another bugle-call.

[Illustration: line of musical notation]

This means _assembly_, and the cadets all troop down to the middle deck,
where they form in line, two deep, all along the deck; the port watch in
the fore part of the ship, and the starboard watch farther aft. This
division into two parts, starboard watch and port watch, is to accustom
them to the idea of the whole ship's company being always divided into
two watches.

The cadet captains stand in front of the two lines, the chief captains
one at the end of each watch. These are cadets chosen as "monitors" to
have charge of the others.

The _silence_ bugle sounds, though no one is supposed to make a noise
after the _assembly_ has sounded. The officer of the day comes along, a
lieutenant, whose duty it is to look after the cadets that day. "_Open
order! March_," is his order; "_Rear rank, dress_," says the chief
captain, and he walks round the two lines, and sees that the cadets are
properly dressed. That white lanyard you see round their neck is for
holding their keys. A sailor always has a knife at the end of such a
lanyard.

"_Close order! March_," and the officer of the day marches them off to
their various studies for the morning. Let us go and see where they have
gone. Half of them, one watch, have gone down into the large mess-room.
They sit round the room at the tables by the ship's side, and prepare
work for their naval instructors. In a little while the servants will
lay the middle tables for breakfast, but they do not mind the noise.

Up in the lecture-room, the chaplain has some classes at a Bible lesson.
Just outside the lecture-room a sailor is teaching some of the boys at a
model of a ship. On the main-deck of the "other ship," a sergeant is
drilling some of the boys, and on the place where all stood for the
first muster cadets are seated on forms, and are being taught by a
sailor the meaning of some sea expressions, and what they are to do to
avoid collisions at sea.

So they are busy at work till at ten minutes past eight a bugle goes for
all to go down into the mess-room, where they range themselves at their
places for breakfast.

At a quarter past eight the chaplain comes down to read prayers, the
captain of the ship and the officer of the day coming down too. Then
breakfast and letters, which are handed round to the fortunate ones.

There is plenty of talk at breakfast; but tea, coffee, and cocoa,
bread-and-butter, meat of some