d,
shaking his head.

"All hands, up anchor, ahoy!" shouted the boatswain, the second time,
at the main hatch.

"It's all right," said Howe, appearing at the door; "not a fellow
answers it."

"Only a dozen have gone on deck in all," added Raymond.

"Is that all?" asked the runaway.

"That's all; I counted them."

"Good! We shall make a big thing of it," answered Howe, as he left the
room to look into others, in all of which it is safe to say that the
strong-minded rebels were engaged in stiffening the backs of the weaker
ones, for a large portion of them were in a very novel position.

"Some one will be down very soon to know what the matter is," said
Hyde, fidgeting about his berth, where he had stretched himself to
await the time.

"Who shall speak for us?" asked Raymond.

"You shall," replied Lindsley.

"Very well; I will do the best I can," answered Raymond, modestly. "I
am to say, very respectfully, that the fellows are dissatisfied with
the idea of going to sea, and giving up the trip to the Rhine."

"Yes; and we respectfully request that the principal will make good his
promise to take us into Germany," added Hyde.

"Don't you mean to say anything about the letters to our fathers,
asking them to take us away from the ship?" inquired Lindsley.

"That looks a little like a threat," objected Raymond. "Besides, we
don't know how many fellows will agree to send such letters."

"Let us go round and see," suggested Lindsley.

"We will, if there is time."

As the record of the preceding chapter testifies, there was an
abundance of time to carry out this or any other preliminary measure.
Raymond and Lindsley proceeded to canvass the rebels in regard to the
letters. The eighteen runaways were ready to assent to anything, but
only about half of the others were willing to give in their allegiance
to what they regarded as a mean scheme. Some even declared they would
back out if anything of this sort was to be attempted. Raymond was
politic enough not to press the measure very hard, and he returned to
his room with the names of only thirty, instead of fifty, which he had
expected to obtain.

"That's enough to make a show with," said Lindsley.

"But I don't intend to say anything about the letters to the principal,
if he is willing to do the fair thing by us."

"What are they about on deck? It is half an hour since the boatswain
piped all hands," said Hyde, jumping out of his berth.

"I'm sure I don't