ng rather than suffering any longer.

"I didn't think that of you, Little," sneered Howe.

"Didn't you? Well, it's only a question as to who can stand it the
longest on a diet of salt horse without water," replied Little. "I can
hold out as long as any fellow; but we shall not make anything by it.
If we could, I would stick."

"Let us do something, at least, to make a sensation before we give in.
I don't like the idea of being conquered just in this way."

"What can we do?"

"Let us set the ship afire, or bore holes in the bottom," whispered
Howe.

"Of course, you don't mean anything of that sort," added Little, with a
grim smile.

"I would rather do it than be whipped out in this manner. I never felt
so cheap and mean in my life," continued Howe, kicking the front of the
berth, and pounding with his fist to indicate the intensity of his
wrath.

"Nor I either; but what are you going to do about it."

"Well, you furnish gumption for the crowd, and I came to ask you what
to do. Our fellows' backs are broken, and they will go on deck when the
boatswain's pipe sounds again."

"I shall go with them," replied Little, quietly.

"Can't we get into the hold, and find some water?"

"No; Bitts put a lock on that scuttle this morning, and the forward
officers are watching all the time. You can set the ship afire if you
like. I don't think of anything else you can do to make yourself felt."

"I'll do it!" exclaimed Howe.

"No, you won't," added Little, mildly.

"What's the reason I won't?"

"You dare not."

"You see!" said the discomfited leader, bolting out of the room.

Some men, and some boys, are the most easily overwhelmed by letting
them severely alone. If Howe could have made a sensation, he would have
been better satisfied, even if he had been committed to the brig. He
was vain and proud, and it hurt him more to be ignored than to be
beaten. It was questionable whether he was desperate enough to put his
savage threat into execution; but he collected a pile of books and
papers in his mess-room, and declared his intention to Herman, Monroe,
and others, who were his messmates. No student was allowed to have
matches, and he lacked the torch to fire the incendiary pile.

"Don't be an idiot, Howe!" said Herman, disgusted with the conduct of
his leader.

"I'm going to do something," persisted he.

"You are not going to do that."

"Yes, I am! As soon as the steward leaves the steerage, I shall borrow
on