170

XII. THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL. 186

XIII. PIPING TO MISCHIEF. 202

XIV. ALL HANDS, REEF TOPSAILS! 218

XV. AFTER THE GALE. 233

XVI. THE WRECK OF THE SYLVIA 248

XVII. PEAS AND BEANS 263

XVIII. THE RESULT OF THE BALLOT 280

XIX. MAN OVERBOARD! 299

XX. THE END OF THE CHAIN LEAGUE 318

* * * * *

OUTWARD BOUND.

OUTWARD BOUND;

OR,

YOUNG AMERICA AFLOAT

* * * * *

CHAPTER I.

THE IDEA SUGGESTED.

"There are no such peaches this side of New Jersey; and you can't get
them, for love or money, at the stores. All we have to do is, to fill
our pockets, and keep our mouths closed--till the peaches are ripe
enough to eat," said Robert Shuffles, the older and the larger of two
boys, who had just climbed over the high fence that surrounded the fine
garden of Mr. Lowington.

"What will Baird say if he finds it out?" replied Isaac Monroe, his
companion.

"Baird," the gentleman thus irreverently alluded to, was the principal
of the Brockway Academy, of which Shuffles and Monroe were pupils in the
boarding department.

"What will he say when he finds out that the King of the Tonga Islands
picks his teeth with a pitchfork?" added Shuffles, contemptuously. "I
don't intend that he shall find it out? and he won't, unless you tell
him."

"Of course, I shall not tell him."

"Come along, then? it is nearly dark, and no one will see us."

Shuffles led the way down the gravelled walk, till he came to a brook,
on the bank of which stood the peach tree whose rich fruit had tempted
the young gentlemen to invade the territory of Mr. Lowington with intent
to plunder.

"There they are," said the chief of the young marauders, as he paused
behind a clump of quince bushes, and pointed at the coveted fruit.
"There's no discount on them, and they are worth coming after."

"Hark!" whispered Monroe. "I heard a noise."

"What was it?"

"I don't know. I'm afraid we shall be caught."

"No danger; no one can see us from the house."

"But I'm sure there's some one near. I heard something."

"Nonsense! It was only a dagger of the mind, such as Baird talks about,"
answered Shuffles, as he crawled towards the peach tree. "Come, Monroe,
be quick, and fill your pockets."

This peach tree was a choice variety, in whose cultivation the owner had
been making an elaborate exp