e commodore, rather anxiously. "I saw
that things did not work well."

"There is trouble somewhere, and I think I can see where it is."

"What is it?"

"Certain parties in this ship don't like me very well, just now."

"You mean the runaways," suggested Paul.

"Of course."

"They are making a mistake if they are slack in their duty," added the
commodore, rather indignantly. "They wish to go with us on our next
excursion: but I don't think they can win the privilege in this
manner."

"Wilton and Howe are doing all they can to make things go wrong," said
Captain Shuffles, who was more in sorrow than in anger at the conduct
of these worthies. "If they are doing it to spite me, they are only
spiting themselves. I am going through these manoeuvres until they are
a little more ship-shape, at least."

The new captain ordered all hands to take their stations for getting
under way, and Commodore Kendall went aft, though he still carefully
observed the conduct of the seamen. The clumsiness, and the intentional
blunders of certain of the crew seemed to indicate that there was a
conspiracy to defeat the purposes of the commander. First, Howe tumbled
down while the hands were walking round the capstan; Spencer stumbled
over him, and a dozen boys were thrown in a pile upon them. Then
Richmond and Merrick dropped their handspikes overboard, through an
open port, when the order was given to restore these articles to their
proper places.

Little snarled himself up in the gasket on the fore-topsail yard, and
dropped off, as though he had fallen, though he clung to the rope, and
was brought up with a jerk ten or twelve feet below the spar. Some of
his gang, believing he had really fallen, screamed, and the attention
of the whole crew was drawn off from their duty. When the fore-topmast
staysail and jib were to be set, somebody had fouled the down-hauls, so
that they could not be hoisted. There was a kink in the halyards of the
main-top gallant-sail, so that it would not run through the block.
Clewlines, clew-garnets, leachlines, and buntlines were in a snarl. The
zeal of those who were striving to do their duty faithfully seemed to
make the matter worse, and the officers found it difficult to determine
who really made the mischief; for the malcontents pretended to be as
enthusiastic as their shipmates. Strong expressions and hard words were
freely used by the vexed seamen, and certainly such a scene of
confusion had never befo