the moon shone brightly on the deserted deck of the josephine after the runaways had departed in the four boats,—deserted by all save bitts, who was endeavoring to free himself from the rope by which he had been secured. before the conspirators had gone a cable's length, he succeeded. reaching the rope over his head, he went up, hand over hand, till he had slack enough to make a bight for one of his feet. then, holding on with one hand, he loosed the rope from his neck with the other, and descended to the deck.
rogues always overreach themselves. phillips had intended to secure the arms of his prisoner by winding a line around his body, but, considering him safe without it, he had neglected to do so. if he had done this, the runaways might have reached the shore before any one could come to the aid of the sufferer. he was free in three minutes after phillips left him. the boats were pulling for the shore, and those below were laboring to release themselves from their imprisonment. he went to the companion way, and tried to open it; but the nail held it fast. descending to the steerage, he removed the handspike with which the cabin door was fastened.
"what does all this mean?" demanded mr. fluxion, as he hastened on deck.
"the boys have taken all the boats, and left the vessel," replied bitts.
"left the vessel!" exclaimed mr. fluxion. "were you asleep on deck?"
"no, sir. half a dozen of them hung me by the neck till i was nearly choked to death," pleaded the carpenter.
"where was cleats?"
"i stepped below for half a minute, and they clapped the slide on over me," answered cleats, very sheepishly.
"you stepped below! i ordered you not to leave the deck," added the vice-principal, angrily. "you are responsible for this."
"i did not think the young rascals would do such a thing as this," pleaded the culprit.
"i did; and i told you they would do anything. you have disobeyed my orders. take the helm, gage."
mr. fluxion glanced at the boats, and gave a few hasty orders, by which the josephine was headed towards the shore. the cooks and stewards in the forecastle were released, and the chase commenced.
"i did not think they were quite so bold as this," said dr. carboy.
"they will do anything. cleats thinks more of his stomach than of his duty, or it would not have happened," replied mr. fluxion. "i have seen the boys talking together a great deal on this cruise, and i was sure something was brewing. i charged all the officers not to leave the deck for a single instant. probably the young rascals have been watching for this opportunity during the whole cruise."
"it is a very foolish movement on their part," added dr. carboy.
"yet if they had kept us in the cabin half an hour longer, it might have succeeded, for the boats would have been out of sight. if they had tied bitts's arms behind him, it might have been half an hour before we could have broken out of the cabin."
mr. fluxion questioned the watch officers very closely in regard to the conduct of the crew on deck, and he soon understood the whole matter. he was very severe upon cleats for leaving the deck, declared that he could not be trusted, and that he should be discharged. the latter was very humble, acknowledged his error, and made no attempt to palliate it. he had always been faithful, so far as was known, and probably had never been guilty of any graver offence than that of leaving the deck for a few minutes during his watch. but he had been expressly cautioned not to do this, and had sent a hand below for his lunch, until the present time.
in the boats the runaways were pulling with all their might to get out of sight of the josephine before the officers should set themselves at liberty. perth urged the oarsmen in the captain's gig to the most tremendous exertion. but in less than ten minutes, and before they had made a single mile, they saw the josephine fill away, and stand towards them.
"did you fasten bitts?" said perth, to phillips, who was in the gig with him.
"i did. he couldn't get away, i know," replied phillips.
"they are after us, and i'm afraid the game is up," added perth. "the josephine can make two knots to our one in this breeze."
the leader was very anxious for the result. the plan had really failed because the officers had released themselves so much sooner than was expected. but perth hoped to make it partially successful. standing up in the gig, he ordered the other boats to separate, so that the josephine could not capture them all at once. he directed the first cutter to pull to the north-west, while the gig went to the south-west, and the second and third cutters were to take intermediate points. the josephine was headed to the north-west, with the evident intention of getting between the boats and the shore. the second cutter would therefore be her first victim; and perth hoped that, by the time she had picked up the other three boats, his own would be in shoal water, where a schooner of her tonnage could not come.
little was in command of the first cutter. he obeyed the order of perth, though he saw it would be a losing game for his boat. in less than half an hour the josephine came up with him. the wind was due east, which gave the vessel every advantage, and she came about under the lee of the cutter.
"hold water! back her!" shouted little, who had prepared his plan of operations, and intended to pull dead to windward of her, so that she would have to go in stays before she could come up with the boat again.
peaks spoiled his plan by throwing a boat grapnel into the fore-sheets of the cutter, and hauling her alongside of the josephine as her sails shook in the wind. cleats dropped into the boat, and, leaping aft, seized little by the collar. gage followed him, and ten of the runaways were captured. mr. fluxion ordered them on board the vessel, and the two men in the boat expedited their movements by some rather rough usage.
the vice-principal said nothing to the discomfited crew of the first cutter, but gave his orders to chase the second cutter. as the josephine approached her, peaks and gage, with two of the stewards, were sent off in the first cutter as the vessel lay to. they grappled the boat, and as no one thought of resisting peaks, they were readily captured, and driven upon the deck of the schooner. the third cutter was taken with no more difficulty. a few moments later, the josephine luffed up under the lee of the gig, having towed the first cutter, in which the four men were seated, to this position. the boat pulled towards the runaways. perth was desperate when he saw how easily he was to be captured.
"bat them over the head with your oars, fellows!" shouted he. "don't let them take you!"
the oarsmen attempted to obey this order, and to beat off their pursuers. a brief struggle ensued, in which perth and phillips fought with desperation; but peaks succeeded in getting into the gig, and the strife was ended. with a blow of his fist the stalwart boatswain justified the traditions of himself, and perth was knocked senseless in the bottom of the boat, while phillips, with a bleeding face, yielded the day. the runaways in the gig were driven to the deck, as their companions had been, while perth was handed up by the grim peaks, put in his berth, and attended by dr. carboy.
the long-cherished scheme of little had ended in disaster, and all hands had been captured. the runaways looked at each other with a sort of astonishment when they found themselves on board again. doubtless they were satisfied that they had not bettered their condition by what they had done. they obeyed whatever orders were given them, for the terrible peaks had verified all the stories told of him. he had knocked perth insensible, and badly damaged phillips. it was not safe to refuse to do duty, as some of them, in their chagrin, wished to do.
as soon as the boats were hoisted up, and the josephine headed on her course again, all hands were piped to muster. by this time perth was able to appear, for he had only been stunned by the boatswain's fist. a savage lecture from the vice-principal was expected; but instead of that, every one of the crew was searched. perth's twenty pounds was discovered and confiscated, as well as numerous bills on paris, letters of credit, and similar valuable papers. the conspirators had put them in their pockets to use on shore. without any further notice of the affair of the night, the vice-principal stationed the watch, and dismissed the rest of the crew.
mr. fluxion probably acted on the principle of the celebrated schoolmaster who charged all the faults of his pupils upon himself. if cleats had not left the deck, the conspiracy could not have been even partially successful, and he charged all the blame upon him. after the affair he increased his own vigilance, adding dr. carboy to one watch, and the head steward to the other, so that another attempt to escape must certainly fail.
"i never believed much in that plan," said herman, the next day, as he and perth met on deck.
"i did. i won't go back on it now. if we had had half an hour more, we should have been safe. phillips didn't do as he agreed with bitts," answered the leader. "he ought to have put a line a dozen times around his body, so that he couldn't move his hands."
"he said he was afraid of actually choking him to death."
"tying his hands would not have choked him."
"well, whatever the reason was, the plan failed. we are played out for this cruise."
"yes, and haven't seen paris, switzerland, germany, or the rhine," growled perth.
"i suppose it is our own fault."
"humph!" snuffed the conquered leader.
"i am satisfied, now, that if we had done our duty, we should have had a better time."
"repent, then," said perth, as he turned on his heel.
possibly there was no other runaway in the crew who confessed as much as this, but if is doubtful whether there was one who did not realize the truth of the statement. all of them were satisfied that it was useless to contend against the discipline of the academy while it was administered by such men as the principal and the vice-principal.
the josephine had a fair passage, and reached lisbon on the day after the young america had anchored in the river. she was loudly cheered when she luffed up under the quarter of the ship, but not a sound came from the disappointed and disheartened runaways in response, and more fully than the sufferers themselves did the members of the order of the faithful believe that the way of the transgressor is hard.
mr. fluxion immediately went on board of the ship, and reported to the principal. for an hour they discussed the events of the cruise of the josephine up the mediterranean; but both were satisfied that the discipline of the squadron had been triumphant. mr. lowington was more indulgent towards cleats than the vice-principal was disposed to be, and he was put on probation.
before night the original order on board both vessels was restored, and again the runaways mingled with the faithful ones. each party had a story to tell, and the glories of the beautiful rhine lost nothing in the description given by the tourists. the narrative of the adventures of the excursionists was galling to the others, for the latter had nothing but sea life to speak of, unless it was the harbor of genoa. it was painful to be obliged to say that they had been up the mediterranean without putting a foot on shore during their absence. certainly those who had done their duty could appreciate the pleasures of their trip, after contrasting it with that of the runaways; and perhaps they needed this contrast to enable them fully to realize the satisfaction which follows right doing.
fresh provisions and water were taken in by both vessels. only a few of the students went on shore, and those on duty; and at noon on the day after the arrival of the josephine, the squadron got under way, homeward bound. the usual routine on board was restored, and the studies of the school-room were mingled with the duties of the ship. only one gale disturbed the serenity of the passage, and both vessels came to anchor in brockway harbor, after a voyage of thirty days. the runaways had behaved tolerably well during the trip, for they had learned that there was no safety or satisfaction in rebellion and disobedience. they were not reformed, and perhaps never will be; but they were controlled, and saved from a vicious life on shore during the period of the cruise.
others had been reformed, and converted from evil-disposed boys into well-meaning ones. shuffles and pelham were not the only ones who had been turned aside from the error of their ways, though their individual experience has not been detailed. the moral results of the voyage were very good. if the discipline of the ship and her consort had not reformed all the vicious characters, it had restrained their evil tendencies, and kept them away from the haunts of vice, though its most pernicious haunt is within the soul of the evil-doer.
on the other hand, the intellectual results of the cruise were abundantly satisfactory. the students had made excellent progress in their studies, and not a few of them were already competent navigators. there had been hardly a case of sickness on board, and the boys were all in rugged health. mr. lowington, therefore, had every reason to be satisfied with the success of his great experiment. he intended to make some changes in the vessels, and return to europe the following spring, after spending the winter in various ports of the united states.
the academy had a vacation during the christmas holidays, and all the students went home. perth and some others declared they should not return, but their parents thought otherwise, and with hardly an exception, they did return, and the institution continued to prosper.
shuffles, it need not be said, kept his promise to lady feodora, and hardly a week passed in which a letter did not cross the ocean from him to her, and from her to him. one of the latter informed him that lady feodora had not seen sir william for a month; for, with her father's consent, she had dismissed him. paul kendall spent much of his spare time in writing letters which went to belfast. no doubt lady feodora will, in due time, become mrs. shuffles, and grace arbuckle mrs. kendall. it may even be said that promises to this effect have already passed between the respective parties. our readers will wish them joy, and we heartily join in the hope that life will be as happy to them as duty faithfully done can make it.
for the present we take our leave of the academy squadron, though we hope in the future to be the chronicler of more of the travel and adventure in foreign lands of young america abroad.
