Conners been seven feet tall, 
 and proportionately stout, it would have been just 
 the same with Joe. His hand was no match for 
 Conners' hard fist, but Conners knew it repre- 
 sented the grip of the law, and he would have 
 taken almost any risk sooner than that of striking 
 an officer while in the execution of his duty. 
 
 He therefore undertook to jerk and wriggle 
 himself clear. But wrench and twist as he would, 
 it only served to tighten Joe's hold upon him. 
 As well might he have attempted in the same way 
 to make a steel trap let go. Several times they 
 lost their footing, but each time Conners regained 
 his feet only to find the invincible Joe hanging to 
 him more sturdily than ever. Finally he gave 
 over the struggle, and was marched back to the 
 boat. 
 
 Somewhat out of breath from his severe exer- 
 tion, Joe resumed his seat in the cutter, the evi- 
 dent admiration of the crew. On two former 
 
FIRST DUTY. J J 
 
 occasions Conners had escaped from the cox- 
 swain, who was a powerful man, and now to be 
 captured by a cadet, was very humiliating to him, 
 and a high feather in the Middy's cap. While 
 Conners looked very sheepish, Joe endeavored to 
 appear as unconcerned and complacent as possible. 
 By the time the boat, with its huge bags of bread 
 and toppling baskets, was ready to shove off, he 
 was as composed as ever. 
 
 On the way back to the Daybreak he was much 
 exercised as to what he ought to do about the 
 affair. If he reported Conners, there would prob- 
 ably be a court-martial resulting, and he thought 
 from Conners' appearance that a court-martial 
 would not reach his case. 
 
 "Why not take him in hand myself," he re- 
 flected, "and see if I cannot help him overcome 
 his appetite ? " 
 
 It was evident to Joe that Conners had had no 
 intention of deserting ; he only wanted a drink. 
 Joe also knew that a personal interest on the part 
 of officers, in such men as Conners, would do 
 more for their reformation than all the brigs and 
 double irons in the Navy. Besides, there was 
 something about this man that he liked. He cer- 
 tainly admired his fine physique and his great 
 strength, and he did not look like a bad man, 
 although he had not presented himself in a flatter- 
 ing: lisrht that morning". 
 
78 FIRST DUTY. 
 
 It took but a few minutes to settle the matter. 
 Joe resolved to win Conners' friendship, and thus 
 see if he could not make a man of him. 
 
 But his good resolution weakened when he 
 reported the boat's return to the officer of the 
 deck. That gentleman said nothing, but seemed 
 to scrutinize him with an air of displeasure. 
 When he reached his quarters he saw why he had 
 done so. Pushing Swem away from the single 
 glass rather unceremoniously, he took a look at 
 himself. He was in a pitiable plight for a mili- 
 tary young man. His coat was torn and dirty, 
 and he had a scratch across his cheek, which Con- 
 ners had accidentally inflicted, from which the 
 blood was flowing. Swem looked at him in 
 amazement. Coverly, who was sitting at the 
 table eating his breakfast, remarked that he 
 looked as if he had been rolling in the ashes of 
 Pompeii, where the eggs he was eating came from. 
 Harry made an observation to the effect that he 
 must have fallen into the hands of a Bowery 
 tough, who had wiped up a saloon with him. 
 Hubbins roared out that, "whoever he has been 
 fighting with, the evidence is indisputable that the 
 fellow licked him." 
 
 As Joe viewed himself in the glass, he began to 
 grow very angry with Conners. His first impulse 
 was to make himself presentable, and go and 
 report the matter at once. But his good resolu- 
 
FIRST DUTY. 79 
 
 tion prevailed, and he cooled down. Of course 
 he had to give account of himself to his mess- 
 mates, who, when he had told the story, insisted 
 upon knowing why he had not reported Conners. 
 
 ''Because," he frankly answered, "I'm going to 
 see if I can't make a man of him, myself." 
 
 At this a shout went up from several. 
 
 "I'd as soon think of blowing the Puritan out 
 of water with a fire-cracker," said one. "Gentle- 
 men," sung out Hubbins, "let me introduce our 
 temperance sharp, our 'Holy Joe,' our 'sky pilot,' 
 the Rev. J. Bently, Chaplain U. S. N." 
 
 "Mr. Hubbins," said Joe, very quietly and 
 firmly, " I did not speak of my intention toward 
 Conners to excite ridicule. And, sir, let this be 
 the first and the last time that you ever apply any 
 epithets to me." With this, he picked up his 
 dilapidated coat and left the steerage. 
 
 "Well," said Hubbins, for the instant more 
 chagrined than angry, " that's a plain statement of 
 the case." Then his temper getting the better of 
 him, he began to make remarks not at all compli- 
 mentary to our hero. 
 
 "Bently isn't here to defend himself," said 
 Harry, who, though he had little faith in Joe's 
 scheme for reforming Conners, had not joined in 
 the uproariousness against it ; "but if you're hunt- 
 ing round after somebody to run, it will be for your 
 interest not to take him." 
 
80 FIRST DUTY. 
 
 "No," said Swem ; "he doesn't scare worth a 
 cent, and he isn't particularly long-suffering." 
 
 Arlington was also about to put in a word for 
 the absent cadet, when he reappeared, looking as 
 if nothing had happened. The first thing he did 
 was to ask Hubbins some question or other, which 
 was done so pleasantly that, in spite of himself, 
 Hubbins had to answer it, though he did so rather 
 gruffly. Then he told them about the man with 
 the wooden leg, which set even Hubbins laughing. 
 Presently, good humor being restored, Joe began 
 his preparations for quarters. 
 
 A genuine surprise awaited him there, al- 
 though a very common occurrence in the Service. 
 While standing at the head of his division, during 
 inspection, he happened to glance forward, where 
 he made an almost startling discovery. Standing 
 at the tail-end of the navigator's division, was an 
 old sailor-man who bore the closest resemblance 
 to his friend, old Dicky Dawson. This man was 
 looking straight at him, but without the slightest 
 recognition. Joe was delighted, but he could 
 scarcely believe the evidence of his own senses. 
 If it were Dawson, why had he not come aft and 
 spoken to him the day before ? He surely must 
 have seen him about the ship. 
 
 Joe's sharp eyes had not deceived him. It was 
 indeed Dawson. He had caught sight of Joe sev- 
 eral times, but had been ashamed to show himself. 
 
FIRST DUTY. Si 
 
 He was under a cloud, and was in a condition of 
 deep self-abasement. His old enemy had been 
 getting the better of him, and his pride was in the 
 dust ; or, nautically speaking, under hatches. He 
 was just beginning a long period of quarantine, 
 the sentence of a court-martial, which was sorely 
 depressing to him, particularly as he had been 
 recommended to Captain Farradale as the para- 
 gon of old sailors. 
 
 The instant the drum beat retreat Joe started 
 for the forecastle. Dawson had anticipated this, 
 and acted as if he seemed anxious that the vision 
 which had startled his former boy-friend should 
 be regarded as in the nature of a materialization ; 
 for he was vanishing down a companion-ladder as 
 fast as his unsteady nerves would permit, when 
 Joe reached him. He was making for the fore- 
 hold, that favorite resort of ghosts and penitents. 
 
 But he was right about face in an instant. He 
 had not descended three steps before Joe's hand 
 was clapped upon his shoulder, and he was as 
 securely in custody as Conners had been in the 
 early morning. Joe could hardly refrain from 
 embracing his old friend, and his greeting was so 
 warm that the tears sprang to Dawson's eyes. 
 
 It took only a few minutes to get at the cause 
 of all his shyness and depression. It was the same 
 old story — of getting drunk, and while in that 
 condition committing a court-martial offense, for 
 
82 FIRST DUTY. 
 
 which he was now suffering the penalty. Joe 
 talked very kindly and encouragingly to him, and 
 told him that his only hope was in resolving to let 
 rum alone. 
 
 "I knows it, sir," said Dicky; "but when I gits 
 one drink, it's like as if I was out in a boat in a 
 tide-way; I can't pull ag'in the temptation." 
 
 " Perhaps if you and I pull together, Dawson, 
 you can at least be kept from going very far down 
 stream." 
 
 "That's what I's ben a thinkin', sir, But I was 
 afeared when I seed ye come aboard with yer 
 shoulder knots an' sword on, that maybe ye would 
 not care no more for the likes o' me. Liker is a 
 awful cuss, sir." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SCHOPY S SKETCH 
 
 JOE'S first week on board the Daybreak, not- 
 withstanding its press of work, passed quickly 
 away. It was literally crowded with duties, and 
 perhaps in this respect could hardly be taken as a 
 type of the weeks that were to follow. During 
 all this time he had scarcely an hour to himself. 
 Besides the regular drills and other routine work, 
 there was no end of boat duty ; he being often 
 called from his meals to go in boats. These sum- 
 mons became so frequent that, whenever he was 
 lucky enough to get to the table at all, he gave 
 free rein to the Pegasus of his appetite, and, so to 
 speak, put the spurs in, too. 
 
 To take up the thread of his ship-life, we find 
 him, at the end of the aforesaid week, with the 
 time between dinner, at four bells in the evening, 
 and eight bells, the hour he was to go on watch, 
 absolutely his own. On this particular evening 
 dinner was no sooner over than he promptly 
 started with his messmates for the top-gallant 
 Wecastle, under the break of which the ward- 
 
 §3 
 
84 schopy's sketch. 
 
 room and steerage officers had smoking places. 
 On this occasion he had been invited to smoke a 
 fine Havana with Harry. 
 
 It must be admitted that Joe was exceedingly 
 fond of smoking. He sometimes practiced it 
 even to excess. He can hardly be expected to 
 hold a lien on all the good habits. But we can 
 safely say that smoking was the worst habit he 
 had. He had provided himself with a monstrous 
 meerschaum pipe, whose complexion he was so 
 anxious to change that, in his effort to do so, he 
 had impaired his own, and was as yellow as his 
 pipe for hours together. But we must overlook 
 this fault in our hero, since we know that in the 
 Army and Navy a very young officer is not 
 expected to be perfect in everything. 
 
 Joe would gladly have given himself up to the 
 enjoyment of the splendid evening, but his com- 
 rades would not permit it. He had no sooner 
 taken note of the light which was falling in a kind 
 of pink mist, and the delicious quiet which had 
 settled on sea and shore, before his attention was 
 attracted by the conversation going on around 
 him with no little vivacity. 
 
 Hubbins was taking Swem to task for having 
 declined an invitation to some social affair or 
 other, to which all the cadets had been invited. 
 " What did the Government put you in brass but- 
 tons for ? " he said. Then, without waiting a 
 
schopy's sketch. 85 
 
 reply, he went on : " What for ? Why, to make a 
 plaything of you. You're a Government toy. 
 Your business is to amuse the girls of the 
 country. Failing in this, you are as much out of 
 place in the Navy as an Irishman under a palm- 
 tree." 
 
 The day before, Hubbins had seen a son of 
 Erin seated at the foot of a palm-tree, in transit to 
 some Newport conservatory. The incongruity of 
 this relation had greatly excited his sense of the 
 ludicrous. 
 
 "There's Coverly," he continued, with such 
 rapidity of utterance that his breath came and 
 went with an asphyxiated sound ; "you can't keep 
 him aboard ship. Catch him getting left on an 
 invitation to anything. If he did, in the language 
 of the immortal Thackeray, he'd 'ask to be 
 asked'." 
 
 "Go slow, Hubbins," said Austey. "You know 
 what Coverly did this morning." 
 
 "You'd better let up on our old Schopy, too!" 
 exclaimed Harry, giving Swem a pat on the 
 shoulder. 
 
 "I'm not going into society," said Swem. "I 
 haven't the money, in the first place ; and in the 
 second place, I haven't the inclination." 
 
 " I can't see why you cannot go into society, 
 and have a pretty good time, too, on nine hundred 
 and fifty a year," said Hubbins. 
 
86 SCHOPYS SKETCH. 
 
 "Well, I'm hard up, as it is, all the time." 
 
 "Hard up! What have you done with your 
 two months' advance ? " 
 
 "Spent most of it for clothes." 
 
 "Clothes," said Joe, "are Schopy's weakness." 
 
 "Yes; and every other cadet's," observed Hub- 
 bins, a little spitefully. 
 
 " Hubbins can't give the cadets a rest," re- 
 marked Arlington. 
 
 "The idea," proceeded Hubbins, "of trusting 
 boys with such a salary. I never knew a cadet 
 who didn't need his grandmother to tell him how 
 to spend his money." 
 
 "Perhaps you can fill her place," interposed 
 Coverly, who was watching to get in a word. 
 
 "Well, well," resumed Hubbins, paying no 
 attention to Coverly, "we must get him ashore. 
 Society can't do without him, and he can't do 
 without society. Why, some day he'll have to 
 dance with the Queen of Greece. We must get 
 him in training for that event. Oh ! to dance 
 with a queen. Fitting consummation to the life of 
 a naval hero." And Hubbins took a spin around 
 the forecastle, greatly to the merriment of the 
 steerage officers. 
 
 "You'd better look out for our old Schopy," 
 said Harry, as Swem vanished from the company. 
 "He's gone below to sketch you dancing with a 
 queen ; and he'll pick his queen, too." 
 
schopy's sketch. 87 
 
 " Oh ! he adds art to his numerous accomplish- 
 ments, does he?" said Hubbins, in a tone of sar- 
 casm, not relishing the turn things had taken. 
 
 "Hubbins waltzing with a queen," shouted 
 Coverly. And he proceeded to mimic Hubbins' 
 probable attitude and movements on that unique 
 occasion. 
 
 A roar of laughter accompanied Coverly's ludi- 
 crous mimicry. As usual, Hubbins grew very 
 red in the face, and seemed debating with himself 
 whether he ought to join the general hilarity, or 
 explode in anger. To the surprise of everybody, 
 he remained quiet, and Joe felt that perhaps they 
 were a little hard on him. It was not long, how- 
 ever, before he was off on another tack, indulg- 
 ing in some highly vociferous, if not intelligent 
 opinions. 
 
 Weary of this rough loquacity, Joe turned his 
 attention to the wardroom officers. They were 
 smoking on the starboard side. One of them was 
 endeavoring to thrill a solitary listener with some 
 adventure or other he had had in Corea. Another 
 was detailing a humorous affair happening under 
 his own cognizance, which account seemed to 
 fairly revel in French words and phrases ; so 
 much so, indeed, that Joe was in doubt as to 
 which language had the upper hand with him, 
 French or English. Finally Mr. Moncrief and 
 Mr. Bloomsbury were hammering away on light 
 
55 SCHOPY S SKETCH. 
 
 and heavy armor for ships ; and, Mr. Moncrief 
 growing very warm, Mr. Bloomsbury, with charm- 
 ing good nature, closed the discussion by intro- 
 ducing his favorite metaphor. "Well," said he, 
 alluding to the great point of difference between 
 them, "you may stand by your halliards, but I'll 
 stick to the down-hauls ! " 
 
 Joe got up, and began to pace back and forth 
 along the deck. Most of the crew had come on 
 deck to enjoy the early twilight, and the forecastle 
 was as lively as it well could be. A space had 
 been cleared on the opposite side of the deck, in 
 which a number of sailor lads had embraced, and 
 to the harsh scraping of a violin, were whirling in 
 a merry waltz. Seated on one of the chain bits 
 close by, was an old tar, who was singing a 
 pathetic song in a squeaky, quavering voice, 
 which, to Joe's surprise, as he himself was highly 
 amused, dashed a little spray, as sailors say, into 
 several of the listeners' eyes. At the port cat- 
 head, a coterie of ordinary seamen were settling 
 some dispute or other, with the gravity of a bench 
 of justices. Almost in Joe's ear, a tall, raw-boned 
 sailor was giving an account of his domestic trials. 
 He set forth very graphically how he was driven 
 by a quarrelsome wife into old Neptune's arms for 
 refuge. "She's a reguler whale, ain't she?" said 
 one of his auditors. "She is, and she isn't," was 
 the rejoinder. "She's all jaw, but no blubber." 
 
schopy's sketch. 89 
 
 A roar of laughter followed this characteriza- 
 tion. Joe turned away, only to have his attention 
 directed to old Binder. He was leaning on the 
 breech of a gun, and while biting industriously at 
 his pipe-stem, as if what he was saying went 
 against the grain, he was uttering what Joe took 
 to be sentiments of condolement in an apprentice- 
 boy's ear. The boy, it seemed, had settled him- 
 self comfortably during working hours, in a num- 
 ber of forbidden places. He was complaining 
 bitterly over the informal manner in which he had 
 been obliged to vacate them. "I can't sit down a 
 minute," he said, "without somebody comin' along 
 an' singin' out : ' Git outen that port ' ; ' Git off en 
 that gun carriage ' ; ' Don't you know better'n to 
 sit in a gangway, you lubber ? ' What's a feller 
 to do?" 
 
 " Take my advice, young feller," said Binder, 
 "an' do nothin' aboard ship as is comfortable." 
 
 With a smile, Joe walked aft. Suddenly his 
 attention was arrested by the sound as of some 
 one reading, in between the smoke-stack and the 
 sailing-launch. As nobody could be reading at 
 that hour without a light, Joe peeped in to see 
 who could be guilty of burning a candle on deck, 
 where only covered lights are allowed. Not 
 a glimmer could he discern, but he could just 
 make out in the very dim light, the figures of a 
 man and two apprentices. The boys were prone 
 
90 SCHOPY S SKETCH. 
 
 upon the deck, their mouths wide open, listening 
 to an exceedingly dramatic recital from some 
 trashy novel. The performance was made most 
 grotesque by the man's peculiar accent and pro- 
 nunciation. A sentence or two fixed itself in Joe's 
 memory. With an evident desire for theatrical 
 effects upon his young hearers, the man repeated : 
 "'Villyun! villyun ! ' he cried, as he clasped his 
 bride to his breast. ' Stand back, sir ! stand back ! ' 
 exclaimed she, in all the ardjure of her Southern 
 tem-per-a-ment." Whether the bride addressed 
 the villian or her husband, Joe could not quite 
 make out. But the man's remarkable memory 
 surprised him. He was evidently repeating word 
 for word what he had read. 
 
 No sooner had Joe got back to the top-gallant 
 forecastle than he was forced to listen to a sharp 
 discussion going on among a group of petty offi- 
 cers. The debate was on the best method of get- 
 ting work out of a ship's company. There was a 
 great variety of opinions. A boatswain's mate, 
 with a voice as shrill as his whistle, insisted that 
 sailors must be "druv" like cattle. "It's ' nag- 
 gingness ' as does it," he concluded. 
 
 "No, it ain't," said the old foremastman. "I 
 repudiates the insinnivation." 
 
 "You may not think so," was the reply, "but 
 others does." 
 
 But perhaps Joe was quite as much amused over 
 
SCHOPV S SKETCH. 9 1 
 
 an imposing attempt on the part of the wardroom 
 steward, a native of Madeira, to express in English 
 some fine sentiment touching the beautiful even- 
 ing. At the first unmeaning vocable, a wave of 
 grammatical scorn swept around the forecastle. 
 Cries of "string him up to the yard-arm" caused 
 the poor steward to gesticulate a wild and angry 
 protest, and in sheer mortification, to dive below. 
 If these men murdered the King's English them- 
 selves, they would allow no one to mutilate the 
 corpse, as has been said by some clever man. 
 
 Two or three times Joe reached either extreme 
 of his promenade, lost to everything but his own 
 thoughts. Very shortly, however, he observed an 
 overgrown, lubberly boy hanging heavily to a fore- 
 sheet, and staring at him as if he were the latest 
 ornithological specimen from Brazil. As Joe came 
 near him, he touched his cap and asked, " Kin I 
 git a book off en you, sir ? " 
 
 "Isn't there a library on board?" replied Joe, 
 with but little warmth of manner, for the boy was 
 not prepossessing in either looks or address. 
 
 "Yes, sir; but the liberian won't let me have 
 no books." 
 
 "Why is that?" 
 
 " Coz I tuk one out and couldn't see no sense 
 to it." 
 
 "Well, why didn't you return it, and get 
 another? " 
 
92 SCHOPY S SKETCH. 
 
 " Oh ! I thought it was no good, so I chucked 
 it overboard, an' he won't let me have no more." 
 
 "What book was it?" continued Joe, quite 
 amazed at the boy's coolness and assurance. 
 
 "It was called Danill somethin' or other." 
 
 "Daniel Boone?" interrogated Joe. 
 
 "No," said the boy in disdain. "What d'yer 
 take me fer ? " 
 
 "Perhaps it was Daniel Deronda," said Joe, 
 beginning to grow amused. 
 
 " Yes, that's it ; Danill Dorindy. It was all 
 about Jews. I don't want to read about no Jews. 
 I asked for a book on pirates or Injuns. The 
 liberian want corteous to me. Said I looked as I 
 needed ballast or sand or somethin' like that, an' 
 he'd advise solid readin'. I didn't like what he 
 said to me, so I tuk it out on him. There ain't 
 much civility in the Navy, sir." 
 
 " Do you expect civil treatment if you throw 
 books overboard ? It's a wonder they didn't clap 
 you in the brig ! " 
 
 "Oh! they did, sir — three days. But I likes 
 that. I don't git no naggin' in there, an' I don't 
 have to do no work," he added, with a grin. "But 
 a man-o'-war's no place for a smart American boy, 
 sir." 
 
 Joe didn't think it was much of a place for the 
 peculiar kind of smartness before him, but he con- 
 tinued, "What made you ship, then?" 
 
SCHOPY S SKETCH. 93 
 
 " First of all, I wanted to fight fer my country. 
 Then I thought it 'ud be better'n bein' kicked 
 round a stable. That's where I was. Why, sir, 
 it got so that I couldn't pass a hoss but he'd up 
 an' kick me. It seemed like as if everythin' 
 wanted to kick me. So I come into the Navy." 
 
 "And you don't find it any better here?" 
 laughed Joe, doubtful whether this boy would not 
 encounter the same propensity for calcitration in 
 every creature endowed with a heel. 
 
 " I don't expect to find it no better nowhere, 
 sir, an' I'm jest going to kick, too." 
 
 This was accompanied by such a comically 
 retaliative look, that Joe burst into a hearty laugh. 
 "What's your name ? " he inquired. 
 
 " Enick Long. My father druv the stage, an' 
 hired me out to work in the stable of the proprie- 
 ter. Said I wouldn't git no scoolin', an' I might 
 jest as well be there. But what made me mad- 
 dest was, he tuk all the pay. Why, sir, he only 
 giv me five cents the Fourth o' July, an' I a 
 earnin' a barril o' flour a month for the family, 
 besides my own board. The hossler ust ter lick 
 me, an' I turned to an' licked the boy as was 
 younger'n me. I couldn't stan' it, so I up'n runs 
 away." 
 
 Joe could not resist the temptation of letting him 
 go on, and asked, "Where did you fetch up? " 
 
 " In Boston, sir. On the way, I stopped in the 
 
94 SCHOPY S SKETCH. 
 
 evenin' at a house, an' asked if they'd put me up. 
 They said they wouldn't put up no boy tramps. ' I 
 ain't a boy tramp,' I said, so I jest tuk a chair an' 
 sot down behind the stove in the kitchen. Says I 
 to myself, if you git me out o' this ere house afore 
 mornin', you're smarter'n I be. Well, they give 
 me some supper, an' I sot round till nine o'clock. 
 'You jest git, now,' says they; 'we hain't no bed 
 fer yer.' 'I don't want no bed,' says I. ' What'll 
 yer do ? ' says the woman. ' If you'll git that baby 
 out o' that ar' cradle, I'll show yer what I'll do,' 
 says I. 'I'll sleep in that.' 'All right,' says the 
 woman, larfin' as if she'd die, an' pullin' the baby 
 out, 'git right in.' I tumbled in, an' they larfed 
 till the tears run down their faces." 
 
 "I should think they would have," said Joe, 
 affected in the same manner by the boy's narra- 
 tive. And finding Long's way of telling his story 
 inimitable, he asked, "Did you find the cradle 
 comfortable? " 
 
 " The part o' me that was in, did, sir. But I 
 overlapped. The biggest part o' me hung over 
 the rail — I mean the foot," said Long, correcting 
 his nautical with a nursery phrase. " But warn't I 
 scared, though, in the morning. When I woke 
 up, I didn't know where I was. I saw the top o' 
 the cradle, an' I thought it must be a coffin I was 
 in, an' that I was dead." And Long paused with 
 great solemnity. " Howsumever, as I was goin' 
 
SCHOPY S SKETCH. 95 
 
 to say, I got to Boston all right. I told 'em on 
 the Wabash that I was a poor bootblack as had 
 no father, an' no mother, an' no gardeen. By 
 gracious ! but they tuk me quick, sir." Here 
 Enoch looked at himself as if he were a young 
 Hercules or an Adonis, Joe couldn't tell which- 
 Then dropping his voice to a mysterious whisper, 
 he went on : " But I jest wants to say to yer, sir, 
 that I likes the looks on yer, an' I don't want to 
 see no jobs a puttin' up on yer; an' there is a job 
 a puttin' up on yer to-night, sir." 
 
 "What is it?" asked Joe, his. curiosity greatly 
 excited. 
 
 " Oh ! I won't tell yer, sir. I never tells no 
 tales." 
 
 Joe questioned this strange boy no further, but 
 made up his mind that he would be on the alert 
 for anything that might happen during his watch. 
 
 A few moments later he went below. He 
 entered the steerage very quietly ; so quietly, 
 indeed, that Swem, who was greatly absorbed in 
 something or other, did not notice his approach. 
 Swem was sitting sidewise on the transom, his 
 back toward Joe, with a large sketch book open 
 on his knee, over a page of which, in the light 
 that fell from a small port, his pencil was fairly 
 flying. 
 
 Joe crept up and glanced over his shoulder. 
 He saw that he was fulfilling Harry's prediction. 
 
g6 schopy's sketch. 
 
 He was sketching Hubbins engaged in a round 
 dance with a queen. Joe noticed that the queen 
 was very fat, and uncommonly brown. She did 
 not look like the queen of a civilized country, 
 though her costume was European. Evidently 
 she had once been uncivilized, but was not so 
 now. Hubbins had received a good many humor- 
 ous touches. Taken all in all, the sketch showed 
 that Swem was much more at home with the 
 pencil than he would ever be with the speaking 
 trumpet. 
 
 Suddenly Joe's shadow fell across the page- 
 Slamming the book together with a frightened 
 look, Swem jumped to his feet. When, however, 
 he saw who it was, his expression of alarm changed 
 to one of amusement. Going up to the port, he 
 offered to show Joe the sketch in a better light. 
 
 "It's a pity, Schopy," said Joe, in sincere admi- 
 ration of Swem's talent, "to smother a gift like 
 yours in tar." 
 
 "I hate the Navy," said Swem. "I'd like to 
 get on an illustrated paper." 
 
 " Schopy," continued Joe, laughing at the genu- 
 ine humor of the sketch, " caricaturing is danger- 
 ous business. You must be careful not to let 
 Hubbins see this sketch. He doesn't like cadets 
 any too well, as it is." 
 
 "I'll look out and not let him see it," replied 
 Swem, closing the book. 
 
SCHOPY S SKETCH. 97 
 
 But he was too late. Coverly had been watch- 
 ing them from the outside through the slats. He 
 now dashed into the steerage, and snatching the 
 book from Swem's hand, was half-way to the fore- 
 castle before either of the cadets had recovered 
 from their surprise. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. 
 
 THE cadets quickly followed Coverly. Swem, 
 if possible, to rescue his sketch, and Joe to 
 go on watch, for eight bells were now striking. 
 But on the way to the forecastle, Joe was brought 
 to a momentary halt. Strange sounds, coming 
 from the opposite steerage, fell upon his ear. He 
 could see into the place through the open door, 
 and also through the slats, where the baize cur- 
 tains had been drawn aside to let in the air. Two 
 sailor-lads seemed to have taken possession of it. 
 They had spread out upon the table something 
 that looked like a large blanket, and were engaged 
 in preparing some kind of a bundle, the contents 
 of which Joe was unable to identify in the dim 
 light. The lads were working with a will, in 
 about the same manner as they would do had 
 they been trying to save their effects from a fire. 
 
 Joe could not stop to investigate the matter, 
 for it was high time that he reported on deck for 
 the duties of his watch. And no sooner had he 
 reported and started for the forecastle, than all 
 
 98 
 
A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. 99 
 
 thought of the affair disappeared from his mind. 
 That part of the ship was the scene of no little 
 excitement, at the bottom of which was Swem's 
 unlucky sketch. Coverly had promptly put it on 
 exhibition, and he was surrounded by a group of 
 officers, who were talking and laughing over it in 
 an hilarious manner. They were unitedly and 
 vociferously pronouncing " Hubbins waltzing with 
 a queen," as by all odds the best thing of the 
 season. 
 
 As for Hubbins, he was consumed with wrath. 
 One glance at the sketch, and he had turned upon 
 the unfortunate Svvem. He asked him how he 
 dared to caricature him dancing with a " nigger," 
 and heaped upon him such opprobrium that for 
 the moment poor Swem felt entirely crushed. 
 As Hubbins' adjectives multiplied, Swem began 
 to wonder if hanging were not, after all, too good 
 for him ; and he would have been inclined to agree 
 with that irate gentleman as to the baseness of 
 the deed, had not Hubbins' anger reached an 
 abrupt and alarming crisis. All at once Swem 
 felt himself seized by the ears and swayed back 
 and forth with more than the swiftness, if not 
 with the regularity, of a pendulum, and when Joe 
 reached the forecastle poor Schopy looked as if 
 he were in the clutches of Apollyon. As Hubbins 
 caught sight of Joe advancing with quick step, he 
 stopped sawing the air with his victim, but contin- 
 
IOO A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. 
 
 ued to hold him fast by the ears. It was evident 
 from the alertness of our hero's movement that 
 he intended becoming a party to the affair. He 
 seemed to have grown two or three inches taller, 
 and the lightning in his eye was no playful gleam, 
 as he told Hubbins to take his hands off Swem. 
 
 "I'll thrash him within an inch of his life," 
 said Hubbins, with an asthmatic struggle for his 
 breath. 
 
 " Let go of him," commanded Joe. 
 
 Whatever it was that caused him to do so, 
 whether a motive of prudence or the conviction 
 that Swem had been sufficiently punished, it is 
 certain that Swem's release instantly followed 
 Joe's peremptory command. "There!" continued 
 Joe, "don't you lay your finger on him again." 
 
 The next few minutes Hubbins devoted en- 
 tirely to the recovery of his breath. 
 
 " Come, Schopy," said Joe, as he started aft, 
 "you'd better go below." 
 
 " He'll come down there and have it out with 
 me," said Swem, in a frightened whisper. 
 
 " No, he won't. He'll carry it no further. But, 
 Schopy," continued Joe very kindly, "you must 
 not caricature your shipmates any more. Now 
 that I think of it, you'd better assure Hubbins 
 that what you did was in pure fun, and the last 
 thing you thought of was hurting his feelings." 
 
 " I'll defer my explanation till my ears get 
 
A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. IOI 
 
 well," said Swem laconically, carefully feeling of 
 his organs of hearing. 
 
 "They do look as if delay would be justified," 
 returned Joe, laughing in spite of himself. "But 
 I'm very sorry for what's happened. I think I 
 owe Hubbins an apology myself. I might have 
 made him let go of you without showing fight." 
 
 Joe's indignation at Swem's rough treatment 
 had already abated, and his kind heart was finding 
 excuses for Hubbins. Had not his duties pre- 
 vented, it is quite probable that he would have 
 gone forward instantly, and sought reconciliation 
 for himself and Swem. 
 
 Having gotten Swem safely below, Joe turned 
 his attention to the duties of his watch. He mus- 
 tered the anchor watch at the capstan, looked 
 after the lights aloft, carefully inspected the boats, 
 bestowing particular attention to the equipment 
 of the life-boat. Should it become necessary to 
 call away any or all of the boats in his watch, he 
 desired to have everything in readiness. Satisfy- 
 ing himself that no detail had been neglected, he 
 next took a look around the harbor to ascertain if 
 there were anything about that could give trouble 
 in the night. If the Daybreak had been a gold 
 mine in his charge, he could hardly have felt a 
 greater sense of responsibility, or exercised a 
 more vigilant care. 
 
 When at length he returned to the forecastle, he 
 
102 A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. 
 
 found it deserted by everybody but the regular 
 watch. He had hoped for another interview with 
 Long, but tattoo had sounded, and his would-be 
 tutelary genius was sleeping as soundly in his 
 hammock as he would have clone on his turtle-back 
 straw bed at home. The utmost stillness brooded 
 over the ship. So absolutely motionless did she 
 seem that if any one had undertaken to demon- 
 strate that she was only a picture painted upon the 
 background of this beautiful night, Joe would have 
 been indisposed to contradiction. 
 
 But he had been ordered by Mr. Bloomsbury, 
 the officer of the deck, to keep a bright lookout 
 for lights. The other ships of the North Atlantic 
 Squadron were expected at Newport that night, 
 and it was hoped that they would come in during 
 the first watch. So Joe took up his beat on the 
 top-gallant forecastle, pausing at each turn to scan 
 the far-away horizon. 
 
 But presently he allowed himself to be diverted. 
 One of the great steamers of the Fall River Line 
 was passing. What a splendid vision, Joe thought, 
 as she went flashing by. How nimbly she hand- 
 led herself in the narrow channel, picking her way 
 as by instinct, bending to each turn, and finally 
 gracefully careening to the last miniature cape, 
 passing which, she swept majestically on. Years 
 before Joe had formed a habit of introspection and 
 moralizing, and the mood was upon him now. 
 
A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. 103 
 
 "Ships are wonderful things," he said to himself. 
 "May I be as true to some noble purpose in life 
 as a ship is to its course," he added. Then he 
 reflected, as ships have sun and stars to guide 
 them, so he had great principles and illustrious 
 examples to guide him. 
 
 A little moralizing is not bad, especially when 
 it goes no farther than one's self; and Joe was 
 careful that his moralizing should go no farther 
 than himself. But he had many times remarked 
 that it immediately preceded, in himself, at least, a 
 very unpleasant state of mind. This was the case 
 now. The first thing that entered his thoughts 
 after the above meditations, was Schopy's sketch 
 of Hubbins waltzing with a queen. This recalled 
 another sketch made years before. Then followed 
 a whole troop of thoughts and memories of its 
 girlish author. And this would have been exceed- 
 ingly pleasant but for just one thing, and that 
 was what Joe had been trying to keep a secret, 
 even from himself. 
 
 Just here, while the stars grow brighter, and 
 the shores gloomier, and the ship more silent, 
 Joe's secret may as well be confided to the readers 
 of this book. 
 
 He had made a startling discovery. It was of 
 no less magnitude than that there existed in him 
 a tender feeling for Katie Aston. We can see 
 how this was the most natural thing in the world, 
 
104 A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. 
 
 but strangely enough, Joe could not. He was not 
 aware that with a cadet falling in love is almost a 
 condition of good seamanship. To be sure, he 
 had never known a cadet who had not betrayed 
 this weakness, but he had never till now sus- 
 pected himself of like vulnerability. He was just 
 as much surprised by his discovery, but in no 
 sense as elated, as a botanist would be at finding 
 an entirely new and original plant. Joe actually 
 regarded himself as culpable for having lost his 
 heart to his young friend, and he was using his 
 best endeavor to destroy, root and branch, this 
 dangerous exotic, as he regarded it, that had 
 sprung up within him. 
 
 Joe's state of heart seemed to himself entirely 
 incongruous and uncalled for. In the first place, 
 so he reasoned, if he were a prince he never could 
 be good enough for Katie Aston. This was a 
 very healthy symptom, though he was not aware 
 of it. Then he asked himself if Mr. and Mrs. 
 Aston were to know of his feeling toward Katie v 
 would they not regard him as most ungrate- 
 ful and unchivalrous — as having abused their 
 confidence and hospitality ? What right had he 
 to visit them and form an attachment for their 
 only daughter right under their own roof, and at 
 such ridiculously short notice ? If they had sus- 
 pected anything of this sort they would never 
 have asked him to visit them. Besides, there 
 
A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. IO5 
 
 was a reasonable probability that Ned Brent- 
 ford, with the sanction of her parents, too, had 
 already won Katie's affections. 
 
 Furthermore, Joe cherished the conviction that 
 there is something akin to unmanliness and very 
 much of selfishness in the desire to take a girl 
 like Katie Aston, born and bred amid lux- 
 ury, into a life of comparative self-denial and 
 poverty. If by any possibility he were able to 
 win such a girl, what had he to offer her ? Joe 
 was a very honest young fellow, and he regarded 
 himself, under the circumstances, as having not 
 the least right in the world to indulge any feeling 
 toward Katie save that of simple friendship. 
 
 But he had one comfort in it all. Nobody knew 
 anything about it but himself, or ever would know. 
 This was a special consolation. As he now swept 
 the horizon with his glass, watching for the squad- 
 ron's lights, he said to himself that he could let 
 this new feeling wither away, and no one would 
 ever be the wiser for it. It would perish as the 
 secret of his own breast. 
 
 All at once, however, a horrible suspicion came 
 upon him. It brought with it a great fear. One 
 other knew about this secret. Mrs. Pepper had 
 also made the discovery. Everything mysterious 
 in her conduct was now as clear as day. She had 
 known him better than he had known himself. 
 He recalled her rude opposition to his riding out 
 
106 A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. 
 
 with Katie, her distrust of him, her secret enmity 
 toward him. It was enough ; she had seen every- 
 thing from the beginning. And knowing what 
 she did, she would, of course, "let the cat out of 
 the bag." The Astons would erase him from their 
 books. Their friendship for him was at an end. 
 This theory about Mrs. Pepper seemed absolutely 
 without a flaw. 
 
 As he turned the matter over in his mind, he 
 almost groaned aloud. He quickened his pace. 
 Mrs. Pepper had undoubtedly given him a setting 
 out before his friends. What could he do? He 
 was certainly in disfavor, if not in disgrace, with 
 them. A long time he debated the matter with 
 himself, and at last decided upon a course of 
 action. First of all, he would not call upon them 
 for a very long time. He did not know just how 
 long, but it might be a year or two. Then, hav- 
 ing written Katie the letter he had promised, he 
 would only reply in a formal manner to such let- 
 ters as she or her father might occasionally write 
 him. This seemed the proper thing to do, and 
 having adopted it as a policy, Joe became quite 
 cheerful. But what if neither Katie nor her father 
 should write him again ? The bare thought almost 
 caused a chill. 
 
 Finally he settled with himself that his thoughts 
 of Katie should be utterly destitute of sentiment ; 
 which last resolve, we know, was just about the 
 
A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. IOJ 
 
 same as though he had made a decree that he 
 would eat a whole basketful of free-stone peaches 
 without tasting them. 
 
 It is impossible to tell how much farther Joe 
 would have pursued these startling and unhappy 
 reflections, had he not detected what he took to be 
 the dip of an oar at no great distance off the star- 
 board bow. He peered out into the darkness, 
 straining his ears to listen, but nothing further 
 could he hear. Evidently a mistake, he thought, 
 and so dismissed the matter from his mind. 
 Again he was busy searching the horizon for 
 lights, when the same sound was repeated, this 
 time directly under the bows. Taking a quick 
 look down into the water, he saw two men in a 
 small boat, in the act of passing something on 
 board the Daybreak, through the bridle-port. He 
 had no sooner got a good look at them, when the 
 work was over, and the men were quietly getting 
 out their oars, manifestly hoping to steal away 
 unobserved. 
 
 "Boat ahoy!" sung out Joe at the top of his 
 voice. 
 
 Greatly startled, the men let fall their oars, and 
 without answering the challenge, began with might 
 and main to pull for the town. Joe ran aft and 
 quickly reported the suspicious circumstance to 
 Mr. Bloomsbury. 
 
 "Smuggling liquor, no doubt," exclaimed Mr. 
 
I08 A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. 
 
 Bloomsbury, in the same breath giving an order to 
 lower the second whale-boat. 
 
 "Come, Conners," said Joe, as he made up a 
 boat's crew from the men on deck, " I want you 
 to go with me." 
 
 The improvised crew sprang for the davits, and 
 in less time than it takes to tell it the boat was in 
 the water, with the men, followed by Joe, sliding 
 down into her on the falls. 
 
 " Don't let them escape," said Mr. Bloomsbury, 
 as Joe shoved off. 
 
 "Ay, ay, sir," came back from the boat, and 
 the chase began. 
 
 Though the time had been very short in which 
 the whale-boat was being manned, it had afforded 
 the fugitives opportunity for a good start. Point- 
 ing the prow in the direction of the city, Joe 
 ordered the crew to give way strongly, and the 
 boat shot off into the darkness. On account of 
 the click of the oars in the row-locks, no sound 
 could be heard from the other boat. The whale- 
 boat, from mere superiority of numbers must gain 
 rapidly upon them, Joe thought. But nothing like 
 a boat could he discover in the outer harbor, and 
 it was impossible for her to have made the inner 
 harbor. 
 
 " They have probably crept in close to Goat 
 Island," he said, "or run into the shadow of the 
 breakwater," and changing his course a little, he 
 
A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. IO9 
 
 brought the places he had in mind directly in 
 view. A few smart strokes sent him near enough 
 to see that the boat had not sought refuge under 
 Goat Island or the breakwater. "Oars," he 
 ordered. 
 
 All listened. 
 
 "There's a boat pulling off toward Jamestown," 
 eagerly reported Conners. 
 
 Conners was all alive to the chase, and pulled 
 and listened as if everything depended on his 
 sharpness of ear and might of muscle. 
 
 Every ear was bent in the direction indicated, 
 and presently the faintest sound of oars was dis- 
 tinguished way off toward Conannicut 
 
 "Give way," Joe ordered, throwing himself 
 back and forward as he headed the boat in the 
 direction of the sound. Impelled by his sharp 
 orders and determined spirit, the crew threw their 
 weight upon the oars, and in a few minutes they 
 were rewarded by the discovery of the boat at no 
 great distance off the port beam. 
 
 "Heave to!" shouted Joe in a tone of com- 
 mand, as he put the tiller hard over, bringing the 
 whale-boat in a line with the other. 
 
 "What for?" answered the nearest man in a 
 defiant manner. 
 
 "You're my prisoners," said Joe. 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! " came back in a mocking laugh. 
 
 By this time Joe had brought the whale-boat 
 
IIO A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. 
 
 alongside, and had repeated his order to " heave 
 to." As they could do no better, the men rested 
 on their oars and looked at our hero as Goliath 
 might, in the same situation, have regarded David, 
 for they were strapping fellows. 
 
 "What were you doing under our bows?" Joe 
 demanded. 
 
 "None of your business," was the ready answer. 
 
 "What were you doing under our bows?" Joe 
 repeated. 
 
 "Fishing." 
 
 "Why didn't you answer my challenge, then?" 
 
 " It was none of your business what we were 
 doing. This harbor don't belong to the United 
 States Navy. You feel as if you own all creation, 
 anyway." 
 
 " You were there under suspicious circum- 
 stances, and you're my prisoners. I have orders 
 to arrest you." 
 
 "Let's see you do it," said the spokesman, with 
 a fierce oath. 
 
 Joe ordered the men to give way a couple of 
 strokes, then to trail oars, thus bringing the gun- 
 wales of the boats together. 
 
 "I warn you," said the man, "if you get into 
 this boat, you're a dead man." 
 
 Here was certainly a critical situation. Joe 
 was unarmed, and the boat contained nothing 
 more formidable than oars and boat-hooks. And 
 
A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. I I I 
 
 such unmilitary weapons he would have scorned 
 to use. 
 
 "Let me go, sir," said Conners, in his excite- 
 ment putting his hand on Joe's arm. 
 
 " Follow me," said Joe, and he sprang for the 
 boat. 
 
 A ball whizzed past his head, and still another ; 
 but by this time he had grasped the scoundrel's 
 wrist. At the same time Conners seized him by 
 the throat, and flung him on his back in the bot- 
 tom of the boat. This was done in season for 
 Conners to plant a blow between the eyes of the 
 other man, who had raised his oar to strike Joe 
 down. Joe now wrenched the revolver out of the 
 villain's hand, and coolly put it in his pocket. 
 
 Fortunately for our hero, when he took his leap, 
 the boat heeled over a little under his weight, 
 throwing the man with the revolver back on the 
 thwarts. This diverted his aim, thus without 
 doubt, saving Joe's life. It took but a few min- 
 utes to secure the prisoners, and get them into 
 the whale-boat. Joe's men were cool, powerful 
 fellows, and when they saw him covered by the 
 revolver, a couple of them seized boat-hooks and 
 would have made quick work with his antagonist 
 had not Conners overpowered him. The work 
 accomplished, the party now took the captured 
 boat in tow and started on their return, no little 
 elated over their prize. 
 
112 A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. 
 
 The two shots had been heard on the Daybreak, 
 and the greatest anxiety was felt to know if any- 
 thing had happened to any of the boat's company. 
 When, therefore, they marched their prisoners 
 over the ship's side, Captain Farradale and Mr. 
 Moncrief scanned them with grave countenances. 
 When they ascertained that nothing had happened 
 to Joe or any of his men, they felt greatly relieved. 
 But they were very indignant, when Joe gave 
 them an account of the capture, at the audacious 
 attempt to shoot down one of the young officers 
 of the Daybreak. 
 
 It was a clear case. While the party had been 
 absent, the smuggled liquor had been found. It 
 was plain to Captain Farradale that these men 
 were at the bottom of all the trouble he had been 
 having from liquor brought secretly on board. A 
 slight pallor was perceptible in the culprits' faces 
 as the captain said to them sternly: "We shall 
 detain you till to-morrow morning. You will then 
 be handed over to the civil authorities. Mr. Mon- 
 crief," he continued, turning to the executive, 
 "send them below under sentry's charge." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BREAKING IN CADETS. 
 
 AN hour still remained of Joe's watch. After 
 superintending the hoisting of the whale- 
 boat, he resumed his station on the top-gallant 
 forecastle. 
 
 " This has been a rather lively watch," he said 
 to himself. " I shouldn't care for such an experi- 
 ence every night. It would have been rather 
 tame, though, without the shooting. If I'd had 
 the planning of it myself, I should probably have 
 left that out. But now that it's over with, I'm 
 glad it happened. Wonder if there'll be anything 
 more ! " 
 
 As he thus soliloquized, a movement of the 
 anchor watch below attracted his attention. Some 
 one from the berth deck had joined them, and they 
 were talking in low tones and giggling with sup- 
 pressed merriment. It seemed to Joe that they 
 were plotting mischief. He tried to hear what 
 they were saying, but could only distinguish such 
 words as " Doctor," "Cadet of the watch," "Offi- 
 cer of the deck," and the like. Listen as he 
 113 
 
114 BREAKING IN CADETS. 
 
 would, he could get no connecting links. He 
 resolved to keep quiet, and very soon the plan, 
 whatever it might be, was agreed upon, and not 
 another word was spoken. Joe had thought that 
 possibly the liquor smuggling was what Long 
 meant in his warning, but here was another clue. 
 This might be the "job that was a puttin' up on 
 him." 
 
 Meanwhile, the Daybreak swung at her anchor, 
 and Joe was obliged to go aft to fufill his duty as 
 lookout. After the excitement he had passed 
 through, he found this very stupid. The stillness 
 began to have a soporific effect upon him ; several 
 times he caught himself yawning, and he wished 
 heartily that eight bells would strike, when he 
 would be relieved of his watch. Ashamed of his 
 drowsiness, he took summary measures with him- 
 self to overcome it, and he brought himself in 
 sharp contact with the pin rail. Happening to 
 glance forward as he did so, he saw a sight that 
 in itself would have instantly roused him from his 
 partially comatose state. 
 
 Something very white and unshapely was slowly 
 ascending to a point under the fore-yard. It was 
 moving up apparently without aid from any source 
 whatever. For a moment it would hang sus- 
 pended in the air ; then, in seeming defiance of 
 the law of gravitation, it would again go slowly 
 upward. It had a sort of unearthly look, for it 
 
BREAKING IN CADETS. I I 5 
 
 was diffused with light of a somewhat phosphores- 
 cent nature. Whatever it was, it had the effect 
 of causing Joe to vigorously rub his eyes, and 
 doubt whether he had fully recovered his senses. 
 
 " Go forward, Bently, and see what that is going 
 up to the fore-yard, there," said Mr. Bloomsbury. 
 
 The object had now reached the fore-yard, under 
 which it hung bobbing about like a toy balloon. 
 Quickly stepping forward, Joe demanded of the 
 anchor watch what it was that had been run up to 
 the yard. 
 
 " Dunno, sir ; 'deed I doesn't," answered a col- 
 ored apprentice, trembling from head to foot. " I 
 specs it am a ghost, sir." 
 
 Evidently he was not in the secret. Joe ques- 
 tioned the other members of the watch, but an 
 atmosphere of secrecy surrounded them. All the 
 time the most unaccountable performances were 
 going on aloft. 
 
 "I'll find out for myself," Joe declared, consid- 
 erably irritated, and swinging himself into the 
 rigging. 
 
 But he had no sooner grasped the shrouds than 
 titterings broke out all around, and heads began 
 to appear in the different hatchways. One man 
 from below, who failed to comprehend the situa- 
 tion, sung out, "What's up?" 
 
 " Sh ! " was the reply. "Breaking in a cadet." 
 
 Joe was not to be deterred, and he soon reached 
 
Il6 BREAKING IN CADETS. 
 
 the yard. Meanwhile, the automaton had ceased 
 its gyrations, and had slipped out to the yard arm. 
 The first thing Joe did was to hunt for lines or 
 wires by means of which, he felt sure, the thing 
 was operated. . But he could discover nothing of 
 the kind. He was now poised on the slings of 
 the yard, while the object hung quietly at the tip 
 end, on the starboard side. He concluded that he 
 would go after it. Getting within easy grasp, he 
 made a dive for it. What was his chagrin to see 
 it drop several inches beyond his reach. He 
 grabbed at it for nearly a minute, the titterings 
 below all the time becoming more audible. Again 
 it came up a little, and began to slowly advance 
 toward the slings of the yard. Joe moved after it. 
 It kept on to the opposite yard-arm. He acceler- 
 ated his speed. This time he was sure he had it, 
 and in the violence of his lunge nearly flung him- 
 self on deck". Down went the object the second 
 time, sliding smoothly and quickly back to its first 
 position. Several times it led him this wild goose 
 chase back and forth upon the yard, and at last 
 stopped flush up against the mast. 
 
 Joe stopped, too, to take breath and cool off 
 a little. He was in something of a predica- 
 ment, of which he was disposed to take a comical 
 view. The "job" of which Long had warned 
 him was now easily comprehended. Among his 
 messmates he would never hear the last of it. 
 
BREAKING IN CADETS. \\J 
 
 How Katie Aston would laugh could she now see 
 him on the fore-yard, close on to midnight, chasing 
 a ghost ! Would he write her about it, and would 
 she sketch him in his ludicrous plight, as Schopy 
 had sketched Hubbins dancing with a queen ? 
 But then, hadn't he decided that he wouldn't 
 write her any more, at least, any more than one 
 formal letter ? And at the mere suggestion, his 
 hold upon the buntwhips to which he was cling- 
 ing was nearly broken. He decided, however, 
 that he would tell her of this affair. It would 
 amuse her, and help fill up the letter. Glancing 
 below, he concluded that he would not hurry 
 down. Something seemed to amuse Mr. Blooms- 
 bury — in fact, everybody down there, as nearly 
 as he could make out in the dim light, looked 
 pleased. 
 
 What was his horror, also, to see Coverly stand- 
 ing just under his perch. Why should he appear 
 at just that instant? He had stationed himself in 
 the same relative position as the fox in the fable 
 did to the crow. And as the fox, from a purely 
 personal motive, was bent on making the crow sing 
 so Coverly was determined on make Joe converse. 
 
 " Bently ! O, Bently ! " he began, "you look 
 very pretty up there." 
 
 No answer. 
 
 " What are you doing out on the fore-yard this 
 time of flight ? " 
 
Il8 BREAKING IN CADETS. 
 
 Still no reply. 
 
 " Come, now, tell us what you're doing up 
 there," insisted Coverly, coaxingly. 
 
 " Only sitting here," said Joe, very slowly. 
 
 " Why don't you come down, then ? " 
 
 "I can't; I'm on the lookout for the Squadron." 
 
 "But you seemed to be chasing something," 
 
 "I was following up a light." 
 
 " Red or green," interrogated Coverly. 
 
 "Very white," Joe chuckled back. 
 
 " Flying Dutchman ? " 
 
 "No; Aztec juggler." 
 
 Just then, as by a preconcerted signal, the 
 blanket covering the object fell fluttering to the 
 deck, and there hung the assistant surgeon's noble 
 from the Court of the Montezumas, with several 
 candles burning brightly in the interior. It had 
 been worked by a very clever arrangement of 
 cords and pulleys ; a contrivance which, together 
 with the whole scheme, Joe was disposed to think 
 originated abaft rather than before the mast. 
 
 Next morning our hero was awakened by an 
 unusual hubbub in the steerage. As he slowly 
 opened his eyes, he hardly knew whether he was 
 in the Tower of Babel or at a Washington tea. 
 Everyboby was talking in the same breath, and 
 Hubbins, whose slumber could not have been of 
 the sweetest, was on what Coverly called his regu- 
 lar old sea growl. 
 
BREAKING IN CADETS. I 19 
 
 " Some tomfoolery or other was going on all 
 night," he said; "I hardly fetched a wink of 
 sleep. What the dickens was the matter on 
 deck?" 
 
 "The squadron's came in, sir," volunteered the 
 steerage boy, who was blacking shoes under one 
 of the ladders, "an' they was a makin' out the 
 numbers." 
 
 " I've known a blockade-runner to be blown out 
 of water with half the fuss," continued Hubbins. 
 
 " An' two men was caught, an' there was a 
 ghost, sir," added the boy. 
 
 " Ghost ! That infernal Digger Injin ! No peace 
 now," he went on. " Red tape by the thousand 
 yard, and a grand hullaballoo from morning till 
 night." 
 
 "Oh! quit your growling," sung out Coverly 
 from his bed on the port steerage table. 
 
 " ' Important naval operations at Newport ! ' 
 'Grand squadron evolutions at sea!'" pursued 
 Hubbins, "sound well on paper, but you must 
 excuse me. I'd rather take another dive in the 
 Cumberland." 
 
 " No allusions to old cruises," yawned Arlington. 
 " But we've got to turn out ; here comes ' Old 
 Mortality.'" 
 
 Austey was out on what the marines and mess- 
 cooks called one of his disinfectant tours. " Come, 
 break out here," he said, as he hustled aft. " I 
 
120 BREAKING IN CADETS. 
 
 want this deck put to rights. Sleeping in, too," 
 he added, " with the whole North Atlantic Squad- 
 ron anchored alongside ! What are these young 
 officers coming to ? " 
 
 "These young admirals, you mean," muttered 
 Hubbins. 
 
 " Schopy," whispered Joe, who saw that Hub- 
 bins' ill-humor was not nearly so great as it 
 seemed, "you're all right." 
 
 In a few minutes everybody was out of his ham- 
 mock, waiting his turn at the single wash-basin. 
 Such composure and patience were probably never 
 seen before, save in the land of Uz. But it was a 
 matter of surprise on this morning, how quickly 
 the mess toilet was made. There was an unusual 
 scarcity of combs and brushes, for which, it was 
 the general conviction, Coverly was responsible ; 
 and those who reached the glass first showed a 
 most miserly disposition to monopolize it. When 
 Hubbins therefore reached it, it seemed that he 
 never would give it up. The fact that Schopy 
 was immediately behind him waiting his turn may 
 have retarded his movements. 
 
 "Hurry up," sung out Henlington, the last in 
 the line ; "I can't wait here all day." 
 
 " Let him look at his nose, if he wants to," said 
 Coverly. 
 
 Hubbins' nose happened to be his weak point, 
 and Joe began to dread hostilities at Coverly's 
 
BREAKING IN CADETS. I 2 I 
 
 allusion. In color it approached a magenta, and 
 at the end it was in what Coverly called its gib- 
 bous state. Swera had been quick to utilize the 
 information the nose gave of itself in his sketch, 
 and it was this more than anything else that made 
 Hubbins so angry. But in justice to Hubbins, it 
 must be said that he was trying to correct the 
 habit which had wrought this mischief, and his 
 nose was returning to its original form and color. 
 
 Strange to say, Hubbins did not take offense at 
 Coverly's remark, and Joe breathed easier. By 
 the good-natured loan of a few collars and neck- 
 ties, and a light skirmishing around for pins on 
 the part of those who were dressed, in behalf of 
 those who were not dressed, to take the place of 
 buttons that had been off from nine months to a 
 year, the whole mess was at last in a presentable 
 condition. 
 
 Joe stepped on deck to get a whiff of fresh air, 
 and to take a look at the squadron which had 
 arrived in the mid-watch. The vessels lay quietly 
 at anchor three hundred yards off the Daybreak's 
 bows. He had seen the great ships of other 
 navies, yet these vessels, even in their inferiority 
 made a grand picture to him. Several of them 
 were historic ; ships whose names will never dis- 
 appear from the history of the country; ships 
 whose deeds will live in the naval annals of the 
 world. 
 
122 BREAKING IN CADETS. 
 
 A good deal of sentiment had Joe, touching 
 men-of-war now, and he felt a sense of injury as 
 Swem and Harry broke in upon his reverie. 
 Harry happened to be cadet of the watch, and 
 was exhilarated by the fine morning, and enthusi- 
 astic over the arrival of the squadron. He was 
 fond of the fuss and feathers of military life, and 
 he was now delighted at the harbor-full of ships, 
 promising so much military display. 
 
 "Mr. Moncrief," he began, "has been on deck 
 all the morning. He says we are going to have 
 lively old times. Schopy, old boy, you'll wish 
 Sunday was a month long when it comes." 
 
 "Why, what's going to happen?" said Swem, 
 his face suddenly clouding. 
 
 •" Oh ! nothing. Only a little of Mr. Moncrief's 
 work, you know ; or his and the admiral's to- 
 gether." 
 
 "He's going to put his best foot forward," con- 
 tinued Harry, "and show them what the Daybreak 
 can do." 
 
 "I presume the ships will be inspected first," 
 remarked Joe. 
 
 "Very likely. After that, look out," replied 
 Harry. "This admiral means business. "He'll 
 get us down to the hard pan." 
 
 "I fancy," said Joe, "it will all wind up with a 
 grand encampment of the whole naval brigade, 
 and a sham battle." 
 
BREAKING IN CADETS. 123 
 
 "Of course it's got to be sham, like everything 
 else in the Navy," said Harry, in a tone of con- 
 tempt. 
 
 " The war happened fifteen or twenty years too 
 soon for Edgerton," said Swem. "He's as blood- 
 thirsty as an old buccaneer." 
 
 " He might be one," laughed Joe. " There's the 
 Ouranos. Why not run away with her? I'd be 
 your executive, and Schopy could be your naviga- 
 tor." 
 
 " By the way, Bently, did I tell you the Ouranos 
 may be at Bar Harbor in August ?" said Harry. 
 
 Joe only stared. 
 
 " Yes ; it's barely possible. If the Daybreak 
 only fetches round there the same time, it'll be the 
 creamiest thing I know of." 
 
 Joe did not utter a syllable. 
 
 " Of course you'll introduce Schopy and me to 
 that nice little girl you know down there," Harry 
 went on. 
 
 "I don't like a flag-ship at all." began Swem at 
 this point, to Joe's great relief. "She's nothing 
 but a watch-dog, anyway. The admiral, captain, 
 and everybody else rides over you rough-shod. 
 See ! They're looking at us now, through the 
 ship's glasses." 
 
 The admiral and the captain stood upon the 
 flag-ship's bridge, gazing earnestly at the Day- 
 break through the ship's glasses. 
 
124 BREAKING IN CADETS. 
 
 " What does that mean ? " asked Harry. 
 
 "It means," said Arlington, who had just come 
 on deck, "that the next ten days, we'll be just so 
 many toads under a harrow." 
 
 Breakfast over, Joe was summoned on deck 
 with Harry and Swem, to get his daily instruc- 
 tions from Mr. Moncrief. Now that the squadron 
 was in, that gentleman was anxious that the 
 cadets should look alive and secure all data that 
 could be of any practicable help to them in their 
 profession. He told them they must learn some- 
 thing of the history of each ship : her displace- 
 ment, the number of feet she drew, forward and 
 aft, her coal-carrying capacity, the indicated horse 
 power of her engines, and her highest rate of 
 speed, particularly under sail. In short, they 
 were to let nothing important escape them, and all 
 was to be recorded in their journals. 
 
 As Mr. Moncrief, the day before, had given 
 them a full month's work, they did not see how 
 they could properly attend to this new apportion- 
 ment of duties. But they said, "ay, ay, sir," just 
 as though the time were a dead weight on their 
 hands. 
 
 "You see," said Harry, when they got below 
 again, "how it's fixed in my journal," taking the 
 journal out of a drawer and laying it open on the 
 table. 
 
 At the top of each page was a large heading 
 
BREAKING IN CADETS. 1 25 
 
 written in red ink, and as Harry turned the pages, 
 Joe read, "Problems in Flotation, Problems in 
 Resistance, Problems in Curves, Problems in Air 
 Currents," and so on, through a large portion of 
 the book. 
 
 "It's all problems," laughed Joe. 
 
 "You'll never get anything else from Mr. Mon- 
 crief," said Arlington, who was standing by, much 
 amused. " At the Academy they used to call 
 him ' Old Problematical.' " 
 
 "If he don't let up on me, there'll be a cadet 
 missing from quarters one of these fine morn- 
 ings," said Swem. 
 
 " Only keep yourselves busy," said Arlington, 
 "and he'll be satisfied. What he wants is to have 
 you make a show of doing a great deal. It's the 
 appearance that he's after," Arlington concluded 
 with a smile. 
 
 Joe did not believe that he entertained any 
 such view of Mr. Moncrief, but there was no time 
 now to discuss the matter. Before leaving the 
 deck he had been informed that he must stand by 
 for boat duty. The boat had just been called 
 away, and buckling on his sword, he hastened to 
 report to the officer of the deck. His instructions 
 were simple. He was first to go ashore, hunt up 
 the chief of police, and inform him of the affair of 
 the night before, and then return immediately to 
 the ship for further orders. 
 
126 BREAKING IN CADETS. 
 
 That the progress of this story may not be 
 interrupted, it may as well be said here that the 
 two men were promptly convicted and sentenced 
 to a term in jail, the plea that in the firing it was 
 only intended to frighten the officer of the Day- 
 break's boat, saving them from state prison. 
 
 Upon his return to the Daybreak, Joe had just 
 time to brush up a little before he was sent on 
 duty to the flag-ship. In something of a tremor 
 he made his way to that august craft. To a 
 cadet, especially a cadet like Joe, an admiral is a 
 being of awful grandeur. What was his conster- 
 nation, therefore, as he approached the flagship's 
 gang-way, to see both the admiral and the captain 
 standing on the bridge just above it. 
 
 He had been informed that the admiral was a 
 great stickler for regulations, particularly in mat- 
 ters of uniform. His face was therefore scarlet 
 as he went over the side, conscious that the 
 admiral was raking him fore and aft through his 
 glasses. As to his personal appearance, Joe was 
 rather fastidious, and on this occasion he looked 
 more than usually presentable. He thought noth- 
 ing was wanting in his uniform, and he was espe- 
 cially proud of his sword, polished as it was to the 
 brightness of some historic blade on exhibition in 
 a glass case. 
 
 "Young man," said the admiral, "you're out of 
 uniform." 
 
BREAKING IN CADETS. 127 
 
 Joe turned pale, and could not say a word. 
 
 " When you return," continued the admiral, not 
 unpleasantly, "ask the officer of the deck what 
 the omission is from your uniform." Then he 
 resumed conversation with the captain. 
 
 Joe knew that this was a hit at the officer of the 
 deck, and wondered what could be the matter with 
 his uniform. He had to wait some time for offi- 
 cial papers, and he could do nothing better than 
 stand around the deck. He tried not to overhear 
 what the admiral was saying to the captain on the 
 bridge, but with ill-success. That high official 
 was pointedly commenting on the fact that naval 
 vessels spend entirely too much time in port. 
 
 The captain seemed to dissent from his views. 
 He maintained that naval vessels spend enough 
 time at sea for all practical purposes, in making 
 their passages from one country and from one 
 port to another. "Why," said he, "I was once a 
 hundred days in going from Montevideo to Gibral- 
 tar; and," he added, "I always feel uncertain, 
 when I have a long passage to make in one of our 
 slow ships, whether I shall reach port in time for 
 the day of judgment." 
 
 " What a grand thing it must be," thought Joe, 
 to be able to contradict an admiral." 
 
 But the admiral kept right on. " The business 
 of sailors," he said, "is to be at sea; and while I 
 have command, there'll be no yachting in the 
 
128 BREAKING IN CADETS. 
 
 North Atlantic Squadron. These young officers 
 know almost nothing about handling ships. They 
 know everything but their business — seamanship." 
 
 What was Joe's astonishment to hear the cap- 
 tain say : " That's the easiest learned of all. Ordi- 
 nary experience will give them a knowledge of 
 seamanship. If seamanship were all there is to 
 an officer's profession, we might better draw our 
 personelle from the merchant service, and not 
 waste so many years at the Academy." 
 
 "Yes," said the admiral, seeming to pay still 
 less attention to the captain ; " I venture to say 
 that that cadet standing there, with all his mathe- 
 matics, couldn't fish a lower mast, carried away 
 above the spider-band." 
 
 Joe was tempted to touch his cap to the admi- 
 ral, and ask to be given a trial. 
 
 "Or," continued the admiral with emphasis, 
 " in running before the wind with all sail set, 
 should the mizzen top-sail parrel carry away, to 
 replace it immediately." 
 
 Joe had to admit to himself that this was a poser. 
 
 But little more was said. The admiral inadvert- 
 ently remarked that after a time he should send 
 the Daybreak along the coast, having her spend a 
 number of weeks at Bar Harbor. Joe gave a start 
 at this. A moment later the admiral's secretary 
 placed in his hand a package of official papers for 
 Captain Farradale, and he took his departure. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 
 
 OUR hero was late to mess that day, and 
 but for Dicky Dawson's thoughtfulness, 
 he would have lost it altogether. Dawson was 
 acting temporarily as ship's cook. Knowing 
 that cadets' belated meals are apt to become 
 brown and stringy, and often waste away bodily 
 in galley ovens, be had saved Joe a piping-hot 
 plate of bean soup and a piece of plum duff from 
 the ship's ration. As soon as Joe appeared at the 
 mess-table, Dicky presented his humble offering 
 with much obsequiousness. The hearty thanks 
 he received, therefore, sent him back to the galley 
 as light as a feather. 
 
 "That young feller's a regerler sundowner," he 
 confided to himself. " These young bucks has to 
 douse their glims alongside o' him." 
 
 Owing to the events of the morning, Joe was a 
 little absent-minded. He started in on the soup 
 as though his mouth had been a moulding for the 
 reception of hot metal. But his boyish encoun- 
 ters with hot potatoes had taught him how to 
 129 
 
I3O FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 
 
 manage when an accident had given hot food a 
 temporary advantage, and he returned to the 
 table, which the urgency of the moment had 
 obliged him to leave, not much burned. The 
 affair, however, afforded great amusement to 
 Harry, who, beside himself, was the only occu- 
 pant of the steerage. 
 
 "I wish that secret was as hot as the soup," he 
 said. 
 
 " Why ? " asked Joe. 
 
 "Then you couldn't hold it." 
 
 Harry had been plying Joe with all sorts of 
 questions. He wanted to learn what he had heard 
 on board the flag-ship concerning the Daybreak's 
 movements. Joe had told him just enough to 
 greatly excite his curiosity. " Come, now, Joey," 
 he urged, " tell me all about it ; I won't give it 
 away." 
 
 The mess called Joe J. B., Joey B., Joey, and 
 so on. 
 
 "The admiral was not talking to me," said Joe, 
 "and I don't like to repeat what I overheard in a 
 conversation." 
 
 " Didn't he say the Daybreak's going to Bar 
 Harbor?" Harry asked, fixing an inquisitional eye 
 on Joe. 
 
 To this he received no answer. To tell the 
 truth, Joe was not in a communicative mood this 
 mornino;. He had worn the wronsr sword belt on 
 
FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 131 
 
 board the flag-ship, and in obedience to the admi- 
 ral's order, had been obliged to tell the officer of 
 the deck what had been said to him about it ; and 
 this trivial circumstance, in connection with what 
 he had overheard in regard to the Daybreak's 
 movements, had quite upset him. Truth to tell, 
 however, it was Mrs. Pepper's accompanying ap- 
 parition that did the mischief. 
 
 "Didn't he, now?" persisted Harry. 
 
 " He didn't say she wasn't going there," said 
 Joe, forced to a direct reply. 
 
 "Couldn't be anything better," said Harry, 
 much pleased, inferring the truth from Joe's 
 inflection. 
 
 To Joe's vision, Mrs. Pepper now seemed to be 
 looking daggers at him. 
 
 "Bently," Harry continued, "why don't you 
 want to go to Bar Harbor? " 
 
 " Did I say I didn't want to go ? " Joe answered 
 evasively, looking up quickly. 
 
 " O, no ! But aren't you all right with the 
 Astons ? " 
 
 "What — what put that into your head?" fal- 
 tered Joe, quite overcome by this abrupt question. 
 
 " Nothing ; only you've been an oyster or a clam 
 the last three days. That's the only way I can 
 account for it." 
 
 "We parted the best of friends," replied Joe, 
 his eyes blinking. "But have I been very glum ? " 
 
132 FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 
 
 " As glum as our old Schopy when you say 
 Panama or the South Atlantic to him. What 
 have you got to say about it, Schopy ? " he added, 
 as that cadet, to Joe's great relief, entered the 
 steerage. 
 
 Swem made no reply, but flung himself into a 
 chair, the very picture of despair. He looked so 
 utterly woe-begone that both Joe and Harry began 
 laughing immoderately. 
 
 "Why, Schopy," said Joe, "what can be the 
 matter ? You look like that last man in ' Whin- 
 chell's Sketches of Creation.' " 
 
 Swem spoke not a word. It was evident there 
 was no sympathy there for him. 
 
 " Come, Schopy, tell us what it is this time," 
 said Harry coaxingly. 
 
 "It's everything," said Swem. "But you can't 
 do me any good. I'll keep still and take the 
 consequences." 
 
 " No, you won't," said Joe. " Don't beat round 
 the bush any longer, but out with it." 
 
 " He's going to send me a challenge," said 
 Swem, feebly, "and I want you to be my second." 
 
 At this, Joe and Harry threw themselves back 
 in their chairs and laughed till the tears ran down 
 their faces. 
 
 "You seem to think it's a trifling matter," said 
 Swem, an inflection of bitterness entering into his 
 lugubrious tones. " It may cost me my life." 
 
FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. I 33 
 
 "What weapon are you going to use, Schopy ? " 
 asked Harry, with great effort controlling himself 
 to speak. 
 
 "He might use old Hannibal," put in Joe. 
 
 Old Hannibal, as the cadets had named it, was 
 the sword Swem had been wearing several days. 
 A few evenings before, he had lost his own. In 
 some way its scabbard had caught in between the 
 steps of the ladder as he ran up the gangway, and 
 the blade being violently ejected, had gone, where 
 it were better all swords should be, to the bottom 
 of the sea. As a substitute, Swem was using one 
 loaned him by the surgeon. It was a very hungry- 
 looking weapon. From its appearance it might 
 have been made in ancient Carthage or modern 
 Persia. It was much larger than the sword Swem 
 had lost, and its curviture described nearly the 
 same arc as an Indian bow fully bent. Attached 
 to Swem's ungainly person, this sword afforded 
 endless amusement. 
 
 "You could slay old Hannibal himself with 
 that weapon," said Harry, still convulsed over the 
 ludicrousness of the affair. "Just rattle it at 
 Hubbins, and he'll move livelier than he did danc- 
 ing with that queen." 
 
 "Well, Schopy," said Joe, "don't you mind. 
 Hubbins only wants -to scare you. It is that 
 sketch, you know. If there's any duelling to be 
 clone, I'll attend to it." 
 
134 FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 
 
 The gloom began to disappear from Swem's 
 face. Presently the old look returned, and he 
 appeared more rueful than ever. "There's some- 
 thing else," he added timidly. 
 
 "Out with it," said Joe. 
 
 "The clothes have come off." 
 
 " Oh ! and you haven't the money to pay for 
 them," continued Joe kindly. "What did they 
 say about it? " 
 
 " They said the ship was going to sail in a couple 
 of days, and if the money wasn't ready by to-mor- 
 row morning, the matter would be brought to the 
 captain's attention. I don't want to be reported 
 for debt." 
 
 " I don't see how they know when the ship's 
 going to sail," said Harry. 
 
 "They know everything," growled Swem. 
 
 " They certainly seem quite familiar with your 
 impecunious condition," returned Joe. 
 
 " They wormed it out of Hubbins, no doubt," 
 observed Swem. " He has a grudge against us for 
 drawing our money and spending it as we like. 
 It's none of his business, anyway." 
 
 "How many suits were there?" asked Joe. 
 
 "Only three, and an overcoat," replied Swem: 
 
 "A ridiculously small number," said Harry. 
 "Why didn't you carry away the whole store, 
 Schopy ? It's strange that they should want their 
 pay." 
 
FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 1 35 
 
 Against the positive orders of the officer of the 
 deck, Swem had forsaken his boat and gone up 
 town, spending a long time in selecting the goods 
 for his suits. Joe had heard about this and took 
 him to task for his extravagance and disobedience 
 of orders. He preached quite an uncompromising 
 sermon over the affair. Overhearing a few of his 
 earnest words, Coverly asked him why he didn't 
 vary the exercises by singing a hymn. But now 
 Swem was in real difficulty, and Joe did not pro- 
 pose indulging in any recriminating thoughts or 
 words. 
 
 "I have a plan, Schopy," he said at last, seized 
 with a bright idea as Arlington appeared on the 
 scene, "if you'll agree to it." 
 
 "Oh! I'll agree to anything." 
 
 "Well," said Joe, laughing, "I propose that 
 Arlington, Harry and myself, constitute a commit- 
 tee of finance, to take charge of your affairs. 
 What do you say to that ? " 
 
 "Say?" said Swem, all acquiescence. 
 
 "We'll pay for the suits out of our own money. 
 You are to turn over to us all your receipts ; and 
 after paying your mess-bill, and allowing you an 
 allotment for spending money, we will reimburse 
 ourselves from month to month with what is left. 
 
 "Oh ! I'll agree to that," cried Swem eagerly. 
 
 " But, furthermore, Schopy, you must also agree 
 not to run up any more bills, and to make no pur- 
 
I36 FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 
 
 chase that amounts to anything without consulting 
 the committee. What do you say to that ? " 
 
 "O, no! I won't agree to that part of it," said 
 Swem. " I don't want to be obliged to run to you 
 about all my little bills. I'd a good deal rather be 
 in debt." 
 
 "Oh! well," said Harry, "we would as lief let 
 the captain settle the matter." 
 
 "I'll agree to it," said Swem, forced to this 
 alternative by Harry's bit of irony. 
 
 It took some little time for Joe to talk Arling- 
 ton and Harry into accepting all his arrangements ; 
 but they finally yielded and became members of 
 the committee. " Now, gentlemen of the commit- 
 tee," he said, "it's all settled about the bills. 
 There is another matter which demands our atten- 
 tion at once. Schopy must have a new sword." 
 
 "By the way, Schopy," said Harry, "what were 
 you sent back from the flag-ship for this morning? " 
 
 " On account of that infernal old Carthagenian 
 sickle I had to wear." 
 
 Swem had fared a great deal worse than Joe at 
 the admiral's hands.. No sooner had he stepped 
 over the flag-ship's side than the admiral caught 
 sight of his huge sword. 
 
 "Go back, sir," commanded the admiral, "and 
 return to me in proper uniform." 
 
 " Is there anything further to come before this 
 committee ? " asked Arlington, when the merri- 
 
FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. I T,7 
 
 merit over Swem's episode with the admiral had 
 subsided. 
 
 " Schopy ought to be provided with a blue-book," 
 said Harry. 
 
 About eleven o'clock that morning, Swem had 
 been sent into the cabin to report that a boat 
 belonging to a captain of one of the other ships, 
 who was on a visit to the Daybreak, was ready at 
 the gang-way. 
 
 " Mr. G 's gig is ready, sir," said he, address- 
 ing Captain Farradale. 
 
 "Mr. G 's gig is ready!" repeated Captain 
 
 Farradale with emphasis. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; Mr. G 's gig is ready at the 
 
 gangway." 
 
 "Go below, sir," said Captain Farradale, "and 
 see if the regulations allow you to address a com- 
 manding officer as Mr." 
 
 The business of the committee having been 
 transacted to Swem's satisfaction, as well as their 
 own, Joe went on deck. Mr. Bloomsbury was 
 also there. As soon as he caught sight of Joe, he 
 cautioned, " You'd better look alive," and with a 
 beaming face proceeded to volunteer information 
 which this young man had already received. " The 
 ship's going to be inspected this afternoon. This 
 admiral never gives any notice. When anything's 
 to be done it's the word 'go' with him. It's a lit- 
 tle old school, you know, pitching in when you're 
 
I38 FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 
 
 only half prepared. But the clanger nowadays is, 
 that there'll be too much preparation." 
 
 ''I believe they're coming now," exclaimed Joe, 
 with a hasty glance toward the flag-ship. For 
 the admiral and his staff were standing on the 
 quarter deck in full epauletted splendor, waiting 
 to embark. 
 
 This discovery from the Daybreak's deck was 
 simultaneous. A wonderful transformation was 
 effected "by the sight. In a twinkling the ship's 
 company were properly uniformed and equipped 
 for the occasion. They were at quarters almost 
 before the admiral had shoved off. As he came 
 over the Daybreak's side, it was as if a curtain 
 had been suddenly lifted, showing the ship in 
 pantomime. 
 
 From his station Joe could take in the entire 
 deck. Although a commonplace sight, he never- 
 theless felt a justifiable pride in it. It was a 
 picture to him. His eyes fairly sparkled with the 
 pleasure it gave him. There was the boatswain 
 with the side-boys at the gangway, the drummer 
 close by, the long, even lines of shapely, stalwart 
 men, the marine-guard fully plumed and accou- 
 tered, with the captain of marines and Coverly in 
 front, splendid in their richly-ornamented dress, 
 and lastly Captain Farradale with his officers, look- 
 ing as if they had been melted into their close- 
 fitting uniforms. 
 
FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 1 39 
 
 But there was little time to contemplate. Sud- 
 denly the boatswain blew his whistle, the drummer 
 rolled off his ruffles, the marines presented arms, 
 the executive officer mounted the bridge and gave 
 orders to the gunner on the forecastle, who made 
 the harbor ring with an admiral's salute, and the 
 inspection began in earnest. 
 
 Had the admiral been an astronomer at the 
 Cambridge Observatory, on the lookout for a new 
 comet, he could hardly have given the sky more 
 minute attention than he now awarded the Day- 
 break. He covered his cocked hat with cobwebs, 
 and his coatsleeves were well touched up with 
 whitewash, but he saw all there was to be seen. 
 Everybody on deck perspired, for the day was hot, 
 but he passed through a period of exudation as 
 trying below. 
 
 At last he emerged from the berth deck, and 
 turning to Captain Farradale, he quite won the 
 cadets' hearts by the compliments he paid the 
 officer on the excellent condition of the Daybreak, 
 and the fine appearance of her crew. As he left 
 the ship, Joe saw him glance sharply at Swem, 
 who was quite near the starboard gangway, con- 
 spicuous alongside the surgeon's gigantic side-arm. 
 But whatever may have been his thoughts, the 
 admiral said nothing, a surprise to all who knew 
 him. As soon as he was out of the way, Mr. 
 Moncrief turned to Swem before the assembled 
 
I4O FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 
 
 ship's company and asked, " Is that your sword, 
 sir ? " 
 
 "No, sir," replied Swem, turning pale; "it's 
 the surgeon's. I lost mine overboard." 
 
 Mr. Moncrief evidently thought it was punish- 
 ment enough to be obliged to appear like a Lord 
 High Executioner, or a Bashi-bazouk, for he said 
 nothing further. And Swem gave a great sigh of 
 relief when the order came to pipe down. 
 
 But a few moments were allowed for every one 
 to get back into service dress. As the admiral 
 left the Daybreak he quietly told Captain Farra- 
 dale to stand by for any number of exercises, and 
 he had not much more than reached the flag-ship 
 before an order was signalled to all the vessels to 
 at once abandon ship. Here was an opportunity 
 for competitorship, and nothing so kindled the 
 enthusiasm of the Daybreak's crew. A hot con- 
 test was sure to follow, in which she was generally 
 victorious. 
 
 For a moment all was still, then as the order 
 rung out from the flag-ship's bridge, there was a 
 dash for the boats like the rush of boarders over 
 an enemy's side in battle. Joe's station at this 
 exercise was in the sailing launch. She was rest- 
 ing snugly inboard on her cradles, and in a moment 
 he was toiling as if all depended on him to get her 
 into the water. In this exercise every thing is 
 done likely to be required in abandoning a found- 
 
FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. I4I 
 
 ering or burning ship at sea. There was a great 
 splashing of life-rafts, catamarans and boats, along- 
 side, a lively scampering to get breakers of fresh 
 water, bags of bread, nautical instruments, and so 
 forth, in the respective boats, and presently the 
 order was given to embark. A moment more and 
 the Daybreak's sides were bombarded with boat- 
 hooks, and the flotilla pushed off into the stream. 
 Up to this point everything had been done with 
 great promptness, and the Daybreak's crew led 
 those of the other ships. 
 
 "That was well done!" exclaimed Mr. Blooms, 
 bury, who was in command of the sailing launch. 
 
 "It's a bad beat for the other ships," said Joe, 
 delighted that the Daybreak's crew had been the 
 first to embark. 
 
 By this time the usual afternoon breeze was 
 blowing in strongly from the sea, making the har- 
 bor very hubbly, as sailors say. The store of pro- 
 visions in the launch was very light, but her load 
 of men and boys was very heavy. She was car- 
 ried under almost to the gunwales and began to 
 take in considerable water. 
 
 "I think I'll go back," laughed Mr. Bloomsbury, 
 "and take my chances on a grating or a halyard 
 rack. Conrad," he continued, looking comically 
 at the coxswain, " how many days' rations have 
 we? It's a thousand miles to the nearest island, 
 you know, and we don't want to eat up the boys." 
 
I42 FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 
 
 All the boys in the boat laughed but one. He 
 looked considerably .frightened. But a colloquy 
 taking place between Captain Farradale, who with 
 a few ship-keepers had remained on board, and a 
 couple of firemen in a catamaran, now drew their 
 attention away from the launch. 
 
 " Catamaran there ! " hailed the captain. 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir ! " called back one of the men. 
 
 "Have you any provisions on that catamaran ? " 
 
 "Any what, sir? " shouted the man. 
 
 "Any provisions — anything to eat," said the 
 captain quite sharply. 
 
 " Yes, sir," was shouted back, as if his meaning 
 was fully comprehended now. 
 
 "What is it, then?" called the captain, a little 
 angrily. 
 
 "Swabs, sir," sung out the man. 
 
 "There's a signal going up at the flag-ship's 
 mizzen," said Joe to Mr. Bloomsbury, still laugh- 
 ing over the incident of the swabs. 
 
 The admiral wants to see his mosquito fleet 
 under sail," said Mr. Bloomsbury, as he read the 
 signal to proceed around the harbor under sail. 
 
 Masts were now stepped, jibs and mainsails run 
 up, and in a moment or two the boats were laying 
 over under a spanking breeze, cutting huge dia- 
 grams over the harbor. It was a fine sight to see 
 them sporting in the broad water spaces among 
 the ships. 
 
FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. I43 
 
 Suddenly every eye was riveted on the cutter 
 of which Swem was in charge. He was cracking 
 on with surprising recklessness, driving the boat 
 through the water almost on her beam ends. 
 
 "There's a capsize for you," said Joe, as the 
 cutter flew past the launch which was poking 
 along like a huge turtle. 
 
 "Ease off your sheets," sung out Mr. Blooms- 
 bury, as a puff of wind carried the cutter's rail 
 under water. 
 
 But it was too late. The sheets jammed, the 
 tiller was put over the wrong way, and the cutter 
 went down bows on, leaving nothing visible but 
 the mast-heads to mark the spot where she disap- 
 peared. 
 
 As luck would have it, enough of the masts were 
 left standing out of water to afford holding places 
 for the men and boys, who instantly came to the 
 surface and surrounded them. Several who had 
 been swept under the sails, and two or three who 
 had become entangled in the ropes, displayed great 
 presence of mind in working themselves clear. 
 But all of them were pretty well exhausted when 
 they reached the surface, and one or two, but for 
 the timely exertion of the good swimmers, would 
 have gone down again. 
 
 The launch happened to be the nearest boat, and 
 in a moment was at the scene of the accident. 
 As the men and boys, struggling in the water, 
 
144 FORCED TO A COMPROMISE. 
 
 were hauled in, Mr. Bloomsbury, satisfied that the 
 worst part of the disaster was the loss of the boat, 
 was quite humorous over the affair. Swem was 
 the last one fished out. Mr. Bloomsbury would 
 not let him be hauled in until all the others were 
 rescued ; " for the captain is always the last to 
 leave his ship," he said. 
 
 "Boy Long's drowned, sir," sung out an appren- 
 tice, evidently more excited than grieved over the 
 event. 
 
 "It's a lie — I hain't neither," sung out Long, 
 who had been stuffed in between the thwarts so 
 as to be nearly hidden. 
 
 A general recall now appeared, and the boats 
 returned to their several ships. When the Day- 
 break's crew was mustered, the flag-ship asked by 
 sigrial if the cutter's crew had all been saved. 
 "All have answered to their muster," was sig- 
 nalled back. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 A SPEN.T SHELL. 
 
 ^HE next twenty-four hours Joe's head was 
 A fairly in a whirl. First of all, he was 
 obliged to take Schopy's mid-watch, or rather he 
 volunteered to do so against the protestations of 
 both Arlington and Harry. The necessity for 
 doing this grew out of Schopy's indulgence in too 
 large a piece of plum duff. 
 
 Dicky Dawson had observed Joe's strong friend- 
 ship for Swem, and as a compliment to Joe, had 
 bestowed upon Schopy an enormous piece of this 
 sailor luxury, thus cheating boy Long out of his 
 lawful ration. It happened that this particular 
 plum duff, from which Joe had thought it prudent 
 to abstain at the breakfast already described, was 
 a failure. 
 
 In case the other ammunition gave out, the 
 men remarked, in time of war it might have been 
 used in continuing a siege. It is reasonably cer- 
 tain if the inhabitants of a large city had seen it 
 falling among them during socialistic demonstra- 
 tions, they would have been put to flight, easily 
 MS 
 
I46 A SPENT SHELL. 
 
 mistaking it for dynamite or gun cotton. But this 
 was nothing to Schopy. He was hungry, and 
 what was plum duff for ? 
 
 Boy Long bitterly complained to Joe of the 
 fraud that Dawson had perpetrated upon him, 
 and wound up his observations with the remark, 
 "These young officers is awfully stuck up, sir, but 
 they hain't no better'n we be, be they, sir?" 
 meaning, Joe took it, the apprentice-boys. 
 
 But taking Schopy' s mid-watch was not all of 
 Joe's extra duty, by any means. Somehow or 
 other, nearly all the special boat duty fell to him. 
 There were so many trips sandwiched in between 
 the regular boat-running that it kept him as busy 
 as a ferryman. Then, too, when it became evi- 
 dent that the squadron would soon be under sail- 
 ing orders, as the newly-elected caterer of the 
 mess, he had to lay in fresh supplies and pay all 
 outstanding bills. Schopy 's debts, meanwhile, gave 
 him no little trouble. 
 
 In addition to this, Mr. Bloomsbury and Mr. 
 Moncrief, not realizing that there could be any 
 limit to a cadet's capacity for work, heaped upon 
 him many little tasks, insignificant in themselves, 
 but making large inroads upon his time. The 
 wardroom officers liked Joe's way of doing things. 
 His energy and uniform good-nature and courtesy, 
 won him many friends among them, but in conse- 
 quence, more work was put upon him than any 
 
A SPENT SHELL. 147 
 
 two cadets ought to do. But he neither grumbled 
 nor lost his temper. He realized that he was all 
 the time learning his profession, and he was by no 
 means sorry for the experience he was getting. 
 
 It would not be a faithful record of our hero's 
 feelings to say that his sensations were not those 
 of relief and gladness, when toward sunset next 
 evening, the Daybreak, with the other ships of the 
 squadron, steamed leisurely out to sea. Joe was 
 at his station in the main-top, his thoughts busier 
 than his hands. The ship not being under sail, 
 there was nothing special for him to do. 
 
 The day had been quite an eventful one to him. 
 In the press of getting the ship ready for sea, he 
 had found barely time to write Katie his promised 
 letter — the one he felt sure would be his last, 
 unless she should urge further correspondence. 
 Without such urging, it seemed to him, he would 
 have no right to address her another letter. 
 Indeed, he felt almost certain after Mrs. Pepper's 
 probable warning to Mr. Aston, that he would not 
 again hear directly from any member of the family. 
 The thought fairly made him shiver, although the 
 thermometer stood at eighty degrees. 
 
 Another thing which had contributed to his 
 disquiet was Harry's plump question of the day 
 before. He remembered that Harry's cousin was 
 Katie's friend, and that two clays previously he 
 had received a letter from her. He recalled 
 
I48 A SPENT SHELL. 
 
 Harry's keen look, and the peculiar inflection of 
 his voice as he put the question, and he wondered 
 if any hint had been given in the aforesaid letter 
 of the evident surmisings of the Astons in regard 
 to himself. If nothing else had done so, he now 
 thought possible that his confusion in Harry's 
 presence might have given him the impression 
 that something was wrong. 
 
 And then he thought, What if the Celeste should 
 be at Bar Harbor when the Daybreak arrived ? 
 How then could he avoid seeing his friends ? 
 And if they should treat him with indifference, 
 how could he endure it ? Joe fairly groaned as he 
 reviewed the unpleasant relations that Mrs. Pep- 
 per's active and meddlesome agency had, he now 
 believed without the shadow of a doubt, estab- 
 lished between the Astons and himself. So up in 
 the quiet top he went over the whole ground of 
 his troubles again, feeling not one whit the better 
 for it. 
 
 So absorbed had he been in the above thoughts 
 that he had scarcely noticed anything around him. 
 The squadron was all aflame in the glorious sun- 
 set. Spars, stays and cordage seemed shafts and 
 lines of gold in the brilliant light, yet he had not 
 heeded the splendid effect. 
 
 Neither had he been conscious that he was for- 
 gotten by the officer of the deck, and ought long 
 aero to have been relieved. The thing; at last 
 
A SPENT SHELL. I49 
 
 which really called him to his senses was the fact 
 that he had eaten scarcely nothing since the early 
 morning. The appetite of a naval cadet seldom 
 participates in his mental troubles ; and when at 
 last from his lofty perch he caught the wandering 
 eye of . the officer of the deck, and received an 
 instantaneous order to lay down from aloft, he 
 did so with little ceremony. A moment later he 
 sat at the mess-table, and, as in the case of a 
 more celebrated J. B., 'Tike a giant refreshing." 
 
 He got only the fag end of things, however, as 
 dinner was nearly over when he came in. Every- 
 body was unusually quiet. Coverly had left the 
 table, and sat on the transom coaxing a refrain 
 out of his zithern. It seemed to Joe like a lament 
 over the departed social joys of Newport. Hub- 
 bins lingered over his dessert, quiet, but now and 
 then casting an unforgiving eye at Swem, who 
 looked as unhappy as ever. Cardington, never hav- 
 ing been to sea before, was very melancholy over 
 the heavy swell which the Daybreak occasionally 
 rolled her ports under. The whole mess was 
 present but Austey, and nobody seemed in any 
 mood for talking. 
 
 "When I was in the Cumberland," began Hub- 
 bins, more to break the silence than to finish an 
 incident from his experience on that ill-fated ship, 
 «I" — 
 
 A shout of expostulation followed. 
 
I50 A SPENT SHELL. 
 
 "We've read all that," said Coverly, flinging - 
 his zithern into a corner. "Tell us about your 
 early contemporary, John Paul Jones, or some of 
 your experiences in the war with the Barbary 
 States." 
 
 Without saying another word, Hubbins got up 
 and left the steerage. 
 
 "I'm sure," said Joe, "we ought to be more 
 respectful toward Hubbins. We know he has a 
 violent temper, and we ought to be all the more 
 careful not to offend him." 
 
 Joe had had a little talk with Hubbins, regard- 
 ing the affair of the sketch and his own heat over 
 it. He assured him that Swem did not mean 
 to be disrespectful in his caricature, and that he 
 had already destroyed it. Joe, of course, knew 
 that the challenge which Swem had so much feared 
 was pure fiction, originating in Coverly's teeming 
 brain. Thinking it might prolong the fun, Coverly 
 had undertaken to persuade Swem that Hubbins' 
 vengeance could only be appeased by a meeting 
 ashore of a private and sanguinary nature. 
 
 "He's only grumpy," said Coverly. "He has 
 not got over that Queen of Greece business, yet." 
 
 "Oh! Schopy," said Harry, "what did Mr. 
 Moncrief say to you to-day about the cutter? " 
 
 " Said I'd got to learn to sail her if it took a 
 year. He'll send me out in the next gale of wind, 
 I suppose." 
 
A SPENT SHELL. I 5 I 
 
 "Capital," said Arlington; "it's Captain Farra- 
 dale's idea. He'll keep you at it till you're the 
 best sailor in the steerage." 
 
 But the deepest gloom rested on Swem's coun- 
 tenance. He did not enjoy the prospect. 
 
 "Don't fret about it, Schopy," said Joe. "I 
 heard Captain Farradale say he never regrets such 
 accidents when nobody's drowned, as in your case. 
 'The quickest way to learn seamanship,' he says, 
 'is by accidents.' Next time just take old Dicky 
 Dawson along. The boat isn't built that can 
 drown him." 
 
 " You'll never be drowned, Schopy ; you're born 
 to be hung, you know," said Harry. 
 
 " Let's christen his cranky little craft," said 
 Coverly, springing to his feet. " Gentlemen, what 
 shall we name her ? " 
 
 "The Kingfisher," laughed Harry; "she went 
 under like a bird." 
 
 "The Little Dipper," said Joe. 
 
 "The Diver," suggested Arlington. 
 
 "I have it! I have it!" exclaimed Coverly. 
 "The Godiva — The Lady Godiva. We'll chris- 
 ten her the Lady Godiva." 
 
 "Good enough," went up with a shout. 
 
 "And now I propose three cheers for the gal- 
 lant skipper of the Lady Godiva," said Harry, 
 jumping to his feet. 
 
 Had the tempest of fun that now shook the 
 
15-' A SPENT SHELL. 
 
 steerage, been a proportionate disturbance of the 
 natural elements, it would have sent the Lady 
 Godiva or any other small craft to the bottom in a 
 twinkling. 
 
 "The hexecutive hofficer says will the young 
 gentlemen please not talk so 'igh," said an orderly, 
 late from the Queen's service, putting his head 
 inside the door. 
 
 There was a momentary lull ; then the storm 
 rose to its original height. This time it was 
 silenced by a peremptory order. 
 
 "Well," said Coverly, as he rose to leave the 
 steerage after the orderly's second appearance, 
 "the Lady Godiva's been in all sorts of scrapes — 
 run down, capsized, swamped, had her back broken, 
 and I don't know what. Schopy, old boy, I'll say 
 good-by to you now," he concluded abruptly, 
 extending his hand to Swem with a look of comi- 
 cal resignation. 
 
 [It may be well to mention, just here, that the 
 cutter, which had gone down through Swem's bad 
 seamanship, had that morning been raised, and was 
 now hanging safe at the Daybreak's davits.] 
 
 Harry and Joe followed Coverly out of the 
 steerage, all three making their way to the top- 
 gallant forecastle. Evening had now fully set in, 
 and such an evening as is seldom seen in the 
 North Atlantic. The moon had just risen, and lit 
 up the broad expanse of water with indescribable 
 
A SPENT SHELL. 1 53 
 
 beauty. The evening star hung upon the horizon 
 just ready, in seeming disdain of the broader and 
 more common light, to drop from view. All 
 around were yachts and merchantmen, every sail 
 set, the cloudy canvas shining in the moonbeams 
 like the silver drift moving so lazily through the 
 sky. Joe had never seen such a perfect night at 
 sea, and he stood looking out upon the ocean in a 
 state of rapture. 
 
 " The admiral won't let such a night as this 
 slip by without some lively work," he remarked. 
 
 "See!" exclaimed Harry, "there goes a signal 
 now." 
 
 A "Very"* signal that instant shot from the 
 flag-ship four hundred feet into the air. 
 
 "Form in single column," Joe read from this 
 color-telegraphy, as it might be called, as the 
 ciphers followed each other in rapid succession 
 into the sky. 
 
 The vessels which had been sailing in no par- 
 ticular order, now proceeded to form in single 
 column. 
 
 "Now for the naval tactics!" exclaimed our 
 hero, greatly delighted at the prospect. 
 
 In a kind of transport he and Harry stood read- 
 ing the different orders of the commander-in-chief, 
 in the bright colors which, from time to time, were 
 projected into the sky. 
 
 * The name of the inventor of this signal. 
 
154 A SPENT SHELL. 
 
 "I guess he's going through all the formations," 
 observed Harry, as the signals multiplied, and the 
 whole sky seemed interjected with the pyrotech- 
 nic symbols. 
 
 If there was an order of battle in which the 
 ships did not now arrange themselves, it was 
 unknown to Joe and Harry. And the movements 
 were quite intelligible to them. They had been 
 picking them up from the war game in which they 
 had been invited to participate several times. 
 For a long time the ships proceeded to manoeuvre 
 in line, in column, in echelon. Now they were in 
 offensive order or order of chase, now in defensive 
 order or order of retreat. At one time they would 
 forge ahead as if in pursuit of an enemy; then 
 they would fall into position as for the protection 
 of a convoy. 
 
 The scientific knowledge displayed by these 
 fledgelings on the top-gallant forecastle was alto- 
 gether bewildering. They talked about the co- 
 efficients of speed, the co-efficients of helm, and 
 so forth, in a way that would have amazed Lord 
 Nelson or Commodore Decatur, had either been 
 present as listeners. But if we cannot, with Joe 
 and Harry, appreciate the scientific features of 
 this display, with them we can be impressed by 
 the splendor of the scene ; the glorious night, and 
 the stately ships moving in such perfect order 
 upon the beautiful moonlit sea. 
 
A SPENT SHELL. 155 
 
 "Things will be livelier to-morrow," said Harry. 
 "I guess I'll turn in now. I've been out of my 
 hammock just eighteen hours," he added, yawning 
 and looking at his watch in the bright moonlight. 
 
 "I think I'll ask for an hour's extension," said 
 Joe. "Mr. Bloomsbury told me to give my days 
 and nights to torpedoes." 
 
 Joe was granted the extension, which meant 
 that he could burn his candle till eleven o'clock. 
 He reached his quarters just in time to roll 
 Schopy back to the middle of the table, on which 
 he lay sound asleep. The rolling of the ship had 
 carried him perilously near the edge. This dan- 
 ger, Joe presumed, was what Coverly alluded to 
 when he spoke about sleeping on the table. A 
 sleeping middy, should he fall from his perch, 
 whether it be a cot, hammock, or table, generally 
 lights on his nose, and Joe knew that a disfigured 
 nose in the Navy is usually extremely uncompli- 
 mentary to its possessor, and decidedly inimical to 
 his promotion. 
 
 But in a few minutes he was completely ab- 
 sorbed in torpedoes. Mr. Bloomsbury, with whom 
 he was associated a great deal in the way of duty, 
 advised him to give all the attention possible to 
 torpedo warfare ; and Joe was acting upon his 
 advice, and studying under his direction. But as 
 usual when he sat down to study, he was destined 
 to interruption. He was no sooner hard at work 
 
I56 A SPENT SHELL. 
 
 than the engines came to a sudden standstill. 
 This was followed by a low call from the officer of 
 the deck for the drummer to stand by to beat to 
 general quarters. Giving Swem and Harry a 
 shake, and telling them in a whisper what was 
 about to take place, Joe hastened to get his sword 
 and a navy revolver, that he might be the first 
 officer at his station when the call should be 
 given. 
 
 Night exercises at great guns on board a man- 
 of-war are kept a profound secret as to the time of 
 having them. The reason is, to insure prompt 
 intelligent action on the part of officers and crews. 
 War is full of surprises, and the personation of 
 war, so far as practicable, is the chief business of 
 military establishments in time of peace. Naval 
 artillerists are to be so perfect in their art that, on 
 the darkest night, without even the aid of a bat- 
 tle lantern, they can execute as good work with 
 a ship's battery as in the broad day — at least, this 
 is the way Joe explained it in Aroostook County. 
 
 The Daybreak's crew had been putting this and 
 that together, and, while the watch on deck were 
 all ready to spring for their guns, the watch below 
 were sleeping with one ear open. They all pos- 
 sessed a fondness for general exercises which 
 amounted to a passion. Joe could hear the men 
 below slipping stealthily out of their hammocks, 
 and feeling around after their shoes. There was 
 
A SPENT SHELL. I 57 
 
 that almost audible, stillness by which he knew 
 that every man and boy was aware of what 
 was going to take place. He laughed outright 
 to see old Binder with his fingers in Enoch 
 Long's hair. Long had become so engrossed in 
 preparing himself for action that by mistake he 
 had put on Binder's shoes, and in the above sum- 
 mary manner Binder was trying to lift him out of 
 them. In the steerage, Schopy was knocking 
 about trying to recall where he had left his trou- 
 sers, which, for the life of him, he could not do. 
 Joe good-naturedly lent him a hand in the search, 
 and in a moment found them in a corner, fastened 
 down with a dumb-bell. 
 
 "Wouldn't it have been dreadful, Schopy," he 
 said, " if you had had to go to your quarters with- 
 out them ? " 
 
 All this time the Daybreak was waiting to catch 
 the first beat of the flag-ship's drum. Presently 
 it came. Its quick vibrations sounded over the 
 water, the drums on all the other ships rattled off 
 the call, and fifteen hundred men sprang to their 
 quarters as if on a call to actual battle. The ex- 
 ercises were to be as though the squadron had 
 been attacked suddenly, and had to fight at close 
 quarters ; and everything was to depend on rapid 
 firing. The ship that got in the first shot, and 
 the gun's crew that fired it, would be the cham- 
 pion ship and crew. 
 
I58 A SPENT SHELL. 
 
 No stronger incentive was necessary to keep 
 the Daybreak's men breathless with excitement, 
 while in divisions of gun's crews they waited the 
 order, "Cast loose and provide." The ship was 
 now so still that nothing could be heard but the 
 low lapping of the sea against her sides. Joe 
 stood at his gun all keyed up for the contest, 
 determined that his gun's crew, if possible, should 
 win. 
 
 In low tones Mr. Moncrief delivered the orders 
 from the bridge. Everything moved like clock- 
 work. The powder from the magazines was on 
 time, and the guns were handled with the perfect 
 ease which comes from constant practise. Joe 
 had spared no pains in instructing his gun's crew, 
 and he now watched them like an eagle to correct 
 the slightest blunder that might occur. No sooner 
 had the rammers senthome the charge than in his 
 anxiety to score the first shot at the word "prime," 
 he seized a priming wire himself, and making 
 sure that the vent was clear, inserted a primer 
 in it, then, taking the lock-lanyard from the gun 
 captain's hand, he stood waiting the command, 
 "fire!" from the bridge. Repeating it after the 
 executive officer when it was spoken, he brought 
 the hammer down with tremendous force, and the 
 suppressed murmur of exultation from his gun's 
 crew told to whom the championship belonged. 
 A brisk cannonading ensued. Ship after ship 
 
A SPENT SHELL. I 59 
 
 thundered whole broadsides of blank cartridges 
 off into the stillness of the night. In time of war 
 the report would have sent consternation into the 
 cities and villages on the contiguous islands and 
 mainland. 
 
 According to the usual course of night quarters 
 at sea, all was passing well, and orders were about 
 to be given, calling away marines, riflemen and 
 boarders, as provided for in the ordnance instruc- 
 tions, when an incident occurred, but for which, all 
 this commotion would have been a commonplace 
 man-of-war exercise. Just as the last gun of the 
 Daybreak's battery had been discharged there came 
 crashing through the rigging something that might 
 have been a meteorite, or it might have been a 
 spent shell. At least, this was the first thought 
 of the startled officers and crew, as it tore its way 
 down to the deck. With a tremendous thump it 
 shook the Daybreak from stem to stern. Fortu- 
 nately it struck just over a heavy timber, which 
 prevented its breaking through the deck. Tear- 
 ing up the planking all around, with a slight, 
 ricochetting motion, it rolled aft. A bright glow 
 at one end of this object instantly showed that it 
 was a shell fired by accident from some other ship. 
 If the doctor's skeleton had as suddenly appeared, 
 and begun a promenade from top-gallant forecastle 
 to cabin, the sensation would not have been so 
 profound as that now produced by the abrupt 
 
160 A SPENT SHELL. 
 
 appearance of this strange visitor. On it went, 
 setting men and boys scampering out of its path 
 in the liveliest manner. Enoch Long had a call 
 to the tip end of the bowsprit, and Swem seemed 
 very anxious about something in the same direc- 
 tion. Presently, after turning to wreck and ruin a 
 large portion of the wardroom hatch coaming, it 
 stopped, and hung just ready at a slight roll or 
 pitch of the ship to fall below, where it must have 
 instantly exploded just forward of the magazine. 
 
 The shell happened to stop just abreast of 
 where Joe stood superintending the securing of 
 his gun. From the instant it bounded through 
 the rigging he realized the imminency of the dan- 
 ger. He quickly made up his mind as to what 
 would have to be done. If the shell should ex- 
 plode it would be a terrible accident. There were 
 white faces all around. Suddenly the shell stopped, 
 poised directly over the hatchway. Another roll 
 of the ship would send it down. Joe saw his 
 opportunity. Having previously cast aside his 
 sword, he sprang for the shell. Catching it at 
 either end he swung it from the debris, and ran 
 with all his might across the deck to the nearest 
 port, from which he launched it into the sea. A 
 cheer, which neither Captain Farradale nor Mr- 
 Moncrief felt inclined to suppress, greeted our 
 hero's prompt and gallant action. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 
 
 THE shell which fell to the Daybreak's deck 
 had been accidentally left in the gun from 
 which it was discharged during some former exer- 
 cise at great guns. As it now went screeching 
 through the air, the greatest consternation pre- 
 vailed lest it should find a target in one of the 
 other ships. All listened breathlessly for the 
 explosion which it was thought would surely fol- 
 low. A great sigh of relief went up when it 
 became certain that the fuse had either gone out, 
 or the missile had prematurely struck the water. 
 The vessels nearest the Daybreak heard it as it 
 entered her rigging and fell with a heavy thud to 
 her deck, and a fearful casualty seemed for the 
 moment inevitable. As Joe deposited it in that 
 safest of all magazines, the sea, he caught the 
 gleam of several glasses pointed at the Daybreak 
 in sure expectancy of her going up, or rather 
 down. 
 
 Before our hero had recovered his equipoise, the 
 cheer having had a worse effect upon him than 
 161 
 
l62 A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 
 
 the shell, Captain Farradale added to his embar- 
 rassment by calling him forward and thanking him 
 most cordially for what he had done. This was 
 followed by congratulations from the different offi- 
 cers in painful profusion. But the worst of it all 
 was after the drum beat retreat, he was forced to 
 be present at an improvised spread in the ward- 
 room, at which he partook so bountifully of pate 
 de foie gras, that shortly after, when he went on 
 deck to relieve Cadet Austey for the mid-watch, 
 he wondered whether he did not feel more like 
 the deceased geese whose livers he had eaten 
 than the gallant middy everybody seemed deter- 
 mined on making him out. 
 
 The ships had left Newport under sealed orders, 
 not to be opened till midnight. The great mys- 
 tery was now disclosed : The whole squadron was 
 directed to proceed without delay to Gardiner's 
 Bay. This beautiful little body of water, with its 
 embroidery of pretty islands, seems more like an 
 inland 'lake than an inlet of the sea. It lies out of 
 the track of commerce, and is singularly free from 
 dangers. With the island of the same name for 
 its eastern shore, it forms, perhaps, the best ren- 
 dezvous for naval exercises of every sort north of 
 Key West. 
 
 Joe's watch proved to be rather an exciting one, 
 but none the less pleasing to him. Every minute 
 or two the light of some vessel, or the flash of 
 
A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 1 63 
 
 some distant light-house hove in view, keeping him 
 very busy running with messages to the officer of 
 the deck. Once he feared that he had fallen into 
 serious trouble. The Daybreak's main yard be- 
 came entangled with a schooner's rigging, a con- 
 siderable portion of which was carried away. 
 
 It was not to be wondered at, either, for the 
 schooner's lights were all in, and her captain and 
 crew peacefully sleeping in their bunks. Besides, 
 a heavy mist had fallen, completely shutting her 
 out from Joe's keen sight. As the Daybreak got 
 clear without damage to herself, Joe wished heart- 
 ily that he could have fired a whole broadside of 
 blank cartridges into the schooner's side to give 
 her a startling and much-needed lesson. 
 
 The Sound steamers, on their passage east, now 
 began to close in around them, and in addition to 
 the fog, a hoarse chorus of whistles made it diffi- 
 cult to keep the bearings of each one. Dicky 
 Dawson, who always hung about Joe when they 
 were on watch together, stood with him search- 
 ing the fog for these great phantoms, the nightly 
 terror of Long Island Sound. Suddenly — almost 
 on the instant — the fog thinned, disclosing one 
 of the largest of the steamers, a huge white shape, 
 off on the port bow. The flood of moonlight 
 which burst upon her as she broke out of the 
 retreating mist caused her to stand out as clearly 
 as at full dawn. 
 
1 64 A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 
 
 "I begs pardon, sir," said Dicky, "not a wishin' 
 to put in my oar, but that's a strange figger a 
 wanderin' round there on the hurricane deck." 
 
 Joe looked sharply. He saw a lady who was 
 either walking in her sleep or else suffering from 
 some mental aberration. She had a weird, wild 
 look ; her hair was flying in the breeze raised by 
 the swift motion of the steamer, but an absence of 
 all gestures convinced Joe that it was nothing 
 more than a case of somnambulism. But how 
 could the woman leave her state-room unobserved, 
 he wondered. No one on board the steamer knew 
 of her strange conduct, or was aware of her great 
 peril. 
 
 "There she goes!" cried Dicky, the fire leap- 
 ing to his eyes. 
 
 Joe trembled and turned pale, for at that mo- 
 ment the woman stepped over the slight railing 
 surrounding the deck, and deliberately walked or 
 jumped into the sea. As she struck the water a 
 frightened cry went out into the night. Before 
 Joe had recovered himself sufficiently to utter a 
 word, Dawson had plunged over the Daybreak's 
 rail, and was making bold strokes to the rescue. 
 The would-be tragedy was also witnessed by Cap- 
 tain Farradale and Mr. Bloomsbury, who were 
 standing on the bridge. As Joe ran aft, two sharp 
 strokes of the engine-room bell, accompanied by 
 orders to let go a buoy and call away one of the 
 
A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. l6$ 
 
 whale-boats, apprised him that his report was 
 unnecessary. This was followed by a signal to 
 the steamer, which was going on as though noth- 
 ing had happened, to heave to. 
 
 "Bear a hand with that boat," shouted Mr. 
 Bloomsbury, as the boat went down very slowly. 
 "The woman will drown, if you don't look alive." 
 
 " Something's jammed, sir," came back in a 
 flustered tone. 
 
 Whatever it was Joe's knife quickly mastered, 
 and the boat went down with a run. 
 
 "Put her on board the steamer, " called Captain 
 Farradale as Joe shoved off. 
 
 "Ay, ay, sir," called back our hero. 
 
 Joe saw that the steamer had understood the 
 signal, and was backing water as fast as possible. 
 He also discovered three men tuning for dear 
 life to lower a boat, which, as is generally the 
 case at such times, was hermetically sealed, and 
 would not budge from the davits. At the same 
 time he saw Dawson buoying up the woman with 
 great coolness and much skill. Owing to his supe- 
 rior art in aquatics, he was floating with his bur- 
 den as quietly as though they had been on a life- 
 raft ; before sighting the boat he had started to 
 swim off to the Daybreak's buoy, which shone like 
 a beacon not far away. All the time he talked to 
 the lady in his quaint fashion, assuring her that 
 there was not the slightest danger. As the boat 
 
l66 A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 
 
 came near, Joe overheard a little of the conversa- 
 tion. "There, mum," said Dawson, "they're arter 
 yer now. Jest keep still when they pulls yer in, an' 
 don't flop round." 
 
 "There are sharks here," said the lady in a 
 frightened tone, giving a nervous start, as if one 
 had touched her with his fin. 
 
 "No, no, mum; don't you be afeared. There 
 ain't no sharks here. Sharks doesn't like no sich 
 delicit bait as you be. I's been in a whole school 
 on 'em myself, an' they didn't so much as smell o' 
 me." 
 
 Dawson spoke so soothingly that his dialect 
 had as good an effect upon the woman's excited 
 nerves as though he had spoken the purest Eng- 
 lish. 
 
 It took but a moment to get him and his fair 
 burden into the boat. The steamer had come to 
 a standstill, and Joe headed immediately for her. 
 While he was making the lady as comfortable as 
 possible with his blouse and a piece of tarpaulin, 
 she managed to tell him that she knew nothing of 
 what had happened until she was awakened by 
 striking the water. She burst into a flood of tears 
 when contemplating the grief of her husband and 
 two little girls, whom she had left sleeping in their 
 state-room, had she not been rescued. Joe tried 
 to comfort her by reminding her of their great joy 
 in having- her restored to them. His words had a 
 
A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 1 67 
 
 soothing effect. As he continued she became less 
 hysterical. 
 
 Joe could now see that hundreds of people, in 
 every description of attire, had come upon deck ; 
 there was wild confusion everywhere. A glance 
 among the men assured him that they had not 
 neglected to provide themselves with life-preserv- 
 ers. Some of them stood all poised for a leap 
 into the sea ; others were prepared to do so if the 
 emergency required. Joe could not make out that 
 any attention worth speaking of had been bestowed 
 upon the women and children by their natural pro- 
 tectors. Evidently they all thought something 
 had happened to the steamer, and they must look 
 out for their own precious lives first. By the 
 time the boat had been brought round under the 
 steamer's guard, order was restored among the pas- 
 sengers. As our hero, with the assistance of the 
 crew, lifted the lady to the steamer's deck, the 
 delighted cries of two little girls and the ecstatic 
 demonstrations of a gentleman greeted him. 
 
 In the excitement the boat was forgotten, and 
 Joe was obliged to ask for the return of his blouse. 
 Once again in his uniform he shoved off unnoticed, 
 and was making quick strokes for the Daybreak, 
 But a hail from the captain of the steamer was a 
 signal for him to heave to. 
 
 "What vessel does that boat belong to, sir?" 
 he called. 
 
1 68 A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 
 
 "United States Ship Daybreak, sir," returned 
 Joe. 
 
 "And the officer of the boat?" continued the 
 captain. 
 
 " Naval Cadet Bently, sir," was the prompt 
 reply. 
 
 To his surprise Joe heard a passenger, evidently 
 a young lady, say very distinctly, " Why, mamma, 
 that's Joe Bently that answered the captain." 
 
 " Give my compliments to Captain Farradale," 
 said the captain, who seemed to know the com- 
 manding officer of the Daybreak, "and thank him 
 for his timely assistance." 
 
 "Ay, ay, sir," called Joe, as he once more or- 
 dered the men to give way. 
 
 The strange voice puzzled Joe. On his way 
 back to the Daybreak two white handkerchiefs 
 continued to flutter. Who could it be, he won- 
 dered. The tone did not sound familiar. Could 
 it have been Katie Aston who spoke ? Impossi- 
 ble ! There was not an accent that reminded him 
 of her. Besides, she was at this time doubtless 
 getting ready for the much talked of cruise in the 
 Celeste. No, think of it as he would, he could get 
 no clue to his mysterious friends on board the 
 steamer. 
 
 " Up to your old tricks, I see, Dawson," said 
 Mr. Bloomsbury as the party climbed on board the 
 Daybreak. " Give my compliments to the surgeon, 
 
A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 169 
 
 and ask him to give you a ration of whiskey. A 
 full ration, mind ; you're all of a shiver." 
 
 "No fear but I'll ask for a full one, sir," said 
 Dawson, grinning. 
 
 '„' I wish to see you at the mast to-morrow morn- 
 ing at nine o'clock," said Captain Farradale. 
 
 "Ay, ay, sir," said Dicky, hurrying below. 
 
 When Joe came on deck the next morning, Daw- 
 son was the first sailor-man he saw. He stood 
 waiting for him just forward of the mainmast. 
 He looked very happy and was pulling away at his 
 pipe all unconscious of the fact that it had no more 
 fire in it than an extinct volcano. As Joe leaned 
 over the rail to take a look at Gardiner's Bay and 
 its environments, all the vessels meanwhile having 
 come to an anchor, Dawson approached him very 
 respectfully, and told him that Captain Farradale 
 had given him a billet. 
 
 "What is it ? " asked Joe, greatly pleased. 
 
 "Coxswain o' the capen's gig, sir." 
 
 "Good enough," he exclaimed; "I knew some- 
 thing was coming." And he grasped Dawson 
 warmly by the hand. 
 
 " The luck's never long ag'in old Dicky Dawson, 
 sir; the luck's never long ag'in him. He's like a 
 rubber ball. He squeezes all up in yer hand, but 
 let go on him and he puffs out jest the same as 
 ever. When I seed you a-comin' over the side, 
 sir, I knowed the storm was a clearin' for Dicky 
 
I70 A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 
 
 Dawson. When I sees a cloud a-tryin' to pin 
 itself together with a star, I doesn't need no ba- 
 rometer to tell me that good weather's a-comin'." 
 
 "You'll be careful, and not forfeit it this time, 
 won't you?" said Joe, quietly. 
 
 "I's done with whiskey, sir; that is, leavin' out 
 medicine, when I gits saterated like I was last 
 night," gravely replied Dawson. 
 
 Joe had barely ceased congratulating his old 
 friend on his good fortune, when a cadet arrived 
 from the flag-ship with a message for Captain Far- 
 radale. The captain happened to be standing near 
 the mast, and the message, which was in truth an 
 order from the admiral, could be heard distinctly 
 all around the deck. 
 
 "The admiral sends his compliments, sir," said 
 the cadet, " and desires the Daybreak's battalion 
 to be ready at the shortest possible notice to land 
 with the naval brigade on Gardiner's Island. He 
 wishes also to see Lieutenant Bloomsbury on board 
 the flag-ship without delay." 
 
 "Something's in the wind," thought Joe ; "he's 
 rushing things so." 
 
 Later instructions indicated that the admiral 
 wished to see in how short a time the naval brig- 
 ade could be landed, fight a sham battle, and go 
 into camp, to remain on shore, possibly one night ; 
 then to break camp and return to the several ships. 
 
 "It's come, you see, according to prediction," 
 
A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. \J\ 
 
 said Mr. Bloomsbury, intercepting Joe on his way 
 to the steerage, displaying a highly-pleased man- 
 ner over the news. " I've suspected it all along. 
 I like expedition, but this is precipitation. How- 
 ever, it's all right. It suits me exactly. In time 
 of war, you know, we'd often get into scrapes that 
 would require as great haste as this. But I'm 
 sorry you'll have so much to see to," he added. 
 "The admiral has appointed me military engineer 
 of the expedition." 
 
 "What will I have to do?" asked Joe. 
 
 " Get the company ready and superintend the 
 stowing of the boats. I'll be back by the time 
 you're ready to shove off," and Mr. Bloomsbury 
 disappeared over the side in obedience to the 
 admiral's summons. Joe felt rather bewildered. 
 
 As soon as he was clear of Mr. Bloomsbury, Mr. 
 Moncrief sent for him, with Swem and Harry, to 
 meet him on the port side of the quarter deck. 
 This would have been very amusing had it not 
 been such a common occurrence. Whenever 
 Schopy was to be lectured on his delinquencies, or 
 to receive special instructions concerning a cadet's 
 duties, all three had to be present. Then Mr. 
 Moncrief never addressed them individually, but 
 collectively ; so that at times, as Harry remarked, 
 they could hardly tell whom he was hitting. Joe 
 and Harry had often to argue themselves out of 
 the notion that they were not the real culprits. 
 
172 A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 
 
 Mr. Moncrief's form of address made it much 
 easier for Swem, for which, on the whole, Joe was 
 not sorry. This time, however, he wished to give 
 some instruction as to landing. 
 
 For the benefit of our boy readers we will add, 
 if they will take the trouble to look up the mean- 
 ing of the words in the dictionary, that in laying 
 down their duties, he was much more categorical 
 than didactic. 
 
 Joe was greatly in dread lest Mr. Moncrief 
 should appoint him his aid for the expedition, but 
 that position had already fallen to a higher rank 
 than his own, that of Arlington. Just as Mr. 
 Moncrief was about to dismiss them, the order 
 was passed to get ready for the landing. And 
 with a few words of admonition, really meant for 
 Swem, but, according to the custom, distributed 
 impartially among the three, he let them go. 
 
 Joe had studied up the subject of landing par- 
 ties, and had made an inventory of articles neces- 
 sary to be taken. It now stood him in good stead. 
 His first duty was to improvise several tents, in 
 place of Mr. Bloomsbury, whose work it would 
 have been had he not been called away. At first 
 he was greatly puzzled over the matter, but at last 
 hit upon an ingenious contrivance. Two boat- 
 masts, he thought, would serve as end pieces, 
 while a stunsail-boom would make a good ridge- 
 pole. The end pieces being securely guyed, an 
 
A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 1 73 
 
 awning or sail could then be spread over the 
 frame-work and hauled out to pegs driven down at 
 regular intervals all around. The leeches of the 
 sail would serve as fastenings, and the work could 
 be completed by closing the ends of the tent with 
 light sails, thus providing quarters good enough for 
 a major-general in the field. 
 
 Joe was much pleased with this first success. 
 He next turned his attention to the men's outfit. 
 This gave him less trouble than he expected. He 
 had been careful to see that each man in his divi- 
 sion was furnished with leggings, a knife, a change 
 of clothing and two blankets. The extra suit of 
 clothes, blankets, and a bountiful supply of tobacco, 
 all rolled up in a hammock, would constitute each 
 man's personal baggage. Joe was very careful 
 to see that every tobacco ration was far in excess 
 of the most ravenous appetite for its consumption ; 
 and he thought what a fortunate circumstance it 
 was that there was no grog to go along. For that 
 ration, to the honor of the Navy, had been abol- 
 ished. In addition to this baggage, each man 
 would have to carry a pot, pan and spoon, slung to 
 his waist-belt. These, Joe thought, in an enemy's 
 country, where foraging was not over-good, might 
 be regarded as more formidable weapons than any 
 arms that could be carried. 
 
 Joe's last and most responsible work was when 
 the order was given to fit out the boats. As Mr. 
 
174 A MYSTERIOUS VOICE. 
 
 Bloomsbury could not be present, he had that gen- 
 tleman's boat to stow as well as his own. The 
 list of articles he had made out now greatly accel- 
 erated his work. As they were brought from 
 below and dumped down on the deck, he stood 
 over them memoranda in hand, with the air of a 
 connoisseur. There were compasses and glasses, 
 boxes containing materials and tools for repairs, 
 leads and lines, lanterns and candles ; articles 
 enough, apparently, to furnish a cargo for a small 
 schooner. All these were to go in two small 
 boats, together with two tents, a large quantity of 
 provisions, a breech loading rifle and a Gatling 
 gun, to say nothing of the boats' crews, with their 
 baggage and arms. In all probability, Caesar's 
 galleys did not have a quarter part of the outfit for 
 a passage across the Adriatic Sea. 
 
 Joe was surprised when with his own hands he 
 began to stow the boats, to see how quickly things 
 got hidden away ; and when the last of the para- 
 phernalia was in place, he regarded his work with 
 great satisfaction. It was with no little pride that 
 he ran up the gangway and reported to Mr. Mon- 
 crief that the boats were ready for service. 
 
 He had just time to go below and get on his 
 leggings and side-arms, which consisted of a sword 
 and revolver, with a cartridge box, when a call was 
 made for the flotilla to form. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 
 
 WHEN Joe came on deck amusing sights 
 awaited him. Indeed, it would have taken 
 a more dignified cadet than he prided himself on 
 being, not to have been amused at what he saw. 
 Hubbins, who was serving as quarter-master's 
 assistant, stood in front of the cooks, mess-cooks 
 and servants, trying to conceal his wrath. An 
 insult had been offered him, so he believed. He 
 had just returned from transporting a barrel of 
 cooked pork, a barrel of bean soup, with bread 
 and coffee sufficient for one meal, to Gardiner's 
 Island, and was about to re-embark at the head of 
 a squad, bearing scouse-kettles, coffee pots, buck- 
 ets, division tubs and other impedimenta. He, 
 who might have been an admiral by this time, 
 having to do all this ! " Why," he reflected, " I 
 might have been in command of this very expedi- 
 tion." He could hardly have looked more forlorn 
 had he been a Russian exile banished to Siberia 
 for a too ardent espousal of Nihilism. 
 
 Coverly, who feared that he might encounter 
 175 
 
I76 THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 
 
 marshy places in his advances and retreats on the 
 island — at least, this was his explanation — had 
 borrowed a pair of the chief engineer's boots. 
 The boots were altogether too large for his feet. 
 He looked as if he might have been let down into 
 them as some light object is let down into a big 
 boat. Joe more than half suspected Coverly's 
 innocence in the affair. A slight twitching about 
 the corners of his mouth, as well as other signs, 
 went to prove that the boots had not been adopted 
 altogether for the purpose of self-protection. Joe 
 wondered that the captain of marines, or Mr. Mon- 
 crief, both of whom looked very sharply at Cov- 
 erly's feet, did not order him below to put on 
 shoes and leggings ; but with his accustomed 
 happy fortune he escaped this retribution. 
 
 Finally there was Schopy. He was strapped 
 up alongside the surgeon's sword, the new one 
 voted by the committee not having arrived before 
 the Daybreak sailed. Swem looked very sheepish 
 as he advanced along the deck, the elongated hilt 
 nearly on a line with his ear. But as it was quite 
 certain that there would be no weapons drawn 
 before leaving the Daybreak, he began to take 
 courage. Had occasion required, he would not 
 have been able to get this sword from its scab- 
 bard without tipping that receptacle so nearly per- 
 pendicular as to empty it out, thus making a most 
 ludicrous and unmilitary spectacle. 
 
THE NAVAL BRIGADE. IJJ 
 
 The plan fixed upon was to send the marines 
 from the different ships on in advance to hold the 
 island. They were to oppose the landing of the 
 blue-jackets, and, being the inferior force, were 
 finally to succumb ; but not until after a hot con- 
 test, in which as many details of a battle as possi- 
 ble were to be carried out. It was to be a sham 
 battle of no inconsiderable proportions. 
 
 The vessels had now all signalled the flag-ship 
 that their forces were ready for landing, and the 
 order was given to embark. Mr. Moncrief di- 
 rected the departure of the Daybreak's battalion 
 from her deck. The perfect order in which all 
 was done at such short notice was a matter of 
 surprise and delight to Joe. Everybody seemed 
 familiar with the battalion station bill, which had 
 been hung up in different places around the ship. 
 Even Enoch Long, who was generally credited 
 with being the most awkward and unenlightened 
 member of the crew, acquitted himself with honor. 
 
 Joe could hardly make himself believe that they 
 were not setting forth on an actual campaign, and 
 that bloody battles would not ensue. Harry was 
 in quite an exalted state. As he marched his 
 company along that part of the line where Joe 
 stood, he whispered, "This means blood," and for 
 the instant, Joe almost wished it did. Presently 
 the whole battalion was afloat, and the flotilla pro- 
 ceeded to form for the admiral's inspection. 
 
I78 THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 
 
 Joe had never before witnessed such an assem- 
 blage of boats. From the stern of the cutter he 
 could see a number of schooners anchored not far 
 away, waiting for a fair wind. On many of them 
 were the families of the captains. These all 
 seemed at a loss to know what to make of the dis- 
 play. Their double-shotted glasses were brought 
 to bear on the boats as if suspecting them of 
 being about to raise the black flag, and they were 
 debating whether it was not best to up anchor and 
 away. But in a moment, according to naval tac- 
 tics, the divisions of boats were formed. Skirm- 
 ishers, pioneers, infantry, artillery, supply squad 
 and ambulance corps, each component of the bri- 
 gade, fell into its respective station as though this 
 formation had been an every-day occurrence. 
 
 Joe looked around carefully. He was anxious 
 to understand the arrangement of the different 
 parts of the brigade. 
 
 The skirmishers, he noticed, were in advance, 
 the infantry at the centre, and most of the artillery 
 on the flanks. The captain of the flag-ship was 
 in command of the expedition. He was at a dis- 
 tant point overlooking the flotilla from the steam 
 cutter. This craft was regarded by everybody as 
 a sort of imperial barge, whose slightest movement 
 fastened all eyes upon her. In the rear were sev- 
 eral swift-pulling boats, flying the hospital flag, and 
 containing surgeons, apothecaries and stretcher- 
 
THE NAVAL BRIGADE. I ?g 
 
 men. Each boat in the several lines had its num- 
 ber painted in large figures upon two separate 
 pieces of canvas, which were hung out one over 
 the bow and the other over the stern. 
 
 The Daybreak's division of boats was rendered 
 quite conspicuous by carrying a huge Jack. The 
 name of the ship was painted in the centre of this 
 in large bright letters. Joe and Harry happened 
 to be in the same boat. They were amused to 
 see Schopy's sword hanging far out over the stern 
 of the Lady Godiva, to whose command he had 
 been purposely assigned by Mr. Moncrief. His 
 revolver also stuck so far out of his belt that, 
 together with his huge sword, he assumed an 
 uncommonly threatening appearance. The Lady 
 Godiva happened to be the next boat to the cutter 
 Joe and Harry were in. Even a whisper was per- 
 fectly audible to everybody in the two boats. 
 
 "Say, Schopy," said Harry, "don't go rummag- 
 ing around the island with that sword." 
 
 "Why?" innocently asked Swem. 
 
 "Because they'll shoot you for a pirate." 
 
 But all bantering was presently lost in the 
 cadets' admiration of the flotilla. It made a very 
 fine spectacle on the sparkling waters of the bay; 
 the national colors fluttering from each boat, each 
 piece of ordnance, and every rifle, bayonet and 
 cutlass furbished to the brightness of Sheffield 
 steel. 
 
ISO THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 
 
 "This wouldn't be a bad showing," remarked 
 Joe, " if we were going to plant the flag on Mada- 
 gascar or up the Congo." 
 
 " I only wish we were on such an expedition," 
 rejoined Harry, the fire leaping to his eyes at the 
 bare suggestion. " But we'll never see anything 
 but sham fighting in our Navy," he added in disgust. 
 
 "Don't be so sure," said Joe, smiling at Harry's 
 disappointed look. " Wars, you know, are not cut 
 and dried like great land speculations, though they 
 resemble them somewhat when they get going. 
 Nations get mad and pitch into one another just 
 like individuals." 
 
 "I hope some nation will get mad, then — very 
 soon, and pitch into us," rejoined Harry. "A 
 first-class war would do this country good." 
 
 "Some nation will pitch into us," said Joe, after 
 the manner of a young oracle. 
 
 This warlike conversation took place while the 
 brigade, which was now afloat, was awaiting the 
 admiral's inspection. In a few minutes the admi- 
 ral appeared on the bridge of the flag-ship. Barely 
 raking the flotilla with the twin guns of a field- 
 glass, he ordered a signal run up for it to get 
 under way. Slowly, but in perfect formation, the 
 boats moved forward. The landing was to be 
 stoutly opposed by the marines, who had been 
 sent on in advance. As the flotilla approached 
 the beach, an order was given for all the boats 
 
THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 181 
 
 carrying machine guns and howitzers to pall to 
 either flank. They could thus, if necessary, pour 
 a galling cross-fire upon the enemy. Mr. Blooms- 
 bury afterwards told Joe that he had never wit- 
 nessed such a splendid advance, excepting in one 
 instance at Key West, when the largest force was 
 put ashore ever landed by the Navy. 
 
 "How much ammunition have we ?" inquired 
 Harry, as he caught sight of the marines ashore 
 getting ready to repel the invaders. 
 
 "Enough for a bloodier affray than this will be," 
 laughed Joe. 
 
 " But how much have we ? " persisted Harry, his 
 eyes dilating at the prospect. 
 
 "Well," said Joe, "there are a thousand rounds 
 packed in the feed cases of the Gatlings, the cais- 
 son boxes of the howitzers are stuffed full, each 
 man carries twenty rounds in his cartridge belt, 
 and the supply squads hold no end of it in reserve. 
 I think the country's safe." 
 
 But Harry was only half listening. Joe knew 
 by the flash of his eyes that he was burning to 
 catch the gleam of twenty thousand bayonets along 
 the shore 
 
 "It's coming now," exclaimed Joe, almost as 
 much excited for the moment as his companion, 
 as an order was given for the skirmishers and 
 artillerists to clear the beach. 
 
 A loud volley from the shore (of blank car- 
 
1 82 THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 
 
 tridges) showed that whatever might be the out- 
 come the marines were determined to open the 
 fight, and to their utmost resist the landing 
 
 Harry clapped his hands. Joe felt impelled to 
 pitch the young rebel overboard for thus applaud- 
 ing the enemy. 
 
 But now the boats opened fire. This mimicry 
 of actual battle seemed glorious to Joe. The 
 fierce detonation of the howitzers, the crack of 
 the Gatlings, louder than the snap of a thousand 
 watchman'a rattles whirled by as many giants, the 
 steady crash of the musketry, were music to him. 
 He wouldn't mind spending an hour or two every 
 day in such a battle as this. His tune changed, 
 however, when a bullet, which by mistake had got 
 in among the blank cartridges, came whizzing over 
 the boat. 
 
 " Hooray ! " exclaimed Harry, jumping up in the 
 boat. "I like that !" 
 
 "I don't," returned Joe, considerably disturbed; 
 " it puts a different complexion on the affair. If 
 there are any more like that, I think we'd better 
 lie down in the boats till they're expended." 
 
 "There they go again !" cried Harry, as one — 
 two — three more sang over their heads. " Scho- 
 py, old boy, mind your eye ; it's the sharp-shooters 
 trying to pick off the officers." 
 
 It did begin to look somewhat serious. Joe had 
 half a mind to pull out to Mr. Moncrief's boat and 
 
THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 1 83 
 
 tell him that the marines were firing bullets by 
 mistake. Hearing no more, however, he wisely 
 decided not to leave the line. Steadily the boats 
 moved on, and steadily the powder blazed in the 
 very faces of the enemy. The enemy's fire was 
 quick and regular, but it was no match for that 
 which belched from the guns in the boats ; and 
 soon a rift in the smoke, as the boats were quite 
 close in shore, showed that the marines were fall- 
 ing back under cover of any natural barrier they 
 could find. 
 
 " Wouldn't I like to go for them now ? " almost 
 shouted Harry. He stood up in the boat waiting 
 the order to land his company, impatient as the 
 celebrated war horse of which we read in the Book 
 of Job. And when in a moment the order came for 
 him to land, he jumped for the beach in advance 
 of his men. In his impetuosity he leaped a little 
 too soon, and down he went in a deep place, head 
 over ears in the water. Nothing could be seen 
 for an instant but his cap. He presently ap- 
 peared at the surface, however, and a couple of 
 strokes bringing him to a shallow place, he rushed 
 up out of the water as if he fancied himself lead- 
 ing a charge with his uniform riddled with bullets. 
 
 " Get that howitzer ashore immediately," called 
 Mr. Moncrief from the beach to Swem, who had 
 the piece referred to in charge. 
 
 "Ay, ay ? sir," answered Swem, going briskly at 
 
1 84 THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 
 
 it, his sword hilt waving back and forth like an 
 odd kind of plume. 
 
 But the howitzer seemed determined not to be 
 landed. It began to flounder around in the boat. 
 Under its strange antics, the Lady Godiva felt as 
 ticklish as a tight-rope, and in spite of everything, 
 Swem feared she would turn turtle. But in a 
 moment, getting one wheel of the carriage over 
 the side, the gun jumped the boat, and turning a 
 complete somersault, landed on the rocky bottom 
 a fathom down. Poor Swem looked over at the 
 howitzer about as a country boy would regard a 
 horse that by some strange mishap had rolled into 
 a ditch on his back. 
 
 "What's the matter in that boat?" sung out 
 Mr. Moncrief, emerging from a cloud of smoke at 
 the water's edge. 
 
 "The howitzer has gone overboard, sir," said 
 Swem in a trembling voice. 
 
 " If that gun isn't in position in five minutes, 
 I'll know the reason why," concluded Mr. Mon- 
 crief in no very mild tones ; and he disappeared as 
 quickly as he had come into view. 
 
 "Never mind, Schopy," said Joe, who had wit- 
 nessed the affair while waiting for an order to 
 land his company ; "I'll lend you a hand." 
 
 Putting their heads together, the cadets very 
 shortly had the howitzer up and in position on the 
 right flank, where, Swem observed, it would be 
 
THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 1 85 
 
 about as useful for purposes of battle as a wet 
 swab. 
 
 With the whole brigade now on shore, the tem- 
 pest of battle rose to its fullest height. From 
 behind every variety of natural breastwork the 
 marines poured forth an unceasing fire. Sharp- 
 shooters, hidden among the foliage of the trees, 
 were no less active. There were charges and 
 counter-charges, advances and retreats. Harry, 
 by a daring assault, carried two of the enemy's 
 strongest positions. Coverly, in retaliation, cap- 
 tured Schopy's howitzer. Joe gallantly recovered 
 it, taking prisoners Coverly and his whole detach- 
 ment of marines. Schopy got excited and plunged 
 into the thickest of the fight. The stretcher-men 
 wanted somebody to carry from the field, and he 
 ordered Enoch Long, who was pumping the blank 
 cartridges from his magazine rifle as though he 
 imagined himself out shooting squirrels, to fall 
 down wounded. 
 
 "I won't," said Long, still peppering away. 
 
 Swem raised his awful sword over Long's head, 
 who, at the sight of it, pitched forward on the grass 
 as though he had been a kind of cartridge fired 
 from the heel of a stage horse. 
 
 " I'll report you to the cap'n," he sung out, as 
 the stretcher-men tumbled him into a stretcher 
 and bore him from the field. 
 
 An officer had to be killed, and it fell to Joe tc 
 
1 86 THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 
 
 foot up this column of casualties. He was carried 
 from the field, however, more tenderly than Long 
 had been. 
 
 The enemy's shots now came very irregularly 
 and at long range. It was very evident that the 
 marines were beating a hasty retreat. Advance 
 guards, rear guards and flankers were thrown out, 
 and a careful reconnoissance revealed the fact that 
 the brigade had taken the island. But it is one 
 thing to take an island and another to hold it. 
 Now everybody worked to make sure the victory. 
 Fortifications were thrown up in no time, rifle pits 
 dug, batteries planted, sentinels posted, and picket 
 lines established. In the short space of an 
 hour, they could have repelled a cavalry raid, 
 and sheltered themselves from any number of 
 skirmishers and sharp-shooters who might be hid- 
 den behind the rocks and among the foliage of 
 the trees. 
 
 " I want my dinner, now, Mr. Alexander the 
 Great," said Coverly, flinging himself on the grass, 
 boots high in the air. 
 
 The battle over, Joe was superintending the 
 erection of the Daybreak's tents, and greatly to 
 their amusement was keeping up the illusion that 
 Coverly was still his prisoner. 
 
 "Seems to me you're rather familiar for a pris- 
 oner of war," laughed Joe. "I'll clap you in the 
 guard-house if you don't look out." 
 
THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 1 87 
 
 Joe was very hungry himself, and was hurrying 
 to get through with his work before the dinner- 
 call should sound. The smoke of Hubbins' kitch- 
 ens was now more glorious to him than the smoke 
 of battle had been. His section in the village of 
 tents, therefore, grew very quickly. His ingenuity 
 was considerably taxed to get sails and awnings to 
 fit on to the frame works. Wrinkles, bulges and 
 ridges would mysteriously appear in the canvas, 
 but he rubbed and hammered and stretched, till 
 at last he attained comparative smoothness. He 
 was not able to get the sides of the tents very 
 taut, and he hoped for the sake of his reputation 
 as a tent builder, there would be no rain while they 
 were in camp. The work was completed by dig- 
 ging a trench around each structure. 
 
 "Where are the bees?" asked Coverly, survey- 
 ing the tents with a comical air. 
 
 "What do you mean ? " asked Joe. 
 
 Coverly intimated that they would make excel- 
 lent bee-hives. He also suggested that in form 
 they resembled one another about as nearly as the 
 oddest varieties of birds' nests, and that there was 
 about breathing space enough in each of them for 
 a fairy. " But how in the world are we all going 
 to sleep in them ? " he concluded. 
 
 " Oh ! we shall have to arrange ourselves geomet- 
 rically," laughed Joe, "like heaps of cannon balls." 
 
 The glory of war does not appease natural appe- 
 
lS8 THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 
 
 tite, unless the thirst for glory be regarded as 
 such, and we must show no signs of surprise as 
 we now behold Joe and Coverly almost scamper- 
 ing across the field of Mars after their dinner. 
 The clatter of pots, pans and spoons, louder, it 
 may be, than the din of battle had been, suddenly 
 arrested their conversation with the most inspir- 
 ing strains of deck or camp, and set them beat- 
 ing irregular but quick time over the turf. In 
 another moment they flung themselves down be- 
 fore a grassy table beside their messmates, who, 
 in their coming, had been no less eager than them- 
 selves, all prepared for the heaviest charge of the 
 day. 
 
 "This everlasting serving out of pork and 
 beans," exclaimed Hubbins, coming up from the 
 kitchen with a very red face, " is " — 
 
 "Important, but not intellectual," said Harry, 
 filling in a sentence for him. 
 
 "This commanding a company is intellectual, 
 but not important," retorted Hubbins. 
 
 " Oh ! give us our beans, Hubbins," called Cov- 
 erly; "we're starving." 
 
 The beans and coffee, piping hot, were brought 
 up by the steerage servants, and Mr. Hubbins was 
 highly complimented on his talents as a restaura- 
 teur, which, however, he did not at all relish. He 
 said that he had no use for commendation that 
 belonged to a cook. Joe made some sober re- 
 
THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 1 89 
 
 mark or other, when Hubbins told him that he 
 would be much obliged if he would forego preach- 
 ing for once. It was evident that Hubbins did 
 not take the slightest interest in executing the 
 duties of his office, on this occasion, at least. 
 
 "Hooray, isn't this jolly!" exclaimed Harry, 
 finishing his beans, and tumbling back on the 
 grass like a ten-inch shell. 
 
 "I wish it would last a week," said Joe, rolling 
 over and over on the green-sward like a small 
 boy. 
 
 " There'll be fun in camp to-night," observed 
 Coverly with a knowing look; "we've got it all 
 arranged." 
 
 "More graveyard business, I suppose," said 
 Hubbins gruffly. "I'd vary the programme occa- 
 sionally, if I were you." 
 
 " Coverly's got his burglar's tools along," said 
 Harry. " I saw him packing them up." 
 
 "And his dulcimer — zithern, I mean," said 
 Schopy. 
 
 "Yes; and he'll be playing it half the night. 
 I'm sick of its infernal buzz," put in Hubbins. 
 
 "I'll tell you what's up," said Coverly, "if you'll 
 promise not to blow on me." 
 
 " Go on ; we won't," said every one but Hubbins. 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha!" laughed somebody in rear of 
 them, who had come up unobserved. 
 
 All quickly turned on their elbows and saw 
 
I9O THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 
 
 Lieutenant Bloomsbury looking down upon them 
 with a most ludicrous expression of countenance. 
 
 "Sorry your little game's blocked," he said. 
 " I was a midshipman once, myself. But have 
 you noticed anything peculiar on the flag-ship ? " 
 
 All looked and saw a tiny speck of bunting flut- 
 tering at her main. 
 
 "The dickens !" exclaimed Coverly, jumping to 
 his feet and taking a look at it through his glass ; 
 "that's the general recall." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 JOE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURY. 
 
 ANOTHER of the admiral's little surprises," 
 chuckled Mr. Bloomsbury, coming hastily 
 up to where our hero was busy in the demolition 
 of the tents. " But you won't regret it. Dine 
 with me this evening in the wardroom ; I'll tell 
 you all about it," and he hurried on. 
 
 But joe did regret it. This peremptory sum- 
 mons back to the ship was not agreeable to all 
 the young officers. They had counted on several 
 days in camp and had planned no end of sport. 
 Then there was associated with it a feeling some- 
 what akin to ignominy. It was as if a battalion of 
 recruits had been sent home after a single day's 
 campaigning. What could it all mean ? For a 
 few moments Joe was conscious of a keen sense 
 of disappointment. To be sure, he was an ardent 
 lover of the sea, but his affection for the green 
 earth was stronger just now. The mystery and 
 grandeur of the ocean moved him to wondrous 
 feelings ; but what were these compared with the 
 fresh, delightful emotions awakened by the touch 
 191 
 
I92 JOE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURY. 
 
 of mother earth ? With one strong effort, how- 
 ever, he cast these fancies from his mind, and 
 turned to his work with the earnestness which 
 ever characterized his movements. 
 
 In time of peace the Navy is necessarily a 
 school of war. Only by assuming a state of war- 
 fare, and enjoying its operations and manoeuvres, 
 can officers and men be kept in training to defend 
 the country and the flag in case of insult or in- 
 vasion. The quick eye, the steady nerves, the 
 prompt, clear judgment so essential in battle, must 
 be acquired by assuming, so far as is practicable, 
 the conditions and exigencies of war. 
 
 So, in view of the absence of hostilities, the 
 admiral had recourse to a war of home manufac- 
 ture. As we have already seen, his plans sud- 
 denly changed with reference to the encampment, 
 and the brigade was immediately ordered back for 
 the grander operations in contemplation. The 
 cadets all said it was going off half-cocked ; but 
 when Joe understood it he asked them if in his- 
 tory they knew of a single war or battle which in 
 the beginning had not gone off in just that way. 
 
 That evening Joe dined with Mr. Bloomsbury. 
 Important events were pending. Mr. Bloomsbury 
 wished to talk with him concerning them, as well as 
 to enjoy the pleasure of his company at dinner. 
 Lieutenant Bloomsbury's friendship for Joe was 
 very ardent. It had been strengthening day by 
 
JOE AXD LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURY. 1 93 
 
 day ever since their acquaintance ^began. Indeed 
 it is safe to say that Joe Bently was the most pop- 
 ular young officer on board the Daybreak. He 
 was not aware of this fact, but his respectful bear- 
 ing toward his superiors, his quiet, unassuming 
 manner, his consideration for the men, as well as 
 his ready adaptation to any kind of service, not to 
 mention his well-known courage, excited a deep 
 interest in him, and won him many friends both 
 before and abaft the mast. But too much time 
 must not be spent in sounding Joe's praises ; to 
 accord him his honest due is simply justice. 
 
 The feelings quite likely to be cherished by the 
 resident of an inconsequential street toward a fine 
 house on a fashionable avenue, which at some 
 future time he hoped to occupy, may represent 
 Joe's condition of mind as he entered the ward- 
 room. This apartment, shut in from the air and 
 the sunshine, abounding" with inconveniences, a 
 kind of gaudy, stuffy basement, was, notwithstand- 
 ing, a paradise to our young cadet. To be sure, 
 he regarded it as a sort of cave, but when the 
 Aladdin's lamp of promotion should be bestowed 
 upon him, what untold riches of honor and prefer- 
 ment it would then disclose ! And as for its dis- 
 comforts, he would care no more for them then, 
 than a man would care of what material the strong 
 bag was made that contains his gold. Joe, we 
 must remember, is only a cadet and just now the 
 
194 J OE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURV. 
 
 wardroom is his brightest dream of youth. What 
 matter if much of it is illusion ? We doubt not 
 that a king has often laughed over the hallucina- 
 tions that filled his princely visions of a throne. 
 
 It was rather a dampener to Joe's brilliant fancies 
 that at the instant he crossed the wardroom thresh- 
 old he was confronted by an officer who could not 
 sympathize with them in the least. Immediately 
 this officer had shaken hands with Joe, he began 
 to draw a dark picture of wardroom life. It was a 
 kind of martyrdom, he hinted, to be shut up in a 
 place that in some aspects resembled the street of 
 tombs in Pompeii, and in others the catacombs of 
 Rome. "To me," he continued, "the Navy is a 
 servitude, not a service." 
 
 Joe ventured to remark that he hoped it was not 
 so bad as all that. 
 
 "Yes," said the officer, and sweeping the ward- 
 room with one glance of his eye ; " you see what 
 you're coming to as a lieutenant" 
 
 Joe recalled several visitations that might be 
 harder to endure. 
 
 "Professionally," he went on, "you are in a 
 cartilaginous state. Take my advice, and go into 
 some other profession before you ossify in your 
 present one." 
 
 At this Joe looked bored. " I hope they don't 
 all feel this way," he mentally said. 
 
 He wished some one would relieve him from 
 
JOE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURY. I 95 
 
 this dissertation of his dismal custodian ; and this 
 wish was soon granted, for several gentlemen who 
 had been smiling over his initiation came to the 
 rescue. Their cheerful conversation at once dis- 
 pelled the unpleasant impression he might other- 
 wise have received. The wardroom seemed quite 
 as glorious as ever. He saw that the general dis- 
 position was to get the best things out of ward- 
 room life ; and he was much pleased with the 
 spirit of jolly fraternity which characterized the 
 greater number of the mess. 
 
 Everybody seemed to unbend. Mr. Moncrief 
 appeared, as respected his attitude toward our hero, 
 to have left all his official dignity on deck. Indeed, 
 he had quite charmed Joe by assuming such a 
 thoroughly unofficial manner. He forgave him 
 the endless tasks he had assigned him. As for 
 Mr. Bloomsbury, Joe had seldom seen him when 
 he did not overflow with good nature ; but in the 
 wardroom he reminded him of something that 
 would enjoy bursting if by that means he could 
 distribute any greater pleasure. 
 
 One thing, however, suggested a rather disa- 
 greeable subject to his mind. He saw that most 
 of the wardroom officers were approaching middle 
 life ; the time when, in his opinion, they should be 
 nearing the top of their profession in rank and 
 responsibility. They never could be better quali- 
 fied for its higher duties, he thought ; yet here 
 
I96 JOE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURY. 
 
 they were not half-way up the ladder. Joe gave 
 a little gasp as he thought of the many long years, 
 should things remain unchanged in the Navy, be- 
 fore his hand could ever touch the round in the 
 ladder of promotion which most of these officers 
 had already grasped. But he hoped that mean- 
 while Congress would shorten the ladder, so that 
 before his hair should have turned white, and 
 his ambition waned, the top round might be with- 
 in reaching distance. At any rate, as he used to 
 express it to himself, he would like for Con- 
 gress to give him as fair a show as was given 
 young men in other professions. 
 
 But at this point his reflections were cut short 
 by the announcement of dinner. At table he sat 
 at Mr. Bloomsbury's right, his old habit of silence 
 dominating. It being the first time he had dined 
 in a wardroom, he regarded it as something of an 
 event. Of course his eyes were made to do ser- 
 vice. He was much pleased with the table, not 
 in an agricultural, but in an artistic sense. It 
 was tastefully decorated with flowers, and was 
 screened off at either end by pieces of bright 
 bunting. The showy uniforms of the officers on 
 either side added to its picturesqueness. 
 
 In a moment, however, these slight externals 
 were banished from his mind by the mess-table talk. 
 It had already gathered itself into a swift stream 
 of comments, observations, questions, and so forth, 
 
JOE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURY. I 97 
 
 broken into occasional rapids by an outburst of 
 fun. m 
 
 "For spontaneous, effusive, vociferous talk," 
 said Mr. Bloomsbury, turning to him with a smile, 
 "give me a wardroom mess." 
 
 After awhile the conversation took a serious 
 turn, and but for a flash in the pan it would have 
 been without incident for some little time. Mr. 
 Bloomsbury happened to make the remark that 
 the idlers on board ship could not appreciate the 
 hardship of being in three watches. A gentleman 
 who was not a watch officer took exception to the 
 term idlers. 
 
 "I don't stand any watch," said he, "but I'm no 
 idler." 
 
 Mr. Bloomsbury laughed heartily. 
 
 "Why," said he, "don't you know what an idler 
 is in the Navy ? Captain Farradale is an idler. 
 So are Moncrief and the admiral. It distinguishes 
 those on board ship who stand watch from those 
 who do not. Ha, ha, ha ! " and away went the 
 last vestige of offense before the inundation of 
 Mr. Bloomsbury's good nature. 
 
 The subject of ancestry was broached. One 
 officer remarked that his great-grandfathers were 
 colonels in the Revolutionary War. Another said 
 his were tories at that period ; and he furthermore 
 stated that he had a very old uncle living in New- 
 port, who now claimed to be a tory and gloried in 
 
I98 JOE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURY. 
 
 it. In a moment of weakness the youngest officer 
 in the mess made some personal allusion in con- 
 nection with Beacon Hill. The chief engineer at 
 once asked him what year his ancestors landed at 
 Castle Garden. 
 
 And so a running fire of questions, comments, 
 anecdotes and so on was kept up, which presently 
 wound up with a rather startling pantomimic dis- 
 play. In bringing on the omlcttc au i-hum, the 
 colored servant lighted the spirits which covered 
 it in the rear of Joe's chair. As Joe turned to 
 help himself from the dish — which, by the way, 
 he did not do, being fonder of his native State 
 than of omlette au rkum — the flames flared up 
 around the ebony face, exhibiting it in a frame of 
 fire. 
 
 " Don't be frightened, don't be frightened," 
 laughed Mr. Bloomsbury, "he isn't after you. 
 He belongs to this world." 
 
 Joe hoped he might never behold a more vivid 
 reminder of another. 
 
 Dinner over, Joe was anxious to talk about the 
 grand operations which Mr. Bloomsbury had inti- 
 mated were soon coming off. He also feared that 
 the war-game, which with good reason the cadets 
 all dreaded, might be forthcoming. For a num- 
 ber of days, in the intervals of relief from duty, 
 the cadets severally had been invited to partici- 
 pate in this war-game, and it had become their 
 
JOE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURY. I 99 
 
 detestation. Swem had been heard to use some 
 very strong language. The ground for this aver- 
 sion was that it took time which should be given 
 to their studies, and always resulted in their de- 
 feat. As the representative of a ship, Joe had 
 been alternately overhauled, rammed, riddled with 
 ten-inch shell, had his scuppers spouting blood, 
 and not infrequently had been blown out of water 
 by a torpedo. It had always been his fate to be 
 either sunk, burned or captured. The strange 
 thing about it all was, that his opponent generally 
 regarded him as only something to be rammed or 
 fired into ; and he would say to himself, " Wonder 
 if he thinks that in actual battle I would behave 
 so much like a derelict or a whale ? " 
 
 But to his great relief, before there was time to 
 bring on the war-game, Mr. Bloomsbury invited 
 him to his state-room. Mr. Bloomsbury's room 
 was a place of rare interest to Joe, and it 
 was always a pleasure to him to visit it. It was 
 highly characteristic of its occupant. The most 
 difficult thing for Joe to do was to imagine that it 
 was habitable quarters. It had points in common 
 with a workshop, an office, a museum, a bazaar, or 
 the like ; it contained no end of bric-a-brac ; and 
 of ships, guns, projectiles, torpedoes and torpedo 
 boats, it had models enough, Joe thought, to start 
 a new navy. It was doubtful whether Marco 
 Polo ever saw anything odder than some of its 
 
200 JOE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURY. 
 
 collections gathered from everywhere under the 
 sun. It was also littered with maps, drawings, 
 diagrams, and scientific works, scattered around 
 in endless confusion. 
 
 " Come right in, come right in," said Mr. 
 Bloomsbury, as Joe tripped over a dumb-bell, and 
 caught his shoulder knot on the point of a steel 
 shaving, a recent turning from the jacket of a new 
 gun. 
 
 "Thank you, sir," said Joe, bringing up violently 
 against the bunk. 
 
 "It's a little crowded," remarked Mr. Blooms- 
 bury. "I like to have a good many things around 
 me. It keeps me occupied." 
 
 " In a gale of wind," Joe ventured to observe. 
 
 "Yes," laughed Mr. Bloomsbury; "things are a 
 little lively then. But I don't mind it. I've been 
 buried a number of times in my bunk, but they've 
 dug me out in the morning all right. Ha, ha, ha ! 
 Before we get to work," he continued, meanwhile 
 twisting his arms like a corkscrew to get them in 
 place, "I want you to look at these." 
 
 He handed Joe the photographs of his three 
 children, with a look which plainly said, " Did you 
 ever see anything like them in all your born days ? " 
 
 "They're beautiful children," said Joe warmly; 
 "what are their names ? " 
 
 "This one," said Mr. Bloomsbury, pointing to 
 a sturdy little urchin of six, "we call the 'Her- 
 
JOE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBUKY. 201 
 
 cules ', this one the 'Ajax', and this one" — and 
 here he gazed very tenderly at the picture of a 
 sweet little girl — " the ' Superb '." 
 
 " Why, they're the names of English ships," 
 observed Joe, surprised at the strange appellations 
 for children. 
 
 "Oh! of course they're not their real names," 
 replied Mr. Bloomsbury, smiling. "They're re- 
 corded as George, Howard and Ethel. But it's 
 hard to leave such children as those," and here 
 his voice became very husky, and he dashed a 
 tear from his eye. "That's what makes a ship a 
 jail, and a cruise an exile," he added. 
 
 Joe had never seen Mr. Bloomsbury display so 
 much feeling before, and he was at a loss to know 
 what to do or say. 
 
 "People think," he went on, "that the Navy is 
 a yachting fleet, and a cruise a yachting expedi- 
 tion. The separations it imposes, to say nothing 
 of other deprivations, are intolerable." 
 
 Joe looked at this man, to whom he had attrib- 
 uted such a love for the Navy, in astonishment. 
 
 "It's only because I'm afraid to take the leap," 
 he added, "that I stay in the Navy. I'm fond 
 enough of the profession, but it's no compensa- 
 tion in any way for the life we have to lead. But 
 it won't do, it won't do; where's the neutralizer ? " 
 
 The old smile returned as he reached up and 
 took from its hanging place on the bulk-head an 
 
202 JOE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURY. 
 
 oil painting. Joe had already been regarding it 
 with no little curiosity and amusement. " What 
 do you think of that ? " resumed his friend. "An 
 honest opinion, mind." 
 
 "Oh! I'm no connoisseur," said our hero, grin- 
 ning in spite of himself, and wondering if Mr. 
 Bloomsbury were a dabbler in colors. 
 
 He saw that the painting essayed to set forth 
 the parable of the Good Samaritan. He thought 
 it strange that the donkey in the picture should be 
 larger than the hill it pretended to stand under; 
 that the Good Samaritan shouldn't have any knees, 
 and that by reaching an arms-length he could 
 have hung his cloak or mantle on a pinnacle of the 
 Synagogue, soaring with heightened color from the 
 midst of Jericho in the distance. There were 
 other shortcomings, or foreshortenings, which, to- 
 gether with the inadvertencies mentioned, made it 
 difficult for Joe to give an honest opinion, thrust 
 as he was so suddenly into art criticism. 
 
 "It's a very odd name," he managed to get off, 
 while he spelt out The Neutralizer, written, evi- 
 dently by Mr. Bloomsbury's own hand, in large 
 letters at the bottom. 
 
 "Oh! I didn't paint it," he said, amused at 
 Joe's reticence. " It's a magnificent counteractive. 
 When I get a little blue it always starts a fresh 
 breeze in my mind." 
 
 " I should think it would start a howling erale," 
 
JOE AND LIEUTENANT BLOOMSBURY. 203 
 
 remarked Joe, daring to express an opinion now 
 that he had learned that Mr. Bloomsbury was not 
 its author. 
 
 "We have to practice all sorts of little deceits 
 and devices upon ourselves to keep cheered up in 
 this life we are living," continued Mr. Bloomsbury, 
 while he proceeded to improvise a desk on the side 
 of his bunk. " But now we'll attend to business," 
 he concluded, taking a handful of papers from his 
 bureau and placing them before him. 
 
 When the admiral had sent for him, it was for 
 the purpose of committing to him certain details 
 in the preparations for the exercises in Gardiner's 
 Bay, and he was spending every moment he could 
 get in working out his plans. 
 
 "You see," said he, coming to the point at 
 once, "there's going to be a big time. I gave you 
 a hint of it on the island. You and I will work 
 together in a good deal of it. So I thought I'd 
 let you into the secret this evening." 
 
 To Joe's delight he then went over the whole 
 ground of the impending operations w T ith him. So 
 absorbed did they become in the work that mid- 
 night found them still at^t. "You may go now," 
 said Mr. Bloomsbury as he counted the eight bells 
 then striking, indicating the lateness of the hour. 
 "But," he added, as Joe left the room, "put your 
 best work on torpedoes, for a grand battle with 
 torpedoes will undoubtedly wind up the affair." 
 
CHAPTER XI V. 
 
 FIXING A TORPEDO. 
 
 TO follow Joe in every detail of his duties for 
 • the next few days would be impossible. A 
 couple of days were spent in getting ready, then 
 the battle exercises began in earnest. A certain 
 portion of Gardiner's Bay was first set off as a 
 harbor. For its protection a series of booms was 
 constructed, consisting of spars, yards and steel 
 hawsers firmly lashed together. Mr. Bloomsbury 
 and Joe had charge of this work. In addition to 
 this, torpedoes were planted, mines laid, and bat- 
 teries erected on the adjacent shores. This prep- 
 aration, it was thought, together with a flotilla 
 formed of a dozen or more torpedo boats, would 
 render the harbor impregnable. 
 
 The Daybreak and one other ship, for the time 
 being, were to occupy ami hold the harbor. The 
 rest of the squadron, regarded as a powerful ene- 
 my, was to cruise off the entrances to the bay, 
 establishing a complete blockade. Occasionally a 
 division of ships from the blockading fleet was to 
 dash into the bay, attempt to destroy the Daybreak 
 204 
 
FIXING A TORPEDO. 205 
 
 and her consort, and thus get possession of the 
 harbor. This was to be done by strategy, the 
 supreme method of modern warfare, rather than 
 by open battle. 
 
 At last the arrangements were all completed, 
 and the operations began. For two days and 
 nights there was scarcely any cessation of hostil. 
 ities. There was a grand roar of artillery and 
 machine guns from morning until night. The in- 
 side of the ships were as black from powder as 
 the faces of the artillerists. Attempt after attempt 
 was made to capture the harbor, and on the part 
 of the Daybreak and her consort to break the 
 blockade and run into the open sound. Nothing 
 but failure, however, seemed to attend each move- 
 ment on either side. In every way possible the 
 torpedo boats tried to get near enough to the 
 blockading squadron to fix torpedoes, but in each 
 instance they were detected, and driven igno- 
 miniously back. Captain Farradale was mortified, 
 and Joe thought Mr. Moncrief and Mr. Blooms- 
 bury were almost in a state of rage. The Day- 
 break had done well with everything but her 
 torpedo boats ; and the boat of which Joe had 
 charge had done worst of all. It had partially 
 redeemed itself, however, by stealing up to a point 
 quite near the flagship before it was discovered. 
 Captain Farradale had been anxious to do good 
 work with torpedoes. Torpedo warfare was a 
 
206 FIXING A TORPEDO. 
 
 branch of the Service in which he was greatly 
 interested, and in which he believed great possi- 
 bilities lay. He saw that there must be a change 
 of base, and he quickly decided on a daring enter- 
 prise. "To-night," he said to Mr. Moncrief, 
 "young Bently's boat must make a single and 
 final attempt to fire a torpedo under the stern of 
 the flag-ship. Do you think it safe to send 
 Bently ? " 
 
 "Yes; I think so, sir. He's lacking only in 
 experience. He has no end of nerve and daring." 
 
 " I think we've had a pretty good demonstration 
 of that," the captain remarked as he touched the 
 bell for the orderly. " Tell Mr. Bently I wish to 
 see him in the cabin," he said, when that func- 
 tionary appeared. 
 
 Wondering what could be in the wind, Joe pre- 
 sented himself in the cabin. 
 
 "I have important and dangerous service for 
 you to-night, if you wish to undertake it," said 
 Captain Farradale, coming to the point at once. 
 " If you do not care to run the risk, I will send 
 Mr. Arlington." 
 
 Joe felt like biting his lip to think that the cap- 
 tain should have put it in that way, but he replied 
 promptly that he was not afraid of taking risks. 
 
 " Our torpedo boats have not done very well," 
 the captain continued, "and I do not wish to re- 
 port them a dead failure. If you can fix a torpedo 
 
FIXING A TORPEDO. 207 
 
 under the stern of the flag-ship, you'll save the 
 whole thing." 
 
 " I can make the trial, sir," replied our hero, 
 with a poor attempt at concealing his pleasure 
 over the honor the captain had conferred upon 
 him. 
 
 " You'd better take Mr. Swem along with you," 
 said the captain as, after further instructions, Joe 
 turned to leave the cabin. 
 
 "I beg pardon, sir," said Joe with hesitation, 
 "would you mind substituting Mr. Edgerton for 
 Mr. Swem ? " 
 
 "Certainly not, if Mr. Moncrief thinks he can 
 be spared." 
 
 Mr. Moncrief thought he could be spared, and 
 our hero quickly left the cabin to complete his 
 preparations for the expedition. Informing Harry 
 of all that had taken place, they at once set 
 to work with enthusiasm to get everything in 
 readiness by dark. 
 
 The boat they were to use was very old, and 
 gave Captain Farradale no little concern. She 
 was a steam cutter, not very sea-worthy, as many 
 thought, with patched boilers and machinery 'liable 
 to break down under any unusual strain. She was 
 also a clumsy craft, of small freeboard, and with- 
 out air chambers. For rolling she had the capac- 
 ity of a mule, only she had never exercised it to 
 its full extent and gone entirely over. She had to 
 
208 FIXING A TORPEDO. 
 
 be handled with extreme caution in a sea-way ; 
 otherwise she would have undoubtedly gone to the 
 bottom more quickly than ever the Lady Godiva 
 had accomplished that feat. As Captain Farradale 
 hinted, there were many risks connected with the 
 expedition. In addition to the comparative unsea- 
 worthiness of the boat it may be noted that the 
 danger was also greatly enhanced by the springing 
 up of a fresh breeze ■ — indeed, a moderate gale, 
 and the prospect of a very dark night. 
 
 It took some little time to prepare the boat. By 
 the advice of Harry, a turtle-back deck was rigged 
 over the bow-sheets. This was done by covering 
 a light frame-work with canvas, the bottom of 
 which was solidly nailed all around to the boat. 
 Several fathoms more chain were added to the 
 anchor, a large quantity of kindling wood was 
 stowed snugly in the locker, to be used in relight- 
 ing fires in case the sea should put them out, and 
 any number of tools were placed on board to 
 repair any accident that might happen to the 
 machinery. A supply of water and provisions, 
 life-preservers, buckets for bailing out, and an 
 apparatus for the more expeditious handling of 
 torpedoes — an invention of Joe's own brain — com- 
 pleted the outfit. 
 
 In addition to this thorough preparation there 
 was a picked crew. The moment the nature of 
 the expedition was suspected, Joe was overwhelmed 
 
FIXING A TORPEDO. 200, 
 
 with applications from men and boys anxious to 
 go with him. Enoch Long was foremost among 
 the applicants, and dwelt in his peculiar style on 
 his fitness for the service ; but Joe felt that he 
 could be spared without subsequent regrets. It 
 did, however, go against the grain to be obliged to 
 turn away from so many others ; lusty young fel- 
 lows as they were, who would have rejoiced to go 
 with him into any kind of clanger. He heartily 
 wished that he might accommodate them with 
 something in the way of real warfare, of propor- 
 tions worthy of their bravery. 
 
 We may be sure that under these circumstances 
 his crew was very carefully selected, and that first 
 among them were Conners and Dicky Dawson. 
 He selected Dawson as coxswain, and Conners to 
 handle the torpedo. When the boat's crew was 
 mustered, it was found to number, exclusive of 
 Joe and Harry, eight people — "force enough," 
 Joe remarked, " if well handled on torpedo expe- 
 ditions, to seriously damage, if not totally destroy, 
 an enemy." 
 
 Everything in readiness, the cadets waited in 
 utmost impatience the arrival of ten o'clock, the 
 hour fixed by Captain Farradale for their depart- 
 ure. They feared the captain might change his 
 mind at the last minute. Every ring of the cabin 
 bell now fairly set them in a tremor. The weather 
 was very threatening. The sky was full of nimbus 
 
2IO FIXING A TORPEDO. 
 
 clouds ; the wind came in puffs and squads, and 
 was steadily increasing in force. The captain had 
 finally come out upon the quarter deck, and was 
 evidently in an anxious, doubtful frame of mind. 
 He called to his orderly, asking how the barometer 
 stood. Fortunately for the cadets, it was reported 
 steady. But at last, just as they had begun to 
 think the project would be abandoned, they were 
 rejoiced to hear the captain say to the officer of 
 the deck, " Let the boat shove off promptly, sir, 
 at four bells." 
 
 The sharp closing of the cabin door a moment 
 later indicated that the captain had returned to 
 his quarters, and our young belligerents started 
 quickly for the deck. They had been sagacious 
 enough to keep out of the captain's way during 
 the evening, realizing that if they remained out of 
 sight the captain would not be so much impressed 
 by their youth and inexperience. 
 
 Ten o'clock came, and the order was given to 
 shove off. In accordance with naval usage, Joe 
 was now commanding officer of the boat. He 
 gave Dawson the course he was to steer by the 
 compass, having previously ascertained the bear- 
 ing of the flag-ship. The boat, of course, carried 
 no running lights, and as soon as they started 
 the additional precaution was taken of pulling a 
 canvas cover over the two or three lanterns on 
 board. Joe also gave orders that in firing up, the 
 
FIXING A TORPEDO. 211 
 
 furnace door must be kept open as short a time as 
 possible. With a few other preliminary directions 
 and precautions, the boat moved slowly out into 
 the darkness, which was now of inky blackness. 
 
 "This is glorious," cried Harry, as a shower of 
 spray flew over the canvas covering of the launch. 
 "Only it's a sham," he added, his voice relapsing 
 almost into a tone of melancholy. 
 
 " It won't be a sham getting there," ejaculated 
 Joe, as a big sea struck the launch on the port 
 quarter, flinging both cadets against the bulk-head, 
 and flooding the stern-sheets with a foot of water. 
 
 "You'll have to jump her along, to keep ahead 
 of this sea," said Harry, an anxious look all at 
 once overspreading his countenance. 
 
 "Open her out," said Joe to the machinist, who 
 stood with his hand on the throttle. " If we don't 
 run any faster than this, we'll have to heave to," 
 he added to Harry in a tone of half-dismay, as 
 the boat's stern was nearly buried by another sea, 
 which came tumbling down upon it like a miniature 
 cataract. 
 
 The cutter rushed ahead under four bells, and 
 now began a race with the waves. She was right 
 before the sea. Through an aperture in the can- 
 vas Joe could see the gleaming phosphorescent 
 tops of the waves as they hurried on after, to his 
 mind, full of evil intent toward the little boat. 
 At every pitch of the launch, her propeller, thrown 
 
212 FIXING A TORPEDO. 
 
 completely out of water, raced like a mill-wheel. 
 The water surged in around the canvas inces- 
 santly, and rose, in spite of the rapid bailing, 
 almost to the furnace grating ; altogether it was 
 quite alarming. For a time Joe and Harry feared 
 the fires would be put out, and this probability 
 filled them with misgiving. It would bring the 
 expedition to an end and perhaps swamp the boat. 
 But after an hour or more of deep suspense, the 
 boat all at once felt her way into smooth water, 
 and their spirits revived. 
 
 They had come suddenly, and indeed unexpect- 
 edly, under the shelter of the opposite shore. It 
 was at a point where the land had been eaten away 
 by the action of the sea, thus forming the basin 
 of a minute, semicircular bay. And just ahead 
 of them, her hull completely hidden by a salient 
 angle of the shore, but her masts and rigging 
 visible, lay the flag-ship safely anchored for the 
 night. 
 
 But now appeared the greatest obstacle yet 
 encountered. Joe had been anticipating it all 
 along. Until this moment, for some inexplicable 
 reason, the electric search-lights of the flag-ship 
 had not been turned on. All the way from the 
 Daybreak Joe and Harry had congratulated them- 
 selves upon this ; but now they saw that they, or 
 visitors like themselves, were expected. At the 
 first flash of the light Joe's spirits fell ; indeed, he 
 
FIXING A TORPEDO. 213 
 
 was quite overcome by his disappointment. But 
 he quickly rose to the emergency ; the thought 
 flashed upon him that if he could make his way to 
 the vessel right in the face of this great difficulty 
 without being seen, the achievement would have a 
 much higher value and honor — would, in fact, have 
 some little glory in it. 
 
 Ordering the engines to be stopped, he held a 
 brief consultation with Harry. He then went for- 
 ward to give instructions to Dawson and Conners. 
 The plan of operations was soon fully decided 
 upon, and he directed the boat-hands to roll up the 
 forward curtains, and to get out the oars. Every 
 word was now spoken in a whisper, and each stroke 
 of the oars when they were let fall was as noiseless 
 as though they had been muffled. As yet they were 
 screened by the rim of the crescent-shaped bay 
 into which they had entered. In a few minutes, 
 however, they reached the tip end of its farther 
 boundary, and at a whispered order the rowers 
 ceased pulling. By craning their necks the cadets 
 could now see around the point of land they had 
 reached, beyond which the great ship lay, in her 
 position, relative to them, end on. Her starboard 
 search-light that instant turned in their direction, 
 and in its glare they got the ship's exact bearing 
 from their place of observation. They judged 
 that her distance from their hiding place was 
 about two hundred yards. 
 
214 FIXING A TORPEDO. 
 
 " I hope they'll shut off those search-lights," 
 said Harry. " This expedition's gone up if they 
 don't." 
 
 "I hope they won't shut them off," said Joe, 
 much to Harry's surprise. 
 
 " Why, do you want this to be a fizzle, like all 
 the torpedo attacks ? " returned Harry, somewhat 
 nettled. 
 
 " Suppose we were going to blow up the Dread- 
 naught or the Alexandra, would we wait for them 
 to turn off their search-lights for our accommoda- 
 tion ? Torpedo warfare has got to be in face of 
 just such obstacles as this," coolly argued Joe. 
 
 "Well," continued Harry in a skeptical tone, 
 "if this fails, I never want to see Captain Farra- 
 dale again." 
 
 "It isn't going to fail," returned our hero, his 
 eye kindling with renewed enthusiasm. 
 
 The impulsive and somewhat discouraged Harry 
 was reassured by Joe's cool words and manner, 
 and in a few moments was excitedly urging him 
 to rush in and finish up the affair at once. But 
 the utmost caution and coolness were now neces- 
 sary, and our hero was not to be hurried. 
 
 The light was flashed over them the second 
 time, and was again turning away, when Joe gave 
 orders for the boat to round the point. Slowly 
 she crept around, following the shore as close as 
 she could get. The cadets rightly conjectured 
 
FIXING A TORPEDO. 21 5 
 
 that among the outlying rocks and reefs they 
 would more readily escape observation. Yet they 
 realized that they were in momentary danger of 
 running the boat aground, or of staving a hole in 
 her bows by too sharp contact with some bayonet- 
 ted projection of the shore. But the boat worked 
 on without mishap, and presently the light flashed 
 over them again. This time they made the pleas- 
 ing discovery that a low reef lay between them 
 and the ship. Only the smokestack of the launch 
 was now visible above this reef, but it was ex- 
 tremely doubtful whether the sharpest lookout 
 could distinguish it. From this new vantage 
 ground Joe renewed his observations, and decided 
 upon his method of attack. 
 
 He discovered that when the search-lights were 
 turned directly aft, a cone of darkness lay between 
 them, from fifty to one hundred feet in a line with 
 the stern of the ship. If they could only reach 
 this point before the lights again converged, they 
 would be well shadowed, and the flag-ship's fate, 
 theoretically speaking, at least, would be sealed. 
 This conclusion he communicated to Harry, and 
 waiting a moment for the search-lights to turn for- 
 ward, the daring work began. 
 
 With strong, but quiet strokes the boat was 
 driven into the open water and pointed for the 
 ship. At the utmost risk of detection, the men 
 threw their weight upon the oars, 
 
2l6 FIXING A TORPEDO. 
 
 Steadily the lights were turning, and slowly but 
 evenly the boat was moving up. The broad glare, 
 bright as noonday, had almost reached them again. 
 They were fifty yards away. The lights had now 
 converged, and the boat was barely at the point of 
 juncture. " Oars," whispers our hero, and the boat 
 lay as still upon the water as a mass of sea-weed. 
 
 Joe could hear the thumping of his heart against 
 his side. Harry was all a-tremble. Only an instant, 
 which seemed minutes to them, were they in the 
 blaze of the lights. Then darkness again closed 
 around them, and they were still undiscovered. 
 
 At this point in the expedition, if they could 
 only have cheered, what a shout would have gone 
 up ; for had they not already won a victory ? The 
 rule settled upon by the belligerents had been that 
 torpedo boats must get within sixty yards of the 
 enemy without drawing his fire ; otherwise they 
 would be ruled out of action. Within this limit 
 the Daybreak's boat now lay, and a complete vic- 
 tory appeared so certain that the cadets almost 
 laughed outright. Once more the oars fell noise- 
 lessly, and the boat pushed forward. 
 
 But what is this ? The boat came to a sudden 
 stand-still, knocking Joe and Harry almost from 
 their feet. They hurried forward, and taking down 
 the turtle-back deck, threw themselves prone upon 
 the bows to ascertain the cause. "A torpedo net- 
 ting," whispered Joe, "and it's got to be cut." 
 
FIXING A TORPEDO. 2 I 7 
 
 Conners loaned him his knife, and he sawed 
 away violently upon the obstruction, but to no 
 purpose. The netting was made of steel wire, and 
 was found to be an effectual barrier. 
 
 Our hero's mind was again quickly made up as 
 to what would have to be done. Captain Farradale 
 had instructed him to fix a torpedo under the stern 
 of the flag-ship, and the accomplishment of this 
 work was now too near for it to be abandoned. 
 Joe looked the very impersonation of nerve and 
 resolution. Hastily throwing off a part of his 
 clothing, he directed Conners to get the torpedo 
 out over the port bow. 
 
 " You're surely not going to swim for it," whis- 
 pered Harry. 
 
 "There's no other way," replied Joe. "You 
 look after the boat, keep everything quiet, and 
 we'll get out of here in no time," he added 
 hopefully. 
 
 Thus saying, Joe carefully lowered himself into 
 the water. The torpedo which had been let down 
 by Conners without a sound, was all ready for him. 
 Laying hold of it, and gently pushing it before 
 him, he struck out for the ship. It was a moment 
 of terrible suspense. Just above him, on the star- 
 board and port quarters, were the lookouts, seem- 
 ing to be unmindful of everything but walking 
 back and forth on their little beats. Pacing the 
 starboard side of the quarter deck was the officer 
 
2l8 FIXING A TORPEDO. 
 
 of the deck, all unsuspecting. Indeed, excepting 
 the electric lights, the appearance of things was 
 such as to lead Joe to the conclusion that on this 
 particular night he could perpetrate almost any 
 disaster upon the flag-ship. 
 
 With a firm grip upon the torpedo he slowly 
 worked it along. Suddenly it bumped against the 
 rudder-post, sounding with a heavy thud. Letting 
 go of it a moment, he listened. All continued 
 silent on the great deck above him. He felt qui- 
 etly around after something to which the torpedo 
 might be attached. "It's a sure thing now," said 
 he to himself, almost laughing aloud in his delight. 
 
 But a moment later a whisper reached him from 
 Harry. "Quick, quick!" he called; "we're dis- 
 covered ! " 
 
 Did the warning come too late ? Harry saw the 
 flash of a Hotchkiss rifled cannon right in our 
 hero's face and eyes, and so stunned was he by 
 the accompanying explosion, that he lost sight of 
 Joe altogether. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 KATIE AND MAUD. 
 
 MR. ASTON was very fond of salt water, and 
 he regarded it a happy coincidence that 
 Mrs. Aston and Katie's affection for the same 
 element was equally strong. It was owing to this 
 fact, no doubt, that the Celeste, to which several 
 allusions have already been made, had been built. 
 During her first season, at least, this craft was to 
 be the Astons' summer home ; in a sense, their 
 ocean cottage. 
 
 The Celeste was lying at anchor in Bar Harbor, 
 her rendezvous for the season. She had been off 
 on a trial trip — Mr. Aston and Katie called it her 
 honeymoon — in the Gulf Stream. She had wres- 
 tled with huge seas, and given Mr. Aston and 
 Katie the worst shaking up they had ever known, 
 and earned the reputation for herself of being a 
 superb sea-boat. Though she had plunged into as 
 heavy weather as she could ever be likely to 
 encounter, she did not strain a timber, or ship a 
 single sea. 
 
 Mr. Aston's four-oared gig had just come around 
 
 2TQ 
 
220 KATIE AND MAUD. 
 
 to the gangway, at the head of which stood Katie. 
 She was in a very impatient mood. She feared 
 she would be late at the steamboat landing. Her 
 old friend and schoolmate, Miss Maud Edgerton, 
 of Boston, is expected by the old steamer Lewiston. 
 Katie urged the boat's crew to their best work, 
 and so preceded the steamer's arrival by several 
 minutes. 
 
 And while Katie awaits Miss Maud's arrival, we 
 may as well take a look at the new yacht. 
 
 Any owner might feel justly proud of the 
 Celeste. Refined and graceful in model, built of 
 the choicest material, representing the best work 
 of a leading naval architect, she elicits on all 
 sides the warmest admiration. The yacht-loving 
 public talk about her as one of the finest acces- 
 sions of her class ever added to the yachting fleet 
 of this country. She is a sailing yacht of one 
 hundred and fifty tons burden, schooner-rig, built 
 for comfort and safety rather than speed ; al- 
 though to judge from her sharp bows and clear 
 run aft, she is by no means deficient in this latter 
 quality. She is the pride of her sailing master, 
 and the delight of her crew. " Handsome and 
 handy," is the alliteration generally employed by 
 her crew when speaking of her to their sailor 
 friends. 
 
 As to her interior no pains or expense had been 
 spared. She was fitted out with every convenience, 
 
KATIE AND MAUD. 221 
 
 not to say luxury. Did not her crew experience a 
 thrill of rapture, when first they beheld her ample 
 forecastle and breathed its fresh, pure air ? And 
 the black cook did not cease to grin over his gal- 
 ley during his entire first month's service. As 
 for the sailing master, astonishment laid hold upon 
 him the first time he viewed his quarters. He 
 was forced to take a peep into Mr. Aston's luxuri- 
 ous apartment across the deck, to make sure that 
 he had not been assigned to the wrong room. 
 
 The saloon is quite incomparable. It is spa- 
 cious, handsomely furnished and decorated. The 
 ceiling is frescoed, while the walls are covered with 
 most exquisite pictures and carvings. The side- 
 boards, chairs, sofas, hangings and man)' other 
 things, have all been specially made for this yacht, 
 and not a few of them are unique and beautiful in 
 themselves. The yacht monogram abounds every- 
 where ; as if the Celeste thought of nothing else 
 but herself. It is cut and carved and embroidered 
 into everything wherever there is the smallest 
 excuse for so doing. 
 
 And more than all, there is the most perfect 
 system of ventilation ; swinging couches, electric 
 bells and lights, turning chairs at table, and so 
 forth ; and by universal acknowledgment and con- 
 sent, the Celeste stands in her class the finest 
 yacht afloat. So positive was Katie that she 
 desired to name her the " Golden Lily," but for a 
 
222 KATIE AND MAUD. 
 
 peculiar reason, as we shall hereafter see, her 
 father's preference prevailed. 
 
 The steamer has at last rounded Schooner 
 Head, and is now standing up the harbor. Two 
 pretty binocular glasses, one from the steamer's 
 bows, and the other from the wharf, are earnestly- 
 searching the crowd in waiting and the crowd in 
 transit. In a moment the glasses go down and 
 handkerchiefs go up and out in mutual and de- 
 lighted recognition. And hardly has the wharf 
 ceased staggering under the mighty strain of the 
 steamer's hawsers, before the young ladies meet 
 in a warm embrace. 
 
 " I'm so glad you've come ! " exclaimed Katie. 
 "Bar Harbor is such a lovely place, and the Celeste 
 is such a 'golden lily' of a yacht" — the name 
 she preferred adjectively in her references to the 
 Celeste. 
 
 We can hardly get a good look at Miss Maud, 
 Katie is in such transports over her. We can, how- 
 ever, give her only a casual notice as she fills a 
 pleasant, but not important place in this story. 
 We must see how she looks, at any rate, if descrip- 
 tions of girls are so very commonplace in stories. 
 From the few glimpses we get of her in the crowd 
 we discover that she has become a very attractive 
 young woman. She is quite tall, has a good fig- 
 ure, and is natural and graceful in her movements. 
 She has a sweet little mouth, a fine nose, well- 
 
KATIE AND MAUD. 223 
 
 moulded brow, and rather handsome dark eyes, 
 with hair to correspond. Her face has some 
 imperfections, which no doubt enhance the general 
 effect of her beauty. Katie says she is a beautiful 
 girl, and that ought to suffice us ; for Katie's judg- 
 ment in this respect may be regarded as final. 
 We notice further, that there is the same old play 
 of humor about Miss Maud's mouth, and the same 
 mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Wonder if Joe 
 Bently would encounter them now with so much 
 dread as on a former occasion ? 
 
 All these years Katie and Maud have been the 
 best of friends. They have been together much 
 of the time, attending the same schools and visit- 
 ing each other during their vacations. A strong, 
 beautiful friendship exists between them, and they 
 are never so happy as when in each other's society. 
 The very day on which Mr. Aston decided to build 
 the Celeste, Katie wrote Maud a most cordial in- 
 vitation to become her guest on the first cruise, 
 with the result which is now beheld. 
 
 " Oh ! you don't know what you missed by not 
 going with papa and me on the trial trip ! " ex- 
 claimed Katie, while they were still wedged in 
 among the crowd. 
 
 Katie had strongly urged Miss Maud to accom- 
 pany them on the first trial of the Celeste, but a 
 vision of housed topmasts and green seas had 
 deterred her. 
 
224 KATIE AND MAUD. 
 
 "Did she behave well ?" asked Maud, in appar- 
 ent innocence, thanking her stars that during that 
 critical period she had been safely housed in her 
 Commonwealth Avenue home. 
 
 "Behave well ! I should say she did," returned 
 Katie with enthusiasm. " She was as manageable 
 as Forest. It blew like a " — 
 
 "Wagner orchestra," suggested Maud. 
 
 Katie could not inspire Maud with her own en- 
 thusiasm — at least, just at this moment. The 
 trip from Portland had been a rueful one to her. 
 She was a bad sailor, and just now she wished that 
 all yachts and steamboats were exhibiting their 
 mammoth skeletons from the rocky shores of the 
 adjacent islands. She thought she could, with a 
 malicious delight, thus transfer their melancholy 
 remains to her sketch-book. But presently, as 
 they reached a corner of the freight house, she 
 asked Katie in a tone of feined anxiety, if any- 
 thing was the matter with the wharf. 
 
 "What do you mean ? " responded Katie in evi- 
 dent alarm. 
 
 "Why, just look at the people ! " 
 
 Everybody, in the greatest hurry and apparent 
 confusion, was vacating the pier. A stream of 
 buck-boards, omnibuses, carriages, drays and pe- 
 destrians, was rushing pell-mell for solid ground. 
 
 "Something must have happened," continued 
 Maud, "to create a panic like that." 
 
KATIE AND MAUD. 225 
 
 "Don't you know what it is?" asked Katie, 
 laughing heartily. "It's dinner time at the hotels. 
 What does it remind you of?" 
 
 " I don't know, unless it's the pigeons of Venice." 
 
 Here the conversation was interrupted by the 
 appearance of a boatman, to whom Maud consigned 
 her checks. As she saw how the baggage was 
 being handled, she asked him if he wouldn't be 
 good enough to bring her things off in baskets, in 
 case the trunks didn't hold out. 
 
 By a good deal of ducking under ropes and 
 climbing over the latest invoice of canned goods, 
 preserved by the nimbleness of youth, and that 
 sweet little cherub that sat up aloft in the Celeste's 
 rigging, but would persist in leaving his perch to 
 follow Katie every time she went ashore, they at 
 last reached the gig. Here Miss Maud's feelings 
 underwent a change. The lingering overcast of 
 her disagreeable passage began to clear away. 
 She could hardly say enough to express her de- 
 light over the long, slender boat, and the hand- 
 somely-uniformed crew. And once under way, the 
 fine, rhythmical strokes of the oars, the gondola- 
 like motion of the boat as she slipped through the 
 shining water, the touch of the welcoming sea- 
 breeze upon her cheek, completely revived her and 
 put her in the best of humor, preparing her for 
 that exquisite pleasure which the first full sight of 
 Bar Harbor never fails to impart. 
 
226 KATIE AND MAUD. 
 
 But here lies the yacht, bright and beautiful 
 against the dark masses of birch, spruce and 
 maple, that cling to the sides and summit of 
 Round Porcupine. Katie insists that this name is 
 a misnomer, as the island looks more like a noble 
 lion, set to guard the Celeste, than a porcupine. 
 
 "Oh! what a picture!" cried Maud, pausing at 
 the top of the gangway, and surveying the whole 
 broad view. 
 
 The great, noble hills of Mt. Desert lay in the 
 background, all golden in the afternoon sun ; the 
 rocky headlands, half smothered in foam, threw 
 their fantastic shapes far out into the sea ; beyond 
 Egg Rock Light the ocean stretched dreamily 
 away, covered with white-sailed ships moving lazily 
 along over the radiant surface ; boats and canoes 
 darted swiftly about, their occupants flaunting the 
 gay colors of their costumes in the face of the 
 sun ; sea-birds sported in the bright little coves ; 
 and children played and shouted and sang along 
 the beach. Maud stood enchanted, as well she 
 might be with a scene like this, and only Katie's 
 importunity hurried her away. 
 
 Katie's attention and interest for the present, 
 were centered in the cabin, into which she ushered 
 her young guest with little ceremony. She could 
 hardly wait until the family welcome was over, 
 before she led her to a state-room door and bade 
 her enter and look around very sharply. 
 
KATIE AND MAUD. 22^ 
 
 "Oh! how lovely!" exclaimed Maud. "Is it 
 yours ? " 
 
 "Mine," answered Katie, her eyes fairly spark- 
 ling with the secret she was trying to keep back. 
 " It's Miss Maud Edgerton's, 'to have and to hold ', 
 and everything else." 
 
 "Why, what do you mean ?" said Maud, taken 
 all aback. 
 
 " I mean that you are its owner — its absolute, 
 bona fide owner. It's my present to you. Papa 
 let me furnish and decorate it just as I thought 
 you would like to have it. Now how do you like 
 it?" 
 
 The scene which followed is hardly to be de- 
 scribed. There were embraces, tears, exclama- 
 tions and pet names. Mr. Aston had empowered 
 Katie to do with this room as she chose, furnish- 
 ing ample means for the gratification of her taste, 
 and Maud now rejoiced in the possession, as she 
 expressed it, " of the sweetest, prettiest state-room 
 afloat." She was Katie's dearest friend, and noth- 
 ing was quite good enough for her. 
 
 "I'm so glad you like it," said Katie affection- 
 ately, after Maud had expressed her appreciation 
 of it many times over; "but here are your trunks, 
 now. Get your prettiest yachting suit right out, 
 and we'll form ourselves into a board of inspection, 
 and take a look at the Celeste." 
 
 Miss Maud's proprietary rights having been duly 
 
228 KATIE AND MAUD. 
 
 established, she was as impatient as Katie to make 
 an inspectional tour of the yacht. But the trunks 
 for the moment proved the more irresistible. Who- 
 ever knew a yacht to supersede in interest newly- 
 arrived feminine apparel ? Through Katie's sug- 
 gestion and advice, Miss Maud had made elaborate 
 preparations for the diversified occupations and 
 sports of Bar Harbor. What numbers of letters 
 had passed between them, and what anxiety had 
 been experienced over the handsome wardrobe 
 now being overhauled! "Overhauled" was the 
 word used by the young ladies as comporting more 
 nearly with their surroundings. After a minute 
 examination of the contents of the trunks, inter- 
 spersed with observations and comments on the 
 social and other customs of Bar Harbor, Katie 
 told her friend without a shade of envy that she 
 could easily pass muster on any Bar Harbor occa- 
 sion ; and, if she chose, be the belle of the sea- 
 son. Over and over again Katie had apprised her 
 of the Bar-Harborite fondness for color, and she 
 had come prepared to array herself in the chro- 
 matic splendors of the tropics, and thus, if she 
 desired, capture the town. 
 
 "You're ready for everything, I see," observed 
 Katie, with a smile. 
 
 "What do you mean by everything?" 
 " Oh ! yachting, canoeing and what the people 
 here call 'rocking;'." 
 
KATIE AND MAUD. 229 
 
 "And lawning and hopping," laughingly inter- 
 rupted Maud. 
 
 "There's so much to do," continued Katie, "and 
 nobody to go about with us but papa ; and it's such 
 a bore to him ! " 
 
 "If only Ned could have come," regretfully ob- 
 served Maud, "what jolly times we would have 
 had ; he's so fond of Mt. Desert, you know ! " 
 
 " Oh ! he's coming in August," replied Katie. 
 "Why, you darling girl ! " she suddenly exclaimed, 
 dropping a piece of Maud's finest apparel upon the 
 floor ; I didn't see that before ! You don't mean to 
 say " — 
 
 " O, yes," said Maud, blushing and holding up a 
 ring to give Katie a better view ; " Ned wouldn't 
 take No for an answer, and what could I do ? " 
 
 In the excitement that followed this mutual 
 discovery and revelation, both wardrobe and yacht 
 were entirely forgotten. If Joe could only have 
 listened to the ensuing conversation, what would 
 have been his thoughts ? He had been telling 
 himself all along, that Ned Brentford and Katie 
 were in love with each other. This thought had 
 somewhat reassured him ; for, he naturally rea- 
 soned, his friends would credit him with sufficient 
 discernment to see how matters stood. And they 
 would think he would thus be prevented from 
 cherishing anything more than a friendly regard 
 for Katie. As to the suspicion Mrs. Pepper had 
 
23O KATIE AND MAUD. 
 
 created, in his more hopeful moods, he trusted 
 that time and tact would remove that. 
 
 Still Joe could not get over his hurt from the 
 feeling that this woman had awakened distrust 
 toward him in the minds of his friends. From 
 what he had observed of her he was sure she 
 would make out a strong case against him. She 
 would counsel the utmost care and prudence as 
 regarded his association with Katie ; and in the 
 frosty atmosphere of prudence, the vital currents 
 of the friendship he valued so dearly would soon 
 run cold. 
 
 Why had Mrs. Pepper crossed his path to give 
 him so much perplexity and distress ? Joe was too 
 young and inexperienced to realize that his trouble 
 over Mrs. Pepper, was in part the struggle of his 
 own heart to quench its love for Katie ; that it 
 was largely the self-assertiveness of his regard for 
 his young friend. 
 
 "Oh ! " said Katie, after Maud had confided to 
 her the whole story of the engagement, "I forgot 
 to mention Joe Bently. He's coming in the Day- 
 break. He'll scale mountains, sail seas, penetrate 
 anemone caves with us to our hearts' content." 
 
 At the sound of Joe Bently's name Maud gave 
 a little start. " You can't guess where I saw Joe 
 Bently, a week or two ago," she began. 
 
 "You couldn't have seen him anywhere. He's 
 at sea, nobody knows where," said Katie. 
 
KATIE AND MAUD. 23 I 
 
 "How do you know he's at sea? " asked Maud, 
 piquing Katie's curiosity more and more. 
 
 " Because I got a letter from him the day before 
 the Daybreak sailed. It was such a formal, queer 
 letter, too. Mamma and I were greatly amused 
 over it. It began 'Dear Miss Aston,' when only 
 last month I told him he might address me as he 
 used to, by my simple name, Katie. We've kept 
 the run of Joe so long that we feel he almost 
 belongs to us, you know. But tell me where you 
 saw him ! " 
 
 " It was the night mamma and I returned from 
 New York on the Bristol. A lady attempted to 
 walk in her sleep, and fell overboard." 
 
 "Well, that is all very interesting," laughed 
 Katie, "but not to the point." 
 
 "Don't be impatient. The Daybreak happened 
 to be passing, and one of the sailors jumped over- 
 board and kept the woman from drowning until 
 Joe Bently rescued them with one of the ship's 
 boats." 
 
 "It was Dicky Dawson, I know!" exclaimed 
 Katie, with great animation. Simply from Joe's 
 descriptions of Dawson, she had gotten to feel an 
 unusual interest in him. " But how did you know 
 it was Joe ? " she added. 
 
 " Oh ! the captain of the steamer hailed the 
 boat, and asked who the boat officer was. I have 
 a bone to pick with Joe Bently. Mamma and I 
 
232 KATIE AND MAUD. 
 
 waved our handkerchiefs to him in the moonlight, 
 but he didn't deign to answer our signal. I shall 
 just be on my dignity with him," concluded Maud, 
 with an air of assumed hauteur. 
 
 "Isn't it strange about Joe?" said Katie, all 
 absorbed in Maud's account ; " he's always turn- 
 ing up where there's any danger. I read a while 
 ago in the Newport News, that the first night he 
 stood watch he was fired upon by two scoundrels." 
 
 " How was that ? " asked Maud. 
 
 "Just because he was ordered to capture them, 
 for smuggling liquor. It wasn't his fault that he 
 had to obey orders, you know ; and he might have 
 been shot ! " 
 
 " Soldiers are ordered into battle. Is that any 
 reason they shouldn't be shot ? " returned Maud, 
 laughing that Katie should think the ruffians were 
 morally obligated not to fire upon Joe because he 
 was ordered to arrest them. " But my Cousin 
 Harry says that Joe is the bravest cadet in the 
 Navy." 
 
 " Nobody would ever know it ; he's so exces- 
 sively modest," observed Katie. 
 
 " Did you enjoy his visit ? " inquired Maud. 
 
 " Oh ! ever so much. But he didn't have a 
 good time at all. Aunt Pepper was more peppery 
 than ever, and papa doesn't like the Navy, you 
 know, if he did get Joe into it. The poor fellow 
 was quite miserable." 
 
KATIE AND MAUD. 233 
 
 "Oh, ho!" said Miss Maud to herself, at this 
 sympathetic little speech. And what would Mrs. 
 Pepper have thought could she have heard it also ? 
 And she might have heard it had she listened 
 sharply, for she was not many state-rooms distant. 
 This little breath of sentiment right from Katie's 
 kind heart she would have been positive was a 
 premonitory symptom of a fresh breeze about to 
 spring up from the same quarter. As certain of 
 this would she have been as an old sailor would be 
 from which point of the compass the wind was 
 going to blow next, by the first faint breath of air 
 that touched his moistened finger. 
 
 And what would Joe himself have thought could 
 he have heard Katie's comments upon his visit, 
 the pleasantest — for the time being, though after- 
 wards attended in his imagination by such direful 
 consequences — of his whole life ? 
 
 Toward evening the next day, as they all sat on 
 deck watching the effect of the sunlight upon the 
 slopes and summits of Newport and Green Mount- 
 ains, an exclamation from Katie caused everybody 
 to look seaward. A ship strongly resembling a 
 man-of-war, was just coming into view in the 
 offing. Glasses were leveled at the incoming ves- 
 sel, and after a long time it was decided that she 
 must be the Daybreak. 
 
 Katie and Maud kept up a vigorous waving of 
 handkerchiefs as the stranger, having rounded 
 
234 KATIE AND MAUD. 
 
 Schooner Head, came slowly up to her anchorage, 
 but there was no response. The young ladies 
 searched the faces of the officers about the deck, 
 to get a glimpse of Joe and Harry, but neither of 
 the young men could be distinguished. 
 
 " I won't speak to Joe Bently ! " said Maud, with 
 a juvenile pout upon her pretty lips. "This is 
 the second time he has treated my signal with 
 contempt." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 
 
 ALL night long the lookouts on the Daybreak 
 strained their eyes watching for the return 
 of our hero and his party. As hour after hour 
 wore away, and no signs of the boat appeared, 
 Captain Farradale became very anxious. He knew 
 that the cutter was not all that she should be, 
 although he regarded her as safe enough if prop- 
 erly handled. But as the weather had turned out, 
 he began to fear that he had underestimated the 
 dangers of the expedition. He had the utmost 
 confidence in Joe, so, after much thought, the 
 captain concluded that the delay was owing to the 
 extreme vigilance of the flag-ship. He could see 
 the electric lights searching the encompassing 
 darkness, and he was aware that the greatest cau- 
 tion was necessary, and no little time required, 
 to fix the torpedo. 
 
 Still he could not dispel his anxiety. Nor did 
 he feel at rest until day had dawned. The disa- 
 greeable night was succeeded by a most beautiful 
 morning. The first brilliant glow that lit up Gar- 
 235 
 
236 LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 
 
 diner's Bay, showed the little launch creeping 
 slowly back to the ship. Great was the enthu- 
 siasm over her return. There had been a positive 
 conviction, a faith without a doubt, among the 
 crew, that Joe and Harry would not come back 
 defeated, and now they could hardly keep from 
 giving them a rousing cheer as the boat drew up. 
 But a great dread fell upon all as she came along- 
 side, and an assistant surgeon from the flag-ship 
 stepped out upon the gangway, followed by Harry 
 and Conners bearing Joe in their arms. 
 
 The story is soon told. In one respect, indeed, 
 Harry's warning had come too late. Joe had been 
 successful in attaching the dummy torpedo to the 
 port rudder chain, and had thrown himself on his 
 back in the water to take breath when the Hotch- 
 kiss cannon was discharged. The man stationed 
 at this gun had seen the boat, but had not dis- 
 covered Joe in the water. To avoid firing his 
 blank cartridge upon those in the boat he turned 
 the piece downward, and, unconsciously, blazed 
 away right into Joe's face and eyes. 
 
 Fortunately for Joe, however, his face was par- 
 tially submerged ; otherwise the powder would 
 have disfigured him for life. As it was, he was 
 badly burned about the eyes. And this was by 
 no means the worst. The marine stationed at the 
 life-buoy heard the slight splash which Joe acci- 
 dentally made as he threw himself back in the 
 
LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 237 
 
 water. His curiosity being aroused, he looked 
 over the ship's stern, where he caught a glimpse 
 of Joe's upturned face. 
 
 Alas for poor Joe ! Just as the explosion from 
 the gun took place the lookout let go the buoy, 
 which in falling dealt our hero a heavy blow upon 
 the head, striking him senseless. The lookout 
 believed he was befriending one of his own ship- 
 mates, who, he supposed, had accidentally fallen 
 overboard. 
 
 Although Harry came near being thrown from 
 his feet by the concussion of the Hotchkiss can- 
 non, and was, as we have seen, slightly dazed, he 
 at once realized that something must have hap- 
 pened to his comrade. Acting upon his first 
 impulse, he threw himself into the water, and was 
 quickly at Joe's side. Not a second too soon did 
 he reach him ; for Joe was just disappearing as 
 Harry laid hold upon him and raised his head 
 above water. A moment later and he would 
 doubtless have been beyond all rescue. 
 
 The flag-ship was in a state of commotion. 
 The cry, "Man overboard!" had been given, and 
 all had hurried on deck. The captain and admiral 
 left their respective cabins, and stood among the 
 men and officers, most interested spectators. It 
 took but a few moments to get the imperilled 
 cadets out of the water, but considerable time was 
 required for Joe's resuscitation. 
 
238 LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 
 
 The surgeons found an ugly wound upon his 
 head which, they said, had it been received a little 
 lower down, would have proved fatal. His eyes 
 had also suffered, but, they hoped, only temporary 
 injury. 
 
 The members of the sick bay were amused at 
 Joe's first words, as consciousness returned. They 
 were, "Well, the torpedo's all right, anyway; no 
 matter what's happened me." 
 
 Not many days after, Joe was groping about in 
 Captain Farradale's cabin. A portion of it had 
 been darkened for his benefit, for his eyes could 
 not bear the light. Joe was in no desirable frame 
 of mind when the Daybreak was sighted by Katie 
 Aston, putting her best foot forward to reach her 
 anchorage before night should come. The rattle 
 of her cable shortly after, as her anchor sped to 
 its holding ground, sounded a knell in Joe's soul. 
 Mrs. Pepper had been in his thoughts all the way 
 from Gardiner's Bay to Mt. Desert, and here he 
 was now probably within a stone's throw of this 
 destroyer, as he affirmed to himself, of the hap- 
 piest friendship of his life. 
 
 It seemed very strange to the party on board 
 the Celeste that all the next day no signs of either 
 Joe or Harry were seen about the Daybreak's 
 deck. Mr. Aston thought the least Bently could 
 do was to report his arrival, and Maud was not 
 slow in expressing her mind as to her cousin's 
 
LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 239 
 
 indifference. From the outset each young lady 
 fancied that she had a personal grievance. Such 
 inattention, we might almost say incivility, on the 
 part of a protege — for they rather regarded Joe 
 as such — and a cousin, was no slight offense in 
 their eyes. 
 
 Another day passed, and still nothing was heard 
 of either cadet. In some way or other, Captain 
 Farradale had, meanwhile, learned that the Astons 
 were Joe's friends, and he had offered to forward 
 a note, telling them of the accident. But Joe 
 begged him not to do so ; for he was now more 
 averse to meeting them than ever. He had about 
 decided to accept a leave of absence, which Cap- 
 tain Farradale had been kind enough to offer. 
 This the doctor thought he might do in a week, at 
 least. He would go to his own home, and that 
 would prevent his meeting Katie. He felt sure that 
 Mrs. Pepper had a predilection for yachting ; also, 
 that when he was well enough to do so, should he 
 go on board the Celeste, this lady would be the first 
 to confront him. Nevertheless, Joe cherished a 
 hope that Mr. Aston might take it into his head to 
 pay him a visit, though why he should do so he 
 could not give a sufficient reason even to himself. 
 And his mind was kept in a state of great disquiet. 
 
 How long this condition of affairs might have 
 continued, had not a slight accident put things to 
 rights, it is not safe to conjecture. One morning, 
 
24O LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 
 
 when ashore, Captain Farradale left his gig hauled 
 out at the landing in charge of Dicky Dawson. 
 Now it so happened that the Celeste's gig, with 
 Katie and her friend on board, made a trip to the 
 town shortly after. In coming up to the landing, 
 her headway was not checked soon enough, and 
 she ran plump into the Daybreak's boat. Dawson 
 rose quickly from his seat in the gig, and, doffing 
 his cap to the young ladies, looked as if he was 
 prepared to dispute with the fair mistress of the 
 strange boat as to where the blame for the collision 
 belonged. 
 
 "Oh! it was our fault," said Katie, quickly 
 divining Dawson's look. "You should be more 
 careful, coxswain," she added, in a tone of gentle 
 reproof, to the man in charge of the Celeste's 
 boat. 
 
 "I begs pardon," said Dicky; "I's sorry yer 
 starboard arrer's knocked off." 
 
 " That beautiful arrow ! " exclaimed Miss Maud. 
 "What a shame ! " 
 
 "Well, it can't be helped now," said Katie, lean- 
 ing over the side and trying to get a look at the 
 gig's bow. "Did we injure your boat," she in- 
 quired, looking up at Dawson, who was still politely 
 standing. 
 
 " No, Miss ; she didn't mind it. It's allers the 
 other boat as gits hurt with her." 
 
 All at once Dicky began to grow uneasy. He 
 
LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 24 1 
 
 became conscious that the young ladies were gaz- 
 ing upon him very earnestly. 
 
 At first they supposed his boat belonged to one 
 of the numerous yachts in the harbor, but had now 
 discovered that she was a man-of-war boat. 
 
 " Does this boat belong to the Daybreak ? " asked 
 Maud. 
 
 " It's the capen's gig, Miss. It's waitin' fur 
 him." 
 
 " Have you a cadet on board named Harry 
 Edgerton ? " continued Maud. 
 
 " We has a cadet of that name, Miss ; but he's 
 away in New York." 
 
 Harry had left the Daybreak at Gardiner's Bay, 
 with permission to rejoin her in one week at Bar 
 Harbor. 
 
 "Is Joe Bently on leave, too?" propounded 
 Katie. 
 
 " No, no, Miss," said Dawson, shaking his head, 
 while the tears sprang to his eyes. 
 
 "What ! has anything happened to him ? asked 
 Katie, alarmed at Dawson's manner. 
 
 "Yes, Miss," said Dawson, sorrowfully. "Oh! 
 but he's a brave lad ; he's a brave lad." 
 
 The young ladies dare not utter another word. 
 For some dreadful revelation concerning Joe was 
 pending, they believed. During the silence Katie 
 was indulging in no little resentment toward the 
 Aston family, herself included, for what at this 
 
242 LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 
 
 instant seemed to her their utter indifference to 
 the existence of Joe Bently since the Daybreak's 
 arrival. 
 
 " Not as I wishes to make yer feel bad, Miss ; 
 fur I sees ye knows Joe Bently," Dawson went on 
 with painful slowness ; " but he's very bad, very 
 bad." 
 
 "Do tell me what has happened to him," pleaded 
 Katie at last, with a trembling voice. 
 
 Thereupon Dawson proceeded to relate the tale 
 of Joe's mishap to his excited and sympathetic 
 auditors. Little by little they learned the whole 
 story, which Dawson, from his great love and sym- 
 pathy for Joe, told with real, if rude, eloquence. 
 The young ladies were greatly shocked at the re- 
 cital, and would have received the impression that 
 Joe was in an extremely critical condition had they 
 not, by careful questioning, got at pretty nearly 
 the state of the case. 
 
 "Poor fellow," said Katie; "he's always getting 
 into trouble." 
 
 "It's ginerally the likes o' him as somethin's 
 allers a-happenin' to," said Dawson. "There's a 
 grudge in natur' ag'in good young men, Miss." 
 
 "I hope not," said Katie, amused in spite of 
 herself. 
 
 "And pertikerlerly in a seafarin' life," added 
 Dawson. 
 
 The young ladies smiled at Dawson's not alto- 
 
LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 243 
 
 gether novel, but rather pertinent views, and Maud 
 inquired if Joe was well enough to go about the 
 ship. 
 
 " He knocks about the cabin, Miss ; but it ain't 
 his mashed head nor his blinted eyes as breaks 
 him up so," returned Dawson. 
 
 "What is it, then?" questioned Katie. 
 
 "He's worritted about somethin', Miss." 
 
 "Perhaps it's his mother," said Katie, sympa- 
 thetically. "Maybe she's ill; he thinks so much 
 of her." 
 
 " No, Miss, there ain't no mother in this busi- 
 ness," said Dawson, with emphasis. "But I allers 
 tries to cheer him up," he proceeded. "'Why,' 
 says I, the last night we was on watch together, 
 says I, 'how can you be a frettin' on yourself so, 
 sir?' 'How do you know I's frettin' on myself?' 
 says he. 'Oh! I knows you be, sir,' says I. 'If 
 you has trouble, you ought to remember what's 
 inter the Bible.' 'Well, what's inter the Bible?' 
 says he. 'I's no scholar, as you knows, sir,' says 
 I ; 'but don't it say somewhere that the way is so 
 plain that a seafarin' man, though a fool, need not 
 err ther'in ? Now,' says I, 'how can you be a 
 takin' on in yer mind so, rememberin' all that ; 
 an' the stars a-lookin' down on us, too, so beautiful 
 and serene like ; an' the sea a-shinin' like a silver 
 dish? It's the sailor's promise,' says I, 'as I's 
 heern tell the rainbow's the farmer's.' " 
 
244 LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 
 
 Dicky did not look surprised to see the young 
 ladies shaking with laughter when he had finished 
 his recital. He had observed the same phenome- 
 non in Joe on the night referred to. 
 
 "Well, what did he say to that ?" asked Katie 
 when she had recovered breath. 
 
 " He turned it right back on to me, Miss. ' Now,' 
 says he, in the kindest an' most delecit manner, 
 'now, Dawson,' " — 
 
 "What!" interrupted Katie, "are you Dicky 
 Dawson ? " 
 
 "I 'lows I be, Miss; it's the name I ginerly 
 goes by." 
 
 If boats were not such ticklish affairs, Katie's 
 plump little hand would, the next instant, have 
 been in Dawson's big brown palm. As it was, she 
 gave him such an admiring look that he fairly 
 blushed. Joe had told her so much about Dawson 
 that her imagination had clothed him with a ro- 
 mantic interest. And now that he stood before 
 her she was in no wise disappointed. He was a 
 striking appearing old sailor-man, full to the brim 
 of gallantry and kindness. His bronzed face fairly 
 shone with good-nature, and he had talked so 
 tenderly about Joe that, notwithstanding the amus- 
 ing character of his remarks, the young ladies had 
 been quite melted by them. It is extremely doubt- 
 ful, however, if this relaxed state of feeling would 
 have been so easily produced had Dawson related 
 
LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 245 
 
 the same incidents concerning anybody else but 
 Joe. 
 
 But two obstacles were now in the way of fur- 
 ther conversation : the arrival of Captain Farra- 
 dale, and Katie's anxiety to make known to her 
 father what she had learned about Joe. Whatever 
 may have been the object of the young ladies' 
 visit ashore it was quickly compassed, and they 
 were shortly after on board the Celeste again. 
 Katie told the story with great volubility. She 
 would have been highly amusing had not the sub- 
 ject been of such a serious nature. She concluded 
 the account with the observation : " We might 
 have known that something had happened to Joe. 
 He thinks too much of papa ever to neglect pay- 
 ing his respects to him." 
 
 Could our hero have known of this conversation, 
 he would have been unmanned indeed. During 
 the talk that followed it was decided that Joe 
 needed a change ; he must be transferred to the 
 yacht as soon as practicable. And could he have 
 heard, shortly after, Mrs. Aston giving orders to 
 make ready the largest state-room in the cabin for 
 his reception, it is doubtful if he would have 
 believed his own hearing. 
 
 That afternoon, however, Mr. Aston started in 
 the yacht's gig for the Daybreak, with full author- 
 ity to return with Joe Bently in custody. The 
 sympathetic young ladies charged him not to 
 
246 LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 
 
 listen to any protests from either the captain or 
 the cadet himself, but to summarily remove him 
 from one vessel to the other. 
 
 While awaiting the result of Mr. Aston's visit, 
 we may as well look in upon Mrs. Pepper. It may 
 be gratifying to learn if there is any justice in our 
 hero's mental accusations. As we have already 
 met her on board the yacht with her friends, it is 
 hardly necessary to say that there had been unwil- 
 ling acquiescence on their part in her decision to 
 thus spend the season with them. So Joe's fear, 
 therefore, that she was a member of the yachting 
 party, was well grounded. So, also, were his con- 
 jectures in relation to the feelings she bore him. 
 Joe had read her character, and remarked on the 
 tireless use of her observing faculties. He was 
 sharp enough, also, to hold her before his mind in 
 as careful an analysis as he could the toughest 
 kind of a theorem. But in herself it must be ad- 
 mitted that Mrs. Pepper was not a very difficult 
 proposition. 
 
 He had no sooner left Mr. Aston's house on his 
 last visit, than she entered upon an active crusade 
 against him. "I should think, Franklin," said she 
 on that very evening as she sat sewing with Mrs. 
 Aston (Katie had bade them good-night and gone 
 to her room), "I should think, Franklin," she re- 
 peated, "you would be more discriminating in 
 regard to your visitors." 
 
LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 24/ 
 
 "What do you mean ? " said Mr. Aston, looking 
 up quickly from his paper. 
 
 " I mean just that." 
 
 " Well, I confess I do not understand you," he 
 continued. 
 
 "A man who has daughters should pay some 
 attention to the station in life of the young men 
 who are interested in them," proceeded Mrs. Pep- 
 per, speaking on general principles. 
 
 " I may be dull of comprehension," said Mr. 
 Aston, with a poor attempt at concealing his annoy- 
 ance, "but I fail to see what you are driving at." 
 
 "Do you think it's just the thing to foster a 
 friendship between that young Bently and Katie ? " 
 said Mrs. Pepper, now dropping all vagueness. 
 " Young girls, you know, are very susceptible, 
 especially in the case of brass buttons." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Aston were accustomed to Mrs. 
 Pepper's keen interest in everything appertaining 
 to themselves and Katie, and to her great plain- 
 ness of speech ; but on this occasion they were 
 taken completely aback. This was a phase of the 
 matter which was entirely new to them. Never 
 had a suspicion crossed their minds that anything 
 more than friendship could result from the ac- 
 quaintance of Katie and Joe. And now Mrs. Pep. 
 per's words were so much in the nature of a 
 surprise that neither of them uttered a syllable. 
 
 "Unless you want Katie to marry a naval offi- 
 
240 LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 
 
 cer," added Mrs. Pepper, thinking their apprehen- 
 sion still so extremely wooden that it needed an- 
 other wedge to open it, "you'd better not encour- 
 age any more visits from Joe Bently." 
 
 This was the way Mrs. Pepper let the cat out 
 of the bag; as Joe surmised she would do. And 
 he thought, so unappreciative was he of Mrs. Pep- 
 per, if there had been no cat in the bag she would 
 have created one merely for the delight of letting 
 it out. It is certain that on this particular even- 
 ing she was not long in untying the strings of the 
 bag in question, and the cat came out with a leap. 
 
 "I'm sure," said Mr. Aston, when he had some- 
 what recovered his senses, " that Bently would 
 never allow himself to indulge any feeling toward 
 Katie stronger than ordinary friendship, without 
 our knowledge and approval." 
 
 "He's the soul of manliness and honor," said 
 Mrs. Aston, with considerable warmth. 
 
 "You don't know these young naval officers," 
 answered Mrs. Pepper, with a deprecating shake 
 of the head. 
 
 "I know him," said Mr. Aston with emphasis. 
 
 " I know him, too," continued she with asperity. 
 "There isn't one of them but thinks he ought to 
 marry an heiress or a princess. You'd better take 
 my advice, and be on the safe side." 
 
 " How on the safe side ? " asked Mrs. Aston. 
 
 "By not inviting him here any more." 
 
LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 249 
 
 " That's a matter for us to decide," said Mr. 
 Aston very gingerly. 
 
 "Well, I thought it my duty to warn you," re- 
 plied Mrs. Pepper with extreme tartness. 
 
 "You'll pardon me, then," said Mr. Aston with 
 some severity ; " but I do not think the circum- 
 stances at all call for the warning. And, further, 
 I want Katie to hear none of this nonsense." 
 
 Mrs. Pepper was by no means- quenched by this. 
 She was accustomed to rejoinders calculated to 
 bring her insinuating, mischievous observations to 
 an end. She now proceeded to set forth the ter- 
 rible danger in which Katie stood of having Joe 
 Bently for a lover, and to assail Joe for his daring, 
 robber-like presumption in the case. Finally she 
 remarked : 
 
 "Well, it isn't my affair. If you want to throw 
 her away, you can do so, for all of me." Thus 
 washing her hands of the matter, she flounced out 
 of the room. 
 
 Thus left to themselves, Mr. and Mrs. Aston 
 looked at each other a full half-minute without 
 speaking Mrs. Pepper had certainly placed Joe in 
 a light in which they had never before viewed 
 him. And the light was even stronger than he 
 had suspected it could be. And now how did Joe 
 appear to his friends, illuminated by Mrs. Pepper's 
 suspicions ? We think he did not appear one whit 
 the worse. Indeed, he came out of it, if anything, 
 
250 LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. 
 
 rather the better. In the first place, everybody 
 knows that it is no easy matter to excite prejudice 
 against a modest, manly young fellow like Joe, 
 particularly in the minds of his friends. And in 
 this respect Mrs. Pepper had overshot the mark. 
 It brought Mrs. Aston to his defense. She de- 
 clared that he had been badly treated, and that it 
 would be most ungenerous to place him under any 
 proscription on account of a mere surmise. She 
 was well aware of Mrs. Pepper's talent for hatch- 
 ing up things ; and both she and Mr. Aston were 
 well convinced that this thing had been hatched 
 up. Joe himself, Mrs. Aston said, could he know 
 what had passed that evening, would be chagrined 
 and disturbed beyond measure. 
 
 So it was decided that the Aston mansion should 
 not be closed against Joe, as Mrs. Pepper desired. 
 His friends believed him to be honest and open 
 as the day ; too chivalrous in his relations to them 
 to ever indulge a thought that he had the right to 
 step in, simply because they had invited him to 
 their house, and attempt to woo Katie. In a word, 
 they felt that they could trust Joe to be no more 
 than Katie's friend. As it turned out, Mrs. Pep- 
 per, in letting the cat out of the bag, which Joe 
 had so much feared, got all the scratches herself. 
 
 And this was the state of things when Mr. 
 Aston started for the Daybreak, commissioned to 
 bring back to the Celeste with him Joe Bently. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 
 
 JOE was reclining in Captain Farradale's easy 
 chair, enduring the trial of his enforced seclu- 
 sion and inactivity as best he could, when Dicky 
 Dawson returned from the trip ashore. He had 
 become more unhappy in his mind than ever, and 
 was now blaming himself for what he had scarcely 
 thought of before. For several days the Day- 
 break had been anchored within a stone's throw 
 of the Celeste, but he had permitted no word to 
 be sent his friends. What would they think of 
 such negligence on the part of one who had so 
 recently enjoyed their hospitality? He could not, 
 of course, discharge his social debt by calling upon 
 them, but he might at least have sent his regrets. 
 This he had not done, and he was now depressed 
 by the thought that they would consider his disre- 
 gard of a plain social duty inexcusable. Whatever 
 his standing with the Astons mi^ht be, he rea- 
 soned, it could have done no harm to have sent 
 them some information concerning himself. If 
 ^51 
 
252 THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 
 
 for no other reason, it would have relieved the 
 awkwardness of the situation. 
 
 As he had received no word from the Celeste, 
 his surmises concerning Mrs. Pepper had been 
 greatly strengthened. He could not rid himself 
 of the feeling that, through her advice, he had 
 been quietly dropped. If it were not so, he ar- 
 gued, Mr. Aston would have taken some little 
 trouble before now to ascertain what had beeome 
 of him. In spite of all he could do, this thought 
 tormented him : the old cordial relations had 
 come to an end. 
 
 And for this he did not blame Mr. and Mrs. 
 Aston. They would, he believed, rigorously apply 
 the principle of selection to Katie's friendships, 
 and he must be a rare young man indeed who 
 could aspire to a permanent place among her 
 friends. Now that he was successfully launched 
 upon an honorable profession, what more could he 
 expect from them ? As they had done in his case, 
 so, from their great generosity of nature, would 
 they do in that of some other. They would select 
 some more deserving boy than he had been, to 
 whom they would give a lift in life, and let him, 
 with their best wishes, go his way. 
 
 Yet poor Joe, with much sadness of heart, 
 wished that Mrs. Pepper's suspicions had not 
 been interposed between him and the Astons. 
 How glad he would have been to have managed 
 
THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 253 
 
 this matter himself ; to have trimmed his own 
 sails to suit the conditions and circumstances of 
 this friendship. 
 
 And for this we must not think Joe over-sensi- 
 tive or too much given to self-disparagement. It 
 was his exalted reverence and love for his friends, 
 the innate chivalry of his nature, which led him to 
 perceive the delicacy of his relations to them, and 
 to take what he conceived to be their side of the 
 case. His ideas were unusually elevated on the 
 subject, even though he felt morbid over it. 
 
 Another thing about it, too, was his discovery 
 that no amount of repression he might bring to 
 bear upon his thoughts and feelings, could make 
 him indifferent toward Katie. His efforts to do 
 so — and they had been continuous — were a good 
 deal like throwing chips and grass into a spring 
 with the expectation of quenching it. In spite of 
 all he could do, the spring would keep bubbling 
 up. His only hope now was, that he might keep 
 the spring so well hidden that nobody would know 
 of its existence but himself. Yet the spectre of 
 Mrs. Pepper would not down ; she had penetrated 
 his secret ; she had certainly got a peep at that 
 spring ; at which thought Joe inwardly groaned. 
 
 This was about the state of Joe's mind when 
 Dicky Dawson, shortly after his arrival with the 
 captain, paid him a visit in the cabin. Ever since 
 the accident, Dawson had been permitted to do 
 
2 54 THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 
 
 any little thing for Joe's comfort he saw fit, and 
 he had come almost to fill the place of a servant. 
 Nothing delighted him so much as to attend Joe. 
 Indeed, so anxious was he to do little offices for 
 him, that he had persuaded the cabin boy to yield 
 a number of his prerogatives in his favor. Joe 
 humored his old friend all he could, and contrived 
 to have some little service for him every day, and 
 Dawson's head was up in the clouds. 
 
 On this occasion he cared for the gig, and waited 
 round until Captain Farradale left the cabin and 
 came out upon the quarter deck. He then pre- 
 sented himself before the orderly at the cabin door, 
 and peremptorily demanded admission. Some- 
 thing weighty was on his mind, the nature of 
 which we may easily guess. Sidling into Joe's 
 darkened apartment, without waiting, as he gen- 
 erally did, for him to have the first word, he be- 
 gan : " I begs pardon, sir, but you has friends in 
 Bar Harbor." 
 
 "How's that? " said Joe with a start, trying to 
 read the expression of Dawson's countenance in 
 the dim light. 
 
 "I seen 'em, sir. They b'longs to that fine, 
 hansom' yacht there, anchored off the Round 
 Porcupine." 
 
 "You mean Mr. Aston, I suppose? He's here 
 in the Celeste." 
 
 "No; it ain't no man, sir. They's two as pooty 
 
THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 255 
 
 young gals as I ever seed in any country. They 
 run ag'in the Olga and knocked the arrer offen 
 their gig." 
 
 The " Olga " was the name of Captain Farra- 
 dale's gig. 
 
 " How do you know they are my friends ? " Joe 
 asked. "There's only one young lady here that I 
 know." 
 
 "They axed arter yer, sir." 
 
 "Oh ! did they?" inquired Joe, brightening up. 
 
 " Leastways, the tall one axed arter Mr. Edger- 
 ton ; an' the little one," added Dawson with quaint 
 emphasis, "axed arter you." 
 
 "Maud Edgerton ! " said Joe, in surprise. "Is 
 she here ? " 
 
 " They didn't give no names. But they appears 
 to know a good deal about you, sir." 
 
 " You of course told them that I was laid up 
 on board ship ? " said Joe, after drawing from 
 Dawson a more circumstantial account of his 
 meeting with the young ladies. 
 
 " I tells 'em the whole story, sir." 
 
 Joe was minded to inquire if they evinced any 
 particular solicitude for him in his misfortune, but 
 he checked the impulse. 
 
 "They thinks a deal o' you, sir," Dawson went 
 on. " When I says to 'em that you was very bad, 
 they jest got as white as a scrubbed hammock 
 cloth, an' their chins dropped like heavin' a lead. 
 
256 THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 
 
 They must think a powerful heap o' you, sir. Be 
 they relations o' yourn ? " 
 
 Joe informed Dawson most cheerfully that they 
 were not relatives of his. He didn't care now 
 how inquisitive Dawson might become, though his 
 inquisitiveness was only apparent. Such a com- 
 plete revulsion of feeling Joe had never before 
 experienced in so short a time. He might have 
 embraced Dawson if the bandages on his head 
 would not have been imperilled thereby. He 
 would send a note to the Celeste that very after- 
 noon, and Dawson should be the bearer. 
 
 "But, says I to 'em, sir," continued Dawson, 
 " ' it ain't his mashed head an' his blinted eyes as 
 breaks him up so ' " — 
 
 "What ! " said Joe, in a faint voice, holding his 
 breath in fear of what was coming. 
 
 "'He's worritted about somethin',' says I. I 
 hopes, sir, I wasn't givin' nothin' away," he added, 
 in a tone of humble apology, as he noticed the 
 change that had come over Joe. 
 
 " Did you say that ? " said Joe, sinking back into 
 his chair with a look of extreme mortification 
 
 Dawson was so greatly distressed that he could 
 not answer. He hung his head quite pitifully. 
 
 "And did she say anything?" asked Joe, after 
 a silence of a full minute. 
 
 "She says as it must be his mother as he's in 
 trouble about." 
 
THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 257 
 
 "Oh!" said Joe, a sigh of relief escaping him. 
 " Did you say any more ? " 
 
 "I only says, sir, 'there ain't no mother in this 
 business.' I's very sorry, sir ; I sees I done 
 wrong," and Dawson showed tenfold more peni- 
 tence than Joe had ever seen him manifest before. 
 
 Joe could not get angry with his old friend, but 
 it seemed that everything was conspiring against 
 him. This was a tumble to his pride that he had 
 not anticipated ; and it had been partly his own 
 fault. In the interview Dawson had referred to 
 at the landing, Joe had been at no pains to conceal 
 the fact that something weighed heavily on his 
 mind, though of what that something was he had 
 given no intimation. And Dawson had now made 
 a clean breast of it to Katie, the last one in the 
 world whom he would have know anything about 
 it. No doubt Mrs. Pepper had sought to prejudice 
 her against him as well as her parents, and she 
 would be quick to infer that this trouble Dawson 
 had revealed related to herself. And he feared, 
 too, that Dawson had told even more than he ad- 
 mitted. He had permitted him to come perilously 
 near the edge of his secret ; but had it been an 
 Eastern dervis with whom he had conversed, he 
 would as soon have expected the result to reach 
 Katie's ears as in the case of Dawson. " Well, 
 Dawson," said he at last, touched by the old man's 
 dejection, "don't think about it anymore. It's 
 
258 THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 
 
 scarcely worth mentioning. It was foolish of me 
 to show any feeling. It was only wounded pride, 
 after all ; and such wounds do us good." A little 
 further talk and Dawson left the cabin. 
 
 Joe was not permitted to remain long by him- 
 self. He had just entered upon the contemplation 
 of this new phase of the difficulty, when Mr. 
 Aston's voice greeted him upon the quarter deck. 
 This gentleman had, meanwhile, reached the Day- 
 break, and was explaining the purpose of his visit 
 to Captain Farradale. Joe heard him tell the cap- 
 tain that young Bently was a friend of his family — 
 a kind of protege of his (how Joe hated that word 
 now) — and that the ladies of the Celeste would 
 never forgive him for having neglected to hunt 
 him up. "I hope, sir," he went on, "his accident 
 is not of a very serious nature." 
 
 But by this time they had entered the cabin, 
 and a moment later Mr. Aston stood in Joe's pres- 
 ence. " My dear fellow ! " he exclaimed in a tone 
 of genuine sympathy, " why have you kept this 
 from us ? " 
 
 The tears sprang to Joe's eyes. In truth, he 
 was so moved by Mr. Aston's kindness, that he 
 could not speak a word. So wrought up had he 
 been over his friends' supposed change of feelings 
 toward him, that this unexpected turn of affairs 
 quite overpowered him. It flashed upon him that 
 perhaps Mrs. Pepper had not done as he had con- 
 
THE SPRING KEEPS BUBRLJNG. 259 
 
 jectured, after all ; but he entertained this idea 
 only for an instant. 
 
 " I told him," said Captain Farradale, answer- 
 ing for Joe, "that he ought to send you word about 
 himself. He's afraid of those patches on his head. 
 But wounds received in battle, you know," he 
 added, good-humoredly, " are not to be ashamed 
 of." 
 
 Joe managed at last to stammer out some ex- 
 cuse or other for not letting his friends know his 
 condition, and was glad that his portion of the 
 cabin was dark enough to hide his confusion. 
 
 "I have come," said Mr. Aston, after drawing 
 from Joe an unwilling and succinct account of the 
 torpedo expedition, several omissions meanwhile 
 being supplied by Captain Farradale ; " I have 
 come," he repeated, "with your captain's permis- 
 sion, to take you back with me to the Celeste. 
 You can be moved, I see ; and Mrs. Aston and 
 Katie insist that you need a change. We have to 
 let the women folks have their way, you know," 
 he added laughingly. 
 
 " Oh ! certainly," said Captain Farradale. " I 
 will let him go with pleasure. He finds it very 
 stupid shut up here away from his messmates." 
 
 Captain Farradale's tone implied that Joe had 
 suffered real privation in being taken from the 
 choleric Hubbins, the tormenting Coverly, and the 
 other members of the mess, including the Aztec. 
 
260 THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 
 
 The captain had not once thought of taking any 
 credit to himself for giving up half of his cabin 
 to a wounded cadet, and using every means in his 
 power for that cadet's comfort and diversion. But 
 this was Captain Farradale. Joe was not the first 
 cadet who had realized substantial benefit from his 
 goodness of heart. 
 
 What could Joe do? His better judgment told 
 him that he ought not to go to the Celeste. If 
 the invitation had only been given by note or by 
 letter, he could have declined with good grace ; 
 but here was Mr. Aston right before him, talking 
 to him in the cheeriest manner, telling him how 
 soon he would be fully restored on board his pleas- 
 ant yacht. And Captain Farradale, too, had taken 
 sides with Mr. Aston, and had promptly offered 
 him a week's leave to begin with. Is it any won- 
 der Joe's spirits began to rise, and that he thought 
 it would be a nice thing, after all, to go back with 
 Mr. Aston ? 
 
 "The yacht's very quiet," resumed Mr. Aston, 
 after a moment's digression with Captain Farra- 
 dale upon the advantage a breakwater would be to 
 Bar Harbor. "There are only two besides our- 
 selves — Mrs. Pepper and Miss Edgerton, Katie's 
 friend. You've met both of them before. It 
 won't be like going among entire strangers, you 
 know." 
 
 If the young ladies' chins, according to Daw- 
 
THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 26l 
 
 son's account, had dropped like heaving a lead, 
 Joe's chin now dropped like heaving an anchor. 
 
 "Please, sir," he began, greatly embarrassed, 
 "I think I'd better not go. It will be giving you 
 unnecessary trouble. Besides, my eyes are haraly 
 well enough. It wouldn't be prudent. I thank 
 you very much, sir ; but it will be better for me 
 not to leave the ship." 
 
 Mr. Aston now warmly urged Joe to accompany 
 him back to the yacht. Joe's reason for not going 
 was too transparent. Mr. Aston saw well enough 
 that he was holding back from fear or dislike of 
 Mrs. Pepper, he didn't know which. He of course 
 knew nothing of Joe's special difficulty in the case 
 of that lady ; but he knew she had not been 
 friendly, and that she was not friendly, to the 
 cadet, the reason for which we have already seen. 
 However, he was determined that Joe should be- 
 come their guest. 
 
 It will be remembered that Mr. and Mrs. Aston 
 felt under the deepest obligation to Joe. They 
 knew the little they could do for his material wel- 
 fare was insignificant compared with the real debt 
 they owed him. Through his bravery when a mere 
 boy, Katie's life had been saved, and they felt that 
 that act alone gave him the strongest claim upon 
 their consideration and friendship. The least they 
 could do was to make him heartily welcome at 
 their home. In this particular instance he needed 
 
262 THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 
 
 their care, and it was a good opportunity for them 
 to discharge some little of their debt to him. 
 
 The terrible risk which Mrs. Pepper thought 
 would be incurred by having Joe around had given 
 them no concern. Katie wasn't an innocent little 
 plum, waiting to be stolen from them by any 
 young fellow in brass buttons who might come 
 along ; and they knew that Joe Bently had no idea 
 that she was. They felt, or would have felt had 
 they given it a thought, that if Katie had hung 
 all ready to drop right into Joe's hand, under the 
 circumstances, he would not have stretched it out 
 to receive her. 
 
 The upshot of it all was, Joe had to go on board 
 the Celeste ; but he did not return with Mr. 
 Aston. It was hard work to bring himself to the 
 point of going, but how could he help it ? The 
 doctor was sent for, and he said that undoubtedly 
 the change would do him good ; the captain 
 agreed with the doctor ; and the invitation was of 
 such a nature that he couldn't help accepting it. 
 There were some things about it that he could not 
 at all understand ; but it made his head ache to 
 try to understand anything now, so he gave up 
 trying, and said he would be happy to go. And the 
 next day, before twelve o'clock had been made on 
 board the Daybreak, he was delivered bag and 
 baggage to his friends in the Celeste. Dicky 
 Dawson conveyed him alongside in the captain's 
 
THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 263 
 
 gig. Dawson was in high spirits, for he was fascin- 
 ated with the yacht and everything appertaining 
 to her. He thought his young friend would soon 
 "mend with them pooty young gals round." "If 
 I busted Mr. Bently all up in his mind," he chuck- 
 led to himself, "they'll fix 'im up in no time. 
 These navy doctors is good enough," he added, 
 " but they ain't like wimmin ; wimmin is so soothin' 
 an' delecit in their ways." 
 
 To be sure, Joe felt extremely awkward and ill 
 at ease at first. He suffered much from self- 
 consciousness, and the change for the first few 
 days seemed to have done him more harm than 
 good. During most of that time he was confined 
 to his state-room. On the several occasions he 
 ventured out of it, Mrs. Aston darkened the cabin 
 to suit the condition of his eyes, but he was so 
 oppressed by the fear that he was giving trouble 
 that he soon withdrew to his own quarters. He 
 was painfully conscious of his appearance, too. 
 He thought he must be sorely disfigured, and of 
 all cadets in affliction the least presentable. But 
 his weak and white and wan appearance went 
 straight to the sympathies of everybody ; at least 
 everybody but Mrs. Pepper. Upon her it seemed 
 to make but little impression. At first, when he 
 sat in the cabin, if the young ladies happened to 
 glance at him he thought it must be to see if the 
 patches on his head had improved any since their 
 
264 THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 
 
 last look ; and if Mr. and Mrs. Aston chanced to 
 be away making calls in the town it was torture 
 indeed to be left to their care. 
 
 Joe did not know what an object of tender 
 interest a sick or wounded cadet may become, 
 especially if his wounds be the wounds of valor. 
 Cupid himself has been known to spring full 
 fledged from a foot thus wounded. And to one 
 less unsophisticated than Joe it might have oc- 
 curred that nothing in the world could be better 
 than a torpedo to blow a young man right into the 
 heart of a sympathetic girl. 
 
 But with Mrs. Pepper he did not get on at all. 
 From the first, he could see that he was a most 
 unwelcome guest to her. She was civil enough to 
 him, but distant and cold. Her unfriendliness 
 made him, during the first of his visit, very uncom- 
 fortable if not unhappy. When she condescended 
 to address him, at the very first, he could scarcely 
 reply to her. He had to see her several times, or 
 rather hear her, for his eyes were too weak to bear 
 the peculiar light that invested her person, before 
 he recovered his full powers of speech. He had a 
 feeling that she regarded him as just ripe for 
 piracy ; that he was there to forcibly carry off 
 Katie if he could not do it otherwise. And the 
 question sometimes arose in his mind why it was 
 that in her presence he was so often exercised by 
 a desire to become a young pirate. He wickedly 
 
THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 265 
 
 thought if he was one, the first thing he would do 
 would be to board the Celeste, abduct Mrs. Pepper 
 and carry her off to some island where she couldn't 
 get away ; provide her with good attendance and 
 plenty of fruit, and leave her to her own resources 
 for completing a happy existence. But little by 
 little his eyes grew accustomed to the vision of 
 Mrs. Pepper, so that he could look upon her with- 
 out much blinking ; and he came at last to feel 
 that the worst he would do to her would be to send 
 her on a long visit to some country out of the 
 postal union. 
 
 Meanwhile he wrote Schopy a note. He praised 
 his friends warmly, but he said it was hard to be 
 among so many women. "The fact is, Schopy," 
 he said, " they are making a woman of me. The 
 best thing for a wounded cadet to do is to stick it 
 out and get well on board ship, or go to a hospital. 
 When Harry gets back, send him right over to see 
 his cousin. Come yourself. I can't stand this 
 thing alone." 
 
 But this note was written on one of his homesick 
 days. He did "stand" it alone, and he stood it 
 very well. When he began to mend never did 
 cadet improve so rapidly as he. 
 
 And how did he get on with Katie ? Of course 
 he saw a great deal of her. When he had so far 
 recovered as to be able to go about the yacht she 
 accompanied him, and greatly enjoyed his enthu- 
 
266 THE SPRING KEEPS BUBBLING. 
 
 siasm over the beautiful Celeste. She read to him, 
 played for him, and was very watchful for his com- 
 fort. She planned wonderful excursions for them 
 all when Ned Brentford should come to Bar Har- 
 bor (Brentford had changed his mind now that 
 the Daybreak had arrived, and was coming earlier), 
 and in no end of little ways she tried to make him 
 feel at home and to thoroughly enjoy himself. 
 But in it all he could not see that she had any par- 
 ticular interest in him ; any interest beyoud that 
 which any kind-hearted, impulsive young lady would 
 feel for a friend of her girlhood. 
 
 But Joe congratulated himself over the happy 
 turn things had taken. Was not Mrs. Pepper put 
 to rout ; were not the Astons as warmly his friends 
 as ever ; did he not stand on his old ground with 
 them ? And how carefully and well he would 
 maintain his recovered standing; recovered, at 
 least, so far as his own feelings were concerned. 
 His friends should never have reason to regret 
 the confidence they reposed in him. Mrs. Pep- 
 per's suspicions should end in mere smoke. 
 
 But why would that little spring keep all the 
 time bubbling ? Why would it not fill up and 
 cease altogether, quenched by the material he 
 was continually casting into it ? No, in spite of 
 all he could do, the spring would keep bubbling. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 MRS. PEPPER S SCHEME. 
 
 BAR HARBOR ! Queen of watering places ! 
 the supreme delight of the Atlantic coast ! 
 Far and wide may we wander and find less delight- 
 someness of sea and shore. We may tax our 
 ingenuity for fine epithets and phrases with which 
 to depict scenes not comparable to those of this 
 lovely resort. 
 
 For have we not here a bay the most beautiful 
 from Maine to Florida? Mountains to be men- 
 tioned in the same breath with the hills of Sor- 
 rento ? Mountains, indeed, quite as individual and 
 distinctive as the Sugar Loaf and Corcovado at Rio 
 Janeiro, rivaling in their aggregate strangeness 
 and sublimity the famous view which greets the 
 traveler from the charming heights surrounding 
 the Brazilian capital ? 
 
 Then, too, the drives ! To Schooner Head, 
 Otter Cliffs, the Ovens, Northeast Harbor, the 
 twenty-two-mile drive, the "around the island trip." 
 And the walks ! Along the shadow-haunted paths 
 of Duck Brook, leading, as it seems, at every turn 
 267 
 
268 mrs. pepper's scheme. 
 
 to some sybil's grotto ; through wild glens and 
 up mountain gorges, making other famous mount- 
 ain-sides tame as sand-hills by way of comparison. 
 And, if this were not enough, where, this side of 
 Mars, could be found such indentations of coast, 
 such tunnelling and booming of the sea, such 
 clefts in rocks, such echo-music ? 
 
 At least, such would have been the thoughts of 
 our young people, Katie and Maud, Ned Brentford, 
 Harry and Joe, had they devoted any particular 
 attention to scenic Bar Harbor. However, three 
 weeks later than the incidents recorded in the last 
 chapter, they had opportunity to ransack the island 
 of Mt. Desert to their hearts' content ; thus to 
 acquire as practical a knowledge of the attractions 
 which draw so many thousands every summer to 
 its shores, as they might desire. But, before we 
 can touch upon their doings in this delectable 
 spot, our story must be resumed at about the 
 same point where its thread was dropped. 
 
 Joe's stay on board the Celeste was destined to 
 be cut short. It happened in this way. He had 
 been but little more than a week with his friends, 
 when trouble broke out between some United 
 States and Dominion fishermen, and the presence 
 of a man-of-war was required at a point farther 
 east. The Daybreak was therefore ordered by 
 telegram from Washington to proceed immediately 
 to Eastport. Not knowing how long he might be 
 
MRS. PEPPER'S SCHEME. 269 
 
 detained, Captain Farradale deemed it necessary 
 to recall Joe, and he was directed to rejoin his ship 
 at once. 
 
 On the whole, Joe perhaps was not sorry for 
 this occurrence. He was now so far advanced on 
 the road to recovery, thanks to the genial compan- 
 ionship and faithful care of his friends, that he 
 felt he ought not longer to be a burden to them ; 
 for he did feel that he was nothing else than a 
 burden to them. Joe could take any amount of 
 trouble for other people, but he could not bear to 
 have other people take trouble for him. He was 
 also anxious to resume his duties. Nothing but 
 absolute disability could have kept him out of his 
 ship at such a time. No doubt the Daybreak's 
 service would be of an highly interesting, if not 
 exciting nature, and what could be better than 
 being in the midst of it ? 
 
 Then he felt it was an easy way of getting out 
 of the yacht. While he was quite happy in the 
 reflection that he still held his old place in the 
 esteem of his friends, it seemed to him that this 
 in itself should make him more guarded in his 
 intercourse with Katie. Indeed, it appeared to 
 him that he ought to see as little of her as possi- 
 ble. He had become so accustomed to Mrs. Pep- 
 per's vigilant eye that she troubled him very little 
 now. But, everything considered, he thought the 
 time had come for him to be gone. He had even 
 
27O MRS. PEPPER S SCHEME. 
 
 been hoping that the Daybreak might be ordered 
 on a foreign cruise. Then distance would disen- 
 chant him with Katie ; would enable him to dis- 
 possess himself of every feeling toward her but 
 that of a warm and grateful friendship. And 
 meanwhile, if there were anything between Katie 
 and Ned, concerning which his mind was slightly 
 wavering, before he met them again, all would 
 have been settled. 
 
 Joe was still ignorant of Miss Maud's engage- 
 ment to Ned. It happened, however, that two or 
 three days before the Daybreak sailed, drawn by 
 the cordiality of the Astons and the charms of his 
 lady-love, Ned had suddenly put in an appearance 
 at Bar Harbor. And his coming had the effect of 
 greatly mystifying Joe. He did not seem to 
 recognize the headlands of that happy coast where 
 he had pictured Ned and Katie wandering hand 
 in hand together, in what he observed of them 
 now, but on the whole, he maintained his old the- 
 ory regarding them. 
 
 It struck him that Brentford was exceedingly 
 fond of Miss Maud's society, but he was by no 
 means averse to Katie's. He thought it remark- 
 ably amiable in Katie to permit her friend to mo- 
 nopolize the one in whom her deepest interest cen- 
 tered ; but he accounted for this on the ground 
 that they were her guests, and she wanted them 
 to have a good time. Still it was a phase of 
 
MRS. PEPPER S SCHEME. 2? I 
 
 human nature he was not altogether familiar with. 
 But Katie's human nature was so different from 
 that of ordinary mortals. He never once thought 
 that he himself was a guest as well as Brentford ; 
 and that it seemed never to have occurred to Katie 
 that Maud's society might be of peculiar interest 
 to him. He might have asked himself why did 
 not she want him to have a good time, too, in the 
 same way. The fact is, things looked strange to 
 him ; his ideas of the whole affair had gotten into 
 a good deal of a jumble. But when Joe took a 
 position, he did not like to be driven from it. So 
 he went on putting his observations together, 
 as it were, according to preconceived patterns ; 
 and while he felt that he had something quite solid 
 to stand upon, he had to admit that it was a queer 
 kind of mosaic. 
 
 When, however, he came to leave the yacht, he 
 was not quite so anxious to go on that foreign 
 cruise ; and he also wished that that telegram had 
 been delayed another week. For with the advent 
 of Brentford (and Harry, too, who, as Maud's cousin 
 and Joe's friend, received a hearty welcome on 
 board the Celeste), Mt. Desert had begun to put 
 on a different aspect to him. He was quite 
 cheered, as he stepped over the yacht's side, by a 
 remark of Mr. Aston that the trouble was only a 
 codfish flurry. 
 
 "It will shortly blow over," said he, "and you'll 
 
272 MRS. PEPPER S SCHEME. 
 
 soon be back again in your old berth." Which 
 prophecy, indeed, came true ; it did soon blow over, 
 and in three weeks time the Daybreak was back 
 again in her old berth alongside the Celeste, with 
 instructions to lie at Bar Harbor — a sufficiently 
 contiguous point to Canadian waters — until further 
 orders. 
 
 The horrors of this herring war will have no 
 charm for the reader. No benefit would be de- 
 rived from a knowledge of the unpleasant details 
 attendant on the purchase of bait. We will there- 
 fore remain at Bar Harbor, amusing ourselves as 
 best we can until Joe's return. And the time may 
 as weii be spent on board the yacht ; for we shall 
 find a welcome there ; at least, from everybody but 
 Mrs. Pepper. She, however, is sick and tired of 
 men-of-war, and yachts as well. 
 
 " I think it's too bad," said Katie at dinner, on 
 the evening of the day Joe sailed, "that the Day- 
 break's been ordered away." 
 
 "Why so?" inquired Mr. Aston. 
 
 " Because it breaks up our buckboard drive ; 
 and spoils everything." 
 
 A buckboard drive to Somesville was to have 
 celebrated Joe's recovery. 
 
 "Can't you go just as well without Bently and 
 Edgerton ? " asked Mr. Aston, who knew the 
 young people's disappointment over the breaking 
 up of the party. 
 
MRS. PEPPER'S SCHEME. 2/3 
 
 "What's a buckboard with only three on it?" 
 said Katie, whose heart had been set on hiring 
 the most monstrous buckboard in Bar Harbor for 
 the occasion. 
 
 " Some things do go off better with a crowd," 
 returned Mr. Aston, smiling. 
 
 "And a buckboard drive is one of them," put 
 in Katie. 
 
 "I could never see anything in buckboards," 
 said Mrs. Pepper, in her usually crisp manner 
 
 "You and I, Sarah, are getting on," remarked 
 Mrs. Aston. "We must have our springs and 
 cushions." (Mr. Aston sometimes addressed Mrs. 
 Pepper in this familiar way.) 
 
 "As for that," rejoined Mrs. Pepper, frowning 
 slightly, " I feel as young as I ever did ; and good- 
 ness knows there's spring enough to a buckboard. 
 But I can't see, for the life of me, what pleasure 
 people find jolting over this island on buckboards. 
 It's as senseless as paddling around it in canoes." 
 
 "Oh! that's delightful," exclaimed Katie. "A 
 gondola is nothing to it ! " 
 
 The day before Ned and Harry had paddled the 
 young ladies to Anemone Cave and back in a 
 canoe. 
 
 "Well, I don't like the free and easy ways of 
 this island ; and what's at the bottom of it all ? " 
 continued Mrs. Pepper. 
 
 "Well, what is at the bottom of it all? " asked 
 
274 MRS - PEPPER S SCHEME. 
 
 Mr. Aston, perfectly willing to hear Mrs. Pepper's 
 views. 
 
 "Buckboards and canoes," answered Mrs. Pep- 
 per, with emphasis. 
 
 Somehow or other, this season Bar Harbor pre- 
 sented to Mrs. Pepper a very tender moral and 
 social surface, into which she seldom failed to 
 insert the sting of some pretty sharp remarks. 
 
 " Nobody goes on buckboards but hotel people," 
 she added. 
 
 "I think you must be mistaken, Sarah," pleas- 
 antly observed Mrs. Aston. " The last time we 
 were out driving we met the Baymeaths, the Miz- 
 zentops, the Lookouts and the Homewoods, all out 
 on buckboards." 
 
 " Besides, I know some other worthy people," 
 remarked Mr. Aston, with a smile, " who go buck- 
 board driving. And they used to be hotel people, 
 too." 
 
 "Speaking of hotels," laughed Ned, "makes 
 me think of a funny — oh! I beg pardon," he 
 apologized, as he saw he had cut off a remark of 
 Mrs. Pepper's. 
 
 " Please go on," said she, with one of her far- 
 away looks. 
 
 " Of a funny experience I had at my hotel the 
 other day," continued Ned. " I went to my room, 
 and, as usual, found no towels. I asked a cham- 
 ber-maid out in the hall if she wouldn't please get 
 
MRS. PEPPER S SCHEME. 2/5 
 
 me some. She said the lady that took care of 
 that room was out making her afternoon calls, and 
 that I couldn't have any till she got back, as she 
 had the keys." 
 
 A smile touched every countenance but Mrs. 
 Pepper's. 
 
 "But that wasn't all," said Ned. " I then went 
 down to the office and asked for some, and the 
 clerk handed me a couple." 
 
 " And did you take them to your room your- 
 self ?" asked Maud, much amused. 
 
 " O, yes ! and I met a man on the stairs, who 
 asked me if I wasn't the hotel barber." 
 
 Equanimity restored, Mr. Aston proceeded to 
 comment on the danger resulting to Bar Harbor 
 from overcrowding. He feared it might become 
 like Long Branch or Coney Island. 
 
 " We found that out last summer, didn't we, 
 papa ? " said Katie. " Don't you remember how we 
 had to look for rooms, and what one woman said 
 to us ? " 
 
 " I don't recall it," said Mr. Aston, as Katie 
 paused an instant. 
 
 "'I can eat yer, said she, 'but I can't sleep 
 yer.' And what you heard the man say in the 
 office about the table ? " she went on. 
 
 " O, yes ! " replied Mr. Aston. " He complained 
 that the table was even worse than the year before. 
 'That can't be possible,' answered the proprietor. 
 
276 MRS. PEPPER'S SCHEME. 
 
 But it's a wonder to me," continued Mr. Aston, 
 putting in a good word for the hotels, "that they 
 do as well as they do, with such armies as swoop 
 down upon them in a single day. They eat up 
 every green thing." 
 
 " I should say so," remarked Mrs. Pepper, 
 "from the wall of tin cans that surrounds the 
 place." 
 
 Mrs. Pepper now had her say about the hotels. 
 She hated the very sight of them. And there 
 was hardly anything she so much dreaded as the 
 possibility of being taken for one of the thousands 
 who swarm on their piazzas. She would no more 
 have stepped upon a buckboard in front of one of 
 them — had necessity compelled her to resort to 
 that obnoxious mode of conveyance — than she 
 would have called at one of the fashionable cot- 
 tages in her wrapper. She had gone so far even 
 as to name some of them. One she called the 
 Modiste, another the Silk and Ribbon, and still 
 another, where a convention of teachers were 
 stopping, the Common School. So the remarks 
 she now made touched the seam of her old ideas 
 very evenly. 
 
 But the hotels of Bar Harbor, and the people, 
 and the climate, and the sunsets, and the sun- 
 rises — if Mrs. Pepper may be supposed to know 
 that Bar Harbor indulges in sunrises — and num- 
 berless other things, tasteful or distasteful to her, 
 
MRS. PEPPER S SCHEME. 277 
 
 she didn't care to talk about now. Another 
 subject stood foremost in her mind's eye. She 
 had barely reached the main track of it, in her 
 remarks upon buckboards and canoes, when she 
 was switched off by Ned's incident of the towels. 
 
 It is easy to guess what this subject was. Had 
 not Joe Bently that very morning left the Celeste? 
 Was not the smoke of the Daybreak still to be 
 seen, faintly visible on the far-off horizon ? And 
 was not Mrs. Pepper anxiously hoping that the 
 Daybreak might not return to Bar Harbor, though 
 she had but little doubt that she would do so ? 
 And last of all, had she not listened to the ani- 
 mated discussions of plans for excursions, and the 
 thousand and one things that would have taken 
 place had not the Daybreak been ordered away, 
 and that would take place should she soon return ? 
 
 Mrs. Pepper deprecated all this enthusiasm on 
 the part of the young people for Bar Harbor, and 
 especially their fondness for buckboards and ca- 
 noes. To her mind, Bar Harbor, at this time, 
 should receive nothing but dispraise ; and buck- 
 boards and canoes were to her an appropriation of 
 what should have remained the unmolested expe- 
 dients of agricultural and aboriginal wayfaring. 
 [Wayfaring was her word.] 
 
 In truth, Mrs. Pepper was out of fellowship 
 with nearly everything at Bar Harbor. And she 
 was so simply on account of our young people. 
 
278 MRS. PEPPER'S SCHEME. 
 
 Their love for Bar Harbor would keep them to- 
 gether ; and what she wanted just now was the 
 distance of not less than ninety degrees of the 
 earth's surface between two of them at least. So 
 when Ned and Maud expressed the wish that the 
 Daybreak might not be long detained, because 
 they desired so much to see more of Harry and 
 Joe, she was prompt with the interrogative, " Why 
 should the Daybreak return to Bar Harbor ? " 
 
 " Simply because Captain Farradale wants to," 
 said Mr. Aston. 
 
 " What in the world is there for a man-of-war to 
 do here!" exclaimed Mrs. Pepper. "Why don't 
 she stay where she is ? " 
 
 "What for?" propounded Mr. Aston. 
 
 " What for ? To protect our fisheries, of course." 
 
 "Our fisheries ! " laughed Mr. Aston, emphasiz- 
 ing the pronoun. 
 
 "They're too fond of spending their summers 
 at Newport and Bar Harbor, anyway. If I was 
 Secretary of the Navy it would be different, I can 
 tell you." 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Aston, smiling at Mrs. Pepper's 
 vehemence, " I've no doubt it would be different. 
 You'd send them to the North Pole in winter, and 
 to the West Indies in summer. But this isn't a 
 scurvy and yellow fever administration." 
 
 " I'd give them something to do," said the relent- 
 less Mrs. Pepper. 
 
MRS. PEPPER'S SCHEME. 279 
 
 " Something to do ! " exclaimed Maud, indignant 
 at Mrs. Pepper's unkind and unjust opposition to 
 the Navy. " You ought to hear what my cousin 
 Harry says about it." 
 
 " What does he say ? " 
 
 " He says it's the hardest kind of a life, and 
 there's very little to look forward to." 
 
 " He's right in that," returned Mrs. Pepper. 
 "There's nothing to look forward to but small 
 salaries." 
 
 " It's a highly honorable profession," said Katie, 
 " if the salaries are small. And poverty isn't the 
 worst thing in the world." 
 
 "But poverty isn't to be chosen, my dear, when 
 wealth can be had just as easily," said Mrs. Pep- 
 per, with great deliberation, looking straight at 
 the speaker. 
 
 But her remark was lost upon Katie. 
 
 " If we can have wealth, and choose poverty, 
 we fly in the face of Providence," Mrs. Pepper 
 went on. 
 
 "Who is she hitting now?" thought Katie 
 to herself. " She is always hitting somebody. 
 Oh! I know; she's thinking how foolish Joe was 
 not to leave the Navy and become a naval archi- 
 tect, or study law." 
 
 "I should say that, on the whole," remarked 
 Mrs. Aston, "it's better that officers of the Navy 
 should receive rather small salaries." 
 
28o MRS. PEPPER'S SCHEME. 
 
 "Why?" asked Mrs. Pepper. 
 
 " Because their profession doesn't belong to the 
 money-making professions. And it makes them 
 all the manlier, braver men." 
 
 " I never heard that before," said Mrs. Pepper. 
 
 "You wouldn't present that as indisputable evi- 
 dence, would you," said Mr. Aston, good naturedly, 
 "that it can't be so ? " 
 
 As this was not intended for sarcasm, Mrs. Pep- 
 per did not take offense. But catching at Mrs. 
 Aston's incidental allusion to bravery, she rather 
 unfortunately, for herself, took occasion to bring 
 out her ideas of courage for their periodic airing. 
 The one upon which she most prided herself — 
 the silk-lined, ermine-fringed idea, so to speak — 
 was, that courage is nothing more than a natural 
 impulse or instinct. People, she said, should no 
 more boast of it than of the sense of touch or taste. 
 And this time she did not stop until every stitch 
 and thread of her knowledge on the subject was 
 hung out before her listeners. 
 
 "Was it natural impulse," asked Maud, stirred 
 to argument more by Mrs. Pepper's manner than 
 by her words, "that caused Joe Bently to pitch that 
 shell overboard?" 
 
 Harry had told her the incident, and Mr. Aston 
 had heard it from Captain Farradale. 
 
 "It was nothing more!" was the reply, in a 
 rather withering: tone. 
 
MRS. PEPPER'S SCHEME. 28 1 
 
 "I should think," laughed Ned, "his natural 
 impulse would have been to run." 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Aston ; "my friend, Dr. Rogers, 
 of Bar Harbor, who was an officer of the Navy 
 during the war, did the same thing. And he told 
 me his impulse was to go out over the flying jib- 
 boom." 
 
 "Was it natural impulse, that time at the Ac- 
 quidneck ? " said Mrs. Aston, smiling and looking 
 slyly at Mrs. Pepper. 
 
 "You're always throwing that up to me," said 
 Mrs. Pepper, with extreme rigidity of counte- 
 nance and frigidity of tone. 
 
 Two years before, the Astons and Mrs. Pepper 
 had spent a month at the Hotel Acquidneck in 
 Newport. One day while they were at dinner a 
 slight fire broke out on the roof of the building. 
 Natural impulse had sent them all scampering to 
 their rooms to save their effects ; and the alarm 
 meanwhile not abating, natural impulse had evicted 
 Mrs. Pepper from her room without her effects. 
 Or, at least, with only a crochet needle and a ball 
 of yarn to show for the visit. And it may be re- 
 marked that these were not her most valuable 
 effects, either. Her conduct on that occasion 
 made natural impulse a rather doubtful quantity 
 in the minds of her friends whenever she attempt- 
 ed to show that it was the principal ingredient of 
 courage. 
 
252 MRS. PEPPER S SCHEME. 
 
 Dinner over, the party went up on deck — 
 the gentlemen to smoke their cigars, and the 
 ladies, with one exception, to enjoy the splendors 
 of the evening. 
 
 It is easy to see that Mrs. Pepper was as unrec- 
 onciled to Joe as ever. And the outlook to her 
 was now a very serious one. Our naval cadet had 
 excited her gravest fear for Katie. His modest, 
 gentle demeanor, she felt, would do more toward 
 winning the young girl than any audacious assault 
 he might attempt upon her heart. So quiet, so 
 sensible, so unpresuming had he been, so careful 
 lest he should give some little trouble, that when 
 he departed she saw that he held a firmer place in 
 his friends' regard than ever. He had not at all 
 deported himself as she had intimated it would be 
 a naval cadet's nature to do — to act as though 
 the yacht belonged to him. On the contrary, his 
 behavior was such as to show Mrs. Pepper that he 
 much preferred to have remained on board the 
 Daybreak. 
 
 To sum up, Mrs. Pepper's woman's eye saw that 
 a handsome, manly young fellow like Joe Bently 
 would not have to go about the world obliged to 
 beg or to force his way into the good graces of 
 young ladies. She had sniffed danger the first 
 time she saw him ; danger to which Katie's par- 
 ents seemed painfully obtuse. As we have seen, 
 she had attempted to nip this danger in the bud, 
 
MRS. PEPPER'S SCHEME. 2S3 
 
 and now, to her chagrin, it had broken out into a 
 very strong shoot, which would not be nipped. 
 Nothing she had done thus far had been of any 
 avail in keeping Joe away, and she felt if the Day- 
 break came back her scheme would be in danger. 
 
 For Mrs. Pepper had a scheme. And on ac- 
 count of this scheme she had gone on laying her 
 lash upon Joe over the shoulders of the whole 
 Navy. And her hostility to the innocent cadet 
 was no more a freak of her nature than the cov- 
 ering of its eggs in the sand is a freak of an 
 ostrich's nature. Her scheme, it is true, was not 
 remarkably original ; nor was it developed with 
 much wisdom. It was, indeed, a very shallow 
 scheme. But such as it was, it accounts for Mrs. 
 Pepper's attitude toward Joe. 
 
 It was simply this : to make a match between 
 Katie and a young man of her own choosing. This 
 young man she had found in the person of a friend 
 in Providence. Between this friend, whom she 
 was fond of designating " the rising young law- 
 yer," and Katie she was anxious to bring about a 
 meeting. She had hoped it might be accom- 
 plished the present season, but had been disap- 
 pointed. She had intimated to Mrs. Aston that 
 it would add greatly to her pleasure if she were 
 allowed to invite her young friend to Bar Harbor, 
 with the promise that he should be entertained on 
 board the yacht. But never having met the young 
 
284 MRS. PEPPER'S SCHEME. 
 
 gentleman, Mrs. Aston declined the honor that 
 his coming would have thrust upon her. Mrs. 
 Pepper then undertook to persuade Mr. Aston to 
 spend a month with the Celeste in Narragansett 
 Bay. But as he did not know the supreme good 
 Mrs. Pepper had in contemplation for his beloved 
 Katie, he remained at Bar Harbor, and the "rising 
 young lawyer" took his outing at Narragansett 
 Pier and Rocky Point. 
 
 And this is why Mrs. Pepper did not like Joe 
 Bently. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 
 
 JOE returned to Bar Harbor in a different 
 frame of mind from that in which he had 
 left it. He came back fully resolved upon spend- 
 ing very little time away from the Daybreak. He 
 had been able to devote so little attention to his 
 studies, on account of the distractions of ship-life, 
 that he now felt it was high time for him to re- 
 sume them. As surely as the earth would make 
 her revolutions, so surely would his examination 
 come in the no distant future. 
 
 And what if he should fail at that time ! Never 
 thereafter could he look his friends in the face. 
 The agricultural development of Aroostook Coun- 
 ty would thenceforth be his life mission. So this, 
 he concluded, formed an excellent excuse for re- 
 maining on board ship. Would not this be killing 
 two birds with one stone ? Katie would be kept 
 out of his mind, and he would be preparing for 
 his examination. 
 
 And the canoes might glance about the harbor 
 28s 
 
286 THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 
 
 and the buckboards rattle over the hills, the tops 
 of the mountains might call to him and the caves 
 might lift up their voices — all the grand and beau- 
 tiful things of Bar Harbor might unite to draw 
 him away from his loved studies, yet he would 
 regard them as sirens all, attempting to lure him 
 upon the rocks of professional disaster. 
 
 These were the high-flown phrases which bore 
 him in his purpose so very far aloft, that he felt 
 nothing could get him down to the idle, pleasure- 
 seeking habits into which he charged himself as 
 having been in clanger of falling. No, he told 
 Harry before leaving Passamaquoddy Bay that he 
 was going back to Bar Harbor to get in some solid 
 work, and nothing should divert him from it. 
 Which statement amused Harry. 
 
 But when he was back in Bar Harbor, and Ned 
 and Maud and Katie had been on board the Day- 
 break, and he and Harry and Schopy had been 
 on board the Celeste, he discovered that his resolu- 
 tion was like a very light, untimely snow. It 
 couldn't stand the social tropics it had fallen into. 
 So the Daybreak had not swung to her anchor 
 forty-eight hours before Joe was hand in glove 
 with the young people in all their plans for taking 
 in Bar Harbor and the places around the bay. 
 Alas for good resolutions ! 
 
 And these young people ! What a congenial 
 party they made ! How in accord with one 
 
THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 287 
 
 another — an anomalous state of things — in just 
 the things to be done ! And as time goes on, 
 how clannish and cliquish they become, attracting 
 much attention as, bent on their own purposes, 
 they often pass along the buckboard and piazza- 
 flanked sidewalks of the village. Visitors came 
 to notice and to admire these exclusive, handsome 
 young people, so apparently contented and happy 
 in one another, and so indifferent to the fashion- 
 able world around. 
 
 Yes, Joe's good resolution, true to the instinct 
 of all good resolutions, had migrated. All the 
 time he and Harry could now get off duty was 
 spent with their young friends of the Celeste. 
 "Of course the Daybreak will be here only a 
 short time," Joe said to himself, "and I might 
 just as well enjoy Bar Harbor while I have it." 
 
 And so he was all ready for every excursion as 
 it came. The only one to find fault with this was 
 Mrs. Pepper. It seemed to her that the picnic 
 basket was never out of hand. But what could 
 she do ? Her only alternative was to go with 
 them when she was invited ; but that was not 
 often. She could not see, moreover, why the 
 cadets were not kept on board ship more. 
 
 "They'll make pretty officers," she said to Mrs. 
 Aston; "off every day or two." 
 
 She had now fixed her attention on the disci- 
 pline of the Navy, particularly that part of it relat- 
 
288 THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 
 
 ing to the highest efficiency of cadets. Beginning 
 with the broad subject of naval discipline, the 
 combined wisdom of boards of admirals and com- 
 mittees of legislators, her ideas had narrowed 
 down to just one feature of it ; namely, that of 
 restricted liberty. Naval cadets went ashore alto- 
 gether too much ; that is, two naval cadets did — 
 Joe and Harry. 
 
 "Why," said she one day to Mrs. Aston, "that 
 green little Schopy, as they call him, will make a 
 better officer than either of them." 
 
 But the sight-seeing, the walks, the drives, the 
 sails, the "rocking," the "canoeing," the "lawn- 
 ing," went right on ; and everybody but Joe took 
 Mrs. Pepper's eccentricities and perversities good 
 naturedly. He would have quite forgotten her, 
 had she not apprised him of her presence on the 
 stage of his affairs by giving him a private dig 
 now and then. But for the most part life went 
 on quite happily with him. 
 
 What, indeed, could be more delightful than 
 the climbs up Newport, the scramblings, the hold- 
 ings on, the helping Katie up the steep places, 
 and the constant watchfulness for steep places to 
 help her up ! All this was delightful. And how 
 this most glorious season Bar Harbor had ever 
 seen was giving him tone and buoyancy. The 
 accident on the torpedo expedition had pulled him 
 down a good deal. Was not this a good enough 
 
THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 289 
 
 reason, he said to himself, for being so much away 
 from the ship ? And what exhilaration he felt as 
 he stood at the summit of Newport or Green 
 Mountain gazing around him ; upon the ocean 
 clotted with islands, specked with sails, fringed 
 with harbors, bays and straits ; yes, and bearing 
 upon its calm bosom Katie's "golden lily of a 
 yacht." For Joe had learned this name from 
 Katie, and had imbibed from her the affectionate 
 interest in the yacht indicated by the name. 
 
 And as he and Katie sometimes wandered away 
 from the rest of the party, how really enthusiastic 
 he became over sea-gardens, polyps, anemones, the 
 scratches upon the rocks, made by amphibious 
 monsters ages before the flood, and endless other 
 things. For did not all these things excite the 
 enthusiastic interest of his young companion ? 
 How pleasant it was, also, to listen to the distant 
 music of her echoing voice around the shores of 
 Echo Lake ! And when she paused from her 
 sketching, or her studies of rocks and shells and 
 plants — for Katie was no idler — to talk to him, 
 how little he said, but how he treasured her words 
 in his memory ! 
 
 Joe now allowed himself to wander away short 
 distances with Katie. It seemed quite the natural 
 thing to do. They were quite the boy and girl 
 again and he did not blame himself for this. Over 
 and over again as he lay thinking about it in his 
 
29O THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 
 
 hammock he said to himself that it could not be 
 wrong". To be sure it was not doing as he had 
 intended to do. In the bitterness of his heart 
 over Mrs. Pepper, since he had found that she had 
 not destroyed the friendship of the Astons for 
 him, he had promised himself to see as little of 
 Katie as would be consistent with the cordial re- 
 lations he held to the family. 
 
 If he should leave off now, he said to himself, 
 they would certainly think something was in the 
 wind. Why shouldn't he enjoy the advantages 
 the season had laid at his very feet ? This might 
 be the last opportunity he would ever have to 
 enjoy the society of his friends. Another year 
 and the Daybreak might be locked fast in polar 
 ice. And if in it all he was thrown a good deal 
 with Katie, it would be merely incidental to a sum- 
 mer's outing. 
 
 And he had put away the idea, too, that his 
 being so much with Katie might cause her to lose 
 her heart to him. This was a height of egotism 
 to which he could not rise. He was well aware of 
 Mr. Aston's views respecting the Navy. And he 
 was satisfied that Mrs. Pepper had done all she 
 could to bring it into ill-repute as a domestic insti- 
 tution. This, with the feeling that Katie had no 
 interest in him beyond a strong desire to see him 
 get on in the world, made it seem quite right to 
 enjoy with her the pleasures of Bar Harbor. In 
 
THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 20,1 
 
 truth, he was surprised to find how full of reasons 
 his mind was for doing so. He got to be quite 
 proud of the fact, too, that he could be so much 
 with Katie and be so true to what he regarded his 
 duty to her parents. And there was also a little 
 feeling of satisfaction in it ; he was all the while 
 getting even with Mrs. Pepper. Were not things 
 going swimmingly with our cadet ? 
 
 Not so swimmingly as they seemed. For he did 
 not at all succeed in suppressing his feeling for 
 Katie. His secret gave him many a heart-ache. 
 Then he thought sometimes that his seaside devo- 
 tion to Katie would not be understood by Mr. 
 Aston, if he came to know about it. Somebody 
 might construct a little romance out of the mo- 
 nopoly he and Katie had been seen on various 
 occasions to set up in each other's society. Their 
 being so much together might even cause a little 
 pleasantry on board the yacht. Young people, he 
 knew, are quite unsafe in such matters. His chum 
 Harry was utterly untrustworthy. While he would 
 not for the world have told Katie what was in his 
 heart without her father's full permission, how 
 would her father know what he would do, accorded 
 so many privileges of friendship ? At any rate, if 
 he should receive a hint that he and Katie were 
 so much together, the biggest kind of an iceberg 
 would thenceforth exist between the Daybreak 
 and the Celeste. 
 
292 THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 
 
 It would have indeed been a terrible blow to 
 Joe to have been thus misunderstood by Mr. As- 
 ton. It was hard enough to endure Mrs. Pepper's 
 frowns, but if Mr. and Mrs. Aston should frown, 
 too, it would be insupportable. So once in awhile 
 he said to himself, "This thing must stop right 
 here." Nevertheless, it did not stop. 
 
 It may be interesting to note how this exceed- 
 ingly pleasant relation between Joe and Katie 
 was brought about. It was such a tremendous 
 step, its history is important. It came about 
 in the simplest way in the world. One night, 
 shortly after the Daybreak's return, as Joe was 
 standing Swem's watch for him, Harry joined him 
 for a bit of a promenade. The cadets were often 
 thus together. Harry had just returned from a 
 buckboard drive, and was in rather a playful humor. 
 He began the conversation with the endearing 
 remark, "Joey B., you're a drivelling idiot." 
 
 Joe was accustomed to this conversational pref- 
 ace from Harry, and simply observed with a smile, 
 "Well, what have I done this time?" 
 
 " Done ! What haven't you done ? Your goose 
 is cooked with Miss Aston." 
 
 "How is that?" asked Joe, laughing. 
 
 " Schopy did it for you." 
 
 "Well, if I had a goose to cook, I don't know 
 of anybody I'd rather have cook it than Schopy." 
 
 Joe had taken Swem's duty for that day that he 
 
THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 293 
 
 might enjoy the ride to the Ovens with the young 
 people. Harry had gone ashore early to make 
 arrangements for the buckboard, and Swem had 
 surprised him by turning up in Joe's place. 
 
 "You ought to have known enough to have kept 
 Schopy on board," Harry went on. " He was very 
 chummy with Miss Aston." 
 
 "We mustn't go back on our poor old Schopy," 
 said Joe. " He ought to have a little of this 
 cream." 
 
 "Well, he hunted shells and made sketches with 
 her all day." 
 
 "What were the subjects of his sketches?" 
 
 "One of them was Joey B. out on the foreyard 
 chasing the Aztec. But, Joey, the shortest cut to 
 your case is — to iterate the oft-repeated designa- 
 tion — 'you're a drivelling idiot '." 
 
 " I can't see the application to what I've done 
 to-day." 
 
 "Joey," said Harry, "why don't you step in 
 there ? " 
 
 "What do you mean ? " asked Joe, in consider- 
 able surprise. 
 
 "I mean, why don't you marry Katie Aston? 
 That is, when you get ready." 
 
 " Harry," said Joe, very seriously, " I don't like 
 you to talk in this way about Miss Aston." 
 
 "Well, she's dead in love with you, or would be 
 if you'd let her." 
 
294 THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 
 
 " Really, Harry, it's wrong to talk in this trifling 
 way. Under no circumstances would I have the 
 right to think of Miss Aston as you suggest." 
 
 "Right, Joey? All is fair in love and war, you 
 know." 
 
 " Please, Harry, never refer to this matter again. 
 I'm proud of Miss Aston's friendship, but we can 
 never be any more than friends." 
 
 "That's why you're an idiot," continued the im- 
 perturbable Harry. 
 
 "Harry, I can't permit you to go on in this 
 trifling manner. It's unfair to Miss Aston and to 
 Brentford." 
 
 At this Harry laid hold of a shroud and laughed 
 so heartily that Joe feared he would wake the crew 
 sleeping in their hammocks below. He kept it up 
 so long that Joe asked him in a tone of displeas- 
 ure what there was so funny in what he had said. 
 
 "Joey," said the irrepressible Harry, "you ex- 
 cite me to mirth. You are not a citizen of the 
 world. You are the best boy in Sunday School. 
 I fear your early demise." 
 
 At this Joe promptly evinced his displeasure by 
 a very caustic remark. 
 
 " Do you mean to tell me you don't know about 
 Brentford ? " asked Harry. 
 
 "What about him? I've always suspected that 
 he and Miss Aston were something more than 
 friends." 
 
THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 295 
 
 "And that's the extent of your discovery ? " said 
 the tormenting Harry. 
 
 "What ! " almost gasped Joe ; "are they really 
 engaged ? " 
 
 "Well, Joey," said Harry, "your case is hope- 
 less. I give you up. You haven't the perception 
 of a jelly-fish." 
 
 Joe only stared at Harry. 
 
 "If it wasn't a family secret I'd tell you some- 
 thing." 
 
 "A family secret! what do you mean?" asked 
 the puzzled Joe. 
 
 " Has it never occurred to you, Joey, that there's 
 another girl around — a prettier girl, too, than 
 Katie Aston ? " 
 
 Joe was getting excited. " Do you mean to say 
 that Brentford and Miss Edgerton " — 
 
 " I don't mean to say anything. I never tell 
 family secrets, Joey." 
 
 Joe's walk was now anything but a military 
 tread. His pace had so quickened that the ring 
 of his steps could be heard fore and aft. Harry 
 was trying to keep up with him, chuckling to him- 
 self all the while over his excitement. Joe now 
 saw, as he paced on altogether oblivious of his 
 friend's presence, what he might have easily dis- 
 covered during his stay on board the yacht. But 
 his Medo-Persian intellect bound him to another 
 theory. 
 
296 THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 
 
 "Well, Joey," said Harry at last, drawing a long 
 breath, "you've got your walking tactics on, and 
 I'll go below." 
 
 "Oh ! I beg pardon," said Joe, "please don't go 
 yet." 
 
 "You're much preoccupied, Joey, and you'll be 
 better without me. I'm glad you're coming to 
 your senses. But do you know what I'd do, if I 
 were in your place ? " 
 
 " No," said Joe. 
 
 " If I had your swing with the Astons, I'd have 
 a rattling good time at Bar Harbor this summer," 
 remarked enthusiastic Harry. 
 
 "I am having a good enough time." 
 
 " Well, if you call moping on board ship, and 
 fighting shy of a girl like Katie Aston having a 
 good time, then you're surely having a magnificent 
 time." 
 
 " I don't see what I can do more, with all the 
 work we have." 
 
 " You can take your day off when it comes, and 
 not do Schopy's duty. But go in, Joey, for that 
 little girl. She'll be a hard one to land ; but I 
 guess you can do it, if you employ the proper tac- 
 tics. " And Harry dropped below, wondering if 
 Joe had a particle of enthusiasm for Katie. 
 
 Harry had succeeded in demolishing one strong- 
 hold of Joe's difficulty. But plenty of other works 
 remained, wall within wall. Joe fixed it up in this 
 
THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 297 
 
 way. One strong wall, was Mr. Aston's evident 
 dislike of the Navy, as we have seen, as a domes- 
 tic institution. Another, like unto it, was Katie's 
 probable sympathy with her father on the same 
 subject. It seemed that in this affair there was 
 nothing but walls about him, and he felt a good 
 deal like a prisoner in a fort. He had a certain 
 freedom, so to speak, of the parade ground, but he 
 was always under guard. Did not his own sense 
 of duty to Katie's parents seem to follow him 
 about continually, as under arms ? And way up 
 in the most conspicuous watch-tower was Mrs. 
 Pepper, her vigilant eye always upon him, ready 
 at the slightest movement toward escape, or in 
 other words, toward Katie's heart, to relentlessly 
 pick him off. 
 
 But Harry noticed the very next time they were 
 all out together, that Joe actually fell full twenty 
 feet behind the rest of the party, with the evident 
 intention of being alone with Katie. Harry went 
 so far as to celebrate the event with a broad grin 
 at his cousin. This first loitering was prefatory 
 of a perceptible increase of distance, until it often 
 became as many as a thousand yards — a tremen- 
 dous range for a bashful cadet. 
 
 It is hard to tell what Joe talked about on these 
 occasions, as he was non-committal except in a 
 few of their conversations. But one subject on 
 which he succeeded in making many diffuse and 
 
298 THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 
 
 inconsistent remarks, was the weather. One even- 
 ing he delivered to Katie a few thoughts on the 
 moon. Another time he was successful in making; 
 it fairly evident to her understanding that the sea 
 was blue. It is not necessary to follow Joe's sub- 
 tle processes of reasoning to arrive at those facts 
 in nature of which, for a time, he made such copi- 
 ous use. But it is certain that the first week or 
 two his conversation never wandered away from 
 natural phenomena. 
 
 One day they had all climbed, with great diffi- 
 culty, to the top of one of the high hills of Mt. 
 Desert, wearing the homely name of Nubble. Off 
 a little distance from where they had taken lunch, 
 Joe found a prettily perched seat on which Katie 
 could sit and feast her eyes upon the view before 
 her to her heart's content. It was at a point where 
 one of the grandest of natural panoramic views 
 received no interruption. In the foreground was 
 a hill with beautifully sloping sides, its feet laved 
 by the waters of two pretty lakes. Beyond was a 
 wide display of intermingled forests and farms, 
 cottages, both of the old and the new Mt. Desert, 
 headlands and islands, the whole, save here and 
 there an open water-space, bordered by a purple 
 fringe of circling hills. 
 
 So crowded was this vision with nooks and cor- 
 ners of beauty, that it seemed to Joe he could let 
 his eyes wander among them the live long day. 
 
JOE STOOD BY AS USUAL, LIKE A WOODEN APOLLO. 
 
THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 299 
 
 That is, if Katie could spend that much time in 
 the same occupation. Somehow or other this was 
 one of Joe's melancholy days. He was very quiet, 
 and had given Katie the impression that some- 
 thing was wrong with him. She had been talking 
 with him lately about his life plans, and had not 
 found him nearly so frank as might have been ex- 
 pected from one in whose success in life they all 
 felt such a warm interest. At times, indeed, Joe 
 seemed rather sad, and Katie had been trying to 
 account for it in her own mind. She wondered if 
 his ambition outran the life he had chosen. Then 
 she recalled Dawson's allusion to some worry that 
 was on his mind. And in perfect innocence, she 
 thought — and she had been thinking this all 
 along — that perhaps some Annapolis girl had for- 
 gotten all about him in the absorption of some 
 new cadet. She had heard of the transitory na- 
 ture of Annapolis heart affections. At any rate, 
 she plainly saw, in common parlance, that Joe 
 wasn't easy in his mind. 
 
 She took up her sketch-book, and commenced 
 sketching. Joe stood by as usual, like a wooden 
 Apollo, saying not a word. The other young peo- 
 ple were chatting and laughing, off at the now 
 customary distance of a thousand yards. 
 
 "Joe," said Katie, while her fingers flew over 
 the page, " why do you make me do all the talk- 
 ins: ? I can listen and work, too." 
 
300 THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 
 
 "Well, I don't know," laughed Joe, "unless, 
 perhaps, it's because I like to hear sensible people 
 talk." 
 
 " I might return the compliment," said Katie, 
 smiling. 
 
 "I wish I were able to accept it." 
 
 "Oh ! if anything, you're too sensible, Joe." 
 
 "This is the first time I ever suspected it," said 
 Joe, with a laugh. 
 
 "I mean," continued Katie, "you're too soberly 
 sensible." 
 
 "And you think I ought only to be sensibly 
 sober ? " 
 
 "That's it," returned Katie, with a smile. 
 
 " I don't wonder you think me stupid," Joe 
 went on in a tone of depression ; " I'm always 
 moping." 
 
 "Oh! no, indeed, Joe; I don't find you stupid. 
 Only, if you'll pardon me, you don't seem so buoy- 
 ant and light-hearted as you used to." 
 
 Joe got very red, and said he was sorry to hear 
 that. 
 
 "Are you disappointed in the Navy?" Katie 
 went on. 
 
 " Well, no ; not much. I can't say, however, 
 that it promises a great deal." 
 
 "How so?" inquired Katie. 
 
 " Promotions are so slow. It reminds me of a 
 jam of logs." 
 
THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 3OI 
 
 "What a queer comparison ! " observed Katie. 
 
 "You see," explained Joe, "those the farthest 
 along — the admirals, commodores, captains, and 
 so forth — have got to be sort of pried up and 
 moved on, before the last in the jam — -the cadets 
 — can budge." 
 
 Katie laughed at this way of putting it, and 
 said, "Sometimes a jam of logs goes with a rush, 
 you know." 
 
 "O, yes ! that's what we are hoping for," replied 
 Joe. " For Congress to break up the jam." 
 
 "Do Aunt Pepper's affectionate allusions to the 
 Navy trouble you, Joe ? " Katie continued. 
 
 "Not very much," answered Joe, getting a good 
 deal redder. 
 
 "Well, she and papa are right in one thing." 
 
 "What is that ?" asked Joe, trying to disguise 
 his interest. 
 
 " It affords almost no opportunity for making a 
 name." 
 
 "We have to take our chances on that." 
 
 "Mr. Edgerton says, unless there's a war, naval 
 officers will all degenerate into mere Government 
 employes." 
 
 "I hope it won't be so bad as all that." 
 
 " I trust something will turn up, for your sake, 
 Joe ; we are all so anxious for you to do well in 
 life." 
 
 "That protege business," thought Joe to him- 
 
302 THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 
 
 self. " They're only interested in me because 
 they've helped me along." 
 
 "The worst thing about the Navy," said Katie, 
 musing over her sketch, "is the separations it 
 imposes." 
 
 "They are rather long," Joe managed to say. 
 
 "What's the longest time officers are absent 
 from their friends, Joe?" 
 
 "Seldom longer than three years." 
 
 " How dreadful ! Won't Mr. Bloomsbury see 
 those beautiful children for three years ? " 
 
 Katie had seen pictures of the Hercules, the 
 Ajax and the Superb, one clay on the Daybreak. 
 
 " Not if we leave the home station," answered 
 Joe. 
 
 "Well, I'm beginning to think the Navy isn't 
 so much of a place, after all." 
 
 " Our old Scbopy has been giving it a setting 
 out, I guess," remarked Joe, trying to smile. 
 
 " O, yes ! " laughed Katie ; " he was very dismal, 
 but highly amusing. He told me that you do not 
 like it much better than he does. I thought you 
 were wedded to it." 
 
 "I am," said Joe. "I mean to stay in it, and 
 hope for the better." 
 
 ■ " I hope you will, I'm sure," Katie went on. 
 " I have always thought it was the best place for 
 you." 
 
 "There it is again," thought Joe. "It's the 
 
THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 303 
 
 poor but worthy young man getting a boost in life 
 from his rich friends. He's a sort of investment 
 to them. They put so much charity and good-will 
 into him, and thereafter their only interest is to 
 see how large a dividend he can declare to their 
 pride of generosity from the success of his life." 
 
 But Katie kept on. "Joe," said she, "Dawson 
 said you were worried about something, Is it 
 anything I may know about ? " 
 
 If Katie had looked up from her sketch, upon 
 which she was now putting the finishing touches, 
 she would have discovered that Joe's face resem- 
 bled the sun seen through smoked glass. Joe 
 thought of the poor but worthy young man again. 
 And he said to himself that those who have helped 
 such an one, forever after think they hold a mort- 
 gage on him, body and soul. "Why," he declared 
 to himself, in the intensity of his feeling, "they 
 think they have the right to put their fingers into 
 the vest pockets of his very troubles ! " 
 
 But here was Katie waiting an answer. He 
 saw that she had surmised nothing in regard to 
 herself from what Dawson had said. She must, 
 however, have a reply. By a singular coincidence, 
 he thought of an Annapolis girl, but he could not 
 tell the barefaced untruth which this would in- 
 volve. And how could he tell the truth ? This 
 wouldn't do at all. The protege idea had now 
 gotten rooted in his mind. This in itself, he said, 
 
304 THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 
 
 was sufficient reason for not revealing his secret. 
 And over and above this, were Katie's evident 
 simplicity and the principle of honor which he 
 cherished toward Mr. Aston. Taking into account 
 everything that had passed in Joe's mind, neither 
 heaven nor earth could have moved him now to 
 tell Katie the truth. Well, what did he do ? Do ? 
 Why, he just laid hold of the first dangling rope 
 of evasion which dropped down into his thoughts, 
 -and by means of it, helped himself out of the tight 
 place. 
 
 As so many are tempted to do, when placed in 
 similar situations, Joe told what was strictly true 
 in itself, but out of all connection with the 
 real truth. 
 
 In much confusion he managed to say he had 
 worried some about his eyes. He thought at first 
 it was going hard with them. Dawson, he said, 
 took his little troubles to heart even more than he 
 did his own. 
 
 It seemed rather strange to Katie that she had 
 received the impression in the interview already 
 described, that Joe was on watch when Dawson 
 tried to comfort him. And how could he have 
 been on watch, and in the cabin blindfolded and 
 otherwise surgically treated, all at the same time ? 
 In a word, it was very strange that he should have 
 been worrying about his eyes before they were in- 
 jured. But Katie never could get the doings on 
 
THAT ANNAPOLIS GIRL. 305 
 
 board a man-of-war into any sort of congruous 
 relations in her mind. 
 
 However, as just then the rest of the party 
 came up for a start home, she concluded that 
 Joe's little anachronism was all on account of that 
 Annapolis girl. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A CABIN TEMPEST 
 
 AS Joe walked down the hill with the young 
 people, carrying the lunch basket in one 
 hand and Katie's wrap and sketch-book in the 
 other, he seemed disposed to let Ned and Harry 
 do all the talking. And when they had reached 
 the buckboard waiting for them some distance 
 from the foot of the hill, he committed Katie to 
 Harry's care, on the back seat of the vehicle. 
 This was reversing the order in which they had 
 come. Joe had then occupied the back seat with 
 Katie, and Harry had sat with the driver, the one 
 other seat, of course, falling to Ned and Maud. 
 Joe declared that it was not the fair thing for him 
 to want the best seat both ways. 
 
 So while his young friends chattered away on 
 the seats behind him, he kept up a very busy 
 thinking. Occasionally he made a remark to the 
 driver, but it was merely for the sake of seeming 
 social that he did so ; the thought uppermost in 
 Joe's mind was, that the Astons regarded him as a 
 306 
 
A CABIN TEMPEST. 2)°7 
 
 poor, but worthy young man. He was their ben- 
 eficiary. As the poor, but worthy young man, they 
 wanted him to do well in the world, and this was 
 why they permitted him to derive what encourage- 
 ment he could from their hospitality and friend- 
 ship. All the social privileges he was receiving 
 at their hands were simply evidences of their help- 
 ful disposition toward him. 
 
 As Joe thought it ail over, perched up with the 
 driver on the buckboard, that poor, but worthy 
 young man cut a most forlorn and dismal figure 
 in his own meditations. He could not rid himself 
 of him ; like Banquo's ghost, he would not down. 
 He haunted Joe's mind ; he thrust himself into 
 every thought ; his pitiful face framed itself in 
 every meditation. And Katie's innocent little 
 remark was the all-powerful wand that had called 
 up this "poor, but worthy young man." 
 
 Yes, our cadet was very proud, and in his pres- 
 ent state of mind, very sensitive. Katie's remark 
 to which he had attached such meaning cut him 
 to the quick. He now wished that nobody had 
 taken any interest in him at all — that he had 
 been left to carve his own way in the world. 
 Then he could have carried a free lance. Then 
 he would have been at liberty to tell Katie that he 
 loved her, if fortune had thrown her in his way. 
 But now he would have to hold his secret as tightly 
 to his heart as the Spartan boy did the fox to his 
 
308 A CABIN TEMPEST. 
 
 body. And his secret, too, was eating into the 
 very vitals of his happiness. 
 
 And Katie's unconsciousness of her closeness 
 to the all-absorbing subject with him filled him 
 with surprise. That a little light had not pen- 
 etrated her mind from the flash of Mrs. Pepper's 
 suspicions seemed incredible. It was clear to 
 him that Mrs. Pepper regarded him as a danger 
 upon which Katie might stumble, and even a fire- 
 fly emittance of warning could have put her on 
 her guard. But from the appearance of things 
 there had not been even this much light. And 
 he had thought that Mrs. Pepper kept a big re- 
 flector turned on him all the time. 
 
 But Katie had talked on all unsuspecting. This 
 he emphasized to himself over and over again. If 
 Katie had suspected his love for her she would 
 never have gone on cutting all around the nerve 
 of his secret as she had done that afternoon. 
 Had she not been perfectly ingenuous he would 
 have been forced to take some things she had said 
 as a timely hint that the Navy filled no place 
 whatever in her ambition for her own future. 
 But if she had known anything about his mind 
 toward her he kept repeating to himself she would 
 not have done this. She was a girl of altogether 
 too fine instincts to do anything of the kind. If 
 she had had any hints to give she would have 
 waited for some hint from him before giving them. 
 
A CABIN TEMPEST. 309 
 
 For as we have seen, Joe had given her no hint. 
 In her presence he had kept all the windows of 
 his heart carefully closed. Not a word or look 
 had been sent therefrom to see if some little 
 branch of hope might not be brought back to him. 
 No, it was plain to be seen that Katie knew no 
 more of his mind in this affair than a boy knows 
 of the mathematical uses of x, y and z, who has 
 never studied algebra. 
 
 So Joe rode on making a good deal out of a 
 very little ; beholding men as trees walking. Once 
 in a while he turned round and uttered a few 
 words to his companions. He tried hard to speak 
 cheerful words, and apposite to the occasion, but 
 he failed in both respects. He was glad when the 
 village was reached. He carried Katie's things 
 down to the Celeste's boat and handed in the fair 
 young mistress. But in spite of all he could do, 
 on the way thither he was unable to talk with 
 her without evident embarrassment ; and his little 
 duties as escort were done, as it seemed to him, 
 with painful awkwardness. He thought he de- 
 tected a slight absent-mindedness in her manner, 
 too ; this, however, was scarcely perceptible, and 
 was a mere passing thought with him. But as 
 she held out her hand to him as he was turning to 
 go away, the kind look she gave him went straight 
 to his heart. Still this was not new to him ; for 
 Katie had a kind look for everybody. 
 
3IO A CABIN TEMPEST. 
 
 The gig safely started for the Celeste, Joe and 
 Harry made their way to the Daybreak. Harry 
 saw that Joe had something on his mind, but this 
 had ceased to be phenomenal, and he made no 
 remark upon it. Yet Joe's movements throughout 
 the evening did not pass him unnoticed. Joe 
 seemed decidedly revolutionary as respected his 
 intentions. He behaved like one who is forming 
 new plans, going to turn over a new leaf. One of 
 the things he did was to get out a number of his 
 old text books and carefully arrange them on the 
 table. A glance showed Harry that they repre- 
 sented three great departments of human knowl- 
 edge : language, mathematics and physics. Then 
 he got down a calendar, and seemed absorbed in 
 dates. Out of this abstraction came, in due 
 course, a well-filled sheet of paper which looked to 
 Harry very much like a time-form. After a little 
 Harry began to quiz him. He learned that the 
 paper Joe had been at work upon was in reality a 
 time-form, and that he was going to spend the 
 next week in preparing for his examination, two 
 years ahead. He said it would get round before 
 he knew it, and if any dropping was to be done he 
 didn't propose to be one of the dropped. Harry 
 affronted him by remarking that it was rather bad 
 to be dropped in anything. 
 
 Joe said, furthermore, he supposed he should 
 have to spend a part of the week after at his home ; 
 
A CABIN TEMPEST. 3 I I 
 
 his sisters had been teasing him to come. Harry 
 admitted that this ought to be done. The exigen- 
 cies of the Service were liable, any time, he said, 
 to put their homes out of reach for a number of 
 years, and a cadet needed all the stores of home- 
 influence he could take in to carry abroad with 
 him in the world. Joe said very little during the 
 evening, but to every remark Harry assented with, 
 "Why, yes." "To be sure." "O, certainly! by 
 all means" ; or, "it's an excellent idea." And by 
 the time they swung themselves into their ham- 
 mocks, Joe felt very much tried with his mess- 
 mate Harry. And between him and that poor, 
 but worthy young man, he spent several hours 
 looking out of his hammock at the corrugated sur- 
 face of a lantern. 
 
 It is to be wondered at that Katie, who has been, 
 as it were, right under the eaves of Mrs. Pepper's 
 mind, has not received the information that Joe 
 Bently is hovering about the Celeste with piratical 
 intent. In Portland, so it seemed to us, Mrs. Pep- 
 per's liveliest suspicions as to Joe's purpose had 
 been awakened ; and now with the rakish little 
 Daybreak alongside, and the knowledge that such 
 craft often dash recklessly into innocent young 
 hearts like Katie's for the purpose of securing a 
 most precious treasure, how in the world had it 
 happened that, Mrs. Pepper knowing all this, she 
 has failed in communicating it to Katie ? Why, 
 
312 A CABIN TEMPEST. 
 
 simply because Joe has given Katie no indication 
 of the tender feeling in his heart toward her. So 
 her mind had not been ready to yield easy access 
 to Mrs. Pepper's surmisings. Then Katie's par- 
 ents, having seen nothing in Joe that furnished 
 the slightest ground for Mrs. Pepper's imputations, 
 had done nothing at all to fill in the blank place 
 existing in Katie's mind regarding the whole sub- 
 ject. For to tell the truth, Mr. and Mrs. Aston 
 cared as little for what Mrs. Pepper thought and 
 said as they did for the latest news from Iceland, 
 but allowed her to follow the dictates of her own 
 heart unquestioned. This served to disguise from 
 Katie the fact so patent to Mrs. Pepper, that Joe 
 had run into the peaceful haven of the Astons' 
 home to make its very joy and hope his capture — ■ 
 his prize. 
 
 Then there was that Annapolis girl. They all, 
 one day, were resting on the rocky incline facing 
 Anemone Cave, when, just to worry Joe, Harry 
 began talking about the pretty daughter of a com- 
 mander in the Navy — Joe having been a frequent 
 visitor at his house in the yard at Annapolis. 
 
 It was a simple passing remark, but it helped 
 to keep up Katie's illusion. And what was more, 
 Miss Maud could give her no hint as to how this 
 matter stood with Joe. Her cousin Harry was 
 uncommunicative in Joe's affairs, so both herself 
 and Katie fancied it was a grave secret. And Joe 
 
A CABIN TEMPEST. 313 
 
 had kept his secret so close that Harry had been 
 astonished at his apparent indifference to Katie, 
 and at times thought that Joe after all might have 
 lost his heart in the Aroostook or even to the 
 Annapolis girl. So, after all, Mrs. Pepper is the 
 only person in the world who can enlighten Katie 
 in regard to our hero's intentions. 
 
 And this undoubtedly would have been done but 
 for Mrs. Pepper's habit of treating nearly all the 
 young men of Katie's acquaintance very much 
 alike. Joe was served no worse than the rest of 
 them. Even the few streaks of affability which 
 he had seen fall upon Ned did not break from 
 under her cloud till she was aware that Maud, and 
 not Katie, was the object of Ned's devotion. Miss 
 Maud explained Mrs. Pepper's case in a very 
 few words. "It is Mrs. Pepper's delight," she 
 said, "to pick up young men and put them down 
 hard." On this account, therefore, the poverty of 
 Mrs. Pepper's good-will toward Joe, and the rough 
 handling she sometimes gave him, evoked scarcely 
 a comment from Katie. 
 
 We already know of Mrs. Pepper's sense of pro- 
 priety. Upon this she daily plumed herself. She 
 never failed on any occasion, favorable or other- 
 wise, when she thought the necessities of the case 
 demanded it, to impart her views as to what Katie 
 should do, and what she shouldn't do. She often 
 said if she could have her way Katie would never 
 
314 A CABIN TEMPEST. 
 
 be permitted to go on a ride with any other escort 
 than her father. As for blackboards and canoes, we 
 already know what she thinks about them. And 
 she was always talking about chaperons. She 
 often proposed accompanying the young people as 
 Katie's chaperon. So anxious was she to fulfill 
 this office, that she would even have gone on a 
 buckboard drive for the sake of carrying her point 
 with Katie and Mrs. Aston. Katie had asked her 
 to go in a canoe one day, knowing that she would 
 not do it, and this was the only request she ever re- 
 ceived from Katie to become her chaperon. Had 
 the chaperoning lain between a canoe and a balloon, 
 she would have gone on a trip to the clouds with 
 Katie first. But she never ceased talking of chap- 
 erons, and Katie often told her mother that, as 
 regarded the freedom of young girls, her Aunt 
 Pepper was in warm sympathy with the customs 
 of Brazil. So the little sour looks she gave Joe, 
 and the little thorny remarks she made to him, 
 preceding the young people's wanderings over Mt. 
 Desert, were put down in Katie's books to the 
 credit of Mrs. Pepper's sense of what was proper. 
 Against the individual, the intrinsic Joe Bently, 
 the Joe Bently disconnected from his worldly out- 
 look, Mrs. Pepper had little to say. He was too 
 strongly intrenched in the esteem of his friends 
 for this. She knew that his education, high sense 
 of honor, handsome, manly countenance, magnifi- 
 
A CABIN TEMPEST. 315 
 
 cent physique, and other fine qualities, would in 
 any event preserve him from prejudice and dis- 
 like. Besides, she had read the Newcomes, and 
 was aware of the danger in case of personal attack 
 upon Joe, of making Katie his ally. And this she 
 would not risk ; at least, she had not dared risk it 
 yet. So while she could not let Joe altogether 
 alone, she was very careful in what she said in 
 Katie's presence about him. And above all, she 
 had been watchful to give Katie no intimation of 
 her fears touching Joe's becoming a permanent 
 annex of the Aston household. 
 
 Her policy, therefore, with Katie was, to let Joe 
 alone for the most part, or when she disparaged 
 him to do so through his profession. This she 
 thought was her best card. If the Navy could be 
 held up to Katie in its true light, she never would 
 throw herself away by marrying into it. No girl 
 with Katie's prospects, in her sober senses, she 
 thought, would go into such a life, no matter how 
 attached she might become to a handsome young 
 fellow like Joe. And, she reasoned, by talking 
 down the Navy, she could at the same time talk 
 up the law. In producing in Katie's mind a dis- 
 like of the one, she might at the same time create 
 in her an admiration of the other. At any rate, 
 if she could do no more than give Katie's pref- 
 erence a decided tip in favor of the law, who knew 
 what might take place between Katie and that ris- 
 
3 16 A CABIN TEMPEST. 
 
 ing young lawyer of Providence. This was what 
 Mrs. Pepper was aiming at, and she had hope of 
 ultimate victory ; though she had to confess that 
 Joe was giving her much trouble. 
 
 She had begun to anticipate the meeting be- 
 tween Katie and her young friend. Katie had 
 promised to visit her at her home. All this seemed 
 a wonderful scheme to Mrs. Pepper, clever and far- 
 seeing, if it does seem otherwise than clever and 
 far-sighted to us. 
 
 And in one way and another, Mrs. Pepper man- 
 aged to give Joe quite a professional whittling up 
 without Katie's suspecting her true purpose. For, 
 to sum up this matter, did not the shavings she 
 thus took from Joe, fall into a general heap of her 
 whittlings ? And did not Katie, to whom we are 
 indebted for this figure, say to Miss Maud one 
 day, "She's always whittling away at something 
 or somebody like a boy with a new jack-knife"? 
 So things went on. 
 
 But now the time had come for Mrs. Pepper to 
 do something more. She must have a talk with 
 Katie herself. Mr. and Mrs. Aston's eyes had 
 refused to be pried open, and now Katie's must 
 undergo an operation. Things had gotten to such 
 a pass that intervention was absolutely required 
 with Katie. As her aunt, she must know how 
 matters stood with her, and she must warn her 
 against our cadet. Katie must not be allowed to 
 
A CABIN TEMPEST. 317 
 
 tread so near the edge of danger without informa- 
 tion as to her whereabouts, and the dreadful con- 
 sequences of a tumble over. " No matter what 
 comes of it," said Mrs. Pepper to herself, "I won't 
 stand by without raising my voice. She shall not 
 throw herself away." 
 
 It happened that, for two or three days after 
 the incidents connected with Nubble Hill, there 
 was no communication between the Daybreak and 
 the Celeste. The cadets had been on duty and 
 the weather had been unpropitious. On one of 
 these days, Mrs. Pepper and Katie chanced to be 
 alone on board the yacht. Mr. and Mrs. Aston 
 had gone to spend the day with some cottager, 
 and Ned and Maud were off at an Indian encamp- 
 ment buying young gull skins. Katie had con- 
 cluded to remain on board for the purpose of clear- 
 ing up a batch of correspondence, so long neglected 
 that several of her most valued friendships were 
 thereby imperilled. She sat busily writing at a 
 large desk in the open cabin, and Mrs. Pepper was 
 in the favorite rocker, slowly hemming something 
 or other. 
 
 The set, rigid look of her countenance, and 
 the mechanical movement of her needle, indicated 
 that some stern purpose was in her mind. Every 
 minute or two she would look up from her sewing 
 at Katie as if she were waiting an opportunity to 
 open conversation. Presently that opportunity 
 
3 1 8 A CABIN TEMPEST. 
 
 was given. All at once, Katie experienced one of 
 those pen-biting pauses which will come in letter- 
 writing as well as in the writing of stories, and 
 Mrs. Pepper began : 
 
 "Katie dear," said she, "when is that trip to 
 Somes' Sound coming off?" 
 
 "I don't know, Auntie," Katie answered, her 
 mind half on her letter. "I fear it's given up." 
 
 Katie, as we have seen, usually called Mrs. Pep- 
 per, Auntie. She was of a very loving, forgiving 
 disposition. Mrs. Pepper sometimes drew an an- 
 gry retort from her, but she cherished no grudges. 
 Her father was rather amused, on such occasions, 
 at the sharpness of the words that fell from the 
 tip of her little tongue ; but when they were gone 
 her anger was expended, and she was generally 
 sorry for what she had said. 
 
 "Oh! is it?" said Mrs. Pepper. "How did 
 that happen ? " 
 
 " I believe the Daybreak's going out for target 
 practice, or something of that kind." 
 
 " How much longer is the Daybreak going to 
 be here, Katie ? " 
 
 " I'm sure I don't know. I hope, though, for 
 some time." 
 
 " Why do you wish that ? " 
 
 "So our party won't be broken up." 
 
 " Well, I think the sooner that party is broken 
 up the better it will be all round." 
 
A CABIN TEMPEST. 319 
 
 "Why, what do you mean, Auntie?" 
 
 "Doesn't it keep the cadets from their duties ? " 
 
 " If you knew how strict they are on board a 
 man-of-war, you'd never say that." And Katie 
 started for her room after a package of old letters, 
 wondering" why Mrs. Pepper, with her extreme dis- 
 like for the Navy, should take so great an inter- 
 est in the disciplinary well-being of its young 
 hopefuls. But as she began to rummage her bu- 
 reau after the letters, she said to herself, "Aunt 
 Pepper's jus.t like the top drawer of this bureau. 
 I never can straighten her out, no matter how 
 much I try." In a moment or two she was back 
 at the desk overhauling the letters which she had 
 been successful in finding. 
 
 Clearing her throat, Mrs. Pepper proceeded the 
 second time. "Katie dear, I've seen it all along." 
 
 " Seen what, Auntie ? " said Katie, looking up in 
 surprise. 
 
 "The danger of having the Daybreak here." 
 
 "I don't understand you, Auntie." 
 
 " Well, to be honest with you, you may get to 
 liking Joe Bently." 
 
 From the glimmer in Katie's eves, to revert to 
 what had come into Joe's head, she had gotten a 
 fire-fly flash of light. But she asked, " Why do 
 you think that ? " 
 
 " Oh ! there are things about him that are rather 
 pleasing." 
 
320 A CABIN TEMPEST. 
 
 Katie looked as if she wouldn't object to hear- 
 ing- what they were. 
 
 "It can't be denied," continued Mrs. Pepper, 
 " that he has a fine physique and remarkably hand- 
 some eyes." 
 
 "He has fine eyes," said Katie, with a twinkle 
 in her own, "but Jim Pendleton and Tom Sanford 
 have got just as fine." 
 
 "Handsome eyes are the most dangerous things 
 about a man's looks," added Mrs. Pepper. 
 
 "I never set much by eyes, Auntie." 
 
 " Oh ! well, a young girl like you, dear, can't be 
 so much with a young fellow like Bently, without 
 getting to like him." 
 
 " I do like him already ; we all like him very 
 much. If we didn't we shouldn't ask him here." 
 
 " Katie, this is too serious a matter for such 
 nonsense. Think of how dreadful it would be for 
 a girl in your position to fall in love with a young 
 man your papa has helped on in the world." 
 
 Katie gave Mrs. Pepper a look which plainly 
 said, " If I want to fall in love with Joe Bently, 
 or anybody else, it's nobody's affair but papa's, 
 mamma's and my own." 
 
 " Think of the life you'd lead if you should 
 marry into the Navy," Mrs. Pepper went on. "I'd 
 rather see you marry a farmer." 
 
 " I've always aspired to be mistress of a dairy," 
 said the perverse little Katie. 
 
A CABIN TEMPEST. 32 1 
 
 "Katie Aston, you astonish me by your levity. 
 I don't wonder Joe Bently got notions in his head." 
 
 "What notions, Auntie ?" 
 
 " Oh ! that he sort of belongs here ; that all he 
 has to do is to say the word and he can step right 
 into the family any time." 
 
 Katie gave Mrs. Pepper a wicked little look, 
 and said something to the effect that those were 
 very queer notions for a modest young fellow like 
 Joe to have. 
 
 "It's no wonder he thinks so," said Mrs. Pep- 
 per, an angry flush coming into her face; "you 
 take him everywhere with you, and he almost lives 
 en this yacht." 
 
 "He has never come here without being urged 
 to come," said Katie, growing serious in Joe's 
 defense. " You heard papa say what work he had 
 to get him here the first time. He had to drag 
 him over." 
 
 " He doesn't have to drag him over now, I no- 
 tice. Give a naval cadet an inch and he'll take 
 an ell." 
 
 " Auntie, to be plain with you, you are very 
 unkind to Joe. Papa and mamma think they never 
 can do too much for him." 
 
 " Why should they feel so ? " 
 
 " Didn't he save my life ? And I've heard papa 
 say a dozen times, that he should always be wel- 
 come to come to see us." 
 
322 A CABIN TEMPEST. 
 
 " But anybody would have saved your life, dear. 
 It was an act of common humanity." 
 
 " Anybody didn't save it but Joe ; and people 
 always feel differently toward such ones." 
 
 " That's where people are wrong. They let 
 their hearts get the better of their judgments." 
 
 "You talk very unfeelingly." 
 
 " So it would seem. But this is a world of hard 
 facts, dear, and we should never be carried away 
 by sentiment." 
 
 " I don't see any sentiment in our treatment of 
 Joe, but that of ordinary gratitude." 
 
 " Well, do you think it's proper for him to come 
 here so much?" said Mrs. Pepper, putting the 
 question flatly. 
 
 "Yes; if he wants to," tartly returned Katie. 
 
 " I should think your father and mother would 
 see that it's very improper, if you don't," Mrs. 
 Pepper went on. 
 
 "Do you mean to say papa and mamma don't 
 know what's proper?" said Katie, an angry little 
 light leaping into her eyes. 
 
 " Yes, dear ; they know what's proper in an 
 abstract sort of way. But parents are proverbi- 
 ally blind, you know." 
 
 "I don't think we shall slam the door in Joe's 
 face, Auntie, just to gratify your sense of what is 
 proper," shot from Katie like an arrow. 
 
 "He was very proper till you began to make so 
 
A CABIN TEMPEST. 323 
 
 much of him," said Mrs. Pepper in a biting tone, 
 working nearer her point. 
 
 "Who do you mean by you?" 
 
 "Oh ! all of you." 
 
 "Auntie, what's the cause of this arraignment ? 
 Papa and mamma never would have talked in this 
 way to me." And Katie's little foot beat the car- 
 pet, and her eyes flashed indignation and defiance 
 at Mrs. Pepper. 
 
 Mrs. Pepper had gone too far, and she saw it ; 
 but she was angry now. She did not, as she 
 ought to have done, stop right where she was and 
 not exasperate the unoffending girl any farther. 
 So she asked, in a tone which plainly spoke her 
 opinion as to the accessibility of the Aston mind 
 to the subject of Joe Bently, or that particular 
 phase of it so greedy of her own attention, " Do 
 you wish me to explain ? " 
 
 " I don't care." 
 
 "To be perfectly frank with you," she began, 
 controlling her voice quite well — " and I know you 
 will pardon me, for I have only your good at 
 heart, and I wouldn't say a word about it if I 
 didn't feel it was proper and my duty " — 
 
 "Please go on ; you mix me all up." 
 
 "Well, then," cruelly fell from Mrs. Pepper, 
 "you are setting your cap for Joe Bently ; you are 
 throwing yourself at him, and everybody sees it." 
 
 Mrs. Pepper had not intended saying just this. 
 
324 A CABIN TEMPEST. 
 
 But the conversation had taken a turn which rather 
 confirmed her fears of Katie and Joe. She thought 
 she discovered signs in Katie of something more 
 than a liking for our hero. She must say some- 
 thing that would make her less cordial to him, thus 
 forcing upon him the conviction that he was not 
 so welcome on board the Celeste as he had been. 
 After such a thrust as this, Katie would be driven 
 by pride, she thought, if nothing else, to be less 
 friendly toward the cadet. And the different at- 
 mosphere that would surround her then might pro- 
 duce a chill in him. He might thus be led to keep 
 himself somewhat aloof from Katie ; and if, mean- 
 while, good fortune and the Navy Department 
 should send the Daybreak on a foreign cruise, the 
 danger which now seemed to threaten the young 
 girl might be wholly averted. 
 
 It was a very bold step for Mrs. Pepper to take, 
 but she could not relinquish what she had set her 
 heart upon for Katie. Katie must be her contri- 
 bution to Providence society. Her father was able 
 to provide her an elegant home in that beloved 
 city, and Mrs. Pepper could then point to it all 
 with supreme pride, and say to her friends, " See 
 what a queen I have brought you ! " And she 
 cherished the hope that in the court of that same 
 queen she herself might be chief lady. Was not 
 this incentive enough to her to break by any means 
 the spell which Katie might be under to brass 
 
A CABIN TEMPEST. 325 
 
 buttons ? So she went at poor Katie, utterly des- 
 titute of the prudence and diplomacy of that great 
 profession in whose interest she was so ardently 
 at work. 
 
 But Mrs. Pepper was not clever. If she had 
 been she certainly never would have had a scheme 
 at all. 
 
 But Katie — poor little Katie! No, she would 
 not thank us for saying this. P"or she was capa- 
 ble of taking care of herself. It was all a new 
 experience to her, but she rose to the occasion. 
 She gave Mrs. Pepper a piece of her mind, and 
 not a small piece, either. A novelist would work 
 up what she said into a highly intense dramatic 
 form, but Katie would not suffer it to be done, 
 even if the writer were capable of it. 
 
 However, it may be said, that while she ex- 
 plicitly informed Mrs. Pepper that she did not 
 love Joe Bently, and had never thought of doing 
 so, Joe Bently did not come down a peg in her 
 esteem ; and Mrs. Pepper's treatment of him, the 
 meaning of which was now as vivid to her imagi- 
 nation as the flood of sunlight which had just 
 broken through the cabin skylight, was to her eyes, 
 was set forth with a comprehensiveness of grasp, 
 and a pointedness of statement, that frightened 
 that perverse lady. Mrs. Pepper got scratched by 
 that cat in the bag, out at liberty the second time 
 in the Aston family through her foolish fumbling 
 
326 A CABIN TEMPEST. 
 
 with the strings, a good deal worse than she did 
 the first time. 
 
 What did Katie do when she had finished with 
 Mrs. Pepper? Why, the natural thing. She went 
 to her state-room, threw herself down on her little 
 bed, and cried as if her heart would break. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 MR. LONG. 
 
 A FEW minutes only did Katie's passion of 
 tears last. Then she bethought herself of 
 the red and swollen eyes that would be sure to 
 follow continued weeping. And would not this 
 betray the fact to the rest of the yacht's company, 
 when they should return, that something had gone 
 wrong during their absence ? Before she entered 
 the state-room she had resolved that her parents 
 should know nothing of her trouble with Mrs. 
 Pepper. She knew if her father should discover 
 that she had been crying, in his sympathy for her, 
 he would not rest until he knew the whole story. 
 This, she said to herself, would not do. She was 
 aware that ordinarily, her father was the mildest 
 and least excitable of men, but if he knew of this 
 affair, there would be trouble in the camp. In 
 other words, a tempest would in reality shake the 
 Celeste's cabin. 
 
 This Katie knew very well. And on no ac- 
 count would she arouse her father against Mrs. 
 Pepper. Had she been of a resentful disposition 
 
 i -> 7 
 J-/ 
 
328 MR. LONG. 
 
 she might have done so. She therefore prudently 
 decided to let the comparative harmony hitherto 
 existing between her parents and Mrs. Pepper 
 remain undisturbed. Of course she had other rea- 
 sons for doing so, not the least of which was the 
 embarrassing position in which it would place Joe. 
 Of Mrs. Pepper's interview with her father and 
 mother on the identical subject that had wrought 
 such havoc with her feelings, she had received no 
 word of warning. So, having taken a look at her 
 red face and wet eyes in the truthful mirror, she 
 saw the necessity for prompt action. 
 
 Katie was materially aided in this. No sooner 
 had she resorted to the little feminine devices well 
 known for their speedy effect in restoring the 
 countenance to its habitual repose, than a knock 
 at her state-room door apprised her that she was 
 wanted. It might be Mrs. Pepper's knock. It 
 had a half-penitent sound, and perhaps she was in 
 a mood for making up. But Katie was not ready 
 for that just yet ; so she did not answer. The 
 knock was repeated, this time accompanied by the 
 voice of the servant girl, Mary, soliciting Katie's 
 presence on deck, where she said there was a 
 "quare bye" who desired to see her. 
 
 Assured that it was not Mrs. Pepper, she direct- 
 ed Mary to inform the boy that she would be up 
 presently. She walked past her aunt with some 
 show of dignity, wondering who the "quare bye" 
 
MR. LONG. 329 
 
 could be. Instantly she appeared on deck, she 
 recognized him. From Joe's descriptions, he was 
 unmistakable. It was none other than Enoch 
 Long who had demanded to see her. Long stood 
 looking around him with the air of one who is per- 
 fectly at home anywhere on this planet. His cap 
 was canted on one side of his head at a very rakish 
 angle, and he carried a lump on one side of his 
 face, which appeared and disappeared with as mar- 
 velous dexterity as though his cheeks were a pair 
 of juggler's cups and his tongue was skilled in 
 sleight of hand. His body was as stationary as a 
 fence post, while his head was turning in every 
 direction, in devoted service to his eyes, which ran 
 about the deck as though commissioned to carry 
 every thing away with them. Wonder was in 
 Long's face, but composure and self-complacency 
 were in his manner. 
 
 The instant he heard Katie's light step on the 
 deck he turned and advanced toward her with an 
 awkward attempt at a military bearing. Planting 
 himself at a distance of several yards from where 
 she stood, he gave her a military salute. This was 
 as far as he would permit himself to go. He would 
 not defer to the — to him — absurd custom of re- 
 moving his cap in the presence of ladies. In fact, 
 he at one time told Joe that he didn't mind " sa- 
 lutin' a woman no more'n he did an officer ; but 
 he wouldn't take his cap off to no live woman — 
 
330 MR. LONG. 
 
 he'd be hanged if he would. They didn't do it 
 where he lived, and he guessed they knowed what 
 people oughter do." 
 
 After his salute, he stood eying Katie with a 
 good deal of curiosity. In this he gave no impres- 
 sion of rudeness. It was simple, untutored curios- 
 ity in Enoch — unmitigated by the slightest fear. 
 He surveyed Katie so coolly and comically, that 
 it served as a counter-irritant, and before she knew 
 it she was laughing as uncontrollably as a short 
 time before she had been weeping. 
 
 In a moment, however, Long's inspection of 
 Katie was over with, and, giving her an indulgent 
 look, as much as to say, "you'll do," he introduced 
 himself as " Mr. Long, coxswain o' the Daybreak's 
 dinghy." By one month's exclusive devotion to 
 duty, and Joe's aid, Long had mounted to this 
 lofty eminence, and he was so proud of his promo- 
 tion that to the uninitiated, among whom he sup- 
 posed Katie to be, he always introduced himself 
 as "Mr. Long, coxswain o' the Daybreak's dinghy." 
 After this introduction, readjusting the lump in 
 his cheek, Long began a conversation by asking, 
 "Be I a-talkin' to Miss Astin ?" 
 
 Katie promptly told him that he was. 
 
 "Why, waal, I'll be blowed, ef this 'ere hain't a 
 mighty pooty yort. Ben here long ? " 
 
 " Not a great while," replied Katie, her amuse- 
 ment in no decree abating. 
 
MR. LONG. 331 
 
 " Hired for the season ? " asked Long. 
 
 "I suppose she belongs to my father," said Ka- 
 tie, half convulsed. 
 
 " By gracious ! Does she, though ? It must take 
 a heap o' money to run this 'ere yort. Don't it, 
 now ? " 
 
 "Quite a little sum, I've no doubt," Katie 
 managed to articulate. 
 
 "Orful rich man, your father is. Now hain't 
 he?" 
 
 Never having felt the extremes of poverty, Katie 
 gave Long a look which implied that he might be 
 correct. 
 
 "That takes elbow grease, I can tell yer," said 
 Long, casting an admiring eye upon the bright 
 work ornamenting the Celeste's deck. " I'd rather 
 clean clown two hosses an' sweep out the stable to 
 boot, than do up that pin-rail, there," he added, 
 pointing to the object in question. 
 
 " It does require a good deal of work," answered 
 Katie. 
 
 "By gracious ! but a yort lays over a man-o'-war, 
 though! Don't it, now?" And without waiting 
 for Katie's answer, he went on. " Ef it warn't 
 that I'm bound to the Government till I'm twenty- 
 one, I'd ship aboard this beauty, wouldn't I, now? 
 I jest would, you bet. I like her." 
 
 Katie looked her regrets touching the unfortu- 
 nate deprivation the yacht was experiencing. 
 
33 2 MR. LONG. 
 
 "By gracious!" cried Long, his demeanor sud- 
 denly changing ; " I was nigh forgittin' what I came 
 fur." And here he dove his hand into his trousers 
 pocket and pulled out a small package of much 
 crumpled envelopes. " We're goin' to have a big 
 time aboard the Daybreak, an' Mr. Bently sent me 
 over with these ere invitations," and he handed 
 Katie the package. 
 
 Katie at once proceeded to open the missive. 
 It was an invitation to be present at a reception to 
 be given on board ship on such and such a date. 
 
 " Ever ben to one o' them parties aboard a man- 
 o'-war?" continued Long, when Katie had finished 
 the reading. 
 
 "I've never had the honor," Katie replied. 
 
 " Comin', hain't yer ? " 
 
 " Perhaps so," said Katie, smiling. 
 
 Satisfied that she comprehended the full import 
 of his errand, he asked, "You wouldn't mind my 
 takin' a look round this ere yort, would yer ?" 
 
 " Certainly not," said Katie ; " go about as much 
 as you please." 
 
 " Would it be askin' too much to let me look 
 inter the cabin first ? " 
 
 "O, no! come right down," said Katie, with a 
 beaming face, leading the way. 
 
 " By gracious ! " said Long, overcome by the 
 splendor of the cabin, " this is pooty I " 
 
 Mrs. Pepper sat in her old place hemming away 
 
MR. LONG. 333 
 
 with a much greater show of industry than at first. 
 When she saw that it was a common sailor-boy 
 who had followed Katie into the cabin, the usual 
 cloud gathered upon her features. This black 
 look Katie did not see. Her eyes would not yet 
 look upon Mrs. Pepper. But the look was not 
 lost upon Long, and coming nearer to Katie, he 
 said in a substantial Vermont country whisper, his 
 eyes fixed on Mrs. Pepper, "That's a queer piece." 
 But further comment was lost in more interesting 
 phenomena about the cabin. 
 
 Long examined everything about the cabin, his 
 satisfaction every now and then expressed by his 
 favorite ejaculation. At first Mrs. Pepper in- 
 dulged in frowns. But finally she was forced to 
 laughter, for the young coxswain's loquacity was 
 capable of overcoming a more frigid countenance 
 than was hers. By and by, however, as he con- 
 tinued his investigations, the cloud returned. 
 
 Of all objects in the cabin, however, that which 
 pleased Long most was the well-filled cake basket 
 standing *out in full relief upon the sideboard. 
 Katie discovered the trick which his eyes were try- 
 ing to play for his tongue, and she directed Mary 
 to bring a plate and make a glass of lemonade. 
 During the refreshment his flow of tongue was 
 quite incredible. He asked Katie's opinion as to 
 the best kind of brake to be used on the Vermont 
 hills, and the handsomest model for a dinghy. At 
 
334 MR - long. 
 
 last he intimated that he would be obliged to cut 
 his stay short, as "his boat" was waiting for him 
 alongside. As he rose to take his leave he said, 
 "Yer hain't no answer fur Mr. Bently ? " 
 
 Mrs. Pepper looked daggers at him. 
 
 " No ; I believe not," said Katie. 
 
 "But yer comin', hain't yer?" 
 
 "I think it's not improbable," said Katie in a 
 tone calculated to freeze out the subject. 
 
 " You don't know what you'll miss, ef yer don't 
 come. We've ben a sendin' invitations round to 
 the hotels, an' all the tony people'll be there." 
 
 Mrs. Pepper gave Long another vicious look, 
 and thought of the Modiste and the Silk and 
 Ribbon. 
 
 "They don't have no sich times in Bar Harbor 
 every clay. Ef yer wants to meet nice people, 
 you'd better come." 
 
 "Yes, I will," Katie finally said in a low voice, 
 trying, if possible, to check Long's steady flow of 
 talk. 
 
 But nobody ever did that. "Glad to hear it," 
 he went on. "I'll tell Mr. Bently. He don't 
 take no stock in girls ginerally, but he'll be glad 
 to see you ; he likes you. I hope that time'll 
 cheer 'im up, too. He's ben mad as thunder 
 fur three days now," and Long looked at Katie as 
 if he wanted her to ask what he had been mad 
 about. 
 
MR. LONG. 33 5 
 
 But Katie's interrogatives, both of eyes and 
 tongue, failed to give any signal. "Won't he ever 
 stop?" she said to herself, glancing out of the 
 corner of her eye at her aunt, and moving ner- 
 vously toward the door. She saw that Mrs. Pep- 
 per's ears were on the alert, and that she was 
 again very angry. 
 
 "You see," persisted Long, "I b'long to Mr. 
 Bently's gun's crew, an' only yesterday he laid 
 me out. By gracious ! didn't he do it slick ! " 
 
 Katie tried to hurry Long out of the cabin. 
 She feared that some terrible blast was coming, 
 and she fairly trembled ; but Long's conclusion 
 amounted to nothing when it came. He said 
 something to the effect that Joe had reflected 
 both humorously and angrily upon his abilities in 
 ordnance. And he wound up by telling Katie in 
 substance, that Joe had insisted that his (Long's) 
 place in life was abaft a pair of blow-handles or 
 abreast an ox team, but that he and Mr. Bently 
 didn't agree in everything. 
 
 Enoch insisted on shaking hands with Katie be- 
 fore leaving the cabin, but he only scowled at Mrs. 
 Pepper. Katie hardly dared to trust her little 
 hand where the two seas of Enoch's squeeze met, 
 but she bravely launched it into the hollow of his 
 palm, and as good luck would have it, recovered it 
 without disaster. After telling Katie, just outside 
 the cabin door, that he liked her and liked the 
 
336 MR. LONG. 
 
 yacht, but didn't like "that woman," he bit off a 
 huge piece of tobacco from a Navy plug he car- 
 ried in his pocket, and took his departure. 
 
 Delivered from this strange visitor, Katie made 
 her way to her state-room, first gathering up her 
 writing materials from the cabin desk to carry with 
 her. But one or two attempts to finish the letter 
 she had been at work upon convinced her that she 
 was in no mood for writing. So she drew away 
 her chair to a place where she could sit and gaze 
 out upon the harbor through the open port. And 
 there she sat, going over the whole ground in her 
 thoughts, of what she had passed through that 
 morning. 
 
 Meanwhile the Celeste swung to her anchor, 
 bringing the Daybreak into full view. Up to this 
 time the Daybreak had been completely hidden. 
 It happened by the swinging of the yacht that 
 Katie's thoughts were rendered the more vivid ; 
 for right before her eyes, slowly passing back and 
 forth on the Daybreak's topgallant forecastle, was 
 the principal subject of them. It was Joe's fore- 
 noon watch, and he was in his old and favorite 
 place. Every now and then he turned his eyes 
 toward the Celeste, bestowing upon her, Katie 
 thought, a not unwistful look. 
 
 Katie's mind had by no means recovered from 
 the hurt it had received. And with Joe plainly 
 visible a few cable-lengths away, she found herself 
 
MR. LONG. 337 
 
 wondering if he could ever have gotten any such 
 idea into his head about her, as had found lodg- 
 ment in Mrs. Pepper's brain. " No," she said to 
 herself, " he's too noble and high-minded to put 
 any such interpretation upon my conduct toward 
 him. He would resent this accusation, if he knew 
 it, as strongly as I do." She soon settled with 
 herself that it would be simply impossible for Joe 
 to regard her as Mrs. Pepper did. He knew the in- 
 timate terms they had been on meant nothing more 
 on her part than a sincere and trustful friendship. 
 And she knew that in his kindly bearing toward 
 her he was only modestly striving to reciprocate 
 her cordiality and good-will in terms of equal 
 friendship. 
 
 So as she thought it all over, she saw that there 
 had been nothing whatever in her relations with 
 Joe which could furnish any but a mischievous 
 mind with such a charge as had been made. And 
 the more she thought it over the more indignant 
 she became. The idea that she, Katie Aston, 
 should ever set her cap for anybody ! This was 
 what rankled in her breast ! And as Mrs. Pepper's 
 ugly remark kept pushing itself into the forefront 
 of her thoughts, how red her face became, and how 
 her little foot, as it had done before, beat the deck 
 in her indignation ! How humiliated she felt that 
 anybody, even Mrs. Pepper, could indulge such a 
 thought of her ! Katie knew her father's wealth, 
 
33§ MR. LONG. 
 
 knew her own prospects in life, had had many 
 evidences of her importance as things go in this 
 world, and now to have this thing flung at her, it 
 sorely wounded her pride ; it raised her anger to a 
 stormy pitch ! For an instant she even felt a little 
 rising of ill-humor against Joe, whose coming had 
 been the occasion of her aunt's malicious comment 
 upon her. 
 
 But she felt that this was most ungenerous. 
 What had Joe done that she should ever have an 
 unkind feeling toward him ? He was still in plain 
 view, walking slowly up and down, declaring even 
 in his unconscious bearing the honesty and man- 
 liness of his nature. As Katie looked upon him 
 she was conscious of a feeling of pride in him as a 
 young man in whose material welfare her father 
 had so much interested himself ; and she felt glad 
 of his friendship. How sorry she was for what 
 had happened to disturb their kindly relations. 
 
 The new set of emotions which the sight of Joe 
 had awakened completely subdued her anger. 
 She was now pitying both herself and him. They 
 had been badly treated, and they had cause for 
 common sympathy. " Of course," she thought, 
 "he can't sympathize with me, for he won't ever 
 know anything about it ; but I can sympathize 
 with him all the same." 
 
 She found herself heartily espousing Joe's 
 cause ; she felt that he had been really abused. 
 
MR. LONG. 339 
 
 As her eye followed him, she noted that he 
 seemed to be thinking upon something or other 
 as intently as she was doing upon what lay before 
 her mind. Something in his appearance went 
 straight home to her sympathy. Indeed, and she 
 couldn't tell why it was, her sympathy had been 
 recently drawn out toward Joe on more than one 
 occasion. There had been something about him 
 that appealed to the deeper, perhaps tenderer side 
 of her nature. She had not pretended to account 
 for it ; she had not tried to account for it. It 
 was not his terrible experience with that Annap- 
 olis girl that so touched her with a feeling for the 
 soreness of heart which, from the nature of the 
 case, must have been left in him. No, that wasn't 
 it. For ever since that conversation up the 
 Nubble that Annapolis girl had been less of a 
 reality to Katie. She had seemed more like a 
 touching little story from the Mythology she had 
 been reading ; painful, but unreal. At any rate, as 
 she now gazed upon him, she thought it altogether 
 too bad that a restraint would have to be put upon 
 their warm, simple friendship. 
 
 For would not this have to be done ? she asked 
 herself over and over again. If people had got to 
 thinking about her as Mrs. Pepper did, how could 
 she be just the same to him as she had been ? 
 She must protect herself against unjust criticism. 
 
 She would have to be more reserved in his 
 
340 MR. LONG. 
 
 presence ; keep him off a little. But if she had 
 been giving a false impression of her state of mind 
 toward him, why had not her parents been as 
 quick to see it as anybody else ? Then she 
 remembered Mrs. Pepper's remark that parents 
 are proverbially blind. She wondered if her father 
 and mother did not really understand this affair, 
 and her answer was, " Of course papa and mamma 
 know all about it. They know that Joe and I 
 never dreamed of being anything to each other 
 but friends." 
 
 But how should she treat Joe in the future ? 
 This was the question now pressing for an answer. 
 Ought she to see him less often ? And when they 
 happened to be thrown together, must she show 
 him that their friendship had been running too 
 much according to its own sweet will, and needed 
 a little pruning ? Would this be fair to Joe ? 
 Would it not convey to him the idea that he had 
 in some way been presuming upon her gracious- 
 ness, and she found it necessary to teach him a 
 lesson ? This would amount to an unkindness. 
 Poor Joe ! she couldn't turn on him in that way. 
 He had been so unpresuming, so genuinely 
 modest, had had such a high ideal of what he 
 owed to her as a friend, that she could not now 
 find it in her heart to do anything that would give 
 him pain. 
 
 And Katie thought to herself, like the sensible, 
 
MR. LONG. 341 
 
 tender-hearted girl that she was, that she would 
 not be any different to Joe from what she had 
 been. What if people should say that she was 
 setting her cap for him ; that wouldn't make it so. 
 People said anything that came into their heads. 
 So long as her papa and mamma, and Ned and 
 Maud, and Joe and herself knew that it was only 
 friendship between them, why should she care 
 what others thought? "No," she said almost 
 audibly, taking another kindly look at Joe through 
 her state-room port, " I won't make him unhappy 
 the little time he has left in Bar Harbor. At best, 
 his life will be hard enough when he gets away. 
 I won't send along a batch of unpleasant memo- 
 ries to make it any harder." 
 
 And thus Katie, for the moment, decided that 
 she would be Joe's friend just the same as ever. 
 
 But this decision did not close the chapter of 
 her thoughts about Joe, by any means. Her mind 
 had been stirred up to go over the whole subject 
 of Joe Bently. Presently a suggestion came which 
 made her decision for the time being seem a little 
 premature. It clothed the affair in quite a differ- 
 ent hue, and gave her some little concern. 
 
 If she should be just the same to Joe, might it 
 not be putting him at some little risk ? Katie did 
 not have a superfluous amount of egotism, but she 
 was aware that peculiarly susceptible natures in 
 the opposite sex might be smitten even by her 
 
342 MR. LONG. 
 
 charms. And she now asked whether Joe him- 
 self could be in any such danger from her. Since 
 her adoption of the mythical theory in regard to 
 the Annapolis girl, she had thought several times 
 whether it could be possible that Joe's friendship 
 for her was deeper than it seemed. It was a true, 
 and she felt from Joe's high character, even a 
 beautiful friendship, transparent as clearest water. 
 But clear water deceives. She remembered that 
 she had looked into many a spring, the translu- 
 cency of whose water had seemed to bring the 
 far-away bottom so near that she could almost 
 touch it with her hand. Was Joe's friendship for 
 her like this ? 
 
 Then she thought of it in another way. From 
 all she had ever learned of the natural history of 
 such cases, when a tender feeling for some maiden 
 possesses a young man's heart, it always gives 
 some little sign of its existence. It might be 
 timid as a bird, but once in a while it would be 
 sure to hop out on some little twig of a word 
 where it could be seen. Or some glance might 
 part the leaves of the mystery and show it hiding 
 in its little nest. Katie had to smile at this con- 
 ceit, though in all seriousness it had entered her 
 mind. And this time also, all things considered, 
 she concluded it would be no risk to Joe if she 
 permitted herself to keep right on with him as she 
 had been doins:. 
 
MR. LONG. 343 
 
 But another phase of the question presented 
 itself. How about herself ? Was there any dan- 
 ger in her case ? Was every approach to her heart 
 closed to the young cadet ? 
 
 She liked him — admired him, and was even 
 fond of him, but did she really love him ? No, 
 she did not ! She laid this down with emphasis. 
 She was too busy with her papa and mamma, her 
 friend Maud, her pets — among which was the yacht 
 itself — her plans and her many occupations, to give 
 scarcely any attention to the subject upon which 
 the whole world runs mad. We must remember 
 that Katie is hardly out of her girlhood yet. But 
 she really felt, though she had such an interest in 
 Joe, that she did not have affection for him ; the 
 kind, at least, that spells itself with four letters. 
 And Katie did not feel that she was in any dan- 
 ger of losing her heart to Joe. She cherished 
 a greater liking for him than she had ever known 
 for any other young man. Those fine eyes 
 and that magnificent physique had appealed won- 
 drously to her in an artistic sense ; the power Joe 
 had of touching the higher, better side of human 
 nature she had felt the force of ; but she could not 
 say she loved him. And she did not feel she could 
 love him in the sense in which she well knew he 
 deserved to be loved- 
 
 For, to tell the truth, Katie felt that Joe was 
 on too high a pinnacle for her to reach. He 
 
344 MR - long. 
 
 met her ideals, but did not exactly suit her tem- 
 perament. This was why she now felt, though 
 she did not attempt to explain it to herself, that 
 she could maintain the invulnerability of her 
 heart against him. Had Joe possessed a little 
 more of the every-day sort of human nature, 
 Katie's heart then could have no more stood 
 against him than a blossom can stand against a 
 strong wind. But Joe did not have this every-day 
 sort of human nature. As Katie finished this 
 colloquy with herself she was in quite a cheery 
 mood. 
 
 And she summed it all up with the declara- 
 tion, "Joe and I can be the best of friends, with 
 not the least danger of becoming lovers." 
 
 Thinking upon the absurd ideas people have 
 about the perils of such a friendship as existed 
 between her and the young cadet, she was now 
 ready to sit down to the solitary lunch which she 
 had ordered in her room. Her aunt, meanwhile, 
 took hers in equal, but less happy solitude, from 
 the table out in the cabin. 
 
 When, toward evening, the absentees had all 
 returned, Mr. Aston and Ned had a great scheme 
 to propose ; which, when proposed, caused Mrs. 
 Pepper to exclaim, "Oh! mercy on us," but 
 brought a look of pleasure into every other face. 
 The scheme was simply this : Some time the com- 
 ing week the yacht was to go out for a few days' 
 
MR. LONG. 345 
 
 trip at sea. Mr. Aston had met Captain Farradale 
 ashore, and had received the promise from him that 
 the two cadets should have a leave of several days, 
 and invitations were to be sent them next morning: 
 to join the jubilant company for a sniff of real 
 salt air in Katie's "golden lily " of a yacht. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE DAYBREAK'S RECEPTION. 
 
 THE course of true friendship, like that of true 
 love, does not always run smoothly. This, 
 at least, Katie came to know. For an entire week 
 no opportunity offered to prove to our hero the 
 wonderful things her new, reawakened friendship 
 designed doing for him. 
 
 She had defended him in a most friendly manner 
 during the interview with Mrs. Pepper. And 
 she had likewise resolved that as soon as possible 
 she would renew her friendship with Joe, and 
 right before her aunt's eyes, too. She would let 
 her see that that friendship had survived the storm 
 through which it had passed. The beautiful flower 
 still lived. Not a stem had been broken, not a 
 leaf torn away. And Joe should be acquainted 
 with the fact, too, even though he was to know 
 nothing of all that had happened to give it its 
 renewed freshness. O, yes ! In the kindness of 
 her heart Katie purposed doing wonderful things 
 for our cadet. 
 
 It must also be confessed that aside from this 
 346 
 
THE DAYBREAK S RECEPTION. 347 
 
 warmer, tenderer feeling she treasured for Joe, 
 there was likewise a somewhat reverse spirit felt 
 toward Mrs. Pepper. Katie meant to let her know 
 that she would do as she pleased about Joe Bently. 
 Mrs. Pepper wasn't her guardian, and this affair 
 was no concern of hers, either. In her more vin- 
 dictive moods she felt as if she would like to 
 engage in a desperate flirtation. But she was too 
 warm a friend to Joe. So she simply resolved that 
 her auntie should see that all her talk had made 
 no difference whatever in her treatment of him. 
 
 The great obstacle, however, in carrying out 
 this plan was Joe himself. For one whole week 
 he did not show himself on board the yacht. How 
 to account for his absence was a sore puzzle. 
 And more perplexing yet, he had declined Mr. 
 Aston's invitation to become a member of the 
 yachting party. He simply stated by note that he 
 should be obliged to forego the pleasure, as he 
 had made arrangements to spend the time ap- 
 pointed for the Celeste's trip on a visit to his own 
 home. Joe's conduct was as disappointing as it 
 was mysterious to the young people. All this 
 had the effect, however, of somewhat cooling 
 Katie's ardor, as well as frustrating her plans. 
 Harry tried to make things appear as well as 
 possible. During the week of Joe's seclusion from 
 the social world, he made several calls upon his 
 cousin. He told Katie that Joe was completely 
 
348 the daybreak's reception. 
 
 absorbed in his studies, getting ready for his 
 examination, two years ahead. He said he sat up 
 late every night boning away on Electric Potential. 
 Electric Potential meant very little to Katie, save 
 as excuse for Joe's singularities. But it served 
 as well as another to relieve her own mind. 
 Mathematics, she had been told, is at the bottom 
 of all naval eccentricities. 
 
 Harry also undertook to clear up Joe's sudden 
 resolve to visit the Aroostook. He suggested to 
 Katie that Joe's mother might be quite ill. She 
 had been ill, he said, for Joe had told him so. It 
 must be something of that kind, he insisted, or 
 Bently would never have given up the yachting 
 trip, the crowning event of their season at Bar 
 Harbor. This seemed quite plausible to Katie, 
 but it did not altogether satisfy her. 
 
 Had Katie known what passed between the 
 cadets just after Joe sent his note declining her 
 papa's invitation, what would she have thought of 
 Edgerton's apologies for his friend ? There had 
 been a scene in the Daybreak's steerage. Joe's 
 withdrawal from the party had been a bitter dis- 
 appointment to Plarry. He didn't care a fig to go 
 without Joe ; indeed, he did not want to go with- 
 out him, he said. And when he found what Joe 
 had done, he went at him in his peculiar manner. 
 They were alone in the steerage. 
 
 "Joey B.," said he, as usual asserting his fond- 
 
THE DAYBREAK S RECEPTION. 349 
 
 ness for striking epithets, " you're an ass ! " And 
 when Joe, in concern for his self-respect, hinted 
 that an explanation was in order, Harry continued : 
 "You're the worst kind of an ass. I didn't 
 believe it possible that you could develop such 
 long ears." 
 
 Joe flushed, but made no reply. 
 
 " It was all done on your account, anyway," 
 Harry went on, perceiving the painful laboring of 
 Joe's emotions. " Mr. Aston didn't care a pica- 
 yune for Brentford and me. He wanted to show 
 you his yacht at sea, and you've made a nice mess 
 of it." 
 
 " I didn't look at it in that way," said Joe, 
 wincing. 
 
 " You're way of looking at things, lately, has 
 been mighty mysterious, Joey." 
 
 Joe began to question if his angle of vision had 
 not been somewhat distorted. 
 
 " The first thing you know, the Astons will 
 throw you overboard, neck and heels. They 
 won't stand any nonsense, I can tell you. They're 
 not the people to do it. You've treated them 
 outrageously. The only one you've been decent 
 to is Mrs. Pepper, and she wouldn't lift a finger to 
 get you out of Purgatory." 
 
 " No," Joe thought, " but she'd use both hands 
 to get me in." 
 
 "You were positively rude to Katie Aston that 
 
350 THE DAYBREAKS RECEPTION. 
 
 night we came back from the Nubble," added 
 Harry, waxing warmer. " If she's the girl I think 
 she is, she'll get even with you." And with an- 
 other attempt to establish identity between our 
 hero and the little animal whose contrariness and 
 secretiveness he now represented, to Harry's mind, 
 if nothing more, that young gentleman left the 
 steerage in disgust. 
 
 Harry's talk was not altogether new to Joe; 
 nevertheless, it cast him into deep trouble. He 
 looked somewhat as Schopy had often done when 
 Coverly took occasion to compare the vital statistics 
 of Bar Harbor with those of Rio Janeiro, to which 
 latter place, he always insisted, the Daybreak 
 would be ordered in time to assist at the inaugu- 
 ration of the next yellow fever season. Joe was 
 really in a dreadful state of mind. He had never 
 been quite so wrought up before. What would 
 he not now have given, could he have recalled that 
 note ? Had it been really a disappointment to 
 Mr. Aston ? Would he think he had been un- 
 grateful toward him ? He almost wished the Day- 
 break had been sunk by an iceberg before ever 
 she saw Bar Harbor. 
 
 Joe was getting so excited over the matter that 
 he was obliged to resort to something or other to 
 restore his mental equilibrium ; so he took down 
 his Integral Calculus and went to work upon Gam- 
 ma Functions. But his mind could get no hold 
 
 
THE DAYBREAK'S RECEPTION. 35 I 
 
 here. He turned for relief to a work on Physics, 
 and attacked that inscrutable Second Law of Ther- 
 mo-dynamics. The wonder was that he stopped 
 short of Electric Potential, but he did. He saw 
 it was no use ; his intellect had lost its power. 
 
 In his despair, he threw himself down on the 
 transom. Perhaps he could drown his trouble in 
 a nap. He had had the midwatch the night 
 before, but he finally succeeded in falling asleep; 
 yet, to carry out the figure, he found that his 
 trouble could live under water as well as above it. 
 It certainly did live in a short dream he had, from 
 which he presently awoke as from a nightmare. 
 His troubles seemed to have become a solid weight 
 holding him down. Coverly, however, may have 
 had a hand in creating in him a sense of their 
 ponderable nature. Upon entering the steerage, 
 that young officer found Bently lying on his back 
 fast asleep, and it seemed a good chance to test 
 the strength of his costal cartilages. He therefore 
 took down a large tin box, containing the metallic 
 ornaments of his full-dress uniform, and other 
 heavy articles, and set it upon Joe's breast. It 
 was only one more illustration of what had oc- 
 curred to Joe several times : that when a cadet is 
 in trouble, everything and everybody seem in con- 
 spiracy against him. 
 
 But to those who have followed him closely, 
 Joe's conduct does not seem so strange. He came 
 
352 THE DAYBREAKS RECEPTION. 
 
 back from that last excursion with the young peo- 
 ple under a positive conviction that the time had 
 come for the breaking off of his intimate relations 
 with the Astons. He had already gone too far. 
 He had permitted himself to see too much of Katie. 
 It was placing her in a false position. People 
 would soon be talking about them as lovers, if 
 they were not already doing so. And this would 
 be simply terrible. He must, during the rest of 
 his stay at Bar Harbor, absolutely hold himself 
 aloof from Katie. If he did not himself take the 
 initiative in this matter, Mr. Aston doubtless soon 
 would. In that case, how could he ever hold up 
 his head again ? 
 
 "I might just as well give up all hope of Katie, 
 first as last," he said to himself. "Even if every- 
 thing were all right with her, my hands are so tied 
 it would do me no good. Before making a single 
 move toward winning her, I would have to ask 
 her father's permission, and that would settle the 
 matter for me beyond all peradventure." 
 
 Joe thought there was about as much chance of 
 obtaining Mr. Aston's permission to win his pretty 
 daughter, if he could, as there would be of getting 
 into the President's cabinet upon his personal ap- 
 plication. And Joe was sure he would suffer mar- 
 tyrdom before he would tell Katie a word of the 
 secret in his heart without her father's full consent 
 to do so. 
 
THE DAYBREAKS RECEPTION. 353 
 
 Filled with such convictions, he had come back 
 from the hill with two thoughts sunk deep in his 
 consciousness. The first was, that if the Navy had 
 ever glittered in Katie's eyes, it had been like 
 objects which often sparkle in the distance, but at 
 a nearer approach utterly fail in their power of 
 reflection. What had been quite bright to Katie, 
 must now from a nearer view seem rather dull and 
 opaque. And the second was what we already 
 know — that the three members of the Aston 
 family regarded him as the poor, but worthy young 
 man — a very interesting object of their charity. 
 Therefore, why should he keep on doing as he had 
 done since coming to Bar Harbor ? Why make it 
 harder to give Katie up ? Why wait for Katie's 
 parents to, in a sense, cast him off ? This was 
 why Joe turned over that new leaf with himself, 
 putting upon it the weight of a firm resolution, so 
 that no little breeze of an impulse could cause it 
 to flutter back again. And this was also why he 
 declined Mr. Aston's invitation, and brought his 
 calls upon his friends to such an untimely end — 
 untimely, at least, from their point of view. Poor 
 Joe ! 
 
 Katie did not see Joe again until she met him 
 at Enoch Long's "big time," or, at the reception 
 on board the Daybreak. This reception was wor- 
 thy of the officers and the ship. Lieutenan": 
 Bloomsbury, Harry and Joe had charge of the 
 
354 THE DAYBREAKS RECEPTION. 
 
 decorations ; consequently the Daybreak was put 
 in her best attire. Every number, pennant, ensign 
 and flag, was broken out to do duty in this work. 
 It was quite surprising how, from this great mass 
 of bunting, littering the deck like so many tangled 
 rainbows, a brilliant reception room or hall was 
 improvised ; more striking in its appearance than 
 if it had been enclosed by walls instead of by 
 bulwarks. 
 
 Everybody from the yacht was there. Mrs. 
 Pepper did not cease to declare that she would not 
 go to a reception given to hotel people, but at the 
 last minute she changed her mind. 
 
 She was much pleased, however, to note that 
 there was not, as she put it, such an enormous 
 catch from the hotels, after all. Boy Long's 
 allusion to the "tony people " misled Mrs. Pepper. 
 And to press the figure a little which had entered 
 her mind, the line had been used as well as the 
 seine, as the presence of some pretty big fish 
 before her attested. 
 
 Establishing, or rather planting, herself in what 
 might be termed a trysting place, built in alongside 
 a heavy gun, somewhat hidden from the guests, 
 with great delight she proceeded to make out, as 
 far as she was able, who the big fish were. Only 
 two or three of them were known to her per- 
 sonally ; but she was enabled, as she afterwards 
 told Mrs. Aston, to identify the Cleftstones, the 
 
 
THE DAYBREAKS RECEPTION. 355 
 
 Thirlstones and the Devilstones, the Witchclyffs, 
 the Wyandottes and the Birchpoints. But the 
 little fish, though they might have been interesting 
 from very prodigality of numbers, like small fry 
 generally, she wouldn't look at. Thus she con- 
 tinued to amuse herself till Joe found her out. 
 
 Joe had made up his mind that he would devote 
 himself to the elderly ladies at this reception, and 
 that he would begin with Mrs. Pepper. He thought 
 that Mrs. Pepper, as his guest, had the first claim 
 upon him. On such an occasion as this, at least, it 
 was his duty to love his enemies, so he started 
 in search of her. He hunted almost everywhere 
 before he found her in the aforesaid trysting 
 place, apparently bent on diverting it from its 
 original intention. Before he had become aware 
 that she was making a recluse of herself, he feared 
 she had not come. His anxiety on this behalf 
 afforded him some surprise and a very little amuse- 
 ment. By no means did Joe want Mrs. Pepper to 
 stay away. He had lumped her in, so to speak, 
 with his friends, and would have been disappointed 
 had she not been present. 
 
 He greeted her with unusual cordiality, and 
 expressed the hope that she was having a good 
 time. When she imparted to him the information 
 that she was having a better time than she expect- 
 ed, he proceeded to place himself at her disposal. 
 He asked if he might not have the pleasure of a 
 
356 the daybreak's reception. 
 
 dance with her first of all. This seemed to please 
 her, but she hinted that at her time of life it would 
 hardly be proper. She compromised the matter, 
 however, by immediately seizing his arm for a 
 promenade about the deck. As luck would have 
 it, the first ones they met were Katie and Harry. 
 Joe's face was crimsoned by a vicious little grin 
 Harry gave him, and a wicked little look that 
 slipped out of the corner of Katie's eye. Joe had 
 previously told Harry that he wanted him to show 
 Mrs. Pepper some attention, as in the crush she 
 might easily be overlooked. Harry repelled him 
 by the rude remark, " O, no, Joey ! not while the 
 girls hold out." 
 
 Joe burned with indignation, too, against Enoch 
 Long. That young prodigy had taken his point 
 of observation just aft of the smoke-stack, whence 
 he was looking on with mouth wide open and eyes 
 a-stare. When he caught sight of Mrs. Pepper 
 hanging on Joe's arm, he astounded Joe by shaking 
 his fist at her. Promising in his wrath nothing 
 short of a court-martial to Long for such disrespect- 
 ful behavior, he passed as quickly as possible out 
 of his vision. But Joe got on very well with Mrs. 
 Pepper, and when he was obliged to give her up 
 for others who had equal claims upon him, he 
 remarked to himself, " Something has surely 
 happened. We never jibed like this before." 
 How deceitful are appearances ! 
 
THE DAYBREAKS RECEPTION. 357 
 
 Joe had done gallantly by Mrs. Pepper, and Mr. 
 Bloomsbury, into whose hands he now delivered 
 her, did equally well. He escorted her to the 
 wardroom, and lent his powers in persuading her 
 to partake of the collation far beyond the bounds 
 of prudence. Knowing Joe to be so friendly with 
 the Astons, he said some pleasant little things 
 about him. He was rather surprised to hear Mrs. 
 Pepper say that she supposed he was a good enough 
 young man, but that it was unnecessary for others 
 to acquaint him of that fact, as he already sug- 
 gested it to himself at all proper intervals. 
 
 But Mr. Bloomsbury very soon forgot all about 
 this ill-natured feeling. That morning he had 
 received a fresh batch of pictures, noting a full 
 month's growth in the Hercules, the Ajax, and 
 the Superb, since the last photographs had come. 
 He showed them to Mrs. Pepper, who chilled him 
 by remarking upon what a dreadful thing it was to 
 be away from them so much. What could they 
 ever amount to without paternal care and over- 
 sight ? She said something to the effect that naval 
 life must be quite destructive to the natural affec- 
 tions. She had observed with pain, she said, how 
 easily naval families seem to bear separation. And 
 when Mr. Bloomsbury reminded her that it was 
 the prospect of a reunion ever)' three years that 
 kept them so cheerful, a reunion certain to last two 
 vears, at least, and in some fortunate instances 
 
358 the daybreak's reception. 
 
 from ten to fifteen, she said that he was turning 
 over a great heap of chaff to find a very small 
 grain of comfort. Mr. Bloomsbury had a mind to 
 try the Neutralizer on her, but as just at that 
 moment Schopy passed his door, he turned her 
 over to him, and she led Schopy back to the tryst- 
 ing place, where, like another Armada, the whole 
 navy soon went to pieces on the rocks of their 
 mutual dissatisfaction. 
 
 But Katie ! How she seemed to enjoy this 
 reception ! How she entered into the spirit of it ! 
 Never had she looked brighter or sweeter, than on 
 this afternoon. Such a pretty costume as she 
 wore, and such daintiness of adjustment as there 
 was from the obscurest flounce upon her dress to 
 the smallest flower nestling in her hat ! What 
 blending of colors was there with her beautiful 
 complexion ; modest, but still bright hues, selected 
 by her own good taste and arranged by her own 
 deft hands. Yet no self-consciousness was mani- 
 fest in this sweet girl, the queen, by consent, of all 
 this reception. Had she not been the sensible 
 little maid she was, the attention she now received 
 might have somewhat spoiled her. Many who had 
 seen the young people out upon their excursions 
 around Bar Harbor now paused for an introduction ; 
 and the young men seemed determined that she 
 should have no respite from dancing or promenad- 
 ing. All the cadets, excluding Joe, who was else- 
 
THE DAYBREAKS RECEPTION. 359 
 
 where with the elderly ladies, went wild over her. 
 Even poor little Schopy experienced a full hour's 
 sunshine upon his usually cloud-bedimmed spirit 
 from her beaming upon him. 
 
 And amid the bewilderments of this reception, 
 Katie could not help observing the antics, or 
 rather the pantomimes of " Mr. Long, coxswain of 
 the Daybreak's dinghy." He amused her greatly. 
 He was perched up forward among the men on a 
 heap of gratings, his eyes fastened on her, endeav- 
 oring by every art to entice from her a recognition. 
 But the sailor-faces around him were too thickly 
 crowded together. Long did not receive the rec- 
 ognition he sought. 
 
 And if Katie, too, could only have heard him 
 telling the apprentice boys about her, she would 
 have discovered that she had one devotee in this 
 world, at least. Every time she swung into his 
 perspective, his admiration of her would break 
 forth in a perfect torrent of exclamations. 
 
 When Joe's eyes fell upon Katie, he came near 
 betraying his secret. She had never seemed such 
 a vision of beauty to him before. He received 
 her at the gang-way as she came on board and 
 escorted her to the cabin, in use as a cloak-room. 
 His old hateful confusion dominated him. And 
 it seemed to him, also, that there must be such an 
 air of restraint about him ! The few words he 
 spoke to her as they walked toward the cabin 
 
360 THE DAYBREAK'S RECEPTION. 
 
 were a miserable failure. Though Katie was the 
 picture of health, he persisted in asking her if she 
 were really quite well. And once he looked up 
 into the sky, as cloudless as her own sweet face, 
 and inquired if she thought the weather would 
 turn out fine that afternoon. Katie had often 
 noted the fact that Joe's mind was subject to 
 these meteorological attacks, and she now won- 
 dered if the real cause were not that mysterious 
 Electric Potential. Didn't that have something 
 to do with the weather, after all ? 
 
 As Joe left Katie at the cabin door, it was with 
 his mind fully made up that he would devote that 
 afternoon to the old ladies. If he allowed himself 
 to think of Katie even, presenting as she did, such 
 a glorious picture to his eyes, all his resolutions 
 would fly to the winds. He made a covenant 
 with his thoughts and eyes that Katie should be 
 to him that day as nearly non-existent as was 
 possible for such a contiguous, animated and inter- 
 esting object to become. That little wave of 
 beauty was not going to bear Joe Bently's heart 
 on its crest that afternoon. So Joe proceeded to 
 make a full surrender of himself to the old ladies, 
 becoming enthusiastic over their loveliness of char- 
 acter, even though he were abashed at the ex- 
 travagance of appetite displayed by some of them 
 clown in the wardroom, whither he frequently con- 
 ducted them for refreshments. 
 
THE DAYBREAK'S RECEPTION. 36 1 
 
 All went very well until Katie began to think it 
 was time for Joe to show her a little attention. It 
 was all very nice of him to be so attentive to those 
 dear old ladies, not one of whom he had ever seen 
 before, but he had a young friend on board whom 
 he was neglecting shamefully, if not avoiding. 
 Besides, she had never seen her auntie so radiant 
 in all her life before ; she had been in a better 
 humor, in fact, for a number of clays. What did 
 Joe Bently mean by staying away from her so 
 long ? If anybody had been saying anything to 
 him in the way of warning, why wasn't he as in- 
 different to it as herself ? Since she cared nothing 
 for what people might say, and he knew as well 
 as she did that they were only friends, why should 
 he take it upon himself to nip any observation like 
 her auntie's in the bud ? Katie, for several days 
 now, had strongly inclined to the theory that some- 
 body had given Joe a talking to, and she had been 
 wondering if that somebody had got a piece of his 
 mind as her auntie had of hers. But now she was 
 beginning to think that Joe Bently wasn't such a 
 plucky fellow, after all. What would a girl natur- 
 ally think of a young man who wouldn't stand by 
 his friendships ? 
 
 Things grew worse with Katie. Joe was stay- 
 ing away from her intentionally. This was very 
 plain. Not that she needed any of his attention — 
 she had vastly more than she knew what to do 
 
362 THE DAYBREAK'S RECEPTION. 
 
 with. As she thought the matter over, the pretty- 
 fan she held in her hand became very animated, 
 and the beautiful eyes occasionally catching a 
 glimpse of the offending cadet, were kindled with 
 a light that was hardly that of friendship. That 
 cadet would get a lesson before the afternoon was 
 over ; he would wish he were swallowed up in 
 Eagle Lake. 
 
 It was well that Joe at last came to his senses ; 
 and he did it at a very opportune moment. It was 
 just after Katie had listened to the observations 
 of several of the old ladies. " He's so thoroughly 
 kind and attentive," said one; "And has such 
 engaging qualities," observed another; "And is 
 so strikingly handsome," said a third ; " And will 
 make such a splendid officer," remarked a fourth. 
 So it went on till Katie saw that Joe was a hero 
 with the old ladies, at least. There was another 
 thing about it, too. She had discovered that Joe 
 Bently was making a decided impression upon 
 almost everybody. She saw that the handsome, 
 manly cadet was much admired as he moved 
 quietly about, entertaining those not so much ac- 
 customed to such gratuities from young men on 
 occasions like this. Therefore Katie did not 
 know but that she might be brought to forgive 
 Joe, if he should humbly sue for pardon. 
 
 And this he did. When, at last, he could keep 
 away from Katie no longer, he presented himself 
 
THE DAYBREAK'S RECEPTION. 363 
 
 before her in great self-abasement. His sincere 
 apology, and it was sincere, for he was completely 
 under Katie's spell again, was accepted, and Katie 
 allowed him to lead her away from a very pleasant 
 group of admirers. 
 
 Mrs. Pepper at once, it was noticed, made a 
 chaperonic move toward them, but Katie was too 
 quick for her. She and Joe were in too close 
 proximity with Enoch Long for that lady to 
 venture showing herself as a third party. Mrs. 
 Pepper had apprehended the fact that her presence 
 moved Long to grotesque behavior. Katie only 
 stopped short of the mast. This was done that 
 she might get out of Mrs. Pepper's way and speak 
 a word to Dawson. She had caught a glimpse of 
 him among the spectators forward. 
 
 Joe motioned to him to come aft, which he did, 
 smiling all over and blushing as well. How his 
 eyes sparkled as Katie gave him her hand ! This 
 was the second time she had shaken hands with 
 him. Dawson was such a glorious old sailor she 
 could hardly help doing so. Besides, she saw it 
 gave him pleasure, and she was glad to bestow 
 upon him this consideration. She inquired very 
 kindly after his little interests, and when she dis- 
 missed him, he seemed to go forward treading on 
 something different from solid oak and pine. He 
 went about radiant with smiles, muttering to him- 
 self, " Natur has the fixin' o' these things, arter 
 
364 THE DAYBREAK'S RECEPTION. 
 
 all. She's the rummiest little clipper I ever seed. 
 An' didn't they look han'some, a standin' there to- 
 gether ? Mr. Bently'll be capen o' that pooty 
 craft, or Dicky Dawson don't know the difference 
 atwixt a clew-jigger an' a spanker out-haul." 
 
 As Katie and Joe turned from Dawson, Katie 
 saw that her auntie had made straight for the 
 trysting place, and she held it with a look which 
 plainly said, it can not be sub-let. But neither 
 Katie nor Joe wanted it. Trysting places are not 
 so much for friends ! So they promenaded back 
 and forth along the deck. 
 
 "Joe," asked Katie, after they had got well 
 started, "is your mother really quite ill? " 
 
 " Why, no," said Joe ; " she isn't ill at all. What 
 put that into your head ? " 
 
 " Mr. Edgerton said it must be your mother's 
 illness that kept you from joining our party." 
 
 What might be called an extremely red smile 
 came out upon Joe's face. He saw that Harry 
 had been making excuses for him. He was not 
 sorry. One thing about Harry was, that however 
 much he might abuse him to his face, he stood by 
 him to almost any degree of evasion behind his 
 back. He therefore told Katie now that his 
 mother had been ill a month or two before, and he 
 supposed that Harry had that in mind in what he 
 said to her. And he added, perhaps in vindication 
 of his strange behavior, " of course one wants to 
 
THE DAYBREAKS RECEPTION. 365 
 
 see his mother after she has been ill, even more 
 than when she was ill." 
 
 "We were all so disappointed, Joe. Maud and 
 I hoped our party wouldn't be broken up till you 
 leave Bar Harbor, you know. And papa is more 
 disappointed than anybody. He wanted so much 
 for you to see the Celeste upon the ocean." 
 
 " What's the matter with me, anyway ? " said Joe 
 to himself. "For the last week I haven't had the 
 reasoning powers of a pickerel. Why under heaven 
 couldn't I have let myself alone as a protege, and 
 not been such an idiot ? " 
 
 "If your mother isn't ill, why can't you defer 
 your visit till after we get back ? " continued Katie. 
 " It would be so nice to have you with us, Joe. 
 Won't you come ? " 
 
 Was Joe Bently's heart made of stone that he 
 could resist such an appeal as this ? And was his 
 pride, too, so rock-like that it could not yield ? Joe 
 was, indeed, so proud that of his own volition he 
 never would have recalled what he had done. But 
 what should he do now? Here was Katie looking 
 right up into his red face and holding with the 
 gentlest pressure in the world to his arm. Never 
 before had she seemed so kindly his friend. 
 
 All Joe's wonderful firmness forsook him. He 
 was a mere reed under Katie's touch. He now 
 did the most audacious thing of his whole life. He 
 glanced down at the sweet little girl beside him, 
 
366 THE DAYBREAK'S RECEPTION. 
 
 and with a look on his face such as Katie had 
 never seen there before, he asked, " Do you really 
 want me to go, Katie ? " 
 
 And turning her pretty eyes away from Joe, and 
 blushing as he had never seen her do before, she 
 answered, " Why, you foolish fellow, of course 
 I do." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 katie's golden lily of a yacht. 
 
 THE arrangements had all been completed. 
 Our party, not a member short, have as- 
 sembled on board the Celeste. In the early morn- 
 ing they will go out with the land breeze which 
 is expected to spring up for their especial benefit. 
 The beautiful yacht will then spread her broad 
 wings and be gone. She is weary of harbor idle- 
 ness and luxury, and longs for the wide ocean 
 where she may disport herself at will. A strange 
 disquiet has seemed to hold her in possession for 
 days. She has ridden uneasily upon the stately 
 swells marching leisurely up the bay, tugging and 
 straining at her anchors, and rolling from side to 
 side as if enraged because they would not let her 
 go. And when at times strong winds have driven 
 white-topped seas against her bows, she has caught 
 their foaming crests in her very teeth, as it were, 
 and thrown herself champing upon her cables, like 
 a noble steed upon his bit in spirited anger. 
 
 And now morning had come — a magnificent 
 dawn. At the first gray streaks of light, Captain 
 367 
 
368 katie's golden lily of a yacht. 
 
 Schonberg, the master of the Celeste, anxious as 
 any for a run at sea, is on deck waiting for the 
 first light air to stir to get the yacht under way. 
 Before the sun is risen, a land breeze has in truth 
 sprung up and is gently drawing down the bay. 
 Captain Schonberg smiles at this fair promise of a 
 good offing. Many a league, with this breeze, 
 will the Celeste toss off, he says to himself, before 
 she deviates a single point from her plotted path. 
 
 The click of the windlass, the straining of sheets 
 and halyards, the shuffling of feet upon the deck, 
 bring our young people, even at the break of day, 
 tumbling out of their state-rooms to see how well 
 the yacht can get away. 
 
 And how ketnly alive they are to the sights 
 and sounds around them. They watch the busy 
 fishermen getting off their smacks, listen to the 
 calls of the sea-birds among the adjacent rocks, 
 look with delight upon the leaping of the fish into 
 the first silvery light that falls upon the sea — 
 their struggles, Katie says, to get to heaven. 
 They never knew the joy that is in such things 
 before. 
 
 But the morning itself ! What shall be said of 
 that ? They have talked about the wondrous sun- 
 sets of Bar Harbor, but only two of them, Joe and 
 Harry — and they under compulsion of the morning 
 watch — had ever before seen a Bar Harbor sunrise. 
 What radiance and beauty now kindled beneath its 
 
katie's goldex lily of a yacht. 369 
 
 touch ! The cottage windows flashed and burned 
 like beaten gold. Each rock and tree and plot of 
 Screen, and breadths of mist stretching across the 
 hills like Jupiter's bands — each object, from the 
 granite curbing of the shores to the majestic 
 mountain tops, was illuminated by a wonderful 
 splendor. What raptures our young people went 
 into over this vision ! What analysis of its fair 
 colors they made ! What delicate, elusive features 
 of its beauty they sought out ! They were charmed 
 and thrilled by this exquisite morning — bright har- 
 binger, as they thought, of the pleasures awaiting 
 them out on the broad, blue sea. 
 
 The yacht is under way at last. She has 
 caught the freshening breeze with her head sails 
 and swung round before the wind. The larger 
 sails are quickly spread, and she starts off at a 
 steady, handsome pace. She cuts the shining 
 water like a great white bird — a beautiful vision 
 of snowy sails and stretching cordage. It is a joy- 
 ful setting forth, and not till Egg Rock Light has 
 dropped astern, do the little group disperse — Joe 
 and Harry, as they say, to fetch a wink of sleep, 
 for this is an old story to them — before the yachts- 
 man's day begins. 
 
 And that day with our young people began 
 right merrily. The eight o'clock breakfast de- 
 tained them in the cabin only a few minutes. 
 The sea and sky and now dissolving shores quickly 
 
370 KATIE S GOLDEN LILY OF A YACHT. 
 
 summoned them out on deck. No dull or idle 
 minute would be spent upon this cruise. There 
 was too much to see, to talk about, to do, for a 
 moment of the precious time to be wasted or mis- 
 appropriated. They were out, as it were, upon a 
 new world ; that would soon appear, from the vast 
 solitude around them, a world of which the Celeste 
 was sole queen. 
 
 And whoever with any enthusiasm for the sea, 
 any love of its science, any profound sense of its 
 beauty, could find it a desert place ! What life 
 tenants it ! What forces slumber in its bosom ! 
 What mystery broods over it ! It seems quite the 
 all of earth. The land itself appears only an obtru- 
 sion into its wide domain, permitted by some 
 kindly spirit dwelling in its bosom to hold its occi- 
 dental place. So, with imaginations kindled by 
 these thoughts and many others, and eyes filled 
 with the beauty of the morning, and hearts all 
 aglow with happy anticipations, our young people 
 cast loose from Bar Harbor and committed them- 
 selves, as they believed, to the kindly sea. 
 
 Time would fail us to follow in detail the occu- 
 pations and pastimes of the first few days. Indeed, 
 everything to our young people was play. The 
 weather was glorious. The ocean seemed an infi- 
 nite harbor upon which the eternal peace of heaven 
 rested. There was scarcely wind enough to make 
 a ripple upon its surface. The second day out 
 
KATIES GOLDEN LILY OF A YACHT. 37 1 
 
 the Celeste did not log twenty miles. But every 
 minute of the time was pleasantly spent. Of 
 course it was the same old routine of life at sea : 
 picking up sails, signaling some chance yacht, 
 watching for the sea serpent — and being almost 
 willing to give testimony under oath that it was 
 in full view from the Celeste's deck — fishing when 
 the yacht lay becalmed, hauling on ropes and tak- 
 ing a trick at the wheel just for the fun of playing 
 sailor. All these and multitudinous other things 
 filled the hours of each day, making them all too 
 short. If young ladies could only go to sea in a 
 man-of-war, Joe and Harry thought, they would 
 not exchange places with a king. 
 
 And none seemed quite so occupied as Joe and 
 Katie. In the first place Captain Schonberg made 
 Joe the Celeste's navigator, and Joe chose Katie 
 for his assistant, as was the most natural thing in 
 the world to do. Katie wanted to learn navigation, 
 and here was a most excellent opportunity. So 
 together they went to work. Katie helped Joe 
 wind the chronometers each morning, marked time 
 for him when he took his time-sights, aided him 
 whenever he found an azimuth of the sun for 
 compass correction, and was a very apt and en- 
 thusiastic little assistant. In return for her fidelity 
 Joe taught her how to get a meridian attitude and 
 to take a time-sight. To make it of still greater 
 interest, every evening they took a "lunar" to- 
 
2)^2 KATIE S GOLDEN LILY OF A YACHT. 
 
 gether. Up to this time, it may be said, Katie had 
 never known that the moon had such practical 
 uses. 
 
 It was not long, therefore, before she was able 
 to find the yacht's position for herself. She was 
 very proud of this. It had been such a mystery 
 before Joe's ready explanations somewhat cleared 
 it up. But it was such a wonder still ! It seemed 
 so strange that a mere speck like the Celeste could 
 start off and find her way around the globe as 
 easily as a bird can find its nest ; that there should 
 be no need of index finger, ship's trail, footprints 
 of travel to guide her path. Katie's sense of 
 wonder made her a great enthusiast in this work 
 of navigation, and Joe's interest in the science 
 was somehow marvelously revived. 
 
 On each bright day Joe would rig a studio for 
 Katie out on deck. For Katie had a great work 
 on hand. It was no less than making a crayon 
 sketch of Dawson, and for this purpose Dawson 
 was among the yacht's crew forward, their radiant 
 guest. 
 
 When Joe told him he was to go along with 
 them in the Celeste, Dawson burst out, "That 
 little gal's at the bottom o' this. What she can 
 see in a old barnacle like I be, knocks me out." 
 
 " She sees a good deal in you, Dawson, as we 
 all do," remarked Joe. 
 
 " She must a seen somethin' in me, or she'd 
 
KATIE S GOLDEN LILY OF A YACHT. 373 
 
 never a shook hands like that," observed Dawson, 
 a film gathering in his eyes. "It was jest like 
 layin' a sprig o' orange blossoms on a bunch o' 
 oakum," he added, looking at his big brown 
 hand. 
 
 But when Katie, on board the Celeste, told him 
 she would like him to give her a sitting every day, 
 it seemed to both frighten and amuse him. u O, 
 no, Miss!" he remonstrated; "I's nothin' but a 
 rough old sailor as'll soon be shark's bait ; I's fit 
 fur no pictur fur you. It 'ud be like wastin' yer 
 time a stufnn' gulls." 
 
 " O, no, it wouldn't, Mr. Dawson ! " said Katie. 
 "You're the best subject I know of. You're so 
 unique." 
 
 " Not a-sayin' as I knows what that word means, 
 Miss, but if ye sees anythin' like that in me, I's at 
 yer service. Ye can paint me or scalp me," he 
 added, struck by the humor of the situation. 
 
 So Katie had Dawson before her an hour each 
 day for several mornings. He looked awkward 
 and ridiculous enough sitting all around the edge 
 of his chair, holding on to his knees as if he had 
 fallen overboard and something had been thrown 
 out to him to hang on to. But, notwithstanding 
 his diffidence, he enjoyed Katie's work, and a 
 very creditable crayon grew under her hand. 
 
 And thus passed several days. It seemed that 
 the cruise was destined to be uneventful. This 
 
374 KATIE S GOLDEN LILY OF A YACHT. 
 
 mere idle flopping of the sails with not a capful of 
 wind in them was becoming monotonous, to the 
 young people, at least. They were getting tired 
 of soft delicate clouds, bright blue skies and lovely 
 tints — they wanted a change. 
 
 One evening as they all sat out on deck, as was 
 their custom, they experienced a slight mental, if 
 not meteorological, disturbance. It was occasioned 
 by a remark of Harry's. 
 
 " Call this going to sea ! " he exclaimed, jumping 
 up from his chair and taking a look around the 
 horizon. " This is the most grandmotherly busi- 
 ness I ever heard of on the Atlantic Ocean." 
 
 " Mercy on us ! " exclaimed Mrs. Pepper, "what 
 would you have? " 
 
 "A rattling gale of wind." 
 
 " You frighten me," she returned, looking at 
 Harry as if she suspected him of being another 
 Moses who had only to stretch forth his hands in 
 order that a " strong east wind " might blow. 
 " Don't tempt Providence, I beg of you," she 
 pleaded, "with this unlucky yacht." 
 
 "Sarah," said Mrs. Aston abruptly, "you will 
 please say no more." 
 
 "Whoever heard of such flying in the face of 
 Providence ? " continued Mrs. Pepper, utterly ignor- 
 ing Mrs. Aston. " I should as soon think of 
 putting a child's eyes out when it was born as 
 naming a yacht the Celeste." 
 
KATIE S GOLDEN LILY OF A YACHT. T>75 
 
 " It's a very pretty name," said Katie, a little 
 resentfully. 
 
 "I believe in the luck of unluck, you know," 
 laughed Mr. Aston. 
 
 "I don't want to risk my life," pursued Mrs. 
 Pepper, " all on account of an unlucky name. I 
 wish I'd staid at the West End." 
 
 Mrs. Aston looked as if she wished, too, that 
 she had staid at the West End ; and Katie looked, 
 Joe thought, as if she could cheerfully contemplate 
 Mrs. Pepper, secure from all earthly danger, in 
 some quiet grotto of the sea, ten thousand fathoms 
 down. 
 
 "What in the world does she mean?" asked 
 Maud, who was none too bold a sailor. 
 
 " Oh ! she refers to a ship, named the Mary 
 Celeste, that was found abandoned at sea," replied 
 Mr. Aston, in brief explanation. 
 
 "To think you should have given this yacht 
 that name, Franklin," said Mrs. Pepper, most 
 dismally. 
 
 " Half my vessels are named after unlucky 
 ships," said Mr. Aston, "and they're the luckiest 
 I have." 
 
 Mr. Aston possessed one oddity. It showed 
 itself in a number of ways. He liked to sit with 
 thirteen at table, to go to sea on Friday, and to 
 name his vessels after unlucky ones. He believed 
 there was luck in all this. He was very proud of 
 
376 katie's golden lily of a yacht. 
 
 his yacht's name, standing out for it even against 
 Katie, who wanted to call her the " Golden Lily." 
 
 " I would like to hear about the Mary Celeste, 
 sir," said Joe. "It must be very interesting." 
 
 "It's very startling," said Mrs. Aston. 
 
 " And very prophetic," said Mrs. Pepper. 
 
 " Is it about a haunted ship ? " asked Maud, 
 peering uneasily into the shadows gathering upon 
 the yacht. 
 
 " O, no ! " laughed Katie, "it isn't a ghost story 
 at all. There's no ghost story that can compare 
 with it." 
 
 " Perhaps you'd better not tell it, Franklin," 
 observed Mrs. Aston, looking inquiringly at 
 Maud. 
 
 "Oh! let him tell it," said Maud, "I'm dying 
 to hear it." 
 
 "Well," laughed Mr. Aston, "we all need shak- 
 ing up a little. We won't get it out of the weather 
 — that's a sure case; so we'll take the next best 
 thing." 
 
 " Franklin," said Mrs. Pepper solemnly, " do 
 you see that cloud gathering on the horizon ? 
 There's trouble brewing for this yacht." 
 
 "Please let papa tell his story, Auntie," said 
 Katie, not unamiably, but a little peremptorily. 
 
 "To begin with," said Mr. Aston, "it's the 
 strangest story in all the annals of the sea. I 
 got it direct from the State Department at 
 
KATIES GOLDEN LILY OF A YACHT. 377 
 
 Washington, where it is on record. The Mary 
 Celeste was found forsaken at sea under the most 
 peculiar circumstances. She was owned in New 
 York and was bound for Villefranche-sur-Mer, 
 France, with a valuable cargo. About three hun- 
 dred miles west of Gibraltar, she was sighted by 
 an Italian bark." 
 
 "O, papa! I beg your pardon," said Katie, 
 " but it was a German vessel." 
 
 " You are right, Katie ; it was a German bark 
 named the Dei Gratia. She signaled the stranger, 
 and to her surprise got no answer. It was so 
 very mysterious that the captain bore down upon 
 her and made a close examination with the ship's 
 glasses. But not a sign of life was visible about 
 the deck. The captain then determined to board 
 her. Manning a boat with a picked crew, he, 
 himself, started in charge. As they came along- 
 side they gave a loud halloo, hoping to attract 
 attention. It was like calling to the sea. They 
 had found an abandoned ship." 
 
 Here Mr. Aston paused, and looked about 
 among his listeners. 
 
 " The captain and his men," he resumed, 
 " clambered quickly over the side, and proceeded to 
 make a thorough search. Never were men more 
 startled. Here was a deserted ship, and not the 
 ghost of a reason could they discover for her 
 desertion. Everything was in its place. It seemed 
 
378 katie's golden lily of a yacht. 
 
 that the crew must be hiding from their strange 
 visitors. No ; they explored every part of the 
 vessel, and not even a mouse could they discover. 
 It was as though the Mary Celeste was manned 
 by an invisible crew, for everything was as snug 
 and safe as with us this minute." 
 
 " H'm ! safe as with us this minute," repeated 
 Mrs. Pepper. 
 
 " Not a boat was away from her davits. Chro- 
 nometers, compasses, charts, all the navigation 
 instruments were where they belonged. The 
 mates' watches hung in their state-rooms, the 
 money chest was untouched. Not a thing, in 
 short, had been removed from the ship, and every- 
 thing was in perfect order. But the thirteen 
 people who had been on board — not a trace of 
 them could be found." 
 
 "That fatal number! " put in Mrs. Pepper; "I 
 never knew it to fail," and she at once appeared 
 as though she were bestowing numerical attention 
 upon the Celeste. 
 
 " Whatever it was that happened must have 
 occurred at dinner time," continued Mr. Aston, 
 paying no attention to the interruption. " A 
 half-eaten meal was found in the cabin, and also 
 upon the men's mess table. Oh ! that reminds 
 me. In one corner of the cabin was a sewing 
 machine with a child's garment still under the 
 needle. A woman's thimble stood upon one 
 
KATIE S GOLDEN LILY OF A YACHT. 379 
 
 corner of the machine just as the owner had placed 
 it when called to dinner. It was afterwards ascer- 
 tained that the captain had his wife and child 
 with him." 
 
 " It's all so strange," said Maud, evidently not 
 relishing this weird story. 
 
 "What was done with the vessel, sir?" asked 
 Harry, who had been all absorbed in Mr. Aston's 
 account. 
 
 " A prize crew was put on board, who took her 
 to Gibraltar. The English Consul there gave 
 the affair a searching investigation, but no light • 
 was thrown upon it." 
 
 "Perhaps they were overhauled by pirates, sir," 
 said Ned. 
 
 "That is altogether improbable. In that case 
 the money and other valuables would have been 
 gone ; and there would surely have been signs of 
 resistance." 
 
 " Could it have been a case of poisoning? " asked 
 Harry. "I've heard of such things." 
 
 " That was suggested in the inquiry at Gibraltar. 
 It was thought that the cook, in a fit of rage or 
 insanity, might have poisoned the whole ship's 
 company, and then, driven by remorse or insanity, 
 committed suicide. On the strength of this, the 
 food which had been found on the tables, and care- 
 fully preserved, was analyzed ; but it was entirely 
 free from poison." 
 
380 katie's golden lily of a yacht. 
 
 "Maybe the vessel was haunted, after all," said 
 Maud, with wide-open eyes, "and they didn't dare 
 to stay on her." 
 
 Everybody but Mrs. Pepper laughed at Maud's 
 suggestion. 
 
 " But there were all the boats secure at the 
 davits," said Mr. Aston. "No," he continued, 
 "there is absolutely no tenable theory. Pirates 
 and murder are out of the question. Not a trace 
 of blood could be found, and not a sign of robbery. 
 There was no more marks of struggle than two 
 kittens would make playing about the deck or in 
 the cabin. They did find an old sword with a few 
 spots on it, which at first were thought to be blood, 
 but chemical analysis showed them to be ordinary 
 rust." 
 
 "Surely, sir, there must have been seme slight 
 clue?" remarked Joe, intent upon constructing a 
 theory of this wonderful case. 
 
 "It might just be mentioned," said Mr. Aston, 
 who was familiar with every detail of the investi- 
 gation, "that a barrel of alcohol was found tapped." 
 
 "That's the solution," said Joe triumphantly. 
 
 "But there are insuperable difficulties here," 
 argued Mr. Aston. " If the captain and his family 
 had been killed, there would have been signs of 
 murder. Then those who committed the deed 
 would not have drowned themselves by wholesale ; 
 and if they fled from the vessel there is the diffi 
 
katie's golden lily of a yacht. 381 
 
 culty with the boats again. No ; this case is with- 
 out a parallel. Not so much as a hint has been 
 given as to the fate which befell this ship's com- 
 pany. The questions to this day are, Why was 
 she deserted? and, What became of her people? 
 The State Department took the matter up, direct- 
 ing United States representatives abroad to be on 
 the lookout for information respecting the missing 
 ones. But the mystery is still unsolved. There, 
 you have the story of the Mary Celeste." 
 
 "Not by any means," ejaculated Mrs. Pepper. 
 "She was afterwards wrecked." 
 
 "Sarah," said Mrs. Aston sharply, "we've had 
 enough of the Mary Celeste." 
 
 Each drew a long breath. The story had been 
 thrilling, and unlike many thrilling stories, true to 
 the letter. Maud had been somewhat frightened, 
 but was now reassured by the ridicule which Mr. 
 Aston proceeded to heap upon superstitions of the 
 sea. He laughed at such things ; and Katie, to no 
 little extent, had imbibed his notions. Still no 
 one was enthusiastic over his si range fancy for 
 naming his yacht after the luckless ship ; and even 
 Harry indulged a secret wish that that coveted 
 gale, should it come, might be tempered to these 
 shorn lambs ; shorn of many of '^heir pretty con- 
 ceits touching the beautiful Celeste. 
 
 In a few minutes, however, the hapless Mary 
 Celeste was quite out of mind. Katie had gone 
 
382 katie's golden lily of a yacht. 
 
 to the piano, and through the open cabin doors 
 and skylights now floated the strains of a lively 
 waltz. Everybody but Joe, who was left without 
 a partner, went into a grand whirl about the deck. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Aston, Harry and Maud, and, can 
 we believe it, Ned and Mrs. Pepper, rotated them- 
 selves into a spirit of giddy jollity. Nor was 
 sobriety fairly established until they bade one an- 
 other good-night, and withdrew to their respective 
 state-rooms. 
 
 Before turning in Joe went out on deck to have 
 a word with Dawson. Being able to sleep as long 
 as he pleased, Dawson spent half of each night 
 with the watch on deck. Joe found him now lean- 
 ing over the rail, intently studying the sky and 
 sea. The night was as beautiful as any that had 
 preceded it. A slight swell, however, was work- 
 ing up from the southward, to which the yacht was 
 gently dipping. A bank of cirro-stratus clouds 
 lay low upon the horizon, its upper edge thinning 
 into broad sheets, which were slowly stretching 
 across the sky. There was not even a breath of 
 wind; not so much as a cat's-paw could be seen 
 upon the water. But for the dip of the yacht Joe 
 would have scarcely known they were out upon 
 the ocean. The stillness was almost oppressive. 
 The empty sails clung to the masts like a swim- 
 mer's garments around his body. 
 
 "We's goin' to ketch it, sir," observed Dawson. 
 
katie's golden lily of a yacht. 383 
 
 "Catch what?" asked Joe. 
 
 " Bad weather, sir." 
 
 "I see no signs of it, Dawson." 
 
 "Signs enough, sir," said Dawson, shaking his 
 head ominously. 
 
 "What are they?" asked Joe, quite as confident 
 of the accuracy of Dawson's predictions as of those 
 of the Weather Bureau at Washington. 
 
 "When you sees the sun a-settin', sir, with 
 them gaudy colors like a boy a-showin' a pocket 
 full o' new marbles, you must stan' by; it's the 
 wust o' signs." 
 
 "The sunset was remarkably brilliant," said Joe, 
 "but they've been so this season." 
 
 "An' when you hears people a-talkin' like you 
 all did to-night, sir, it's allers the percusser o' 
 storms," added Dawson with great solemnity. 
 
 "Oh! I guess not," laughed Joe. 
 
 "It's a curus phonomoly o' the sea, sir; it allers 
 fetches it," Dawson went on. 
 
 " I wouldn't have believed you so superstitious, 
 Dawson," said Joe, no little amused. 
 
 " Long insperience has gim'me my own notions 
 o' things, sir." 
 
 Joe's sleep that night was unbroken. When 
 morning came, the first thing he looked for was a 
 change of weather. The only perceptible change 
 was an increase in the swell he had noticed the 
 preceding night, and an inclination on the part of 
 
384 katie's golden lily of a yacht. 
 
 the little wind they had to haul ahead. The yacht 
 lay close up to the wind, cutting the water beauti- 
 fully at a speed of four or five knots. The routine 
 of that day went on quite spiritedly, but toward 
 evening there were indications that they might 
 get a shaking up even from the weather. Banks 
 of heavy gray clouds hung upon the southern hori- 
 zon, which, as the darkness deepened, were lit up 
 weirdly and grandly by incessant flashes of light- 
 ning. The sea became brilliant with phosphores- 
 cent light, a sort of detained lightning. Katie 
 fairly clapped her hands in ecstasy over the intense 
 blue of the water, brought into fine relief by the 
 myriad stars — a nether firmament — kindled along 
 the track of the Celeste. Katie's exclamation 
 was, "Splendidly beautiful!" But with all this 
 the wind was rising, and the barometer going 
 down. 
 
 It was now evident to all that the glorious 
 weather was at an end. It had burned out, as it 
 were, at sunset, like the last piece in a splendid 
 pyrotechnic display. Maud felt certain that the bad 
 luck of the Mary Celeste was on their track. Mrs. 
 Pepper was absolutely frightened, and inclined to 
 take shelter under Joe's wing. "Oh! Mr. Bent- 
 ly," she cried, almost snuggling up to him, "what 
 shall we do if it turns out a hurricane? " 
 
 "Make things snug, and hold on for dear life," 
 laughed Joe. 
 
katie's golden lily of a yacht. 385 
 
 " How can you laugh with only a plank between 
 you and eternity?" said Mrs. Pepper. 
 
 "But only think of the thickness of that plank," 
 replied Joe. 
 
 By ten o'clock a moderate gale was blowing, 
 and a heavy sea running. Mr. Aston gave orders 
 to clap on sail and run for sea-room. All that 
 night the yacht seemed to revel in the changed 
 conditions, and by morning had made a remarkable 
 run. Mr. Aston wanted her to have free rein to 
 see what she could do. She stood up to her work 
 magnificently, leaping over the sea as gracefully 
 as a dolphin. It seemed her delight to thus grap- 
 ple with the elements, and everybody but Maud 
 and Mrs. Pepper was charmed with her. They 
 would have given the gold of the world, had they 
 possessed it, could they have felt once more the 
 solid earth beneath their feet. 
 
 All went well until noon. Then there were 
 unmistakable signs of a heavy blow. Joe found 
 the yacht's position, by dead reckoning, to be 
 three hundred and fifty miles from the coast, a 
 safe distance. As he went forward to report this 
 to Captain Schonberg, he saw that the captain 
 looked very grave ; so much so, indeed, that he 
 asked him if he were concerned about the weather. 
 
 "It's a bad outlook, Mr. Bently," the captain 
 replied. "We may thank our stars if we get out 
 of it with whole skins." 
 
386 katie's golden lily of a yacht. 
 
 "What! is it anymore than an ordinary gale, 
 sir?" inquired Joe, somewhat alarmed. 
 
 "Much more. It's a cyclonic disturbance." 
 
 Scarcely had Captain Schonberg uttered these 
 words than there came such a burst of wind upon 
 the yacht that she was thrown nearly upon her 
 beam ends. But this was trifling compared with 
 the accident which happened at Joe's very side. 
 With a loud noise a block carried away aloft, and 
 in its descent struck Captain Schonberg sense- 
 less to the deck. 
 
 Instantly all was confusion. The ladies, all of 
 whom, excepting Maud, who was safely boarded in 
 in her bunk, were on deck clinging to the weather 
 rigging, gave a frightened scream, and the whole 
 crew were seized with a panic. Joe sprang to 
 Captain Schonberg's assistance. For the moment 
 the yacht was forgotten, and was left floundering 
 almost helpless in the hollow of the seas. But 
 her extremity was quickly seen by Mr. Aston. 
 As Joe bent to raise the prostrate captain, his 
 voice reached him, calling loudly, " Bently, Bently, 
 take command." 
 
 Mr. Aston had no knowledge of practical sea- 
 manship, but he was well aware of the gravity of 
 the situation. And fortunate for them all was it, 
 that the cool-headed, dauntless Joe Bently was on 
 board. The owner of the Celeste saw that he 
 was the one to step into Captain Schonberg's 
 
katie's golden lily of a yacht. 387 
 
 shoes. And right royally did he fill them. In- 
 stantly the speaking trumpet was at his lips, and 
 a succession of sharp orders rang out aboYe the 
 roar of wind and sea. Presently, the gallant, 
 obedient little Celeste was riding in comparative 
 quiet upon the now huge seas, hove to as skillfully 
 as though our youthful skipper were Captain 
 Schonberg himself. 
 
 And this was but the beginning. Word soon 
 came from Captain Schonberg's room, where he 
 had been removed, that he was too seriously hurt 
 to return to the deck. Joe was left in command. 
 Here was the emergency of his life. He fairly 
 trembled at the thought of it. Nobody but him- 
 self and the injured captain knew the nature of 
 this storm. And well Joe knew what to expect 
 from it. It would be no new experience to him. 
 But one thought was now present with him — how 
 to evade the vortex of this cyclone. He knew its 
 terrible danger — so quiet one moment that the 
 flame of a candle would not flicker in it, the next 
 concentrating all the furies of the skies. 
 
 What he did must be done quickly. There 
 was not even time for consultation with Harry and 
 Dicky Dawson. First of all, he must determine 
 at what point in the storm's path the yacht now 
 lay. This was quickly ascertained. Presently the 
 wind veered to the south, and the barometer made 
 a rapid descent. Applying the well-known rule, 
 
388 katie's golden lily of a yacht. 
 
 Joe now saw that the bearing of the cyclone's 
 center was eight points of the compass from the 
 direction in which the wind was blowing, or due 
 east. 
 
 Having thus determined the bearing of the 
 vortex or center, he shortly came to two con- 
 clusions — the one very pleasant, and the other 
 extremely startling. The yacht was at a compara- 
 tively safe distance from the storm center, but 
 she was on the right hand side of the storm, in 
 its most dangerous semicircle. And he also dis- 
 covered that he had hove the yacht to on the wrong 
 tack. 
 
 Another succession of ringing orders, and the 
 yacht in quick time, came handsomely round on 
 the starboard tack. Upon this tack her course 
 would be away from the dreaded center, and she 
 would keep coming up into the wind as it might 
 veer from time to time, without danger of being 
 taken aback. And thus hove to she would remain 
 quite stationary while the storm was passing by. 
 She now lay comparatively easy under double- 
 reefed foresail. 
 
 The yacht snug, Joe began his precautionary 
 work. He told Dawson that when the storm 
 should be at its height, he wanted him at the 
 wheel. Harry was to look after things below, and 
 to stand by to assist on deck if his presence should 
 be required there. Joe then ordered storm stay- 
 
katie's golden lily of a yacht. 389 
 
 sails and pendant tackles to be broken out. With 
 the pendant tackles hi set men at work strengthen- 
 ing the rigging. The storm staysails were made 
 ready to take the place of the canvas the yacht 
 now carried, should it be blown away. At the 
 last minute, he bethought him of tarpaulins, to be 
 placed in the rigging to keep the yacht up in the 
 wind, should it become impossible to carry any 
 sail at all. This done, everything was securely 
 battened down. Joe expected that some of the 
 hills now tumbling up to an alarming height, 
 would soon insist upon coming on board. And 
 everything snug, he felt somewhat as a daring 
 rider might feel bestride a wild mustang, secure 
 beneath him with solid bit and girths. 
 
 But for what followed, the most invincible 
 courage was necessary. Swiftly the storm came 
 on. Fearfully it whirled upon its awful axis. 
 There are those who recall this dreadful tempest, 
 and know that words cannot exaggerate its ter- 
 rific aspects. Joe stood appalled. Such pitch- 
 ing and writhing, such frightful roaring, such awful 
 revelry of winds, such mighty tramping of seas, 
 struck terror even to his brave heart. Sheets 
 parted like slender threads, with the noise of a 
 cannon, the foresail was blown away, the great 
 waves clambered over the bows, and the little 
 yacht seemed wallowing about in frenzied drunken- 
 ness. Each instant it was as though she were 
 
390 KATIE'S GOLDEN LILY OF A YACHT. 
 
 taking her last plunge, to disappear forever. Surely 
 some Nemesis was pursuing the struggling Celeste 
 to her destruction. 
 
 And the yacht would have surely foundered, 
 but for a thought which came upon Joe like an in- 
 spiration. Those mountain seas, thundering around 
 her, as it were, gnashing their teeth upon her, 
 could be held in leash. Their power could be 
 curbed and broken ; in their presence the yacht 
 could be as safe as a child before a caged lion. 
 Thanks to modern discovery, though it cannot 
 hush the winds, it can yet still the tumult of the 
 waves. 
 
 Joe's happy thought was what has brought 
 comfort and hope to many a despairing mariner's 
 heart. Two fire buckets were quickly brought on 
 deck and thickly perforated with little holes at the 
 bottom. They were then filled with oakum, and 
 the oakum was saturated with oil to the buckets' 
 brim. A daring young fellow among the crew, 
 rigged an arrangement out over the bows and 
 suspended them above the sea. 
 
 The effect was magical. Had the yacht that 
 moment burst into the center of the cyclone, 
 where instantaneous calm had fallen, the waves 
 would not have dropped so suddenly. As the 
 film of oil spread out upon the water, it bore the 
 great billows down as though crushed beneath 
 ponderous weights. 
 
KATIE S GOLDEN LILY OF A YACHT. 39I 
 
 Joe had often pictured to himself mountains 
 moving at the word of faith, the lapsing of Gen- 
 nesaret's waves at the Master's command ; and 
 now he seemed standing in the presence of a visi- 
 ble miracle. It filled him with a solemn, sacred 
 awe, repeating, as it seemed to do, nature's obedi- 
 ence to a will above her own. A conquering spirit 
 seemed brooding over the waters, and the monster 
 waves, at its filmy touch, had fallen to the quiet 
 and beauty of harbor undulations. The ocean, 
 amid its awful tempestuousness, seemed to have 
 found a tender, sheltering spot in its own bosom, 
 where this terror-stricken yacht's company might 
 be at rest. 
 
 The Celeste was saved ; and vessel never en- 
 tered port bearing more grateful hearts than beat 
 in the bosoms of our young mariners, as still under 
 Joe Bently's command, the gallant little yacht, a 
 few days later, came again up to her anchorage 
 at Bar Harbor. And never did greater hero come 
 in from the sea than our brave cadet, to one, at 
 least, in Katie's "Golden Lily" of a yacht. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 
 
 WINTER has again fallen upon our North- 
 ern hemisphere. The Celeste, disman- 
 tled and housed over, is laid up in forlorn waiting 
 for another season. And the Daybreak — where 
 is she ? With all speed she is making her way 
 over summer seas to a new and distant station. 
 She is under the Southern Cross, which, with the 
 awful coal sack — the end of the universe — is 
 nightly Joe Bently's wonder and study. She is 
 ordered to the Pacific ; and henceforth our cadets 
 will make their yachting trips from Patagonia to 
 San Francisco, and from San Francisco to the 
 ends of the earth. 
 
 The Daybreak's orders to this far-off station 
 were, of course, a surprise and a disappointment. 
 The faith of her officers and crew in her ultimate 
 assignment to the European squadron had been 
 implicit and unquestioning. But the Navy De- 
 partment said otherwise, and the Daybreak was to 
 complete her cruise on what might be termed the 
 watery side of our planet. 
 392 
 
THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 393 
 
 When the news was received the ship had a 
 look of bereavement. Schopy abstained from 
 every form of nutrition for one whole day, remain- 
 ing in his hammock; Hubbins did the subject 
 justice; Mr. Bloomsbury, of course, smiled over 
 it all, but Joe caught him gazing at the Neutral- 
 izer ; Mr. Moncrief at once went on a short leave 
 of absence, permitting the cadets to shamefully 
 neglect their journals; and one or two uttered 
 vague threats of marching the whole United 
 States upon the Navy Department to demand the 
 revocation of the ship's orders or their own. It 
 was a wicked injustice, they claimed, to send them 
 so far away from aged relatives, some of whom 
 had attained their fifty-fifth year. If the Navy 
 Department bad no feeling, the hearts of senators 
 were not destitute of sympathy; they would not 
 suffer this thing. 
 
 But it was really surprising to see how soon 
 cheerfulness was restored on board the Daybreak. 
 Before a week had elapsed nearly everybody was 
 in favor of the Pacific station. Not a few declared 
 that they would not go to Europe, if they had the 
 chance. It was a very much overrated station. 
 Everybody knew somebody who had been on the 
 Pacific, and who said that Europe was not to be 
 mentioned beside it. Then, would they not fetch 
 up in San Francisco once in two years, to spend a 
 month at least ? And that would be s-oins; home. 
 
394 THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 
 
 So they took what comfort they could out of it. 
 And on the edge of winter they kissed wives and 
 children and sisters and mothers and sweethearts 
 a long farewell — only He who hath measured the 
 waters in the hollow of his hand knowing how 
 long — and the Daybreak sailed away. 
 
 While Joe proceeds to his station, we will linger 
 behind with his friends : or, more specifically, his 
 friend. 
 
 Katie has two visits on hand this winter ; the 
 first, to Mrs. Pepper in Providence, and the sec- 
 ond, to Miss Maud in Boston. Mrs. Pepper had 
 managed to "make up" with Katie. She had 
 implored her forgiveness for her ill-advised and 
 unkind statements, and Katie had freely and heart- 
 ily forgiven her. She told Katie that it was her 
 deep and undying interest in her which had led 
 her, she now saw, to go too far, and she was very 
 sorry for what had taken place. " You know, 
 dear," she went on to say, "your welfare is as 
 near my heart as that of an own daughter would 
 be, had Providence vouchsafed me the sweet gift 
 bestowed upon your parents." 
 
 A wicked little doubt as to any excess of sweet- 
 ness that might have been mingled in the visionary 
 being to whom Mrs. Pepper alluded came into 
 Katie's mind, but of course she kept it to herself. 
 She found that her aunt held quite a tender place 
 in her heart, after all. It would take too long to 
 
THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 395 
 
 tell how this had been brought about, but it may 
 be said that an apparent change in Mrs. Pepper 
 toward Joe Bently had its due effect upon Katie. 
 
 But had Mrs. Pepper given up her plan concern- 
 ing Katie ? By no means. It retained its life 
 amid the most adverse conditions. It had the 
 vitality of an uneradicated thistle root. Her plan 
 seemed to have been destroyed at the top a dozen 
 times, but there was plenty of vigor left at the 
 bottom. "What's the heart of a young girl ? " said 
 Mrs. Pepper to herself. " It can shift its affec- 
 tions with hardly a whimper, like a black and tan 
 terrier." And with Joe Bently half the sphere 
 distant, she flattered herself that Katie's heart 
 would soon be pattering round after her friend of 
 the law as quietly and obediently as though he led 
 it by a string. She therefore wheedled Katie into 
 making that promised visit. 
 
 But what is the condition of Katie's friendship 
 for Joe ? Has it undergone any change ? Yes, it 
 is quite a different thing from what it was before 
 the Celeste's memorable cruise. Joe had come 
 back Katie's hero, and his reward, like that of all 
 heroes from the world's beginning, was something 
 stronger than friendship. Katie could no longer 
 disguise the fact from herself that her heart be- 
 longed to Joe. But her hand ? That was a differ- 
 ent matter. Hearts and hands are so different, we 
 know. People so often possess the heart without 
 
396 THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 
 
 the hand ; and the hand without the heart. If 
 Katie's heart were conquered, her hand would 
 have to be won ; and toward winning her hand Joe 
 Bently has not taken a single step. Katie did 
 not know what it was that held Joe back. She 
 was inclined to think it was a faint heart. He 
 could be brave as a lion in a tempest, counted his 
 life as nothing in the face of duty, but in this 
 affair he seemed the rawest recruit she had ever 
 heard of ; there wasn't a particle of the hero about 
 him. 
 
 Had Katie known of the war that was raging in 
 Joe's breast, how different it would have been ! 
 His love for her and his conviction of duty to her 
 parents, as we know, have been waging incessant 
 warfare within him, and his stern sense of duty 
 had so far won the day. Had Katie known this, 
 she might have helped Joe out of some of his dif- 
 ficulties. As it was, this cadet must humbly and 
 persistently woo her. If she was essential to his 
 happiness, he must not be afraid to risk his all in 
 gaining that happiness, as she had been taught 
 that good things are sometimes to be won. 
 
 And did Katie know Joe's secret ? Certainly 
 she did. And she had known it ever since it took 
 that little leap across her path on the day of the 
 reception. And after that she had caught not a few 
 glimpses of it, as it darted quite unconsciously to 
 Joe from its hiding-place, like some small creature 
 
THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 397 
 
 of the woods. Secrets of the heart, we know, 
 like the little nimble-footed creatures of the brush, 
 will keep glimpsing into view. Coverts of the 
 heart abound in open spaces. And Katie now 
 knew what was in Joe's heart. 
 
 But was Joe still ignorant of what had taken 
 place with Katie ? Somewhat so. He had noted 
 a few things in her which led him to suspect that 
 she did not altogether regard him in the light of 
 that poor, but worthy young man. There was 
 more warmth in her manner toward him, and ever 
 since he had brought the yacht safely back to Bar 
 Harbor, he had observed a disposition in her to 
 make much of what he had done. He told her 
 that anybody, with a good knowledge of seaman- 
 ship, could have done all that he did, but Katie 
 would not be convinced. Neither would any of 
 the rest of them, for that matter, unless it was 
 Mrs. Pepper, and her views on the subject were 
 not asked for. Harry, it may be said, declared that 
 Joe, by his skill and bravery, had saved the lives 
 of all of them, and this had been the general con- 
 viction on board the yacht. But Joe, in his 
 modesty, felt that he was receiving undeserved 
 praise, and this he stoutly maintained, whenever 
 Katie or anybody else undertook to make a hero 
 of him. Still he noticed that the yachting expedi- 
 tion had somehow been a turning point with 
 Katie in her conduct toward him. If nothing 
 
398 the rising young lawyer. 
 
 more, it was evident to him now that he had risen 
 greatly in her esteem. And he sometimes thought 
 he might even win the love of this young girl, 
 after all that had taken place. However, he made 
 no conscious effort to do so. And thus things 
 went on till the Daybreak was ordered to Norfolk 
 to get ready for her new station. Slowly but 
 surely the hearts of these young people had been 
 knit together, but no word of revelation had been 
 spoken between them. 
 
 As a story must be told something as a seam is 
 sewed up by hand — every stitch being in part a 
 back stitch — it must be here asked whether Katie 
 knew of Mrs. Pepper's real design in getting her 
 to Providence. Katie knew absolutely nothing 
 about it. Her aunt, to be sure, had often spoken 
 of her young friend in her presence, but her 
 allusions were not of a sort to awaken suspicion. 
 From what she had said, Katie gathered that the 
 young lawyer was the most gifted mortal that had 
 ever appeared on this planet ; that when nature 
 shot him from her bow, her eye was on a shining 
 mark — nothing less than the chief-justiceship of 
 his country, or its Presidential chair, and the force 
 of that bright shaft would not expend itself till it 
 was securely planted in one or the other of these 
 high offices. But granting all this, had Katie 
 known that her auntie intended that that arrow 
 should feather itself in its flight — such a strange 
 
THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 399 
 
 thing for an arrow to do — with her sweet little 
 self, she would never have gone to Providence. 
 Katie is so impracticable in all these matters ! If 
 she had been an insignificant mole-hill, which a 
 mountain might be conceived as desiring to wed, 
 the mountain would have been obliged to come to 
 the mole-hill. 
 
 Katie went to Providence. While Joe Bently 
 was gazing upon the Southern Cross, thinking of 
 Katie, Katie was gazing upon the rising young 
 lawyer, thinking of Joe Bently. 
 
 This young man is entitled to a little attention, 
 for Mrs. Pepper has imposed the task upon us. 
 He is not, perhaps, just ill-looking, but by no means 
 is he good-looking. He is more short than tall, 
 more square than round, more red than white. 
 His face is thickly strown with freckles ; so much 
 so as to suggest wanton wastefulness. 
 
 But as Mrs. Pepper was once heard to say, " He's 
 such a manly boy, you know." To conclude, we 
 may add, that in attractiveness of person our 
 cadet had this young lawyer at a great disadvan- 
 tage. But what is the mere husk, the case, the 
 shell, Mrs. Pepper would ask, to that which it 
 enshrines? "Why," said she, "people forget that 
 the glow-worm is a worm when it begins to shine." 
 From which we must not infer that she was liken- 
 ing her young friend to a worm, but that she 
 simply meant when his bright gifts once com- 
 
400 THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 
 
 menced shining his physical discouragements would 
 be forgotten ; oblivion itself would swallow up his 
 uncomeliness. 
 
 But the young lawyer did not impress Katie 
 more favorably as an intellectual, than as a 
 physical being. His mind, so far as she was able 
 to catch glimpses of it, had an incomplete look. 
 
 Katie was not long deprived of the acquaintance 
 and society of this young man after her arrival in 
 Providence. She nad been in her aunt's house 
 just fifty minutes when he called to pay his respects 
 to her. Gladly would she have taken a little rest 
 after her journey, but Mrs. Pepper insisted that 
 she should come down at once. As soon as the 
 introduction was over the young people were left 
 to themselves. Mrs. Pepper withdrew, ostensibly 
 to superintend the preparations for dinner, not a 
 minute less than two hours distant. Inasmuch as 
 the young lawyer was to honor them with his 
 presence at dinner, it was, therefore, more than 
 likely that Katie would have him all to herself 
 during that time. Truly fortune had smiled upon 
 Katie ! 
 
 In a social sense, to go on with this rambling 
 description, this young man was the antithesis of 
 Joe Bently. Generally when Joe and Katie had 
 been together she had done the talking and he the 
 listening ; in this case, the young lawyer did the 
 talking and Katie the listening:. In another 
 
THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 4OI 
 
 respect, Joe and the young lawyer differed. Only 
 as he might be driven by stress of circumstances 
 would Joe ever talk about himself ; and nothing, 
 however compelling, could make this young lawyer 
 talk about anything but himself. He seemed to 
 regard Katie's imagination as so much sensitized 
 paper upon which he was to print such negatives 
 of himself as would be most flattering to his self- 
 esteem, and most destructive of Katie's peace of 
 mind. And he did not dally with this work, nor 
 subject Katie to the exasperation of delay. This 
 young man had had many conferences with Mrs. 
 Pepper in regard to Katie. He had come to 
 believe, stimulated by Mrs. Pepper's assurances, 
 that all it would be necessary to do was to reach 
 forth his hand, and Katie — tame, affectionate little 
 bird that she was — - would flutter right into his 
 palm. In truth, this young man had a feeling that 
 in his presence girls stood spell-bound like deer 
 among the lily-pads in the glare of a hunter's jack. 
 Katie had not been at her auntie's a day before 
 Mrs. Pepper informed her that half the girls in 
 Providence were in love with Roger (Roger was 
 his name), which set her wondering what in the 
 world the other half could be thinking about that 
 they were not in love with him, too. 
 
 On his first visit, this young lawyer devoted 
 himself chiefly to his autobiography. Katie could 
 have repeated countless pages of it, had she next 
 
402 THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 
 
 day assigned herself such a task. She knew more 
 about him the first fifteen minutes of their acquaint- 
 ance than she had known about Joe Bently all her 
 life. His struggles, his aspirations, his successes, 
 his inevitable destiny were poured into Katie's 
 ears as if they were tormented with insatiable 
 greed. Such gilded prophecies as he uttered, 
 touching his own future ; such pictures as he 
 drew ! 
 
 Katie was disappointed, however, in what he 
 said of the law. From what Mrs. Pepper had told 
 her she had conceived the notion that his love for 
 his profession was consuming him. Katie now saw 
 that his ambition was for a political career. The 
 law was no field for him. 
 
 His spurs were to be won in the broad domain of 
 public affairs. The law was merely to hold the 
 stirrup for him while he flung himself on the back 
 of his destiny. He informed Katie that all the 
 leadings of his mind were toward the service of 
 the State. " Not the little, ungrowthful Rhode 
 Island," he explained, fearing she might misappre- 
 hend his meaning, "but the State, the country." 
 He told her that already he had begun to speak 
 on questions of public interest and policy. Only 
 the night before he had spoken at a large meet- 
 ing. Suiting the action to the word, he smote 
 his hands together with a clap which nearly 
 started Katie from her chair, exclaiming, "And 
 
THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 403 
 
 the people did that ! It won't be the last time, 
 either," he added. He promised to take Katie 
 down to hear his next speech. However, just as 
 the young lawyer landed on the steps of the White 
 House, after a splendid barge-like passage along 
 the grand canal of civil preferment, the dinner- 
 bell tinkled, and seizing his hastily-offered arm, 
 Katie stepped from vision to reality. 
 
 Time would fail to follow in detail the attempts 
 of this young lawyer, with Mrs. Pepper's invalua- 
 ble assistance, to win the pretty Katie. Indeed, 
 the mere acquisition of this treasure at first gave 
 him the least concern. Before he had seen her, 
 even, he decided that he would marry her. And 
 the first two days of her visit at Mrs. Pepper's she 
 was to him as a bird in the hand. After that, 
 she was a bird in the bush, and the most aggrava- 
 ting little bird which fancies of his sort ever un- 
 dertook to capture. He thought at first she could 
 not see too much of him. He had told Mrs. Pep- 
 per that he wanted Miss Aston to know him thor- 
 oughly before their engagement. And Mrs. Pep- 
 per said she thought it very honorable of him. He 
 furthermore confided to Mrs. Pepper that little by 
 little he could break to Miss Aston the qualities 
 he expected in a wife, and she, doubtless, being a 
 right-minded girl, would set about preparing to ful- 
 fill his expectations. Mrs. Pepper remarked that 
 Katie was a good girl, a little willful and perverse 
 
404 THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 
 
 at times, but, on the whole, teachable and manage- 
 able. She was likewise very tender-hearted, which 
 the young lawyer said he was glad to know. 
 
 So he began the wooing. As we have seen, the 
 first thing he did was to reveal to her his passion 
 for distinction. He showed her what he was 
 going to be. She was going to be the sharer of his 
 renown, and she might just as well be given a 
 sight of it first as last ; though, cf course, he would 
 not permit her to know for some time her personal 
 connection with it. He would reserve that as a 
 delightful surprise for the near future. But it 
 was well enough now not to conceal the triumphs 
 and excitements of his career from the one who was 
 to be his constant and worshipful partner in it. 
 It was an excellent plan, he thought, to begin at 
 once to establish a mutuality of interest between 
 them. Then, too, it would fire and ennoble her 
 ambition ; excite an envious longing in her for 
 participation in the transports of a bright future 
 like his. In a word, he would make her an enthu- 
 siast over his pictured life before ever she dreamed 
 that she was to be the bona fide participant in its 
 supreme realizations. This is an accurate although 
 an imperfect rescript of the young lawyer's mind 
 when first he began to pay his addresses to Katie. 
 
 As to Katie, poor bewildered young thing that 
 she was, on that first visit she could not understand 
 the young lawyer at all. Why should she ? If 
 
THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 405 
 
 she had failed to grasp the abstractions of the 
 mathematical mind, as in the case of a naval cadet, 
 how could she penetrate the subtleties of the 
 legal mind, as in the case of the rising young law- 
 yer ? His motive in reposing such vast confidence 
 in her she could not fathom. She could not see 
 why he had assumed such an absorbing interest 
 on her part in his career. He talked as though 
 her one pursuit in life would be noting the fulfill- 
 ment of the prophecies he uttered concerning him- 
 self. He seemed to take it for granted that her 
 interest in him would henceforth run in as close 
 and parallel relations with his ambition as exist 
 between a railroad and a telegraph line. But Katie 
 never had been able to understand young men. 
 
 However, when the young lawyer came round 
 the next afternoon to ask Katie to walk down town 
 with him, she would not leave the house without a 
 chaperon. Mrs. Pepper tried to reason with the 
 willful girl, but all to no purpose. Katie said she 
 knew her mamma and papa expected that she 
 should be very careful, and on no account would 
 she displease them. Mrs. Pepper hinted that it 
 had been very different at Bar Harbor. But Katie 
 was slow at taking hints. In a few days Mrs. 
 Pepper observed a strange desire on Katie's part 
 not to be absent from her a moment when the 
 young lawyer was in the house. The second day 
 that Roger dined with them Mrs. Pepper withdrew, 
 
406 THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 
 
 as on the first occasion, and Katie followed her. 
 She had often told her aunt that she enjoyed help- 
 ing about dinner very much ; and she now ex- 
 plained that if she were away from home it was no 
 reason why she shouldn't be useful. 
 
 "But, you absurd girl — dear, I mean," said Mrs. 
 Pepper, when they had reached the kitchen, "don't 
 you see you're leaving Roger all alone ? " 
 
 " I know, Auntie, but he brought up ' Reminis- 
 cences of a Great Public Career,' and ' How We 
 Are Governed,' to read," innocently replied Katie. 
 
 "Isn't Roger a splendid fellow, dear? " said Mrs. 
 Pepper, with one of her abrupt transitions. 
 
 "O, Betty! I'll mash that squash for you," ex- 
 claimed Katie, seizing the mashing instrument 
 from the cook with the enthusiasm of a graduate 
 from a cookery school. 
 
 " She didn't hear me," said Mrs. Pepper to her- 
 self. "The girl that gets him will secure a prize," 
 she went on. 
 
 "That will make the girl that doesn't get him 
 dreadfully envious," thought Katie. "Auntie," 
 she said aloud, "how much oleo — butter, I say — 
 do you put in this squash?" 
 
 For the next few minutes Katie was absorbed 
 in the preparation of the squash. She seemed to 
 have no other thought save the one in which she 
 was engaged. 
 
 Did this young lawyer propose to Katie ? Yes, 
 
THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 407 
 
 the young lawyer did propose to Katie. And be- 
 fore a week had passed ; it was inevitable. He 
 was one of those rocks in the sea of life which 
 girls like Katie are almost certain to encounter. 
 But there had been such a fall of tide around this 
 particular rock that Katie knew what was coming. 
 
 The young lawyer took advantage of one of 
 Mrs. Pepper's sudden disappearances from the 
 drawing-room to inform Katie that since he had 
 seen her he had been wholly given over to idolatry. 
 He had recognized in her the sun of his life. His 
 whole being had been suffused with a light from 
 her. He adored her. He was a fire-worshiper 
 in his devotion to her. He prostrated himself 
 (in metaphor) before her as an ancient Persian be- 
 fore the rising sun. The richness of his symbol- 
 ism confused Katie. To be called a sun, a star, 
 an idol, a superb flower, a creature of beautiful 
 plumage as the young lawyer persisted in doing, 
 would bewilder a girl a good deal older than Katie. 
 But she collected herself sufficiently to tell the 
 young lawyer that she did not fulfill his ideal in 
 any single particular, and that while she was grate- 
 ful for his high opinion of her, his good sense 
 should teach him that a proposition of marriage to 
 a girl away from her parents, neither of whom he 
 had ever seen, and whose mind on the subject he 
 knew nothing about, was hardly becoming. 
 
 But he would not giv§ it up even then. As she 
 
408 THE RISING YOUNG LAWYER. 
 
 was such a bright being to him he implored her 
 to tell him if he did not sustain the relations of a 
 luminary to her. Katie could not be untruthful, 
 and she promptly told him that he did not. Then 
 this young lawyer grew very red in the face, and 
 resolved to bring the matter to an issue. 
 
 "Will you marry me ? " he said, in a most deter- 
 mined tone. 
 
 "No; I won't," said Katie, with flashing eyes, 
 jumping up and leaving the room. 
 
 Mrs. Pepper made no scene over this. The next 
 afternoon, however, Katie had put forty miles be- 
 tween herself and her aunt and the rising young 
 lawyer. In high spirits she was dashing along the 
 Brighton Road with Miss Maud and Ned Brent- 
 ford on a magnificent sleigh-ride, all three inter- 
 ested in the latest news from the United States 
 Ship Daybreak. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 
 
 IN one of the Aleutian Islands, those great 
 fragments of our continental arm, broken in 
 its endeavor to hold Asia in its grasp, some little 
 distance back from a curved and pebbly beach, 
 stands a minute village. It impresses the stranger 
 as a brave, hardy little town, holding to its place 
 as thriftily as the circumpolar Sphagnum shining so 
 golden on the mountain slopes around it. This 
 town consists of little more than an irregular row 
 of single-story frame cottages, a Greek church of 
 good size, and a fine parsonage. The parsonage 
 adjoins the church, and at the immediate time of 
 which we write, serves two purposes. It is the 
 residence of the faithful priest who presides over 
 the flock of Christians here, and a hospital as 
 well. 
 
 In this good priest's house the surprise of this 
 story awaits us. For here, lying upon a little cot, 
 just recovering from a dangerous illness, is our 
 hero, Joe Bently. Nor is he alone among strangers. 
 Friends are around him, devoting watchful and 
 409 
 
410 IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 
 
 loving service at his bedside. Harry, Coverly 
 and Lieutenant Bloomsbury are temporarily dom- 
 iciled here. 
 
 What strange fortune has brought them to this 
 far-off shore ? Does the little Daybreak lie quietly 
 at anchor before the town ? We look in vain for 
 her familiar spars and smokestack in the harbor ; 
 listen in vain for some shouted order, shrill note 
 of boatswain's whistle, or loud clamor of drum and 
 fife to awaken the echoes of the surrounding hills, 
 and to startle the sea-lions from the sunny reefs 
 hard by the abrupt and cruel shores. The only 
 seaward sound falling upon our ear is the steady 
 rush and beat of waves against basaltic walls. 
 Why, then, are Joe and his three shipmates 
 stranded here ? This question the unread pages 
 before us must answer. 
 
 On her way to the Pacific the Daybreak touched 
 at two places on the east coast of South America, 
 Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo. And so delighted 
 was Joe with the first of these places, that he 
 wrote Katie a long, and in some respects, won- 
 derful description of it. 
 
 It must here be mentioned that just before 
 leaving Bar Harbor, Joe worked his courage up to 
 the point of asking Mr. Aston's permission to 
 correspond with Katie during his cruise. And 
 the readiness with which it was granted set his 
 heart all a-flutter. What a contrast between the 
 
IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 4II 
 
 outgoing cadet and the incoming cadet of two 
 months before ! 
 
 A number of letters had thus passed between 
 Joe and Katie while the Daybreak lay at Norfolk ; 
 but he had felt no such enthusiasm for writing as 
 that which came upon him at Rio, the wonder 
 city of the Southern Hemisphere. He wrote just 
 one letter, however, to Katie from this point, 
 costing so much for postage that she feared he 
 would not be able to pay his next month's mess 
 bill. It required just one thousand reis to send it. 
 In the letter Joe showed Katie how the Brazilians 
 express this enormous sum, writing it thus : 
 1 $000. He furthermore said that Harry, Schopy 
 and himself had gotten breakfast on shore that very 
 morning, for which they had jointly paid io$ooo 
 (reis). In her reply to this letter, Katie lectured 
 Joe for being such a prodigal. She said if he 
 kept on ordering breakfasts of that kind, he would 
 soon be as hopelessly bankrupt as poor Schopy. 
 
 But the bulk of Joe's letter consisted of florid, 
 cadet-like descriptions of natural scenery and 
 conditions. "Think," he said, "of being in a place 
 where the birds do not know there is any season 
 but summer ; where the flowers never forget to 
 blossom the livelong year; where snow-flakes 
 would astonish the children more than a fall of 
 feathers from the wings of unseen angels." The 
 account closed with the statement that beyond 
 
412 IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 
 
 doubt the earliest inhabitant of this region was 
 Adam. 
 
 At Montevideo, however, Joe's first impressions 
 of South America received a rude shock. No 
 sooner had they come to anchor, than that almost 
 omnipotent wind, the pcmpcro, came booming 
 down upon them. Men were swept from the top- 
 gallant forecastle and drowned, boats carried 
 away, and the ship herself well-nigh driven upon 
 the beach. Nor was the passage to Magellan 
 Straits much better. Huge seas, rolling up un- 
 obstructed from the pole, confronted them. Slowly 
 as an Alpine traveler, the Daybreak toiled over 
 them, taking weary weeks for what, with favoring 
 winds, would have been a passage of not many 
 days. 
 
 The first port they stopped at in the Pacific was 
 Valparaiso. Little Chili at that time was bristling 
 up behind her iron clads ; and it was thought the 
 Daybreak's presence at her chief port might cool 
 the temper of the saucy, pugnacious little power. 
 One month was thus spent at Valparaiso, and they 
 were off for Coquimbo, Callao and Panama. Three 
 sweltering weeks were spent at Panama ; happy 
 weeks, nevertheless, to Joe. Each week brought a 
 long letter from Katie, and he would have cheer- 
 fully finished his cruise at the pole or the equator 
 with such a reward as this. From Panama they 
 flew as fast as wind and steam could drive them 
 
IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 413 
 
 to San Francisco ; and at San Francisco they were 
 ordered to proceed with all dispatch to the Aleu- 
 tian Islands for the protection of the seal fisheries. 
 
 No sooner had they reached these islands, than 
 a busy life began. They were not only to warn 
 off marauders from the seal rookeries, but to do 
 surveying as well. But little of such work had 
 been accomplished, and navigation among the 
 islands was attended with considerable difficulty 
 and risk. Mr. Moncrief was in his element. From 
 morning till night he kept boats out, and the lead 
 was in constant use. Old channels were more 
 accurately defined, coast-lines and headlands more 
 carefully drawn, and an extensive revision of the 
 charts undertaken. In the work of sketching, 
 Schopy's talent proved quite wonderful. Once 
 fully occupied, he forgot all about his disaffection 
 with the Navy, and sketched with admirable facility 
 and skill. He had found his place for the first 
 time during the cruise. 
 
 It was glorious among these cloud-compelling, 
 fog-haunted, seal-inhabited islands, standing out 
 on each clear day so wildly beautiful, so grandly 
 solemn. Sailing among them was a never-ending 
 delight. Of rare beauty were the scenes, often 
 shifting as rapidly as views from a winding river. 
 It was an ever-changing vision, colored with ex- 
 quisite tints, varied in the oblique northern beams 
 by long, fantastic shadows. Everybody felt that 
 
414 IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 
 
 glowing exhilaration which comes from such sur- 
 roundings. Through these weird straits and 
 passes, over these charming bays, appearing in the 
 distance like land-locked lakes, along by rugged 
 shores inaccessible as walled cities, past pretty 
 harbors where, in the wildest tempest, the Day- 
 break could have rested as quiet as a statue in its 
 niche ; amid all this, as Joe expressed it in a letter 
 to Katie, he could have sailed on and on forever. 
 Though if Katie had received the letter she never 
 would have believed it. 
 
 Then that most beautiful of volcanoes, Shis- 
 haldin ! How it awed and fascinated the cadets ! 
 Joe declared, in the same letter, that it was worth 
 a trip around the world to see. No wayward, un- 
 shapely peak is this. In fairest symmetry it rises 
 eight thousand feet. It seems a mighty work of 
 sculpture; a monument of things long perished. 
 How royally it stands forth, its lofty cone white 
 with perpetual snow, its rounded base, washed on 
 the south by the Pacific and on the north by 
 Behring Sea, and clothed in richest green, its whole 
 vast form taking on wonderful colors in the slant- 
 ing ever-changeful summer light ! 
 
 And of surpassing interest, also, to Joe, was the 
 connection of this northern archipelago with great 
 questions of history and science. For are not 
 these islands the massive ruined piers of a once 
 vast natural bridge ; a highway between continents ? 
 
IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 4 1 5 
 
 And was it not along this ruined way that the 
 first stream of emigration flowed from Asiatic 
 shores ? These problems, with many other things 
 connected with these islands, were matters of daily 
 discussion and investigation with our young 
 friends. 
 
 But our story must not longer be delayed. 
 And if, upon joining our hero, his way may lead 
 for a time into shadows, we must not allow him to 
 travel it alone. If, as we have suspected, trouble 
 has befallen him and the comrades at his side, 
 we surely do not wish to pass it by. Our friends 
 belong to us in their sorrows as well as in their joys ; 
 in the evil which casts them down as well as the 
 good which lifts them up. 
 
 The Daybreak had finished her work, and was 
 about to bid farewell to the Aleutian Islands. For 
 this purpose she was making her way to the town 
 above described. There she would take in such 
 stores as could be obtained, and thence sail for 
 Sitka. As night fell, she crept out from among a 
 group of small islands into the safety of the open 
 sea. Toward midnight one of the largest islands 
 of the archipelago was upon the port beam. A 
 moderate gale was blowing, and the ship was 
 making twelve knots under steam and sail. She 
 was carrying the fore storm-stay-sail, double-reefed 
 foresail, and close-reefed maintopsail. A high 
 sea was running, which could be heard pounding 
 
4l6 IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 
 
 wildly against the precipitous shore. The sky 
 was somewhat overcast, but the moon and stars 
 shone through. It was a bracing night, such as 
 Joe loved to spend on watch. He was in the fore- 
 castle, receiving upon his sou'wester with a smile, 
 the showers of spray with which it seemed the 
 Daybreak's delight to drench him. 
 
 Soon the wind had increased to such force that 
 it became necessary to reduce sail. Joe had never 
 seen the ship make such speed before. But he 
 did not just like the roar of the sea over against 
 the island whose frowning cliffs stood out quite 
 clearly in the straggling moonbeams. It was 
 with relief, a moment later> that he heard Captain 
 Farradale, who was standing on the poop, give an 
 order to starboard the helm. As the ship turned 
 seaward, forgetting his slight uneasiness, he con- 
 gratulated himself on the splendid run she was 
 making. In a week's time, perhaps, she would be 
 in Sitka. And then, and then, and then, letters 
 from Katie ! Never did barometer take such a 
 leap upward as Joe's spirits at this thought. 
 
 Ten minutes to eight bells came, and Joe 
 was ordered to lay aft to heave the log. Five 
 minutes were occupied in this work. He reported 
 a speed of thirteen knots to the captain and the 
 officer of the deck. Marking it on the log, he 
 resumed his station. The starboard watch now 
 came tumbling up from below. Harry, who was 
 
IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 417 
 
 his relief, simultaneously appeared. Joe stood 
 steadying himself, in the plunging of the ship, 
 against the fore fife-rail. In this position he began 
 giving an account of his watch to Harry. 
 
 Scarcely had a dozen words been spoken when 
 there came a dreadful shock, such as can only be 
 felt, never described. Upon a sunken rock, not 
 down on any chart, the Daybreak had struck ; 
 struck as a locomotive strikes against some huge 
 bowlder fallen in the darkness upon its track. 
 Like the noble animal in a Spanish ring sheathing 
 the espada s sword in his fiery heart, the Day- 
 break had quickly met her fate, and lay in her 
 death-throes upon the pitiless sea. 
 
 Joe was flung violently to the deck. Why he 
 was not instantly killed it is impossible to say. 
 The foretopmast snapped short off, and crashed 
 within a foot of where he fell. A large mass of 
 rigging came down all around him. Before he 
 could regain his feet a sea broke over the bows, 
 and swept him with tremendous force against a 
 heap of debris, from which, with utmost difficulty, 
 he extricated himself. 
 
 In abandoning ship he had been assigned to the 
 captain's gig, and he now began to work his way 
 aft. He saw that the ship was rapidly going 
 down. All around him men were struggling to 
 free themselves from the top hamper, which cum- 
 bered the deck along its whole length. It was a 
 
41 8 IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 
 
 terrible thought to Joe, that underneath it many of 
 the crew must have already perished. A glance 
 showed him the little chance the living had for 
 escape. Every boat on the starboard side had 
 been crushed by the falling spars and yards. On 
 the port side, also, several of them had met the 
 same fate. 
 
 A loud cry was raised, he knew not by whom, 
 to abandon ship by any means. It had become 
 evident that there could be no concerted, disci- 
 plined action. Men struggled for life-preservers, 
 halyard racks — anything that came to hand. The 
 few uninjured boats were cut away. With a great 
 plunge the sailing launch went head foremost into 
 the sea, filling in a twinkling. The other boats 
 were thrashed so violently against the ship's side 
 that nobody dared drop into them. # The fear was, 
 that they would go under with the ship, or be 
 beaten in pieces against her side. 
 
 Our hero reached the after part of the ship. 
 His courage freshened at the sight of Captain 
 Farradale. Apparently he had not been hurt by 
 the fragments of yards and spars that had fallen 
 about him. He stood upon the poop, surveying in 
 the now bright moonlight his shattered, sinking 
 ship. He was making not the slightest effort to 
 save himself. Joe climbed up to where he stood, 
 and to his dying day, he will never forget the look 
 that was on his face. Such sorrow was depicted 
 
IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 419 
 
 there, such pity for the brave officers and men 
 now struggling in the face of death, that Joe's 
 heart was wrung with anguish at the sight. And 
 in it all not a thought had the captain seemed to 
 bestow upon himself. 
 
 "What brought you here, Bently?" said the 
 captain hastily, turning upon him the same look of 
 pity. 
 
 " My station is with you, sir, in abandoning 
 ship," replied Joe, in a choking voice. 
 
 " It's of no use now. You must save yourself 
 in any way you can." 
 
 "I shall not leave you, sir." 
 
 "My poor boy," said the captain, with a look 
 such as one gives in speaking a last farewell, 
 "you cannot help me. It's every one for himself 
 now. You haven't a moment to lose." 
 
 Suddenly Joe observed that, in his efforts to 
 steady himself, the captain seemed to have no use 
 of either arm. "Are you hurt, sir?" he asked 
 anxiously. 
 
 "Yes ; my arms are broken." 
 
 This was terrible. It was indeed true ; both the 
 captain's arms had been broken ; how, there was 
 not time to relate. And not a sign of pain had 
 the brave captain given, only of sorrow for the 
 hapless ship's company. 
 
 Not an instant was now to be lost. Joe flung 
 off his sou'wester, and with it, unconsciously, his 
 
420 IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 
 
 blouse. A glance told him that the gig, like most 
 of the other boats, had been too badly damaged to 
 be of use. He remembered that just under the 
 break of the poop several life-preservers were 
 stowed. He sprang to the deck, and snatching 
 two of them from their places, was almost instantly 
 back at the captain's side. His heart was well- 
 nigh bursting as he realized the captain's utter 
 helplessness. As soon as possible he placed one 
 of the life-preservers upon him, strapping it se- 
 curely. Throwing the other over himself, he 
 assisted the captain to the starboard rail. Climb- 
 ing nimbly over it, he braced himself to draw his 
 helpless burden after him. One long look of affec- 
 tion Captain Farradale gave his undone little ship, 
 and yielding to Joe's importunity, leaped with him 
 into the sea. 
 
 Not a second too soon, for our hero, at least, 
 had the leap been taken. But, ah, what followed ! 
 Even as they struck the water the ship went 
 down ; went down amid awful swirls and eddies 
 with a mighty rushing sound. And as suddenly 
 did Joe feel Captain Farradale swept away from 
 his grasp, caught by a tangled mass of rigging 
 and carried under with his ship. They had found 
 a common grave. 
 
 In his grief, Joe loudly called his captain's 
 name. It could not be that he was gone ! He 
 swam excitedly about the spot where he had dis- 
 
IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 42 I 
 
 appeared. Surely he must instantly reappear. 
 Joe continued calling to him. Perhaps he had 
 risen to the surface, and was hidden behind some 
 floating portion of the wreck. For several minutes 
 the well-nigh frantic cadet searched vainly among 
 the drift, then gave up every hope. 
 
 All at once he caught a feeble voice speaking 
 his own name. Could it be Captain Farradale's 
 call ? 
 
 No! 
 
 Quickly turning, he beheld in the bright moon- 
 light, Dawson's upturned face. There was a look 
 upon it which startled him. A few strokes brought 
 him to the old man's side. Dawson lay on his 
 back, struggling to keep afloat. Joe saw that he 
 needed support, and instantly buoyed him in his 
 arms. 
 
 "What, Dawson, are you hurt, too?" he ex- 
 claimed, with a fresh pang of grief. 
 
 "Yes; but I's not afeared. There's One above 
 as won't be hard on me, sir." 
 
 "Oh! I'll get you ashore, Dawson," said Joe, 
 thinking the old man was in despair over his dis- 
 abled condition. 
 
 "I's driftin' to another shore, sir," solemnly 
 said Dawson. 
 
 " No, no ; it can't be, Dawson," said Joe, his 
 voice broken with sobbing. 
 
 " I's done fur this time. I's felt all along as 
 
422 IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 
 
 somethin' was a-comin', an' now it's come. It 
 don't matter, sir. In the course o' natur I hadn't 
 long to stay. God bless you, sir," and Dawson 
 looked tenderly at Joe. 
 
 "O, Dawson, Dawson!" was all that Joe could 
 say. 
 
 " If you gits out o' this, sir, take a dyin' old 
 sailor's blessin' to Miss Aston. Tell her I didn't 
 forgit her pooty ways, an' the kind words she 
 allers said to me. God bless her!" 
 
 "To think that such a cruel fate should have 
 befallen you, Dawson," said Joe, in uncontrollable 
 sorrow. 
 
 "It's all right, sir; I's not afeared. Would you 
 mind sayin' a little prayer, sir?" 
 
 With Dawson's head resting against his shoulder 
 the broken-hearted cadet fulfilled as best he could 
 the old sailor's last request. A moment later, and 
 as brave and true a heart as ever beat in human 
 breast was stilled forever. 
 
 Was ever such tragedy as this enacted upon the 
 sea ! Joe fell back exhausted and in despair. He 
 moved neither hand nor foot. He allowed the 
 great waves to knock him about as they would. 
 What mattered it now what he did ? He cared 
 little for his life. All hope seemed to have died 
 in his heart. If he tried to reach the shore, would 
 it not be only struggling against Fate ? How 
 much better to sink quietly down where Dawson, 
 
IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND. 423 
 
 and Captain Farradale, and doubtless Harry, 
 Schopy, Arlington and many others had gone, to 
 await the last great muster, at their side ! 
 
 But there came a light into this darkness — a 
 hope into this despair. A bright, sweet vision was 
 flashed before his mind. It was the image of the 
 one who so long had been mirrored in his heart. 
 Never had that dear face seemed so kindly as now ; 
 never had those sweet eyes seemed to fall upon 
 him so tenderly. Yes, he would now make the 
 bravest struggle for his life. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 SUITABLE REWARD 
 
 MONTHS passed, bringing no tidings to the 
 friends in Portland from Joe. Meanwhile 
 the papers had been closely watched, that no stray 
 item touching the Daybreak might escape their 
 notice. Katie was as familiar with shipping news 
 as a city editor is with local incidents ; and, in the 
 continued disappointment of her search, thought 
 what a foolish fellow Joe must be to prefer a life 
 which involves such grave-like silence. And she 
 determined, should chance ever throw him in her 
 way again — and she began to fear that such an 
 event would depend entirely upon chance — that 
 she would forthwith recommend a change of pro- 
 fessions. But the weeks dragged on and no word 
 came from the cadet, nor from his good ship. For 
 the first time in her life Katie experienced seasons 
 of depression. Sometimes she even felt as Joe 
 once had ; that it was exceedingly probable that 
 there would never be any direct communication 
 between them again. So strange are these hearts 
 of ours ! 
 
 424 
 
A SUITABLE REWARD. 425 
 
 One morning, after this long interval of waiting, 
 as Mr. and Mrs. Aston were breakfasting, Katie 
 entered the room rather later than usual. Greet- 
 ing her parents cheerily, and before taking her 
 seat at the table, she picked up the hitherto neg- 
 lected morning paper, to merely glance over the 
 news. 
 
 All at once her father noticed that she had 
 become very pale, and was trembling violently 
 from head to foot. 
 
 "Why, Katie dear, what can be the matter?" 
 he exclaimed in great alarm, hastening to her side. 
 
 " O, papa ! just read that," was all she could say. 
 
 Much agitated, Mr. Aston took the paper from 
 her trembling hand, and quickly read as follows : 
 
 TERRIBLE OCEAN TRAGEDY. 
 
 PROBABLE LOSS OF THE UNITED STATES STEAMER 
 DAYBREAK. 
 
 San Francisco, Sept. — . Captain Hemstead, of the bark 
 Helena, reports that while passing the Aleutian Islands, on the 
 15th itltimo, he encountered a large quantity of wreckage. It 
 bore evidence of having belonged to a man-of-war, and was very 
 much broken up. Topmasts, yards and other wood-work were 
 a mass of splinters. Several pieces of rigging were torn and 
 twisted into every conceivable shape. The sea was littered with 
 fragments of oars, boats, sails, etc. The ship must have thrown 
 herself with terrific force upon some obstruction, probably a 
 sunken, unmarked reef, making instant ruin of everything above 
 the tops, and going down in a trice. 
 
426 A SUITABLE REWARD. 
 
 That the ill-fated ship was a war vessel was placed beyond 
 doubt by the finding of an officer's blouse among the debris. 
 It was fished up inside a sou'wester with which it had been 
 hastily thrown off. The blouse had gold foul-anchors on the 
 collar, and a narrow strip of braid upon the sleeve. Smith & 
 Co., Tailors, Boston, was stitched on the inside of the collar. The 
 garment is a part of the service-dress worn by naval cadets. A 
 touching incident is connected with this blouse. In the pocket 
 was found a blank envelope, containing a number of letters from 
 the young officer's sister, or, more likely, his sweetheart. They 
 are addressed, " Dear Joe," and signed " Katie." There is nothing 
 else in them by which to identify either party. As the United 
 States Steamer Daybreak was the only man-of-war known to be 
 cruising among the Aleutian Islands, there is every reason for 
 believing that she has gone down with all on board. 
 
 In silence Mr. Aston passed the paper to his 
 wife, who had already guessed the import of the 
 appalling news. Several minutes he sat without 
 speaking a word. Katie had thrown herself upon 
 the lounge in utter abandonment to her grief. 
 
 Could it be, he thought, that the cadet who, the 
 last year, had so grown into the hearts of his friends, 
 had perished in this dreadful manner? Sad, sad 
 termination to their hopes for him — to the little 
 that it had come in their way to do for him ! 
 
 And then, poor Katie ! For some time Mr. and 
 Mrs. Aston had known of her love for Joe. They 
 had placed nothing in its way. The fitness of its 
 object they had well learned. It seemed to them, 
 as Joe's fine character became more and more 
 manifest, even desirable. In short, they regarded 
 it as something that was to be. 
 
A SUITABLE REWARD. 427 
 
 And Katie's sorrow was now a very sacred 
 thing to her parents. Their hearts melted with 
 pity for her. Presently Mr. Aston went to her 
 side, and gently stroking the fair head, spoke 
 words of comfort to her. 
 
 "Katie dear," said he, "I own this looks very 
 bad. But there's a little light in it all, and we 
 won't give up hoping yet. I regard the finding of 
 the blouse a good omen. Joe must have thrown 
 it off to make his escape. A good Providence 
 seems always to have been over Joe's life, and if 
 that and a brave heart were of any avail, he will 
 turn up all right. I feel that the One who notes 
 the sparrow's fall has not forgotten Joe." 
 
 And Katie took heart at this. 
 
 Two weeks later came full particulars of the 
 Daybreak's loss, with the names of the survivors. 
 Lieutenant Bloomsbury headed the list. Then 
 came the names of Joe, Harry and Coverly among 
 the officers ; and Long, Conners and some twenty 
 others among the crew. It had been a frightful 
 disaster ; but do not the annals of the Navy record 
 many such ? A vast spectral fleet, the lost ships 
 come sailing back to us upon the tides of memory. 
 Through the long years they have been strewn 
 over the floor of the mighty deep. Time has 
 well-nigh obliterated the names of the heroes who 
 perished with them, and their requiems have been 
 lost from the sound of the sea ; but, nevertheless, 
 
428 A SUITABLE REWARD. 
 
 a great multitude are they who thus sleep beneath 
 the waves, waiting that morning of prophecy on 
 which the sea shall give up its dead. 
 
 We left our hero determined upon making a 
 great struggle for the life which, until Katie was 
 imaged with such brightness before his mind, 
 seemed of so little worth. But never did prospect 
 appear more unpromising. With the appalling 
 darkness that had enveloped his spirit, a corre- 
 sponding darkness had fallen upon the sea. As if 
 in melancholy consonance with the sad events 
 already related, and immediately succeeding them, 
 a mass of heavy black clouds swept across the 
 face of the moon, leaving the ocean in well-nigh 
 total eclipse. 
 
 Joe thought over his chances for escape. Two 
 alternatives presented themselves. The first was 
 to cling to portions of the wreck, and wait to be 
 picked up by some passing vessel. The second to 
 swim to the island, and trust to good luck for 
 making a successful landing. 
 
 As no vessel would probably pass that way for 
 many days, the first of these alternatives seemed 
 quite out of the question. And at thought of the 
 other, Joe's heart almost sank within him. Before, 
 the ship had struck, he had observed certain 
 peculiarities in the coast-line of the island. It had 
 presented an apparently solid wall. Not a sign of 
 any opening had he been able to discover as far as 
 
A SUITABLE REWARD. 429 
 
 his eye could reach. What if there should be no 
 friendly gateway leading to the inner shore ? How, 
 then, could he scale those ste p and frowning 
 heights ? If natural stairway there should be, 
 would not the waves grind him to powder upon its 
 lowermost steps ? But the only hope of escape 
 seemed to him to lie in the keeping of this wild 
 shore ; and nerving himself for the struggle, he 
 began swimming in its direction. 
 
 All this time something had been going on to 
 which he had given no heed. He had been so 
 stricken down with grief that he had lost sight of 
 everything but the distressing circumstances with 
 which he had been immediately connected. But 
 for this he might have observed, though he had 
 drifted quite a distance to leeward, that a number 
 of the ship's company were struggling in the 
 water, Harry and Coverly among them. And had 
 he also listened carefully, he might have heard an 
 officer's voice, calling upon all of them to follow 
 him. That officer was Lieutenant Blooinsbury. 
 He had escaped going down in the ship as by 
 miracle. And once in the water he knew just 
 what to do for the better safety of the survivors. 
 He began looking around after the boats. Pres- 
 ently, way off to leeward, he caught a glimpse of 
 one of the cutters — one of those already described 
 as having been cut away. She was right side up, 
 but not a soul was in her, and she was rapidly 
 
430 A SUITABLE REWARD. 
 
 drifting out of reach. The call he gave was to 
 swim for her, and with Harry, Coverly and a half- 
 score of able young fellows, he started in a race 
 for life. 
 
 Slowly Joe swam on. He must economize his 
 strength for the dangers of the coast. How sweet, 
 under the magic wand that had touched his heart, 
 life now seemed — how glorious the world ! But, 
 ah, that cruel shore ! Dismay filled his soul as he 
 thought of it. He had a mind to fall back upon 
 the forlorn hope of being discovered from the 
 deck of some vessel that might stray into these 
 far waters. No, he would proceed ! 
 
 But what was this ? He had accomplished but a 
 little distance when all within him was hope again. 
 Suddenly a burst of silvery light illumined the sea, 
 and with its coming the sound of voices and the 
 click of oars broke upon Joe's ear. 
 
 The boat, then, had been reached and manned 
 by the swimmers. 
 
 Why had not Joe thought of such a possibility 
 as this ? But people in shipwreck think of so few 
 things ! The wonder is, that they are capable of 
 thinking intelligently. However, these glad sounds 
 had surely come to Joe. In his joy he almost 
 sprang up in the water. He felt as light as a sea- 
 bird rising and falling with the waves. He uttered 
 a loud cry. It brought the boat down upon him. 
 Almost before he realized that she had reached 
 
A SUITABLE REWARD. 43 I 
 
 him, he heard the joyful exclamation from Lieu- 
 tenant Bloomsbury, " Why ! God bless us, it's 
 Bently," and he felt strong hands laid upon him. 
 A moment later he was with his shipmates in the 
 cutter. 
 
 Several chapters would be required to entei 
 into all the details of this terrible shipwreck. But 
 a word or two in further explanation seems im- 
 portant. Of the officers in the boat with Joe, Lieu- 
 tenant Bloomsbury, who was officer of the deck, 
 had, like many others, become entangled in the 
 fallen material and was held fast until a moment 
 before the ship went down. 
 
 He had no sooner plunged into the sea, and 
 taken a few strokes from her side, than she was 
 gone. Coverly had barely reached the deck to 
 pay his midnight visit to the sentries, when the 
 shock came. Fortunately, he was not injured by 
 any thing that fell from aloft. He worked for 
 the relief of several men who had been pinned 
 down among the debris till he was compelled to 
 leave the poor fellows and jump for his life. Harry 
 had not received a bruise. He sprang for the boat 
 in which he belonged, in abandoning ship, and 
 together with Conners and Long, managed to cut 
 her away. But, as we have seen, it appeared cer- 
 tain death to them to attempt to board her from 
 the ship. They had barely time to secure life, 
 preservers on another part of the deck when the 
 
432 A SUITABLE REWARD. 
 
 final catastrophe came. No one who had turned 
 in below, escaped. All access to the deck had 
 been closed by the top-hamper, which had com- 
 pletely battened down the hatchways. 
 
 A dozen more of the crew were picked up by 
 the boat. When it became certain that all the 
 others were beyond the reach of help, they pulled 
 for the land. The wind, meanwhile, had abated, 
 and the sea had fallen considerably. The great 
 barricade, more kindly than Joe thought, when, 
 after a long pull, they got to it, opened to give 
 them harbor. 
 
 Close on to the shore they found a deserted 
 village. Many years before every inhabitant, 
 from some cause or other, had abandoned the sev- 
 eral towns of this island. In this village they 
 took shelter, subsisting for two days upon wild 
 fruits and a few stores that chanced to be in the 
 boat. The third day they were taken off by a 
 sailing vessel, which they had signaled, and con- 
 veyed to the town already mentioned. The offi- 
 cers were received into the house of the Greek 
 priest, and the men cared for in the village. As 
 if Joe had not endured enough, he was stricken 
 down with pneumonia. One cold had succeeded 
 another till this disease was fastened upon him. 
 But his hardy constitution triumphed, and he re- 
 covered from his illness but little the worse for hav- 
 ing experienced it. As soon as possible, for 
 
A SUITABLE REWARD. 433 
 
 communication with these islands was infrequent, 
 Lieutenant Bloomsbury sent an account of the 
 Daybreak's loss to the Navy Department. Upon 
 receipt of the sad intelligence, a steamer was dis- 
 patched from San Francisco to bring back the 
 survivors. 
 
 Late in October Joe arrived in Portland. The 
 Aston carriage awaited him at the depot, bring- 
 ing also his true friend. What a joyful meeting it 
 was at Mr. Aston's home ! How Joe colored as 
 Mrs. Aston welcomed him with a hearty kiss. 
 Katie did not follow suit, but she looked and 
 spoke her gladness. The pleasure with which she 
 received her hero was unmistakable. He had 
 come back to her, as it were, from the dead. And 
 their hearts well knew the secret which it had 
 failed both tongue and pen to tell. 
 
 Katie led Joe into the drawing-room. She 
 thought he glanced about a little uneasily, as 
 though expecting an unwelcome presence. " Oh ! 
 Auntie isn't here now, Joe," she whispered, with a 
 mischievous smile. 
 
 One evening not long after his arrival, Joe and 
 Katie walked out into the moonlight under the 
 big trees. Somehow the moon always managed 
 to shine when Joe wanted it to. As we already 
 know, he had a weakness for this luminary, and on 
 this particular night, it seemed to him to be worth 
 its weight in gold. He had somewhat to say to 
 
434 A SUITABLE REWARD. 
 
 Katie, and he did not want the sunlight staring him 
 out of countenance when he said it. The live- 
 long day the words had burned in his heart, fear- 
 ing utterance. But he thought when the evening 
 came, that he might tell her all out in the shadows 
 of the great trees, with the moonlight shimmering 
 about them through the still, thick canopy of 
 leaves. A long time they walked about talking 
 of many things, Joe's heart failing him the while. 
 But at last, with a courage greater than that of 
 him who taketh a city, he drew her to a rustic 
 seat, and with the little hand lying all unresisting 
 in his own, he asked her to be his wife. 
 
 " Did papa say you might ask me, Joe ? " was the 
 slow rejoinder, looking up into his eyes. 
 
 " O, yes ! " said Joe, sealing the promise which 
 shone in her sweet face with a happy kiss. 
 
 And thus we say good-by to Joe and Katie. 
 Their hearts are one ; life stretches away before 
 them as a glorious sea upon which they are to one 
 day voyage together. May few storms cross their 
 path ; and may they grow richer and richer in 
 the tender love they bear each other, until they 
 come to the quiet haven where we shall all drop 
 anchor at last. 
 
D. LOTHROP COMPANY'S 
 
 YONGE (Charlotte M.)- 
 
 LANCES OF LYNWOOD. i2mo, illustrated, i.co. (4) 
 
 Recommended by the State Boards of several States for their public school libraries. 
 
 " ' The Lances of Lynwcod ' is con- " It is full of the ring and romance of 
 
 structed of fourteenth-century materials the feudal ages, describing the bright 
 gathered from historical and legendary side and ennobling influences of chiv- 
 granaries. It is one of the best books airy." — Living Church, Chicago, 
 for our boys and girls. It opens up his- " There is a true adherence to nature 
 
 tory, quickens the imagination and fixes and great dramatic skill displayed in the 
 the love of reading." — Syracuse Stan- exhibition of character" — North Brit- 
 dard. ish Review. 
 
 GOLDEN DEEDS. i2mo, illustrated, cloth, i.oo; gilt top, 
 I-25- (4) 
 
 Heroic and noble actions mostly culled out of history, making fifty different tales of 
 lofty duty, for young and old. 
 
 THE PRINCE AND THE PAGE. i2tno, illustrated, i.oo 
 
 (4) 
 
 A story of the Last Crusade. 
 
 THE LITTLE DUKE : Richard the Fearless. i2mo, illus- 
 trated, i.oo. (4) 
 
 LITTLE LUCY'S WONDERFUL GLOBE. 23 full-page 
 illustrations, i2mo, cloth, .75. 
 
 HISTORICAL SERIES. 
 
 Recommended by the State Hoards of several States for their public school libraries. 
 
 Miss Yonge, while always boldly and continuously outlining the course of historical 
 events, has the knack of seizing upon incidents which reveal the true character of his- 
 torical personages, so that these volumes are eminently calculated to teach as well as 
 to interest. The language is simple yet expressive, the freedom of treatment bold yet 
 accurate. The characters appear and disappear with all the serious brevity of moving 
 time, and seem to speak for themselves. 
 
 YOUNG FOLKS' BIBLE HISTORY. i2mo, illustrated, 
 
 1.50. 
 
 " The author presents in her dramatic " One of the best books for its purpose 
 
 style many of the striking incidents and which we have found." — Christian 
 
 stories of the sacred book. It is not only Register. 
 
 entertaining, but as fascinating as any We shall be much mistaken if this 
 
 romance, yet nothing of the spirit of the book does not prove to be useful in many 
 
 Bible is disturbed, and the lesson is only homes, in fixing the facts of Scripture 
 
 more vividly brought out by the genius history in the young minds and in giving 
 
 of the artist." — Western Educational them a good perspective of that history 
 
 Jour7ial, Chicago. as a whole." — Independent, New York. 
 
 YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF ENGLAND. i2mo, 
 illustrated, 1.50. 
 
 Beginning with a period prior to the Christian era, it outlines English history 
 through the vicissitudes of the Roman, Danish and Norman invasions, through the 
 subsequent civil strifes, and a large portion of the peaceful reign of the good Victoria. 
 Only those facts are presented which are at once most picturesque, most interesting 
 and most easily comprehended. In the hands of the young it is an irresistible tempta- 
 tion to history. 
 
 YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF FRANCE. 12 mo, illus- 
 trated, 1.50. 
 
 To arrange the confused facts of French history in such an order as to make them 
 comprehensible to children is a difficult task. Miss Yonge has undertaken to do this 
 and has succeeded admirably. She has done more than tell an interesting story, for 
 she has attached some real characteristic to each reign, and has translated the leading 
 political motives into something that can enter an intellect of seven or ebht years old. 
 
D. LOTHROP COMPANY'S 
 
 TALBOT (Rev. Charles R.), 
 
 ROYAL LOWRIE. i:mo : 
 
 " This capitally written story of school 
 and vacation life has become a standard 
 in boys' libraries. It is full of fun and 
 yet not coarse fun. It tells the story of 
 the troubles got into and blunders made 
 by half a dozen people, young and 
 
 1.2 5 . 
 
 old, the principal characters being; two 
 schoolfellows, Royal Lowrie and Archie 
 Bishop. It is an essentially live book, 
 and the boy who fails to read it loses just 
 so much genuine enjoyment." — B. B, 
 Bulletin. 
 
 ROYAL LOWRIES LAST YEAR AT ST. OLAVES. 
 
 i2mo, illustrated, 1.25. 
 
 " One of the best books about young 
 people, and for them, which we have read 
 in a long time. The lads described are 
 genuine boys, doing some very objection- 
 able things, up to all manner of pranks, 
 and bringing themselves to dire grief, 
 yet holding the regard of the reader 
 through everything, and coming out all 
 
 right. The girls, too, are real girls, such 
 as one meets. The book is thoroughly 
 healthy and high-toned It makes very- 
 plain the meanness of deceit. It also 
 shows the noble influence of a true- 
 hearted, high-minded girl." — The Cou- 
 gregationalist. 
 
 PARLOR COMEDIES. Illustrated by F. Miller and H. 
 
 Pruett Share. Square 8vo, boards, 1.00. 
 
 " Sparkling and full of movement, and dialogue and the frequent dramatic situa- 
 
 can be arranged easily for parlor and tions. Aside from its admirable adapta- 
 
 school presentation. They do not depend tion for use in parlor theatricals, the 
 
 upon complicated stage arrangements or book will be full of interest to the general 
 
 scenery for interest, but upon the breezy reader." — Loiuell Courier. 
 
 HONOR BRIGHT. i2mo, cloth, illustrated, 1.25. 
 The hero, in his fifteenth year, got into a towering rage with his guardian and liter- 
 ally " ran away to sea." He was six months on board ship, two years in Colorado 
 and New Mexico, and got a good many hard knocks. During his absence the people 
 and things he had run away from had not stood still, so that he found his relations to 
 them entirely changed on his return. What he did in this new state of affairs forms 
 the bulk of the story, which is not meant to be sensational and is not so. Young 
 people will find in it much that will help and nothing that will hurt them. It is aston- 
 ishing what a variety there is in boys with the seeds of manliness in them, and how 
 many ways there are to success in this world. 
 
 A DOUBLE MASQUERADE. A Romance of the Revolu- 
 tion. 121110, 1.25. 
 
 "Its dozen chapters cover the time 
 from June, 1775, to March of the follow- 
 ing year, when the British evacuated 
 Boston, and the confusion caused by the 
 confounding of a pair of cousins bearing 
 the same names, and of whom one is in 
 the American and one in the English 
 armv, is skillfully managed." — Boston 
 Advertiser. 
 
 "The young reader will get a clearer 
 idea from its pages of the struggle be- 
 
 tween the colonies and Great Britain, 
 and of the men on both sides who were 
 leaders in the Revolutionary movement, 
 than from mere statistical and document- 
 ary history. One of the features of the 
 volume is a description of the Battle of 
 Bunker Hill, which a critic has pro- 
 nounced to be ' one of the most graphic 
 and telling accounts ever written of that 
 famous conflict.'" — South Boston In- 
 quirer. 
 
 EXPLOITS OF MILTIADES PETERKIN PAUL; as 
 
 Traveller, Adventurer, Knight, Astronomer, Politician. 8vo, illus- 
 trated, boards, 1.00. 
 A bundle of ridiculous yarns already classic 
 
SELECT LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 BREMEN LECTURES (The). On Fundamental 
 
 Living Religious Questions. 
 
 Translated from the German by Rev. D. Heagle. Introduction 
 
 by Alvah Hovey, D. D. i:mo, i.oo. (2) 
 
 A defence of the old beliefs by the great thinkers of Germany, originally delivered 
 as lectures in the city of Bremen. They are calm, scholarly, profound, yet clear argu- 
 ments, upon subjects of vital interest to all thinking people, especially timely in this 
 sceptical age. The lectures are as follows: The biblical Conception of God; The 
 Doctrine of Creation and Natural Science; Reason, Conscience and Revelation; 
 Miracles; The Person of Jesus Christ; The Resurrection; The Scriptural Doctrine 
 of Atonement : The Authenticity of our Gospel ; The Idea of the Kingdom of God ; 
 Christianity and Culture. 
 
 BROOKS (Elbridge S.). 
 
 IN LEISLER'S TIMES. i2mo, illustrated, 1.50. 
 
 " The story is one of Knickerbocker teresting and the history makes the story 
 
 New York, two hundred years ago, and interesting. Mr. Brooks does this dehb- 
 
 is designed to do justice to the memory eratelv, because it is his aim to do this 
 
 of the attainted and ill-fated Governor very thing; and we know of no writer of 
 
 Leisler. It is a good boys' book; stories for young people (or for old peo- 
 
 raanly, patriotic and readable." — New pie either, for that matter) who under- 
 
 J 'ork lndepcndc7it- stand better how to mix these two ele- 
 
 " Mr. Brooks has the rare faculty of ments so that they shall not seek to 
 
 combining history and fiction so that each instruct too much or to entertain too 
 
 shall happily play into the hands of the little." — Brooklyn Times. 
 other. The story makes the history in- 
 
 IN NO-MAN'S LAND. With seventy-two pen-and-ink char- 
 acter drawings by Hassam. i2mo, 1.25. 
 
 Ruthie, the little heroine, is a similar creation to little Alice, the heroine of " Alice 
 in Wonderland." Ruthie begins her journey in a horse car, apparently falls asieep, 
 and then her adventures begin. A squirrel and a billy-goat accompany her with many 
 jests and odd puns to the jiimping-off place, a little leap from which brings her into 
 " No-Man's Land." The incidents and characters here are all on the marvellous, and 
 related with a keen sense of fun. 
 
 " Mr. E. S. Brooks' ' In No-Man's But there is not a dull line in the book. 
 Land ' sparkles all over with glee. The The author has not labored over his con- 
 pages bristle with jests and quips and ceits; they were spontaneous, and there- 
 puns. The parodies on ' Casabianca,' fore natural and buoyant and fresh." — 
 
 Douglas, Douglas Tender and True ' The Dial, Chicago, 
 and other popular songs are very clever. 
 
 STORIED HOLIDAYS. *i2mo, 1.50. 
 
 "It was a happy thought to take the read." — Swtday-sckoo! Tfmes, Phila. 
 
 holidays of the year, from Christmas to "There is no writer in America who 
 
 Thanksgiving, connect each with some succeeds as well as Mr E. S. Biooks in 
 
 picturesque event in history, and then tell interesting children in history. He is a 
 
 the story in terse and forcible English capital story-teller and has a dramatic 
 
 The result is a contribution to the litem- instinct that enables him to select such 
 
 tine of romance — a book for buying and subjects as fairly thrill the young and 
 
 keeping, that the children as they grow ardent imagination." — Albany Argiis. 
 up and the parents, too, may dip into and 
 
 * Recommended by the State Board of Wisconsin for the public school libraries. 
 
D. LOTHROP COMPANY'S 
 
 CATHERWOOD (Mary Hartwell). 
 
 THE DOGBERRY BUN 
 
 " Boys and girls will be delighted with 
 this very merry story of seven plucky 
 children who would hang together. These 
 seven brothers and sisters have the family 
 name of Dogberry. They live in an 
 Illinois village and their mother and 
 father are dead. They form an unique 
 association to save money and keep them- 
 selves from being separated. Jack, one 
 of the brothers, gets carried off on a 
 freight train and sees something of a 
 strike of railroad employes. Arty, the 
 youngest, .strolls away from home and 
 
 CH. i2mo, illustrated, 1.25. (5) 
 cannot be found. Loo goes to Carver 
 City in search of the little one and gets 
 out of society, while Ben and Alice leave 
 for Danport on the same errand and they 
 get into society. Thus the story goes on 
 with all kinds of adventures by the dis- 
 persed Dogberry children ; but their 
 hearts are united by love, and before we 
 get through they are all together again in 
 one closely connected bunch. There are 
 thirty illustrations and the book is a prize 
 for any child. " — Boston Journal of Com- 
 merce. 
 
 ROCKY FORK. i2mo, illustrated, 1.50 
 
 "The story of a few summer days in 
 a little neighborhood of farmhouses of 
 central Ohio long ago. . . . Very 
 rarely has plain, rough country life been 
 so faithfully described. It seems usually 
 impossible to do it without a tinge of 
 vulgarity, which is just what true Ameri- 
 can country-life escapes. Some fine fibre 
 in American nature, when close to fields 
 and woods and sky, keeps it always noble, 
 however rude the exterior. . . . Mrs. 
 Catherwood's people are all graciously 
 
 OLD CARAVAN DAYS. 
 
 " It is a story so bright, fresh and natural 
 as to seem real history. From the very 
 opening chapter where Grandma Pad- 
 gett with Bcbaday and Aunt Krin set out 
 on their long Westward journey toward 
 their new home in the family wagon, with 
 the lame hired man Zene in charge of the 
 load of household goods in the rear, down 
 to the moment when Pa Padgett met 
 them at the Illinois State line and crept 
 into the big wagon where they were in 
 camp fast asleep, surprising all but Boba- 
 day, the interest is wholesome and in- 
 tense. The people they met and talked 
 
 SECRETS AT ROSELADIES. 121710, 1.00. 
 
 Boyish visions of a dazzling crown of gold and a sealed jar brimful of yellow money 
 materialize into a lot of dirty Indian bones and a kettle full of arrow heads. " United 
 diggers " become " united sufferers." The scene of the digging is a Shawnee bury- 
 ing mound on the banks of the Lower Wabash. The suffering begins there too, but 
 it does not end there. " Aunt Jane " has a word to say about that. 
 
 " From first to last the story is so en- " Strange and awesome are their ad- 
 
 tirely American, so full of life and move- ventures, alternately curdling and amus- 
 
 attractive — the schoolmaster, with ' sweet, 
 severe face under iron-gray hair ' ; Lisa, 
 the guardian of the doctor's motherless 
 children, and the great -aunt from the far- 
 off Sharon to the children ' a rose-leaf 
 lady.' It is useless to try to transplant 
 the children. They must be known in 
 their own woods and meadows. Theirs 
 was a blessed world of happy ' make-be- 
 lieves ' when simple pleasures yet had 
 charms." — N. Y. Nation. 
 
 i2mo, 1.25. 
 
 with on their journey are the very people 
 we have met and talked with. And yet 
 young readers who journey by railway, and 
 telegraph back over the hundreds of miles 
 their safe arrival at nightfall will be all the 
 more interested in the old-fashioned cov- 
 ered wagon, and dogs and kettles and 
 buckets rattling along together under- 
 neath as pictured in the chapters." — 
 Ch icago Journal. 
 
 " One of the few books which deserve 
 to remain permanently on the shelves of 
 the juvenile library." — Boston Beacon. 
 
 merit, and so dainty in diction, that we 
 doubt if anything better in juvenile litera- 
 ture has been offered to the public for 
 some time." — St. Louis Republic. 
 
 " It is a good story and the characters 
 are capitally drawn. A beautiful little 
 book for the library." — Chicago Inter- 
 Ocean. 
 
 ing, of the sort that boy-readers revel in 
 witli enough of girl-life in them to make 
 them bewitching to girls likewise." — Lit- 
 erary World, Boston. 
 
 "The plot is as fresh as a May prim- 
 rose." — Homestead, Springfield. 
 
SELECT LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 FAITH AND ACTION. 
 
 Selections from the writings of F. D. Maurice. With preface by 
 Rev. Phillips Brooks, D. D. i2mo, i.oo. 
 
 Few English clergymen are better known in this country than Frederic D. Maurice, 
 whose untimely death, some years ago, deprived not only England, but ths Christian 
 world, of one of its ablest religious teachers. He devoted a great deal of his time to 
 the social and religious needs of the common people. 
 
 Maurice was a dear friend of Tennyson. The following lines in one of the poet's 
 best-known pieces refer to his friend : 
 
 " How best to help the slender store, 
 How mend the dwellings of the poor, 
 How gain in life as life advances, 
 Valor and charity more and more." 
 
 FARMAN (Ella). (Mrs. C. S. Pratt.) 
 
 Ella Farman is the editor of Wide Awake, and her books are full of sympathy with 
 girl-life, always sunshiny and hopeful, always pointing out new ways to do things and 
 unexpected causes for happiness and gladness. 
 
 THE COOKING-CLUB OF TU-WHIT HOLLOW. 
 
 i2mo, illustrated, 1.25. 
 
 The practical instructions in housewifery, which are abundant, are set in the midst 
 of a bright wholesome story. Girls who read this book will not be able to keep house 
 at once, but they will learn to do some things, and they will have an hour or two of 
 genuine pleasure in discovering how there came to be a cooking-club and in tracing its 
 history. 
 
 GOOD-FOR-NOTHING POLLY. i2mo, illustrated, 1.00. 
 
 Polly is not a girl at all, but a boy, a slangy, school-hating, fun-lov'ng, wilful, big- 
 hearted boy. " Nagged" continually at home, he wastes his time upon the streets and 
 finally runs away. The book tells of his adventures. Mrs. Pratt has a keen insight 
 into the joys and sorrows of the little appreciated boy-life. Like Robert J. Burdette, 
 she is a master of humor and often touches a tender chord of pathos. Every boy will 
 be delighted with this book and every mother ought to read it who is, all unwittingly 
 perhaps, "freezing" her own noisy boy out of the home. 
 
 "' Good-for-Nothing Polly ' will doubt- England as it has already done in the 
 less gam the admiration and win the United States." — Bookseller, London, 
 graces of as large a circle of readers in 
 
 HOW TWO GIRLS TRIED FARMING. i2mo, illustrated, 
 
 1.00. 
 
 A narrative of an actual experience. 
 
 " The two girls who tried farming pigs and chickens, and as they do every- 
 solved a problem by taking the bull by thing to the best of their ability, their 
 the horns, and that is often as effectual a products are in constant demand." — St. 
 means as can be resorted to. They had Louis Post Despatch. 
 for capital one thousand dollars. With "We recommend it to those girls who 
 this they bought thirty-five acres of are wearing out their lives at the sewing- 
 scraggy farm land. Then they hired out machine, behind counters or even at the 
 as lady help for the winter and laid by teacher's desk." — New York Herald. 
 enough money to buy clover seed, and a " The success of the farm is almost 
 horse and a few other necessities. Dolly suqiassed by the charm of the record, 
 had learned to plough and harrow and It shows a touch of refinement and a 
 make hay, and even to cut wood. Both degree of literary skill no less uncommon 
 girls worked hard and it is pleasant to than the enterprise which has converted 
 chronicle their success. Now they have a bleak hill-top of Michigan into a smil- 
 a prosperous farm, and raise cows, sheep, ing garden." — New York Tril)U7/e. 
 
D. LOTHROP COMPANY'S 
 
 ALLEN (Willis Boyd). 
 
 PINE CONES. i2mo. illustrated, i.oo. 
 
 " Pine Cones sketches the adventures time. It will make old blood run warmer 
 of a dozen wide-awake boys and girls in and revive old times to hear them whoop 
 the woods, along the streams and over and see them scamper. No man or 
 the mountains. It is good, wholesome woman has a right to grow too old to 
 reading that will make boys nobler and enjoy seeing the young enjoy the spring 
 girls gentler. It has nothing of the over- days of life. It is a breezy, joyous, en- 
 goody flavor, but they are simply honest, tertaining book, and we commend it to 
 live, healthy young folks, wilh warm 'our young readers." — Chicago Inter- 
 blood in their veins and good impulses Ocean. 
 in their hearts, and are out for a good 
 
 SILVER RAGS. 12010, illustrated, i.oo. 
 
 "Silver Rags is a continuation of " Mr. Willis Boyd Allen is one of our 
 
 Pine Cones and is quite as delightful finest writers of juvenile fiction. There 
 
 reading as its predecessor. The story is an open frankness in Mr. Allen's 
 
 describes a jolly vacation in Maine, and characters which render them quite as 
 
 the sayings and doings of the city boys novel as they are interesting, and his 
 
 and girls are varied by short stories, sup- simplicity of style makes the whole story 
 
 posed to be told by a good-natured' Uncle as fresh and breezy as the pine woods 
 
 Will.'" — Tlie iVatchiuan, Boston. themselves." — Boston Herald. 
 
 THE NORTHERN CROSS. i2mo, illustrated, i.oo. 
 
 "The Northern Cross, a story of the idea of the Northern Cross for young 
 
 Boston Latin School by Willis Boyd crusaders gives an imaginary tinge to the 
 
 Allen, is a capital book for boys. Be- healthy realism." — Boston Journal. 
 
 ginning with a drill upon Boston Com- "Mr. Willis Boyd Allen appeals to a 
 
 mon, the book continues with m.any inci- large audience when he tells a story of 
 
 dents of school life. There are recita- the Boston Latin School in the last year 
 
 tions, with their successes and failures, of Master Gardner's life. And even to 
 
 drills and exhibitions. Over all is Dr. those who never had the privilege of 
 
 Francis Gardner, the stern, eccentric, studying there the story is pleasant and 
 
 warm-hearted Head Master, whom once lively." — Boston Post. 
 to meet was to remember forever! The 
 
 KELP : A Story of the Isle of Shoals, iamo, illustrated, i.oo. 
 
 This is the latest of the Pine Cone Series and introduces the same characters. Their 
 adventures are now on a lonely little island, one of the Shoals, where they camp out 
 and have a glorious time not unmarked by certain perilous episodes which heighten 
 the interest of the story. It is really the best of a series of which all are delightful 
 reading for young people. 
 
 " It is a healthful, clean, bright book, fully through the veins of young read- 
 which will make the blood course health- ers." — Chicago Inter-Ocean. 
 
 ANAGNOS (Julia R.). 
 
 PHILOSOPHIC QUCSTOR; or, Days at Concord. i2mo, 
 
 60 cents. 
 
 In this unique book, Mrs. Julia R. Anagnos, one of the accomplished daughters of 
 Julia Ward Howe, presents, under cover of a pleasing narrative, a sketch of the 
 Emerson session of the Concoid School of Philosophy. It has for its frontispiece an 
 excellent picture of the building occupied by this renowned school. 
 
 "The seeker of philosophical truth, in which the last two sessions of the 
 
 who is described as the shadowy figure of Concord School of Philosophy, which 
 
 a young girl, is throughout very expres- include that in memory of Emerson, and 
 
 sive of desire and appreciation. The im- its lecturers excite her feelings and inspire 
 
 pressions she receives are those to which her thought. It is sung in lofty strains 
 
 such a condition are most sensitive — the that resemble those of the sacred woods 
 
 higher and more refined ones — and the and fount, and themselves are communi- 
 
 responsive thoughts concern the nature cative of their spirit. It will be welcomed 
 
 and character of what is heard or felt. as an appropriate souvenir." — Boston 
 
 Mrs. Anagnos has written a prose poem. Globe. 
 
SELECT LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 BOLTON (Sarah K.). 
 
 HOW SUCCESS IS WON.*i2mo, i.oo. 
 
 A fine portrait accompanies each biography. 
 
 " Short sketches of the lives of Peter 
 Cooper, Johns Hopkins, the poet Whit- 
 tier, William Hunt, Thomas Edison, 
 Gongh, John Wanamaker, and a few 
 others. Mrs. Bolton has done her work 
 charmingly, uniting the events of typical 
 lives, for which the world is better that 
 they have lived in it, with the strong, 
 impressive lessons of the supremacy of 
 character over mere achievement, and 
 that the only worthy achievements are 
 those wrought out from high purpose 
 and noble motive. . . . No better 
 book could be put into the hands of 
 young people than Mrs. Bolton's stories 
 of ' How Success is Won.' She shows 
 how' the thing we name success is the 
 result of earnest, honest industry, of pure 
 
 purpose, of lofty aim, and the book 
 is a mental and moral tonic." — Boston 
 Traveller. 
 
 " Nothing can be finer or truer than 
 the biography of Peter Cooper. It is a 
 prose poem, affecting the reader with 
 strong, noble and emulative impulses." 
 — Cleveland Leader. 
 
 " I wish the book could circulate a 
 million copies. I know of no book so 
 inspiring to a boy or a poor deserving 
 man." — Hezekiah Butterwokth, 
 Editor Youth's Companion. 
 
 "The book is a success. The stories 
 are told charmingly. I believe in circu- 
 lating such a stimulus to industry, per- 
 sistence and good habits." — Kate San- 
 born. 
 
 SOCIAL STUDIES IN ENGLAND. i2mo, illustrated 
 
 i.oo. 
 
 " ' Social Studies in England ' is packed 
 with interesting matter concerning the 
 efforts in progress in that country for the 
 education of women and the dispensation 
 of charity. Its several chapters deal 
 with the higher education of women at 
 Cambridge, at Oxford, the London Uni- 
 versity, University Coilege, and in the 
 art schools; with the new avenues of 
 work opened to women in the practice of 
 needlework, decorative art, floriculture, 
 business, etc. ; with the special charities 
 under the charge of Agnes E. Weston, 
 Mrs. Spurgeon, Miss De Broen, and 
 
 others; and with various London chari- 
 ties, the Peabody homes, working-men's 
 colleges, post-office savings banks, coop- 
 erative societies, etc., etc. Mrs. Bolton 
 spent two years in England investigating 
 the subjects of which she treats, and had 
 access to all sources of information relat- 
 ing to them." — Chicago Dial. 
 
 "'Social Studies ' contains many use- 
 ful hints for the thousands of ladies who 
 are making such praiseworthy efforts to 
 support themselves." — Literary World, 
 London. 
 
 SOME SUCCESSFUL WOMEN. 
 
 traits. i2mo, i.oo. (4) 
 
 Illustrated with por- 
 
 " It consists of twelve brief biograph- 
 ies of American women who have in 
 various walks and professions earned 
 success so marked as lo make their names 
 familiar to every household in the coun- 
 *rv, and who have done much to inspire 
 Others of their sex to follow in their foot- 
 Steps. Among them are Marion Har- 
 land (Mrs. Terhune); Mrs. G. R. Alden 
 (Pansv); Clara Barton, the philanthrop- 
 ist; Alice Freeman, the president of 
 Welleslev College ; Rachel Bodlev, dean 
 of the Woman's Medical College, Phila- 
 delphia ; Frances E. Willard, whose 
 labors in behalf of temperance have cjiven 
 her a place among the foremost of Amer- 
 ican women ; Mrs. Candace Wheeler and 
 
 her daughter Dora, who have done so 
 much to develop the love for decorative 
 art in this country, and to create oppor- 
 tunities for its practical application ; with 
 others who have gained equally distin- 
 guished places in other departments of 
 art, literature and industry."- — Boston 
 Transcript. 
 
 " It is good reading for plain men and 
 will help all sensible women." — Boston 
 Beacon. 
 
 " It should have a place on every 
 book shelf." — Providence Telegram. 
 
 "The young woman who is struggling 
 hard with adverse circumstances will find 
 much to inspire her with new courage 
 and hope." — Detroit Free Press. 
 
 ' Recomm"nded by the State Board of Wisconsin for the public school libraries. 
 
D. LOTHROP COMPANY'S 
 
 BOYD (Pliny Steele). 
 
 UP AND DOWN THE MERRIMAC. Illustrated, i2mo, 
 i.oo. 
 
 A vacation trip upon one of the most charming rivers in the world, made in a dory 
 by the author and his two sons for the purpose of hunting, fishing and a good tune 
 generally. 
 
 " The author is a shrewd thinker; his run through its pages render it peculiarly 
 reflections upon men and things which attractive." — Philadelphia Item. 
 
 BOYDEN (Anna L.). 
 ECHOES FROM HOSPITAL AND WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 l2mo, i.oo. (4) 
 
 "Anna L. Boyden has undertaken to Is a well-written, earnest account of Mrs. 
 
 commemorate the services of Mrs. Re- Pomroy's valuable work as a nurse, and, 
 
 becca R Pomroy in the hospitals of the as such, an addition which all will be 
 
 army and in the family of President glad to have to the bibliography of the 
 
 Lincoln during the Rebellion. The book late War.' ' — Chicago Tribune, 
 
 BOYESEN (Hjalmar Hjorth). 
 VAGABOND TALES. Square i2mo, 1.25. 
 
 A collection of characteristic novellettes by one of the most entertaining and most 
 popular of modern story-tellers. No writer living — scarcely excepting even the great 
 Bjornstem — so thoroughly understands the Norse character and when into this is in- 
 fused the American element, the succes of Prof. Boyesen's tales is easily understood. 
 There is a breeziness, a vigor and a manliness about his characters that captivate the 
 reader at once and combine dramatic force with literary skill. The stories included in 
 this volume are : Crooked John: A Child of the Age; Monk Tellenbach's Exile; 
 A Disastrous Partnership; Liberty's Victim; A Perilous Incognito; Charity. 
 
 BOY'S WORKSHOP (A). 
 
 By a Boy and his Friends. With an introduction by Henry Ran- 
 dall Waite. Illustrated, i2mo, 1.00. 
 
 Written by ' a boy and his friends,' and do a great many other things. It is a 
 
 takes j du right into A Boy^s Workshop ; book that every boy would like to have, 
 
 tells you how to make and to use a saw- and that he ought to have." — Advan.ce, 
 
 horse and a work-bench ; how to use Chicago. 
 
 tools and to care for them; lets you into " Next to actual service with an intel- 
 
 the secret of book-rests, foot-rests, tables, ligent carpenter or cabinet-maker this 
 
 cabinets, catch-alls, etc. ; shows you how book is to be valued for its instruction in 
 
 to build wooden tents, make a fernery, the art and mystery of tools." — Chris- 
 
 construct a railway and train, bind mag- tian Advocate, New York, 
 azmes, take photographs, tie knots, and 
 
 BRAVE GIRLS. 
 
 i2mo, illustrated, 1.50. 
 
 When young people see the name of Nora Perry, Mary Hartwell Catherwood or 
 Frank H. Converse appended to a story, they prick up their ears at once, for they 
 have learned to" expect something of unusual interest. They will not be disappointed 
 when they open this book and read about Glen Hastings, Kate Oxfotd, Sharly Ray- 
 mond and Bessy May — brave girls every one, but in divers ways. Other writers 
 almost as well known as these favorites have helped in no slight degree to swell this 
 tributj to tlu sivls. 
 
SELECT LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 KNIGHT (Charles). 
 KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. l2mo, 1.50. (3) 
 
 "The author discusses in a clear and each that a thorough knowledge of their 
 
 masterlv way the relation between capital work gives, and urges a broader culture 
 
 and labor, the duties of employer and for all classes. " — St. Joseph Gazette. 
 employed, and the great advantage to 
 
 KNIGHT (Mrs. S. G.). 
 
 NED HARWOOD'S VISIT TO JERUSALEM. 4to, 
 boards, illustrated, 1.25. Library Edition, i2ino, cloth, 1.25. 
 
 The travellers were in no hurry. They spent much time in the places associated 
 with Christ's ministry and in the former homes of the patriarchs and prophets. The 
 book is of especial value to Sunday-school teachers and scholars, because of the light 
 it throws upon many difficult Scripture passages by its vivid descriptions. The manu- 
 script was approved by Rev. Selah Merrill, D. £)., for many years U. S. Consul at 
 Jerusalem. The strictest accuracy has thus been secured without imparing the inter- 
 est of the story. Cover in colors from original design. 
 
 " The pictures of buildings and scenery "It tell? about just the things that 
 
 are worth the price of the book." — would interest a boy in the Holy Land." 
 U 'oman's Journal. — Union Signal. 
 
 KOKHANOVSKY (Madame). 
 
 RUSTY LINCHPIN and LUBOFF ARCHIPOVNA. 
 
 Translated from the Russian by M. M. S. and J. L. E. i2mo, 1.25. 
 
 " Here are two exquisite idyls of Rus- come so fascinating to Western readers, 
 
 sian rural life. Innocent and ingenuous, and help us to realize how truly the aims 
 
 ignorant of the falsity and fever of fash- and the emotions of common life are the 
 
 ionable life, they have the freshness and same under all garbs and mall lands." — 
 
 simplicity of a good child. The local Chicago Dial. 
 
 coloring adds to their bright cheerfulness, "Of a number of works of fiction 
 
 and the honest, kindly characters move translated from the Russian within a year 
 
 us to a devout thankfulness." — Chris- or two, no book, as a whole, is so purely 
 
 tian Union, N. Y. reflective of Russian domestic life, or so 
 
 "They bring us very close to that sweet in tone as ' The Rusty Linchpin.' " 
 
 strange civilization which has lately be- — Boston Globe. 
 
 LAMB (Charles). 
 
 " Seeking his materials for the most part in the common paths of life— often in the 
 humblest — he gives an importance to everything and sheds a grace over all." — 
 Thomas Noon Talfourd. 
 
 A DISSERTATION UPON ROAST PIG. Small quarto, 
 
 illustrated, 1.00. 
 
 A separate issue of the humorous masterpiece of Lamb, " the frolic and the gentle." 
 Printed on heavy paper, in clear, large type, characteristically illustrated by L. J. 
 Bridgman. 
 
 " A little holiday book, the outside of those charming literary trifles, whose 
 which is in admirable harmony with what lightness and brightness will always keep 
 it contains. The dissertation is one of it popular." — Boston Transcript. 
 
D. LOTHROP COMPANY'S 
 
 CLARK (H. H., U. S. N.), continued. 
 NAVAL CADET BENTLY. nmo, illustrated, 1.50. 
 
 This may be considered a sequel to " Boy Life in the U. S. Navy." As Joe Bently 
 advances in his chosen profession he meets with many new and intensely interest- 
 ing adventures, while the clear explanation ot the little understood details of naval life, 
 which made the first book so instructive, are continued in this with marked success. 
 
 CLARK (Mrs. S. R. Graham). 
 
 YENSIE WALTON. i2mo, illustrated, 1.50. 
 
 " It will be welcomed by all lovers of drudge by her aunt, who is a coarse, 
 
 high-toned fiction, not only for the deli- vulgar woman, and at first she is passion- 
 
 cious fragrance of true, abiding principle ate and disobedient. But a Christian 
 
 which is breathed from every page, but teacher develops a new life in her and 
 
 for the continuous and increasing interest she becomes a sunbeam in the house, 
 
 of the narrative." — St. Paul Dispatch even softening the heart of her aunt.'' — 
 
 " It is about an orphan girl who finds Portland Transcript 
 a home with an uncle, and is made a 
 
 THE TRIPLE " E" 121110,1.50. 
 
 "'The Triple E' is the name playfully ner. The two sisters are compelled to 
 
 given by her friends to a girl of eighteen, enter a large manufactory in order to gain 
 
 whose three names begin with that letter, a subsistence and earn means for sup- 
 
 and who is left with a younger sister to porting their charges. The record of 
 
 make her way in the world after the their experiences in this new life, their 
 
 death of her parents. She has promised trials, and the victory over adversity they 
 
 her mother on her deathbed to not only finally achieved, is told in a manner which 
 
 care for her sister, but also for an insane commands attention from first to last." 
 
 uncle, and a little girl waif who came into Burlington Hawkeye. 
 their family in the most mysterious man- 
 
 ACHOR. i2mo, 1.50. 
 
 A sequel to the "Triple E. " It has the same characters and solves the mystery 
 which there enveloped the heroine's life, who, now grown to womanhood devotes her- 
 self to the reclamation of a depraved father. 
 
 YENSIE WALTON'S WOMANHOOD. 12010, illustrated, 
 
 1.50. 
 
 A sequel to " Yensie Walton," 
 
 " Yensie has arrived at the dignity of her in her own wedded home, a wife and 
 
 an instructor and her experience will mother to serve as a model.'' — Tlie 
 
 greatly interest those who have to do Watchman, Boston. 
 
 with the moral and mental training of " Not written for critics, but for the 
 
 children. The deformed boy, brilliant, sorrowing, burdened toilers of my own 
 
 but embittered by his physical misfor- sex." — Preface. 
 
 tune, taxes Yensie's skill and persever- " The story is well told and interesting, 
 
 ance to the utmost. She gradually wins and the moral of it is the superioritv of 
 
 him, however, working a beautifulchange duty to pleasure, as a life-motive." — 
 
 in the boy's disposition. Then she is Christian at Work, New York, 
 met by 'woman's destiny,' and we leave 
 
 HERBERT GARDENELL'S CHILDREN. i2mo, 1 50. 
 
 " From beginning to end its teachings with five children, and their characters 
 
 are strong, pure, sweet, inculcating not and home life, with Us vicissitudes of 
 
 morality simply, but the religion of Jesus, light and shadow, are the subject of the 
 
 and all without a particle of 'preach- story, which is well told and conveys 
 
 ment.'" — Union Signal, Chicaco. impressive lessons." — Lutheran Ob- 
 
 " Herbert GardentU is a clergyman server, Philadelphia. 
 
if-ij^;^!:"""'- 1 ^ 
 
 . ."'■'■' '"