ard who does not know his duty."

"They are not familiar yet with their new stations, and a little
confusion is unavoidable," said Mr. Lowington, willing to make all
reasonable allowances.

"But they have already been through the routine two or three times,"
suggested Paul.

"Are the crew dissatisfied with the election?" asked the principal.

"I have not heard any dissatisfaction expressed; but I suppose some of
them don't like Shuffles, especially those who went off in the
Josephine."

"There are not twenty of them left in the ship; and it seems as though
the whole crew were engaged in this frolic."

At this moment a gang of the waist men, who were walking away with the
main-topsail sheets, were suddenly piled up in a pyramid on deck. The
second fellow in the line had fallen down; the next had tripped over
him, and those that followed tumbled into the heap. It is more than
probable that some, whose estimate of the value of good order was not
very high, though they were tolerably good boys in the main, were
tempted by their love of fun to take part in what appeared to them only
a frolic. A scene of violent confusion ensued in this particular part
of the deck. Some, who were near the bottom of the pile, were hurt by
those who fell upon them, and the tempers of others were not improved
by the mishap. Hard words followed, those at the bottom blaming those
at the top, and those at the top growling at those at the bottom. Some
were rubbing their elbows, others their shins, and all appeared to be
anxious to ascertain who had produced the mischief.

"Pipe to muster, Captain Shuffles," said the principal, stepping up to
the bewildered commander. "We have had about enough of this."

Shuffles gave the order to the first lieutenant, and it was duly
transmitted to the boatswain, whose shrill pipe soon assembled the
whole ship's company in the waist.

"We shall catch it now," said Spencer, one of the runaways, to Howe, as
they met near the rail, a little outside of the crowd.

"No matter; he is only going to preach to us," replied Howe through the
corner of his mouth, while he tried to look as innocent as one of the
chaplain's lambs.

"We shall not have a chance to go down the Rhine if we do things in
this way."

"I don't want to go down the Rhine; at least, not till I have been
through Paris and Switzerland."

"But we want to go ashore with the other fellows, or we shall have no
chance to go anywhere."

"Shut up!