juvenile officers of the ship, fifteen in number, who
were to hold their positions as rewards of merit. The captain had a room
to himself, while each of the other apartments was to accommodate two
officers.

On the left of the companion-way, descending the stairs, was the "old
folks' cabin," as it was called by the students. It was in the locality
corresponding to that occupied by the ward room of a man-of-war. Though
the after cabin is the place of honor on board a ship, Mr. Lowington had
selected the ward room for himself and the teachers, in preference to
the after cabin, because it was next to the steerage, which was occupied
by the larger portion of the pupils, and because the form of the ship
did not contract the dimensions of the state rooms. This cabin was
twenty-two feet long and fifteen feet wide, with no waste room, as in
the after cabin, caused by the rounding in of the ship's counter. On the
sides were five state rooms, besides a pantry for the steward, and a
dispensary for the surgeon.

The forward room on the starboard side was occupied by Mr. Lowington
alone; the next on the same side by the chaplain and doctor; and each of
the three on the port side by two of the teachers. This cabin was
elegantly finished and furnished, and the professors were delighted with
its cheerful and pleasant aspect.

From the main cabin, as that of the "faculty" was called, were two
doors, opening into the steerage, fifty-two feet in length by fifteen
feet in width of clear space between the berths, which diminished to
nine feet abreast of the foremast. This apartment was eight feet high,
and was lighted in part by a large skylight midway between the fore and
main mast, and partly by bull's eyes in the side of the ship. There were
seventy-two berths, placed in twelve rooms, opening from passage-ways,
which extended athwartships from the main steerage, and were lighted by
the bull's eyes. There were no doors to these dormitories, each of which
contained six berths, in two tiers of three each. It was intended that
the six boys occupying one of these rooms should form a mess. Between
the gangways, or passages, were mess tables, which could be swung up
against the partition when not in use.

The steerage was neatly and tastefully fitted up, and furnished, though
not so elegantly as the cabins. It was to be the school room, as well as
the parlor and dining room of the boys, and it would compare favorably
with such apartments i