The Second Degree Page 129.

YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD—SECOND SERIES.

NORTHERN LANDS;

OR,

YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA
AND PRUSSIA.

A Story of Travel and Adventure.

BY

WILLIAM T. ADAMS

(OLIVER OPTIC),

AUTHOR OF "OUTWARD BOUND," "SHAMROCK AND THISTLE," "RED CROSS,"
"DIKES AND DITCHES," "PALACE AND COTTAGE," "DOWN
THE RHINE," "UP THE BALTIC," ETC.

BOSTON:
LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS.
NEW YORK:
LEE, SHEPARD AND DILLINGHAM.

1872.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872,

By WILLIAM T. ADAMS,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

Electrotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry,

19 Spring Lane.

TO

MY EXCELLENT FRIEND

THE

HON. DAVIS DIVINE,

OF SAN JOSÉ, CALIFORNIA,

WHOSE ACQUAINTANCE I HAD THE PLEASURE OF MAKING

IN ST. PETERSBURG, AND WITH WHOM I TRAVELLED

THROUGH RUSSIA, AUSTRIA, TURKEY, ITALY,

SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL,

This Volume

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD.

By OLIVER OPTIC.

A Library of Travel and Adventure in Foreign Lands. First and Second Series; six volumes in each Series. 16mo. Illustrated.

First Series.

• I. OUTWARD BOUND; or, Young America Afloat.
• II. SHAMROCK AND THISTLE; or, Young America in Ireland and Scotland.
• III. RED CROSS; or, Young America in England and Wales.
• IV. DIKES AND DITCHES; or, Young America in Holland and Belgium.
• V. PALACE AND COTTAGE; or, Young America in France and Switzerland.
• VI. DOWN THE RHINE; or, Young America in Germany.

Second Series.

• I. UP THE BALTIC; or, Young America in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
• II. NORTHERN LANDS; or, Young America in Russia and Prussia.
• III. CROSS AND CRESCENT; or, Young America in Turkey and Greece. In preparation.
• IV. SUNNY SHORES; or, Young American in Italy and Austria. In preparation.
• V. VINE AND OLIVE; or, Young American in Spain and Portugal. In preparation.
• VI. ISLES OF THE SEA; or, Young America Homeward Bound. In preparation.

PREFACE.

Northern Lands, the second volume of the second series of "Young America Abroad," describes the varied experience of the juvenile tourists of the Academy Squadron in the Baltic, and during their journeys in Russia and Prussia, and their voyages between the different ports in these countries. Compared with most other countries of Europe, but little has been written about Russia, and the greater portion of this volume related to that interesting nation. The author writes from his own notes and recollection, so far as scenery, manners and customs are concerned, but he has made diligent study and use of all the material within his reach, including much that was gathered abroad. Perhaps the young people will vote that this is the dryest book the author has ever presented to them, because it contains the most useful information; but he hopes they will not neglect the historical part, which is sometimes stranger than any fiction.

But the volume is not without its story, which may be regarded as a reflection, on a small scale, of the political experience of the American citizen. Doubtless our young friends will sympathize with Scott the Joker in his devotion to fair play; and well will it be for our country when this spirit shall pervade the caucus and the voting places, and those who are selfishly striving for office are as effectually rebuked and ignored as they were in the Academy Squadron. The next volume of the series, from the nature of the circumstances, rather than from any fixed intention on the part of the writer, will contain much more of stirring incident than the present.

The author, who has so long been before the public as a writer of juvenile books, and who has so often "launched a volume," has felt that his welcome must be nearly worn out, and that he had no right to expect the continued favor of his army of young friends. He was therefore very agreeably surprised at the kind reception given to "Up the Baltic," the sale of which was fully equal to the most fortunate of its predecessors in the first series. The author is very grateful for this new exhibition of kindness on the part of his young friends, and he hopes that the present volume will not only interest, but instruct and benefit them.

Harrison Square, Boston,

December 18, 1871.

CONTENTS.

NORTHERN LANDS;
OR,
YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA.

CHAPTER I.

AT THE PICNIC ON THE ISLAND.

"I don't believe in it!" exclaimed De Forrest, the third lieutenant of the Young America.

"I can't say I like the idea very much," replied Beckwith, the first master. "Tom Cantwell is a great scholar, without a particle of doubt, but he is no more of a seaman than that English fellow, Clyde Blacklock, and ought not to be captain."

"But under the rule of the ship, it can't be helped," added De Forrest.

"Then the rule ought to be changed. There are not half a dozen fellows in the squadron who believe that Cantwell ought to be captain."

"He hasn't been three months in the squadron. He served his first month in the steerage, and then jumped up to fourth master. Next month he will be the captain of the ship. He doesn't know enough to set a topsail, and couldn't get the ship under way to save his life."

"I shouldn't care so much about his seamanship, if he were only a decent fellow," continued Beckwith.

"I don't want a fellow over me who don't know anything. I can't respect him."

"Well, what are you going to do about it? We can't help ourselves."

"I don't know that we can," replied De Forrest. "Cantwell is a great scholar, and seems to know everything without studying it; but he is mean, conceited, overbearing, and tyrannical. I don't believe the principal likes the idea of his being captain."

"But he can get along better as captain than he could as first lieutenant; for he has only to say, 'Get under way,' 'Come to anchor,' 'Take in the main-topsail,' and the executive officer gives all the orders in detail."

"That's true. Yet the captain is expected to know all these things, and to see that they are properly done. But, after all, we are not sure that Cantwell will be captain," suggested De Forrest.

"He has had a perfect mark in every lesson during the month; and I know that Captain Lincoln slipped up on his geometry two or three times."

"But the captain has beaten him in his seamanship, I know."

"There's the difficulty. We have been in port, or lying at anchor among these islands, nearly all the time, and there has been no chance to make anything in seamanship. We have hardly had an exercise in which marks were given out since we made the coast of Norway."

"Perhaps we shall, yet."

"If we do, Cantwell won't be captain, but he may be a lieutenant; and that is almost as bad."

"We won't cry till we are hurt, then," said De Forrest; "though I think something ought to be done to keep us out of such a scrape in the future. I have a plan in my head, which, I think, would work first rate, and be a fair thing for all."

"What is it?" asked Beckwith.

"I'll tell you. As the matter now stands, a fellow may jump from the steerage into the captain's cabin without any experience at all in commanding, especially, as during the last month, when we are running about on shore, and we don't do much in seamanship."

"But you know that this struggle for rank puts the fellows on their good behavior; and the principal would lose his sheet anchor if the present system were abandoned."

"I don't propose to abandon it entirely. I would like to have the first five officers made elective."

"You would have the captain and the four lieutenants chosen by ballot?" asked Beckwith, interested in the plan.

"Precisely so."

"But the fellows in the steerage could have it all their own way under such a plan. They could make Clyde Blacklock, Sandford, or any such fellow captain."

"No, you haven't heard me out. The captain and the four lieutenants shall be chosen from the cabin officers only."

"I rather like that."

"Any fellow will see that it is a fair thing."

"And who would be candidates for masters, pursers, and lieutenants?" asked Beckwith.

"They must obtain their rank by their merit. By my plan, ten of the fifteen cabin officers of the ship must get their positions by their scholarship, conduct, and seamanship, just as they do now; but the captain or lieutenant must first have served as master, purser, or midshipman. Then a fellow can't be captain till he has served at least one month as a cabin officer."

"The plan pleases me; but of course we can't tell how it would work without a trial."

"It would work first rate. As the matter now stands, no officer has any inducement to please anybody but the principal and the instructors, who give him his marks. By my plan he would have to keep on the right side of his inferiors in rank, or they would throw him over at the next election."

"And there would be lots of electioneering for office," laughed Beckwith.

"Well, that would give us a little excitement. Besides, we are all to be American citizens, and we ought to learn how these things are done. Under this plan Cantwell wouldn't behave as he does now in the cabin. He is nothing but a lump of selfishness. He wouldn't take all the breast of the chicken, or drown his coffee with the last gill of milk on board. I have been thinking of this thing for a week, and have talked it over with some of the fellows. All that I have spoken with like it first rate."

"I do."

"I am going to get up a petition to the principal, asking him to make this change in the system, and I want to get every fellow's name upon it."

"I will sign, for one," replied Beckwith. "But you haven't said a word about the commodore, De Forrest."

"That's only a kind of ornamental office, and I don't care much about it any way; but I think that only the captains should be eligible to the position."

Precisely as men do such things on a larger scale, De Forrest, satisfied that he had added one adherent to the "cause" he was advocating, passed on to "buzz" another officer on the same subject. The students connected with the squadron were enjoying a picnic on one of the uninhabited Aland Islands. It was a lovely spot, for the island was nearly covered by a beautiful grove of pines, and one slope of it had a green carpet of verdure. The sixteen boats of the squadron and of the yachts were moored at the shore, and there was not a ripple on the sea to disturb them. The ship's band had played all the pieces they knew; and a great variety of games had been tried, with but indifferent success. The boys declared that it could be no picnic at all without the ladies. Possibly the attendance of Mrs. Kendall and Mrs. Shuffles suggested this idea to them; and, though these ladies were young, lively, and agreeable, the meagreness of the female representation on the occasion seemed to be only an aggravation. Doubtless all of them had attended picnics and other social gatherings, where the gentler sex is the charm of the occasion, and they could not help feeling the loneliness of the situation. Besides, the locality itself was suggestive of utter isolation from the rest of the world.

All around them was a multitude of islands, but not a habitation of any kind could be seen; not a human being, not a quadruped, not even a bird enlivened the scene. The water was as calm as the repose of a mountain lake, with not a single white sail to relieve the gaze of the beholder. The squadron was anchored behind an island, where it could not be seen. And the boys knew that they were north of the sixtieth parallel of latitude,—nearer to the north pole than any of them had ever been before; and the consciousness of this fact seemed to add to the lonesomeness of the place. The days were very long and the nights very short, and it was quite impossible to feel at home in such a region.

They were not the first to feel in this locality that the great, busy world was far to the south of them, and to be impressed by the silence and quiet of the place under such circumstances. A distinguished lady, in narrating her voyage among these islands, says, "We never lost sight of the shore, and sometimes were so near it that it seemed as though we could leap to it from the boat. Yet I have never seen anything so desolate as the voyage during this first day. On the open sea we should not complain; but here, so near the land, and not a boat upon the water, not a living creature on the shore, not a garden, not a human being, not a dog, not even a fishing net, to show that man had been there,—there was something awful in it."

And yet there is no lack of the beautiful in nature to charm the eye, for the islands present an endless variety of forms, with green slopes, with rocky steeps, and with forest-crowned heights. But one may be lonely even in Paradise; and silence is sometimes more oppressive than the roar of the tempest, or the din of the crowded city.

The students had resorted to all the games in the catalogue of dignified sports available to young men; but the most exhilarating under ordinary circumstances were dull and heavy on the present occasion. In the middle of the afternoon they had abandoned in despair all attempts to have "a good time;" and now they were seated on the rocks, or stretched at full length upon the grass, engaged in discussion and conversation. Possibly De Forrest was forced by the quiet of the scene to agitate reform in the affairs of the squadron, which, to some extent, occupied his thoughts during the stay of the vessels among the islands. With the zeal of youth and inexperience, he believed that he had originated a new idea, that he had discovered a fatal flaw in the working of the system on which the squadron was organized. But his "original idea" had long before engaged the attention of the principal. Years before he had foreseen that the very difficulty which now appeared might arise. It is true that he had provided no remedy, except the general rule that an incompetent officer might be removed when his unfitness was apparent; but he had very carefully considered the question and the consequences which it involved.

The third lieutenant of the Young America was not the only student who had observed and noted the remarkable scholarship of Cantwell. In the midst of such a lively competition for the honors of the squadron, which were not meaningless laurels,—for a state-room in the cabin was a substantial luxury, independent of the desire to command rather than obey,—the students did not fail to notice the character of the recitations, and many kept a record of the value of them; so that the standing of Cantwell was well understood in the cabin and in the steerage. The obnoxious student was a thorough bookworm; but he was cold, stiff, selfish, and haughty. He never did anything or said anything that rendered him liable to discipline; but there was not a boy in the squadron who had so few friends, if he had any at all. His father was a very wealthy man, who supplied him liberally with money. It was said that he had been expelled from an academy where he was fitting for college on account of a difficulty into which his unpopularity had driven him. His fellow-students hated him so cordially that they were unable to conceal their real feelings. He was attacked in such an ingenious way that he seemed to be the aggressor instead of the person assailed, and the whole blame of the riot was cast upon him. When Prince Bismarck decided that German unification required a war with France; he was skilful enough to make the latter take the initiative, and France was foolish enough to accept the issue. In like manner Cantwell, while really the objective force in the quarrel with his fellow-students, was weak enough to assume the subjective attitude; and, as France was almost annihilated for her folly, which deprived her of the sympathy and support of any other respectable power, he was ignominiously expelled for his conduct. Like scores of others under the ban of expulsion on shore, he drifted into the Academy Squadron. He was not a thorough seaman, as Captain Lincoln and most of the officers were, neither was he so utterly ignorant and entirely incompetent as De Forrest and others declared him to be. But he was not qualified for either of the high positions which the officers feared he would obtain.

De Forrest opened his theory to another officer of the squadron. He had already spoken to half a dozen of them, and created as many advocates of his plan, each of whom, interested in the scheme, went to work upon as many more of the unconverted. In another half hour there were a dozen who were entirely satisfied that the Academy Squadron would be utterly ruined if Cantwell was elevated to the rank of captain. This dozen were in turn soon at work upon another dozen, and the converts increased as a continued proportional. This process, so often repeated, soon stirred up a lively agitation among the crowd of students on the island. The principal, the instructors, and the party from the yachts, with Captain Lincoln and two other officers, were seated on a rock apart from the others, engaged in conversation. They did not observe anything unusual among the students, who seemed to be remarkably quiet, considering that they were at liberty to follow their own inclinations. The agitators had an excellent opportunity to carry on their operations without attracting the attention of the principal and his assistants.

The subject under discussion concerned the young officers even more than the seamen, and De Forrest's plan seemed to be so fair and so practical that most of them gave in their adherence without much hesitation. The crew, who were farther removed from the glittering prizes, which were to be limited to the inferior officers of the cabin, were not so readily converted.

"I don't see it," said Scott, the joker, when Beckwith approached him on the subject. "You want to make a little one-horse aristocracy in the cabin, and shut out us fellows in the steerage from any chance at the big things."

"Not at all," replied the first master.

"Yes, you do. Take my own case, if you please. I'm a genius of the first water. I got a pile of merit marks for getting tight on finkel, and making an excursion to Stockholm. During all this time, of course I was marked high on all studies. I used to talk Greek when I was a baby, and nobody could understand me. And of course I am marked high in that branch now. In Latin I always could decline faster than any other fellow. French and German I learned of my nurse, who was brought up in an Irish Canadian family, and married a Dutchman. None of these things ever give me any trouble, you see, and I am marked high. In seamanship I got a hundred and fifty for topping up the spanker boom in a seaman-like manner. Now, I expect to be captain on the first of next month, and you cabin nobs are getting up a conspiracy to deprive me of my rights. I won't stand it, Mr. Beckwith. I am an American citizen in embryo. My fathers and mothers all fought, bled, and died for the dearest rights of man. My grandfather was killed in battle six months before he was married; and I should be a degenerate son of a glorious sire if I permitted you to pull wool over my optical members in this horrible manner."

"Be serious, will you, for a moment?" interposed the earnest officer.

"I am serious. You ask me to sign a petition to change the solid principles on which the eternal order of events is founded; and I respectfully decline to do so, Mr. Beckwith. In other words, not for Joseph."

"But you don't understand the matter, Scott."

"You cast an imputation upon my perceptive faculties."

"Nothing of the sort. You talk so fast that you won't hear what I have to say."

"You say that the captain of this noble ship must either be selected or be chosen from the cabin officers. Am I right?"

"You are."

"I am not the captain of the ship this month; neither have I the honor to be one of the cabin officers; ergo I cannot be elected captain for the month of June next ensuing."

"You are certainly right; but—"

"Then I understand the matter perfectly; and this movement is a conspiracy to prevent me from being captain next month. I deserve to be captain, and I respectfully submit that this is my inalienable right, inherent in the contract under which I was sent to school. I object, I protest, I denounce the vile scheme as a compact with infamy. By the way, Beckwith, I didn't think you would treat me in this unhandsome manner. We were always good friends, and I never did anything to injure you. And I was always willing to help you spend your money when I hadn't too much of my own to dispose of."

"Come, Scott, be reasonable."

"That's the very thing I ask of you—be reasonable, and don't try to cut my out of my chance of being Captain next month."

"Of course you haven't any more chance of being captain than you have of being Czar of Russia next month."

"Don't you think I should make a good czar?"

"No doubt of it," laughed Beckwith.

"Are you quite sure the Russians won't get up a revolution after they have seen me?"

"If they only knew what a jolly good fellow you were, they would be likely to do so."

"That's sensible; and I may go into the czar business, after all. And I may be captain next month, if you nobs don't cut me out of my rights."

"But it is no worse for you than for any other fellow in the steerage. I may be where you are next month; then it will hit me as hard as it does you."

"Ah! then you are sawing off your own nose—are you?"

"For the general good, I am."

"Noble, self-sacrificing creature! Receive the homage of a humble admirer."

"You, or any other fellow in the steerage, may become a master, purser, or midshipman, by your merit, and then you may be captain, or a lieutenant, the next month."

"But I shall have to wait a whole month before I can reach the summit of my lofty ambition. That's too long to wait."

"I ask you to go with us for the public good."

"Pro bono publico! There you touch me where I am weak. For the public good I would sacrifice this poor body to gout and dyspepsia. I would eat grand dinners, as the aldermen do, at the public expense; I would accept any fat office in which I had nothing to do but draw my salary; I would be governor or president, and receive the homage of the people, for the public good. There's my weak point."

"You know Cantwell?"

"Do I know him! Do I not know him? Am I unacquainted with the blooming youth who thinks he must wind up the universe every morning, or something will break before night? Ought not the deck to be carpeted when he walks upon it? Ought we not to have a guard of marines to present arms to him when he appears in the waist? Haven't I worn out three caps in saluting him?"

"You understand him, then?"

"Mr. Cantwell is a great man; Mr. Cantwell is a profound scholar; Mr. Cantwell knows what's what. Why, he is so much above us common, humdrum sort of fellows, that we ought to get down on our knees when he condescends to show himself."

"Exactly so, Scott. And, unless we can get this change in the tenure of office—"

"Hold on! Will you oblige me by translating that high-flown expression?"

"Of course you know what the expression means," replied Beckwith, impatiently.

"Perhaps I do; but I want to know what you mean by it."

"I mean a change in the manner in which the offices are obtained and held."

"You mean right, as you always do."

"Well, unless we get this change at once, Cantwell will be the next captain."

"He can't well be captain, and he can't well be otherwise."

"That's so."

"And you intend to put a stopper on him?"

"He isn't fit to be captain, and he can't well be, as you say. In one word, are you with us? Yes or no."

"Yes or no. I must have time to think about it. When you attack a fellow's inalienable rights, and all that sort of thing, I'm rather inclined to go in for the bottom dog. The captaincy for next month lies between Cantwell and me. For the public good, I am willing to waive my own right, but I am not quite so clear that I ought to waive the right of Mr. Cantwell, who is, by all odds, the greatest man in the ship."

"You will do the right thing, Scott; I know you will," said Beckwith, moving off.

"Of course I will. I can't possibly do otherwise."

Beckwith walked away, for he saw Cantwell approaching him. By this time the fourth master was conscious that something which concerned him was in progress among his shipmates, for, as he came near the little groups which were discussing the proposed change in the "tenure of office," he observed that they either separated or suddenly changed the conversation. His approach, wherever he went, invariably produced a sensation. All hands watched him, and avoided him with even more care than usual. Possibly his self-conceit prevented him from knowing that he was very unpopular among his companions; but they did not avoid him generally, as at the present time. He had no suspicion of the nature of the agitation among the students; but his observation of their conduct led him to the conclusion that they intended to play off some practical joke or trick upon him. He was on his guard from that moment; but he was fully resolved to be the victim rather than the assailant on this occasion.

Scott stood just where Beckwith had left him. Instead of walking away, as the others had done, when Cantwell approached, he looked at him, and his expression was remarkably good-natured, and rather inviting for an interview. He was almost the first one he met who did not avoid him. The fourth master walked towards the joker, who, though not required by the regulations to do so when off duty, promptly raised his cap, and manifested a rather extravagant deference towards his superior. Cantwell was a tall, slender young man of seventeen. Like many other great students, he was somewhat near-sighted, and wore eye-glasses. He was an exceedingly well-formed person, and was scrupulously nice in regard to his dress. He had captured one of the new uniforms served out when he was promoted to his present rank, and it was a much better fit than the officers usually obtained.

"Do you happen to know the drift of all these private conferences which I observe, Scott?" asked Cantwell, raising his head so that he could see through the eye-glass, which had slipped down upon his nose.

"Yes, sir, I happen to know; and, as the matter concerns me more nearly than any other fellow in the squadron, I don't object to telling you; and I hope you will give me your sympathy and support," replied Scott, putting on a most lugubrious face.

"Indeed! I don't know that I quite comprehend you. I notice that all the students carefully avoid me this afternoon. If I approach any two or more of them engaged In conversation, they stop talking, or separate, and look very mysterious. I had come to the conclusion that I was to be the subject of some practical joke."

"O, no. It is no joke, I assure you. It is a conspiracy, find I am to be the first victim. Beckwith, the first master, was even impudent enough to invite me to take a part in the amputation of my own nose! Did you ever hear anything so absurd?"

"Perhaps I should be better able to judge if I were informed in regard to the nature of the conspiracy," suggested Cantwell, as he readjusted his eye-glasses.

"I shall be happy to inform you. They intend to apply to the principal to have the tenure of office in the ship changed," replied Scott, in a very impressive manner, as though he were revealing a startling fact.

"The tenure of office!" repeated Cantwell, with a puzzled look.

"Yes. Beckwith was kind enough to explain to me what it meant. I dare say you know, without any explanation, Mr. Cantwell."

"Of course I know the meaning of the phrase, but I don't understand its application to the affairs of the squadron."

"Then you will excuse me for telling you." And Scott explained in full the nature of the proposed changes. "This is a plan, you will perceive, to cut me off."

"Indeed!"

"I have been a good boy, and learned my lessons this month; and, under the present regulation, I should be the captain of the ship next month. I think that is clear enough."

Cantwell arranged his glasses again, and looked earnestly into the face of the joker; but he was as serious as though he had been at a funeral.

"I was not aware that you stood so high on the record," added the fourth master, more puzzled than before.

"Of course you are aware that you stand very high yourself," said Scott.

"I know that I have not had a single imperfect lesson, or been marked down on any exercise."

"Just so. Then the highest office lies between you and me," replied Scott, rubbing his chin. "The conspiracy is against us. If you should get in ahead of me, I never have any hard feelings. I am willing to abide by the regulations, and take whatever place belongs to me, even if it should be that of captain or first lieutenant. I never complain of my lot when there is fair play."

"And so the students are trying to have the highest officers chosen by ballot," mused Cantwell.

"That's so; and it's a plot against you and me—a conspiracy against our rights; and we must oppose it with all our might."

"It seems to me a very strange movement, just before the first of the month."

"You are right; and we must go to work. The conspirators have had it all their own way so far. We can make it lively for them.—Well, Laybold, what is it?" said Scott, as the student addressed approached them.

"I am sent to notify you both of a meeting of all the students of the squadron, at that flat rock on the top of the island," said the messenger. "The fellows are going to appoint a committee to wait on the principal, and ask for a change in the manner of giving out the offices."

"We shall be there to vindicate our rights, and protest against this conspiracy. How do you stand, Laybold?"

"I don't care much about it, any way," replied the messenger, glancing at Cantwell.

"Then go against the change. This thing is got up to keep me from being captain next month."

"You!" shouted Laybold. "You won't even be captain of a top! You won't come within fifty of the cabin."

"So you say. But the highest office lies between Cantwell and me."

"That may be; but it's a long way from your side of the house," replied Laybold, as the party moved towards the highest part of the island.

Cantwell was vexed and troubled, and he could not decide what course to pursue.

CHAPTER II.

AN EXCITED MEETING OF OFFICERS AND SEAMEN.

Scott was one of the most popular students in the squadron. And it is a lamentable fact, that mere "jokers" obtain a power and influence in society which is denied to persons of infinitely greater dignity and higher character. As Laybold declared, Scott had no personal interest in the question under agitation, for, though he was a good seaman, his scholarship was not above mediocrity. He lacked industry and application; and it was not probable that he would ever win even the lowest rank on the quarter-deck. But he had initiated what he regarded as a stupendous joke, and he was determined to carry it through. While the students were gathering at the flat rock, he electioneered against the De Forrest plan, as it soon came to be called. He declared over and over again, to the intense amusement of the seamen, that the plan was a conspiracy against his individual rights, and was intended to prevent him from being captain the next month. Before the meeting at the rock was called to order he had rallied quite a respectable party under his banner.

Every officer and every seaman of the fleet was present at the meeting. The captain and the other officers sitting with the principal had been summoned to the gathering; and those who were most interested in the success of the effort were confident that the measure would be adopted with little if any opposition. The meeting was called to order by Lieutenant Ryder, the oldest officer of the squadron.

"The first business of this meeting is the choice of a chairman," said Ryder, taking position on the flat rock, around which the students had collected. "Please to nominate."

As in assemblages of older people, the arrangements had been "cut and dried" beforehand, and Beckwith had been appointed by the "ring" to nominate De Forrest as chairman; but Scott, more intent upon carrying out his joke than anything else, had stationed himself close to the rock, and disturbed the arrangements of the ring.

"Cantwell!" shouted he, at the top of his lungs, before Beckwith, who certainly was not a dexterous representative of the ring, could open his mouth.

"Cantwell!" repeated Laybold.

"Cantwell!" cried a dozen others, almost choking with laughter.

"I nominate Lieutenant De Forrest as chairman of this meeting," said the tardy Beckwith.

"Lieutenant De Forrest is nominated," continued the chairman, anxious to only carry out the programme which had been arranged by the officers.

"Mr. Chairman, I respectfully suggest that you are a little deaf in one eye. Mr. Cantwell was nominated first."

"Cantwell! Cantwell!" shouted the supporters of Scott.

Ryder was perplexed. Common fairness required him to put the question first upon the name of Cantwell; but he hesitated to do so. It seemed absurd to make the student whom they desired to throw out of the line of promotion the chairman of a meeting called for that purpose. While he was in doubt, the opposition shouted, indulging in hideous yells, cat-calls, and other demonstrations. It was fun to them.

"Lieutenant De Forrest has been nominated for chairman," repeated Ryder, when there was a lull in the confusion.

"Mr. Chairman, we go in for a fair thing," said Scott, in a loud but good-natured tone. "Mr. Cantwell was nominated first."

"Mr. Chairman, I don't know of any rule which requires the presiding officer to put any name first," interposed Beckwith. "If the meeting is not satisfied with the one named by the chairman, it can be voted down."

"But it looks more like a fair thing if the chairman puts the first name mentioned," replied Scott. "If the meeting don't like it, it can be voted down. If this thing is all cut and dried, I don't want anything to do with it; and I invite all the fellows that are not in the ring to step out and hold another meeting, where we can have fair play."

"Another meeting!" shouted at least twenty seamen, who, with many others, seemed to regard the affair as a capital joke because it was under the leadership of Scott, rather than because they could see the point of it.

"No, no!" responded the officers. "Put Cantwell's name, Ryder."

"Mr. Cantwell is nominated," said the chairman; and the jokers were delighted when they found they had carried their point; but Ryder paused, and looked uneasily at the members of the ring.

"Vote for him," said Norwood. "Make him chairman, and that will take the wind out of his sails. In the chair he can't oppose the plan, and we can tell the principal, when we go to him, that Cantwell presided over the meeting."

"Question!" shouted the officers.

"If it is your pleasure that Mr. Cantwell serve you as chairman of this meeting, you will manifest it by saying,'Ay.'"

"Ay!" yelled nearly the whole crowd.

"Those opposed, 'No,'" continued the chairman.

"No!" replied a few, who did not understand the tactics of the ring.

"It is a vote," said Ryder, "and Mr. Cantwell is elected chairman of this meeting."

"I move you that a committee of two, consisting of Lieutenant De Forrest and Mr. Beckwith, be appointed to conduct him to the chair," shouted Scott.

"You hear the motion of Mr. Scott; those in favor will say, 'Ay;' those opposed, 'No.' It is a vote," said the temporary chairman, disgusted with the proceedings.

De Forrest and Beckwith conducted the obnoxious fourth master to the chair, which was the flat rock. As Cantwell mounted the natural rostrum, the jokers applauded lustily, and the ring felt that the proceedings were already turned into a farce. Of course Cantwell was more astonished than any one else to find his merits so highly appreciated.

"Gentlemen, I thank you most heartily for the honor, unsought and unexpected on my part, which you have conferred upon me," said he, removing his cap. "I shall endeavor to preside impartially over the deliberations of this meeting. The chair awaits any motion."

"Mr. Chairman," said De Forrest, who, after his defeat, had been delegated by the officers to present the business to the meeting.

"Lieutenant De Forrest," replied Cantwell.

The originator of the plan for changing the "tenure of office" made quite a lengthy speech, in which he set forth the advantages to be derived from the adoption of the new method of filling the offices of the highest grade. Of course he carefully abstained from any allusion to the real objection to the present system, and would have done so even if Cantwell had not been chosen chairman. His statement of the plan was certainly a very clear one, and the subject was fully understood by every student.

"And now, Mr. Chairman, having fully explained the plan, which has been approved by a large number of the officers and seamen of the squadron," continued De Forrest, "I move that a committee of three be raised, to wait on the principal, and request him to make this change in the manner of filling the office of commodore of the squadron, and of captain, first, second, third, and fourth lieutenant of each vessel."

"Mr. Chairman," said Beckwith, who had been selected to second the motion, "I rise—"

"No, you don't," interposed Scott; "you haven't got up yet."

"I rise—"

"You were up before," persisted Scott; and a round of applause followed the interruption.

"Mr. Chairman, I second the motion," said Beckwith, who, however, was unable to make the little speech he had arranged in his mind favoring the proposed change, for the laugh and the applause which followed Scott's sally had sadly disconcerted him.

The chairman stated the motion, and the question upon its adoption was fairly before the meeting. Several of the officers spoke in favor of it, and even the commodore, the captain, and the first lieutenant gave it the weight of their powerful influence. Two of the "short jackets" also briefly addressed the meeting in favor of the plan; and thus far the agitators had it all their own way.

"Question!" called some of the ring.

"Mr. Chairman!" shouted Scott, in a tone loud enough to be heard at the farther side of the island, where the adults of the squadron were enjoying the quiet beauty of the scene.

"Mr. Scott," replied the chairman, recognizing and bowing to the joker.

"Question! question!" shouted some of the officers, who were inclined to retaliate upon the joker by using his own tactics.

"Mr. Scott has the floor," interposed the chairman.

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman; but I'm not to be floored so easily. Every fellow that knows me knows that I go in for fair play."

"That's so," cried the crowd of his supporters, with a round of applause.

"And what I give to others I ask for myself," continued Scott. "I'm a modest fellow." (Tumultuous applause.) "I'm a modest fellow, Mr. Chairman, and it gores my soul to feel compelled to speak of my own merit; but this whole thing is a conspiracy against my rights." ("Hear, hear.") "I have belonged to the ship about a year; I haven't the purser's books in my trousers' pocket, and can't say to a day how long, but about a year. I have faithfully discharged every duty, and even done a great many things that were not required of me. I have eaten my grub with untiring fidelity, except when I was seasick at the beginning." (Applause.) "I have slept my eight hours out of the twenty-four with exemplary diligence and punctuality; and even done more than this, when the emergency seemed to require it, without grumbling." (Applause.) "I have kept my watch below without flinching." (Applause.) "I have worn my pea-jacket in cold and heavy weather without deeming it a hardship." (Applause.) "I have never objected to going on shore to see a city, or to take a tramp in the country, or to go 'on a time' of any sort." (Applause.) "Indeed, I have always been willing to make myself as comfortable as the circumstances would permit. And I have tried to use every fellow about right, the officers as well as the seamen. I have helped the fellows spend their money, when they needed my assistance" (applause), "for I don't like to be selfish about these things. When a fellow had any cake, fruit, or other good thing, I have taken hold like a man, and helped him eat it." ("That's so," shouted several.) "I have always been willing to let any fellow get my lessons for me, or do my share in holy-stoning the deck. When any petty officer, having a soft thing in the way of duty, such as coxswain of a boat, on a long pull, was sick, I have always been willing to take his place, and not charge him anything, either." (Applause.) "It's my nature to be unselfish; and I would do as much for the captain, or any other officer, as for a seaman."

"Mr. Chairman, I rise to a point of order," interposed Beckwith.

"Will the gentleman state his point?"

"That the gentleman is not speaking to the question," snapped the first master, who was determined, if possible, to get even with Scott.

"The speaker stated in the beginning that the proposed measure, and the action of this meeting in connection therewith, were a conspiracy against his rights; and the chair decides that he is in order," said the chairman, with dignity.

"But, sir, must we listen to his biography?" demanded Beckwith.

"Mr. Chairman, it is as painful for me to rehearse my own virtues before this large audience as it is for him to hear me; and the sacrifice which I make in doing so ought to be appreciated by the gentleman on the other side." (Applause.)

"I appeal from the decision of the chair," said Beckwith.

"First Master Beckwith appeals from the decision of the chair," continued Cantwell, who proceeded to state the point at issue, and, taking advantage of the privilege of his position, gave his reasons at length for ruling that Scott was in order.

Most of the seamen of the ship and of the consorts enjoyed the fun, and wished Scott to go on. When the question of order was put, a large majority sustained the decision of the chair. Cantwell began to feel that he had a host of friends, and that the plot of the officers would be defeated.

"Mr. Scott has the floor, and may proceed with his remarks," said he, when the vote was declared.

"I trust I have shown conclusively that I am a good fellow," continued Scott. (Hearty applause.) "Now, to apply what I had said when I was so ungenerously interrupted, if I am a good fellow, I deserve to be the captain, or at least one of the lieutenants, of the ship" (rapturous applause), "provided I get a greater number of merit marks than any other fellow; of course I don't expect to wink the marks out of sight. Not long since I made a little excursion through Sweden with some friends of mine, without exactly running away. The fact was, we couldn't find the ship, though we searched diligently for her." (Applause, and cries of "Finkel.") "I hear 'Finkel.' Finkel was there, and had a finger in the pie. Now, no one can tell how many merits I got for that excursion, and for my struggles to find the ship; nor how many I got for the glass of finkel I drank, which, I grant, deranged my ideas. Then I was caught asleep on the anchor watch, and neither you nor I know how many merit marks I had for that. We are not permitted to examine the record books of the instructors, and therefore we cannot know how high we are marked for any recitation or exercise; but, Mr. Chairman, I got high this month" (violent applause), "and therefore I ought to have a high office. At any rate, Mr. Chairman, the highest office lies between you and me; and I think all present, who have considered the matter, will agree that it belongs to one of us" ("Hear, hear"), "and my modesty does not permit me to indicate which one. And now, Mr. Chairman, within three days of the end of the month, when the prize of a noble ambition is almost within my grasp, comes this cruel conspiracy to rob me of reward!"

Scott was trying to imitate Forrest, or some other great tragic actor whom he had seen, in the last clause of his speech, and the students were convulsed with laughter at his deep tones and wild gestures. He continued a few moments longer in the same strain, being frequently interrupted by applause and other demonstrations.

"And now, Mr. Chairman, I have done. If my shipmates will thus sting me to death when I am almost at the pinnacle of a noble ambition, I can only yield, as the noble Caesar did when he declared that Brutus ate two slapjacks for his breakfast. I shall fall, not by my own fault, but, like Caesar, by the madness of ambitious office-seekers. But I shall fall free from the taint of dishonor—scot-free."

The orator wiped his brow with his coat sleeve, having left his handkerchief in the pocket of his pea-jacket, while the applause of the seamen rang through the island groves and over the silent sea.

De Forrest was angry when he saw that the proceedings of the meeting were turned into a farce, and he made haste to reply to Scott's effective speech. The only point he made was, that the last speaker had no expectation of obtaining the lowest cabin office, or even of being the coxswain of the fourth cutter, and therefore his argument was simply ridiculous.

"I should like to ask the third lieutenant if I did not say that the highest office lay between the chairman of the meeting and myself," demanded Scott.

"Yes, yes," shouted a score.

"He did; but he spoke of a conspiracy against his own rights," replied De Forrest.

"What is the right of one student, Mr. Chairman, is the right of every one," said Scott—a sentiment which was warmly applauded.

"Question!" shouted the jokers.

The ring, trusting that the impression produced before the meeting by personal appeal had not been destroyed by the orator of the opposition, permitted the vote to be taken on the main question; and, indeed, Scott's party would not permit anything else to be done. The chairman stated the motion again, which was the appointment of a committee of three to request the principal to adopt the plan of De Forrest.

"Those in favor of the motion will manifest it by saying, 'Ay,'" said Cantwell.

"Ay!" replied the affirmative members of the meeting.

"Those opposed, 'No.'"

"No!" yelled the jokers, with all the power of their lungs.

It was impossible to determine which side had the majority; but as the "noes" made the most noise, the chairman decided that it was not a vote.

"I doubt the vote," shouted De Forrest, much excited.

"The vote is doubted," said the chairman. "Those in favor of the motion will muster on the right of the chair; those opposed, on the left."

Cantwell then appointed four tellers, two from each side. Two of them, one for, and one against, the measure, were then directed to count the number on each side.

"Form a line, and march between the tellers to be counted," added the chairman.

The business was done fairly, for each party was watching the other. The tellers on each side, after comparing their results, and finding that they agreed, were ready to report.

"How many in the affirmative?" asked the chairman.

"Eighty-eight," replied one of the tellers.

"In the negative?"

"Eighty-one," replied one of the tellers for that side.

"Eighty-eight having voted in the affirmative, and eighty-one in the negative, the motion is carried," said the chairman. "The next business in order is the appointment of the committee. How shall they be chosen?"

"By the chair," shouted Scott.

"Second the motion," added a student.

"It is moved and seconded that the committee be nominated by the chair."

"Mr. Chairman, it does not seem to me to be exactly right that the committee should be nominated by the chairman, who is opposed to the plan," suggested Beckwith.

"The chairman has not yet indicated whether he is in favor or opposed to the plan," said Cantwell, with a contemptuous curl of his lips and nose. "He intends to be entirely impartial in the discharge of his duty."

A shout of applause from the opposition followed this remark.

"The student who spoke against the plan mentioned the chairman in the same category with himself."

"The chairman did not authorize him to do so," answered Cantwell.

"Question!" shouted the jokers.

"The question is called for, which is, that the chairman nominate the committee."

The vote was taken and doubted. The count, by tellers, as before, resulted in a tie; for several who had voted for the plan, moved by the apparent impartiality of the chairman, broke loose from party discipline, and voted with the other side.

"The chair votes in the affirmative, and the motion is carried," said Cantwell, as soon as the tellers had reported. "The chair nominates Lieutenants Judson and Norwood, and Mr. Scott. The question is upon the confirming of the nomination of the chair."

"Mr. Chairman, Scott is opposed to the plan which this meeting has voted to recommend," interposed De Forrest.

"The chair is aware of the fact, and for that reason nominated him," replied Cantwell. "The committee stand two in favor to one opposed to the plan."

"How can one opposed to the plan, as Scott is, ask the principal to adopt it?" demanded De Forrest.

"As I understood the matter, this committee is to represent this meeting. Is it right that a committee unanimously in favor of the plan should represent a meeting in which the plan was adopted by a majority of only seven in a vote of one hundred and sixty-nine? Is it intended the committee shall represent to the principal that this meeting is unanimously in favor of the proposed change?"

"Certainly not."

"I have nominated a committee the majority of whom are in favor of the measure. In my view this is all that parliamentary rule requires of me. The question is upon confirming the nomination."

The question was taken, and the vote doubted again; but the nomination was confirmed by a majority of two.

"Is there any further business to come before this meeting?" asked the chairman.

"I move that the meeting be dissolved," said Scott.

The motion was put and carried. The students separated into little squads, and of course nothing else was talked about the rest of the day but the meeting. Scott, from a humble joker, found himself suddenly transformed into a hero, and a person of no little influence among the students. The ring were astonished and disconcerted at the result of the meeting; and the victory they had gained was so nearly a defeat that there were no rejoicings over it. De Forrest could hardly tell whether his party was triumphant or not.

"What do you mean, Scott?" demanded Beckwith, when the commodore had ordered all hands to be piped into the boats, and the students were walking down to the shore.

"I told you I would do the right thing, and I've done it. Wasn't it a fair thing—square and aboveboard?"

"It wasn't a fair thing to nominate Cantwell for chairman."

"If you didn't like him, why didn't you vote him down?" asked Scott. "I think everything has been fairly done."

"Perhaps it was. Allow that it was. Why did you get up an opposition to the plan?" demanded Beckwith, rather warmly.

"What do I care for the plan? You nobs in the cabin got up a ring, and all you wanted of the steerage fellows was to give up their rights. I have just as good a right to be a lieutenant next month as you have, if my marks give me the place. It is only a game of the ring to keep the best places among yourselves; that's all."

"Do you want Cantwell for your captain?" demanded Beckwith.

"I had just as lief have him captain as fourth master. He is over me just the same. But I am not sure he is half so bad a fellow as you make him out to be."

"I don't say he is bad, only that he is a conceited and disagreeable fellow, and no seaman. We don't want a fellow of that sort over us."

"We in the steerage have him over us now, and shall have him, any way you can fix it. He thinks pretty well of No. 1, I know, and so do some of the rest of the cabin nobs. I'm not clear yet that he is no seaman. I go for giving him the same chance that the rest of the fellows have. Then, if he don't do his duty, and behave like a gentleman, it will be time enough to do something."

"Then I'm to understand, Scott, that you have sold out to Cantwell."

"Did any of you cabin swells think you owned me?" laughed Scott.

"I saw you talking with Cantwell."

"Very likely Cantwell saw me talking with you. What does that prove?" retorted Scott.

"But he's a very unpopular fellow. There isn't a fellow in the ship that likes him."

"I don't, for one," added Scott, with refreshing candor.

"And yet you have got up this opposition, and nearly, if not quite, defeated our plan. He ought to be very grateful to you."

"I don't think he ought to be thrown overboard, or deprived of his rights, because he is not popular. When I saw that his brother officers were down upon him, I was rather inclined to stand by him, for, as I told you, I generally go in for the bottom dog. I believe in fair play for every fellow, whether he is popular or not. I wouldn't kick a dog because he didn't belong to anybody."

"You are on the committee, Scott."

"I have the honor; and I shall see that Cantwell has fair play before the principal."

"You have done enough, Scott; why can't you keep still now, and let the thing take its course?" added Beckwith, in an insinuating tone.

"And let Cantwell slip up, you mean?"

"What do you care for Cantwell? You don't like him any better than any other fellow. If you will only keep still, the chairman of the committee will simply represent to the principal that a majority of the students desire the change," persisted Beckwith.

"And the next question he will ask will be, how the vote stood. If he don't ask it, he isn't the fair man I have always taken him to be. Besides, the chairman put me on that committee to represent the opinions of the minority; and I'm going to do it."

"The opinions of the minority!" sneered Beckwith. "That is all bosh. They haven't any opinions about it. You made your ridiculous speech as a joke, and the minority took it up as a joke. They don't want Cantwell to be captain any more than we do."

"That may be; but if they cut his nose off now, they may cut off their own next month, just to make a soft thing for you nobs in the cabin. Now, I want to tell you one thing, Becky—"

"Don't call me Becky; I'm not a girl," interposed the first master.

"I beg your pardon: Mr. Beckwith."

"I don't ask you to call me mister when off duty, either. You wanted to tell me one thing."

"I'm not anxious to tell you anything; but, if I were Cantwell, I should rather hope that the principal would grant the request, and make the change."

"Do you think he could ever be elected to any office?"

"Perhaps not under ordinary circumstances; but if you cabin nobs will only persecute him a little, only try to keep him out of his rights by De Forrest's plan, he can be elected captain the very next month. You see we fellows throw seventy-two votes in the steerage, and forty-five is a majority of the whole ship's company. If any fourth-rate politician on shore can only get himself persecuted, he can be elected to Congress, for sympathy will do more than merit."

"You needn't tell me that the fellows in the steerage are going to elect Cantwell to any office. He couldn't be chosen fourth lieutenant, to say nothing of captain," protested Beckwith. "I believe you have lost your wits, Scott."

"Perhaps I have; but you haven't found them. If you get the plan adopted, we will try it on a little."

"What do you mean by that?"

"If De Forrest's plan is adopted, either Cantwell or I will be elected captain."

"You! You would not even be a candidate under the new rule."

"Say Cantwell, then."

"It is absurd! There is hardly a fellow in the ship that does not hate him, except you."

"I don't hate him, or any other fellow. But go ahead; there will be fun and a lively time," said Scott, as they separated to take their places in the boats.

The students and others embarked, and, as the instructors were now with them, nothing more was said about the proposed changes. The squadron of sixteen boats pulled out from the island, and, forming in order, rowed to the several vessels which were anchored a couple of miles distant. As soon as the boys were on board, the exciting topic was renewed. After supper Scott was notified of a meeting of the committee in the after cabin: but the regulations of the ship did not permit him to go there, being only a seaman. Scott, of course, did not appear, though, attempting to enter the cabin, he was ordered by the principal to go forward. He obeyed, and was satisfied that the rest of the committee intended to ignore him, or they would not appoint a meeting where he could not attend.

In the cabin, at eight bells, the majority of the committee met. Norwood was not in favor of acting without Scott; but De Forrest and Beckwith advised them to do so. It was not proper for officers to meet in the steerage; and they had accommodated the majority. It was decided to wait upon the principal forthwith, and Scott was duly notified of the intention. The joker, when the messenger gave him the second notice, was engaged at an impromptu indignation meeting, in which he was informing his audience that a meeting of the committee had been called in the cabin, where he could not attend. He considered it an indignity to him, and to the cause of which he was the representative and the champion. After consulting Cantwell, he decided not to wait upon the principal with the rest of the committee. After certain explanations which Scott made, and certain schemes of future action which he suggested, the fourth master was entirely satisfied with the proposition.

The majority of the committee waited upon the principal in the main cabin, and fully stated the proposed changes in the "tenure of office," in the ship and in the two consorts.

"You represent a meeting of all the officers and seamen of the squadron—do you?" asked Mr. Lowington.

"Yes, sir; all the officers and all the seamen of each vessel were present," replied Judson, the chairman of the committee.

"Was the vote by which you were appointed unanimous?"

"No, sir; it was not."

"What was the vote?"

"Eighty-eight to eighty-one."

"A majority of only seven."

"But the minority were really in favor of the plan, as we ascertained before the meeting," explained Judson, who then related the particulars of the gathering, giving the details of Scott's speech, at which the principal was much amused.

"The students voted against the plan just to carry out the joke," added Norwood. "Scott was appointed on this committee, and was notified, but he does not appear."

"I think I understand the matter," replied Mr. Lowington. "I will consider the plan on its own merits, though substantially the same system has occupied my attention several times before, and I am not wholly unprepared for it. I will give you my decision on the first day of the month."

The committee retired, satisfied with the result of the interview, and hopeful that the plan would be adopted.

CHAPTER III.

FINLAND AND THE AGITATORS.

The day which followed the excited meeting of officers and seamen on the island was Sunday, and the agitation of the subject which disturbed the ship's company in a measure ceased. The religious services were held on shore, in the shade of a pleasant grove, and the Bible classes gathered in favored spots chosen by the teachers. After these exercises were finished in the afternoon, a couple of hours were spent upon the island. Little groups gathered together to walk, or to engage in conversation, while single ones, here and there, enjoyed their own thoughts. Cantwell and Scott seated themselves on a rock near the water, and seemed to be talking together very earnestly. On such occasions the brilliant student usually remained alone, not because he was brilliant, but because his shipmates were inclined to shun his companionship. He was really grateful to Scott for the signal service he had rendered him the day before, not in defeating the new plan, for that had not yet been accomplished, but in preventing him from being wholly ignored, and for making him chairman of the meeting. He had sought the present interview himself.

"Of course these proceedings were all directed against me," said Cantwell, after the subject had been introduced.

"No doubt of it," replied Scott, candidly.

"I don't know why my shipmates should be so prejudiced against me."

"Don't you?" asked the joker, rather incredulously.

"I do not; I certainly have not injured them."

"You won't get mad if I tell you—will you?"

"No; surely not," protested Cantwell.

"I'll tell you, then."

"I shall be much obliged to you, if you will."

"I don't know; I'm afraid you won't be," laughed Scott.

"I am sincere; and whatever you say, I shall believe you intend to do me a kindness."

"That's so. The fellows are prejudiced against you because you are selfish, conceited, overbearing, and tyrannical," said Scott, squarely.

"You don't mean all that; you only repeat what you have heard others say."

"I do repeat what I have heard others say, and I'm bound to add that I believe it myself. When you give an order, you do it just as though you were a superior being; as though you were everybody, and I were nobody—that's so."

"I was not aware of it."

"Then you put on airs, even in the cabin, and with your superior. You go in for the breast of the chickens, and drown your coffee with the last gill of milk in the ship."

Cantwell bit his lips, and seemed to be very much annoyed.

"Then you think you know everything, and other fellows nothing. You are willing to give your own opinion, but you won't hear that of others," continued Scott, as bluntly as the case seemed to require.

"Go on; but of course you don't expect me to acknowledge all these charges," replied Cantwell, with one of his most savage sneers.

"Do as you like about that; I was only telling you why the fellows are prejudiced against you. You talk and act superciliously to your ship mates, and they don't like that sort of thing. I don't, for one."

"I am sorry you don't."

"Do you like a fellow that treats you with contempt?"

"Of course not; but that's what my shipmates do to me."

"In self-defence, perhaps, they do. I suppose every fellow has his faults, except me. I don't know that I have any," replied Scott, with one of his telling smiles.

"You don't?"

"No; do you suppose you have any, Mr. Cantwell?"

"I suppose so; but not so many as most of my shipmates, I know."

"Exactly so; you admit the little things, so as to deny the big ones."

"I know I am a better scholar than any other student in the cabin. They all know this, or they would not have raised this breeze."

"Better let others find that out before you discover it yourself. One thing more: the officers say you are no seaman, and they don't want a fellow in command of the ship who don't know his duty. No officer likes to have one above him who knows less than he does about seamanship."

"I don't suppose I know as much about a ship as those students who have been on board two or three years; but I think I am competent to perform my duty, at least with the advice of the principal, in any position."

"I have told you all I know about it."

"And some things that you don't know," added Cantwell, who could not believe that he was such a person as the joker had described.

"Just as you please about that."

"But I wish you to understand that I think you have been very fair and candid; and I am very much obliged to you for your plain speech, however disagreeable it may be to me."

"You are welcome to it," laughed Scott.

"Now, do you think the principal will make the change asked for by the committee?"

"I don't know; but I hope he will."

"You hope so!"

"Yes; and if he does, we will show those cabin nobs that 'fair play is a jewel,'" answered Scott, significantly.

The conversation continued until the students were piped into the boats.

The next morning exercises in seamanship were in order throughout the squadron, for the principal was aware that this element of the course had received but little attention during the month. Every officer and seaman in each vessel was required to perform his duty in getting under way, in making and furling sail, and coming to anchor. Evolutions in reefing, tacking, wearing, scudding, laying to, bending sails, and sending down topmasts, were performed, and each student marked according to his merit. In addition to this, each student was separately examined in problems in seamanship; and his knowledge of the standing and running rigging of a ship, bark, brig, hermaphrodite brig, schooner, and sloop, was tested. This examination was very carefully conducted, and the same questions were put to every boy. The crew were all sent below at the beginning, and four were called up at a time, so that no one could know in advance what the questions were to be. Only the simpler problems were required to be answered at this trial.

The principal, the boatswain, carpenter, and sail-maker, all of whom were thorough practical seamen, were the examiners.

Mr. Lowington and Peaks, the boatswain, were on each side of the mainmast, the carpenter at the foremast, and the sail-maker at the mizzenmast, though each was obliged to take his pupil to the different parts of the ship in the course of the examination. The questions were such as these:—

"Point out the main-topmast stay, the main-topmast back-stay, the weather main clew-garnet, the fore-sheet and fore-tack, with the wind on the port beam.

"What is a pendant, a lift, a horse, a gasket, a jewel-block?

"How would you take in a topsail, wind fresh?

"How would you furl a royal?

"How would you reef a topsail?

"How would you turn out the reefs of a topsail?

"If two vessels are approaching each other, one by the wind, the other going free, what is the rule for each?

"Make a square knot, a timber hitch, a bowling knot, a clove hitch, a short splice."

For the last requirement two bits of rope were given to each student, who was directed to bring in his work to the examiner, with a card on which his name was written attached to it. The knots and hitches were made with a whale line on a handspike. The other questions were answered orally, or by pointing out the part of the rigging indicated. There were twenty questions in the list, and the promptness, as well as the accuracy, of the answers or the work was to be considered in marking the value of them. If a student was obliged to try two or three times before he could make a square knot, or a clove hitch, he was marked lower. If he did what he was required without hesitation, he had five for each question; if not, he was marked lower, for seamen have no time to deliberate. Though the examination was a very simple and easy one, no student obtained above ninety, and several were below fifty. Most of the officers had over seventy. Captain Lincoln had ninety, and Cantwell only fifty-two, though none of them knew the results till the first of the next month. The addition of these marks to the merit roll for the month made some important changes in the relative standing of the students.

"What do you say now?" inquired Scott, when he met Beckwith, after supper.

"I say just the same that I have always said," replied the first master.

"Do you still desire to have the higher officers chosen by ballot?"

"Certainly I do."

"But the fellows all say that Cantwell can't well be captain or first lieutenant when to-day's marks are added in."

"No matter for that; I still think that it is better to vote for the captain and lieutenants."

"Just as you like; but I think you miss it."

"I don't believe I do," answered the first master, walking away.

The results of the examination were not known to the students; but they were speculated over and guessed at very freely. It was generally admitted that Cantwell's chances for either of the first two offices, were lost for the next month; but it was certain that, if he were not thrown off the track, he would be captain in two or three months, when he had brought up his seamanship to the proper standard. Indeed, the agitation had already roused the obnoxious officer to a realizing sense of his own deficiency, and stimulated him to make an earnest effort to acquire the needed knowledge. From that time he used all his spare hours in studying the nautical books in the library. For hours he pored over the large diagrams of a ship, in which the spars, sails, and rigging were explained. The old boatswain appeared to be his best friend, so much were they together; for Peaks delighted to instruct a willing pupil.

On the last day of the month the squadron sailed for Åbo, in Finland. During the week the vessels had remained among the islands; they had been working gradually to the eastward, till it was only a short run to this port. The town is on the Aurajoki River, about three miles from the Gulf of Bothnia. The squadron came to anchor off the mouth of the river, near the village of Boxholm. The steamers and small vessels go up to the town, but large craft are obliged to discharge their cargoes at this place. On a hill which commands the entrance to the river there is a fort, which is also a prison—an ancient structure with the ruins of a watch-tower, which has stood for centuries. Many of the houses on the shore were painted red,—as in the country towns of New England fifty years ago,—and were occupied by fishermen and laborers. The students, who had been in the solitudes of nature for a week, and had hardly seen a living creature, or anything connected with civilized life, were interested in observing every indication of civilization in the vicinity. For the time, even the exciting topic of the change in the "tenure of office" was dropped. Scott, who had been quietly at work ever since the meeting at the picnic, suspended his labors, and made queer comments upon the old castle, the boats, and the people around the ship. Though there was actually a village in sight, it did not entirely remove the impression from the minds of many of the students that they were almost "out of the world," for the oppressive fact that they were in sixty and a half degrees of north latitude was not entirely removed by the fort, the village, and the people.

"All hands, attend lecture!" shouted the boatswain, as his shrill pipe rang through the ship, and was repeated in the two consorts.

"Lecture!" exclaimed Scott. "That's too bad! What does the professor think we are made of? We have been patient and long-suffering in the matter of lectures, and I didn't suppose we were to be dosed with any more till we got to Russia."

"We are in Russia now," replied Laybold.

"Not much, if my soundings are correct. Finland isn't Russia, any more than the Dominion of Canada is Great Britain. It is subject to Russia, but the people here make their own laws, or at least have a finger in the pie, which they don't under the nose of the Czar. Do you see that big fish, Laybold?"

"What fish?" asked the other.

"Why, that one near the shore. He is over five feet long."

Scott pointed at a man who had just taken a small boy on his back, and was wading out to a boat, with a man on each side of him.

"I don't see any fish," added Laybold, straining his eyes as he gazed earnestly in the direction indicated by his companion.

"Don't you? Then you are a little blind in one of your ears. There he goes towards the boat."

"What is it?" asked several others.

"A big fish," replied Scott, demurely.

"I see some men, but no fish," said Laybold.

"There, he has stopped by the boat."

"That isn't a fish; it's a man."

"I tell you it is a fish. Do you think I don't know a fish when I see one."

"Nonsense!" shouted the others. "It's a man."

"I say he is a fish. Don't you see that he has a Finn on his back, and Finns each side of him?" returned Scott.

"You get out!" shouted Jones. "A fellow that will deliberately make a pun isn't fit to live in polite society."

"Then I'm finished for polite society," added Scott; "though I don't see how you know anything about it, for you never were there, or your manners belie you. By the way, did you know that our government had sent over to this country for a fortune-teller, or seer—one of those fellows they used to have in Scotland?"

"What for?" asked Laybold.

"They want to make him secretary of the treasury."

"Why so?" inquired Jones.

"Because they need a financier; for the fellow would certainly be one. There, do you see that French conjunction on the shore? Hear him bark."

"That is a dog," protested Laybold.

"What of it? Isn't it afin que? Well, those are strange people," continued Scott, shaking his head.

"What's the matter with them?"

"Matter? Did you oversee the 'finny tribe' walking about on shore before?"

"You are a monster, Scott," laughed Jones.

"Yes, a sea-monster; and if I were monarch of all I surveyed, I should have plenty of Finns. Do you suppose those women have any nephews and nieces?" asked Scott, still gazing at the group of men, women, and children, who had gathered on the beach to see the squadron.

"Of course they have."

"Then we must go on shore and be introduced to them."

"But we can't speak Finnish."

"In that case we shall be obliged to finish speaking."

"But why should we be introduced to the 'women with nephews and nieces?'"

"Because it is eminently proper and right that American young gentlemen should be acquainted with finance. The boats are coming, and I am like that shed on the beach."

"I don't see it."

"Yes—Finnish shed. Come, tumble down the hatchway," said Scott, as he led the way to the steerage.

Mr. Mapps, the instructor in geography and history, was already at his post, which post was the foremast of the ship, whereon was hung a large map of Finland, drawn by himself on the back side of another map, with black paint and a marking brush; for he had not been able to find a printed one on a large scale. The students from the consorts soon appeared, and a few raps with the professor's pointer procured silence.

"Where are we now, young gentlemen?" he began.

"Here, sir," responded Scott.

"A little more definitely, if you please."

"Eastern hemisphere, sir," added Scott.

"Excellent; but couldn't you venture to come a little nearer to the point."

"Near Åbo, in Finland," said another student.

"Right; but the little ring which you see over the A in the printed name of the town makes the pronunciation as though it were written O-bo. The proper style of the country is the Grand Duchy of Finland; and in his relations to it, the Czar of Russia has been called the Emperor Grand Duke. The Finnish name of the country is Suomema, which means 'the region of lakes.' You see, by a glance at the map,—which is rather rudely drawn,—that this is the character of the country, even to a greater degree than in Norway and Sweden. It has the Gulf of Bothnia on the west, and the Gulf of Finland on the south, with Finmark, a province of Norway, on the north, and Russia proper on the east."

"But where is Lapland?" asked a student.

"Lapland is a region which belongs to Russia and Norway, and part of it is included in Finland. The name is not applied to a political division, but to the country of a particular people. Finland has about one hundred and forty thousand square miles of territory; about the size of Montana Territory, more than half as large as Texas, or eighteen times as large as Massachusetts. Its population is about the same as this last state—in round numbers, one million four hundred thousand. A large portion of the country is a desolate region. In the southern part; the soil is good, and in former times Finland was the granary of Sweden; but its agriculture has since declined. Vast forests cover a considerable portion of its territory, and the lumber from them is the principal source of wealth to the people, who are also largely engaged in the fisheries. There are some extensive cotton and iron manufactures. All the principal towns are on the coast, except Tavastehus; but the largest place, Helsingfor, has only sixteen thousand inhabitants.

"Not much is known of the early history of Finland; but the country was governed in tribes by chiefs, or kings. They took to the water very naturally, and became pirates, harassing the Swedes to such a degree, that Eric, their king, sent an expedition to Finland in the twelfth century, where he established Swedish colonies, and introduced Christianity. One of the colonies was planted here in Åbo, where the first Christian church in the country was built. From this time the Swedes and Finns blended, and the history of Finland was merged in that of Sweden. Birger Jarl built Tavastehus, and confirmed the conquest. But Russia coveted this desolate region, and first conquered Wyborg, its most eastern province, and the Finns fought with Sweden in the various wars with her powerful neighbor. The people suffered terribly from these wars, and from famine. From 1692 to 1696, sixty thousand perished from famine in the province of Åbo alone. In the wars of Charles XII., thousands of Finns were sacrificed, and five regiments of them were killed or captured during the march into the Ukraine, and in the battle of Pultowa. After this battle, in 1709, in which Charles XII. was totally defeated, the Russians invaded the whole of Finland, and held it until 1721, when, with the exception of Wyborg, it was restored to Sweden.

"In 1741 the Swedes made an attempt to recover what they had lost, but utterly failed. Again, in 1788, Gustavus III., commanding the Swedish army in person, tried to regain the ancient province of Wyborg; but a conspiracy at home compelled him to return, and the favorable opportunity was lost. In 1790 the king renewed the attack by sea, and his fleet of thirty-eight vessels was blockaded at Wyborg by a Russian squadron of fifty-one ships. The Swedes cut their way out of the trap, but with the loss of fifteen ships. The fleet, reduced by these heavy losses, was again attacked by the Russians in overwhelming force; but the result was a glorious victory for the Swedes, in which their enemy lost fifty-three vessels and four thousand men. This event ended the war for the time, and a treaty honorable to the Swedes was signed. In 1808 Finland was again invaded by the Russians, without even the formality of a declaration of war. The Swedes were unprepared for the contest, and slowly retired to the north, fighting several battles, and gaining some unimportant victories, but were completely overwhelmed in the battle of Orawais. By the treaty which followed, all of Finland and the Aland Islands were ceded to Russia.

"By a special grant of Alexander I., graciously renewed by his successors, Finland retains her ancient constitution, which provides for a national parliament. The right to legislate and impose taxes upon the people is nominally in this body, but is really exercised by a senate appointed by the Emperor Grand Duke. The executive power is in the hands of a governor general, who represents the sovereign. The people still retain their national customs and language, and when you go on shore this afternoon, you will find very little that is Russian. The money is in marks and pennies, with the decimal system; and Russian paper is not current in Finland. A mark is worth about twenty cents of our money, and four of them make one ruble, the gold value of which is eighty cents. The currency of Russia in actual circulation is all paper, so that the value of the ruble is reduced about twenty per cent. Finland also has a paper currency, which is of depreciated value, as is the case in all countries where gold and silver are not in actual use."

The professor finished his lecture, and the students were about to separate, when the stroke of the bell called them to order again, and Mr. Lowington stepped upon the platform. The officers and seamen were all attention in an instant, for it was expected that he would say something upon the exciting subject which had been so thoroughly discussed in all the vessels of the squadron.

"Young gentlemen," the principal began, "I have something to say to you concerning the application which has been made to me to make certain of the offices of the squadron elective. I have not the slightest objection to the plan, if the elections can be fairly and honorably conducted. I have considered the plan in substance, which has been presented to me several times, and I like it, though in its practical workings I think that grave objections will be developed. By the present plan, one with very little experience and very little seamanship may reach the highest offices, especially, as will sometimes happen, when the nautical branch of the institution receives less attention in any one month than the scholastic. By the plan you propose, you may elect the least worthy of the officers to the rank of captain. Votes may be bought and sold, and electioneering excitements carried to excess. The plan in use has worked very well, and I am not aware that any injustice has ever been worked by it. It has always happened that the best and most reliable students have attained the highest places; though I must acknowledge that it may not always happen so. For a change, I am willing to try your plan."

A demonstration of applause greeted this announcement, but it came mainly from the officers.

"But I wish to say, that though I have considered substantially the same plan several times, I should not now introduce it if you had not asked for it. The present is certainly the fairest plan, for it places all upon an absolute equality, and under it every officer is indebted entirely to his own merit for his position, and not at all to the favor of his instructors or his friends among the ship's company. A change, therefore, is more properly inaugurated by you than by me.

"I am informed by the committee that the vote was not unanimous, and one member of the committee did not choose to appear with the delegation."

"He was notified of the meeting of the committee," said De Forrest.

"I was notified," replied Scott; "but the meeting of the committee was held in the after cabin, which I am not permitted to enter."

The opposition applauded till the snap of the bell silenced them.

"This does not look exactly like fair play, especially as Scott is supposed to represent the opposition to the change."

"He was notified of the time when the committee would wait upon you, sir, in the main cabin, but he declined to attend," answered De Forrest.

"If there was a preliminary meeting of the committee, he ought not to have been excluded from it," added Mr. Lowington. "Your proceedings must be revised, and the opposition must be heard."

"Mr. Lowington, as a member of the committee, I withdraw all opposition," interposed Scott.

"I do not know that you are authorized to do so," replied the principal; "but I am very glad to see this spirit of accommodation on your part."

"I don't think the new plan is so fair as the old one; but I wish to have a fair trial of it. The new method was got up by the nobs in the cabin—"

"The what?" inquired the principal, with a smile.

"The nobs, sir."

"If by an accident, or by any extra exertion on your part, you were elected to an office in the cabin, would you be a nob?"

"Yes, sir."

"Though you do not seem to use the word in an offensive sense, I prefer some other form of expression. You say that the plan was devised by the cabin officers."

"Yes, sir."

"But we consulted the seamen, and they agreed to the plan before the meeting. It would have been a unanimous vote if Scott had not got up an opposition just for the sake of a joke," said De Forrest, rather bitterly.

"I opposed the thing in my own way, and I never agreed to it; but we all consent to it now."

"Does any one object to it?" asked Mr. Lowington.

Cantwell looked at Scott, but the latter shook his head.

"If there is any objection, I desire to hear it now."

No one offered any objection.

"There being no opposition, with the understanding on my part that unanimous consent is given to the plan, I will adopt it—"

Violent applause on the part of the officers and others interrupted the principal, which was silenced by a stroke of the bell.

"I will adopt it with an amendment," added Mr. Lowington. "I will explain the amendment. By the new plan, the offices of commodore, captain, and lieutenant are made elective within certain limits. The commodore must be elected from the three captains; the captain must be chosen from the cabin officers of the vessel to which he belongs. Now suppose, for example, that one of the lieutenants for next month, relying upon his popularity among his shipmates for his position the following month, neglects his studies; what check have we upon him?"

There was no answer, for this case has not occurred to the agitators.

"Suppose the captain of this ship—but I grant in the beginning that this is not a supposable case—should utterly fail in his duty so far as study is concerned; you elect him captain or commodore, while the present rule would send him back into the steerage. The amendment I propose will correct this defect in your plan. It consists of two sections," continued the principal, as he proceeded to read from a paper in his hand. "1. No captain shall be eligible to the office of commodore whose merit-rank is below No. 6 in the Young America, or below No. 5 in the Josephine, or Tritonia. 2. No officer shall be eligible to the office of captain or lieutenant whose merit-rank is below No. 16 in the ship, or below No. 9 in the other vessels. Are you satisfied with the amendment?"

"We are," replied the students.

"Then the merit-roll will be read and the elections take place to-morrow, on the first day of the month," continued the principal. "We will now go up to Åbo."

The students applauded, and left the steerage. The boatswains piped all hands into the boats, and in half an hour the squadron of barges and cutters were pulling in single file up the narrow river.

CHAPTER IV.

TWO HOURS A IN ÅBO, AND THE BANGWHANGERS.

In the captain's gig was Dr. Winstock, with whom Captain Lincoln always delighted to walk or ride on shore, and whom he always invited to take a seat in the stern-sheets of his boat. The doctor had inherited a considerable fortune, which placed him above the necessity of practising in his profession, and he had travelled all over Europe. He had not been an idle wanderer abroad, going from place to place in search of mere amusement; but he had been a diligent inquirer into the system of government, the history, the agricultural and manufacturing interest, and the manners and customs of the countries he visited. He was, therefore, as he was often called, a walking encyclopædia of information; and for this reason Lincoln sought his company.

"Of course you have been in Finland before, Dr. Winstock," said Lincoln, as soon as the gig took her place in the line.

"I have," replied the surgeon. "Several years ago I went from Copenhagen to Christiania, rode across the country in a cariole to Bergen, and from there made the trip by steamer to the North Cape, where I saw the sun at midnight. I came by steamer along the coast to Frederiksværn, and from there to Gottenburg, and through Sweden. At Stockholm I embarked in the steamer Aura, which starts at two o'clock in the morning now, as she did then."

"I went on board of a steamer of the same line in Stockholm—I forget her name."

"Perhaps the Grefve Berg, which is the best one. The other two are the Dagmar and the Wyborg. The trip in one of these vessels to St. Petersburg is a very delightful one. She arrives at this place the first day, and spends the night here; the second day she goes to Helsingfors, and the third to Wyborg, arriving at St. Petersburg in the forenoon of the fourth day. Nearly the whole voyage is made among the islands, which, almost without an exception, are as silent and still as those we have visited. She stays long enough at these Finnish towns to enable one to see them. The steamers are Finnish, the captains of them speak English, and the table on board is very good. The fare is twenty rubles—meals extra."

"Did you go into the interior?"

"Yes; I went as far as the group of lakes in the centre of the country, and had some capital fishing there. I rode in a cariole, like those in use in Norway. But some people use a kabitka, which is a cart, very long and narrow, with a leather covering over about one half of its length. In the bottom of the vehicle, which has no springs, there is a quantity of hay or straw, or a feather bed, on which the traveller stretches himself; but it is very hard riding, for the roads are rough, and the hills are full of sharp pitches. All expenses are about six cents a verst."

"How much is a verst?" asked the captain.

"Two thirds of a mile; or, more exactly, .6626 of a mile. Three versts are two miles. Travelling in Finland is rather exciting at times, for the horses rush at full gallop down the hills and over sharp pitches. But the roads are pretty good, and an average speed of ten miles an hour may be attained."

"How could you get along without the language?"

"I picked, up a few words, which I have forgotten, and had no trouble at all. I went to Tavastehus, which is on one of the vast chain of lakes in the interior of Finland. Small steamers ply upon them; and a trip by water in this region is very pleasant. There is now a railroad from this town to Helsingfors."

"There seems to be some business even in this out-of-the-way part of the world," said Lincoln, as the squadron of boats passed a series of buildings.

"Those are government works—founderies and machine shops."

The river rapidly diminished in size, until at the town it was a small stream, over which was a bridge, connecting the two parts of the place. The boats went up to the quay just below this bridge, and the students landed. Dividing into parties, they went where they pleased. Some crossed the bridge, and others went in the direction of the cathedral, which is on the left bank of the river. Dr. Winstock and Lincoln were of the latter.

"They have wide streets here," said the young captain.

"Yes; land is cheap, and they can have them as wide as they please. In all modern-built Russian cities you will find broad avenues."

"The buildings are all but one story high."

"Nearly all; and the houses are very much scattered, so that the people do not appear to be very neighborly. Large as the town seems to be, it contains only thirteen thousand inhabitants."

"The houses look very neat and nice."

"Only a few of them can be very old, for in 1827 nearly the whole city was destroyed by fire, including the university with its library, and many other public edifices. When the town was rebuilt, the people placed the houses at a considerable distance from each other, and built them but one story, because they had not the means to erect larger ones."

Passing along the street next to the river, the tourists reached an extensive square, in which there was a statue of Professor Porthan, a learned Finlander. Just beyond it was the cathedral, which is of brick, and far from elegant or imposing in its external appearance.

"This is the cradle of Christianity in Finland," said the doctor. "As Mr. Mapps told you, this town was founded by Eric of Sweden, who introduced Christianity into this region. The first bishop was located here; and in this church, for centuries, the first families were buried; and you will not only see their tombs, but also some of their bodies, if you desire."

"I should not think that would be permitted," replied Lincoln.

"Nor I; but it is. The great fire burned out the interior of this church, destroying the altar and organ, and even melting the bells. The building was repaired by subscription. A baker, who had accumulated about twelve thousand dollars in his business, having no near relatives, gave his little fortune for the purchase of another organ, and his wishes were carried out after his death."

A man with a bundle of keys presented himself at this time, bowed, and solemnly opened the door of the cathedral. As the visitors ascended the steps, the man pointed to a rusty ring.

"What's that?" asked Lincoln.

"In ancient times offenders used to be fastened to that ring, and were compelled to do penance there," replied the doctor.

"There's nothing very fine about this," said the captain, as they entered the church.

"Certainly not. I hope you did not expect to find a cathedral like St. Peter's, or those at Antwerp and Cologne. This structure has been built upon, increased in size, and improved, several times. There is the organ which the baker gave. It has five thousand pipes—for a dollar would buy more organ pipes years ago than now. Whatever there is here in the way of ornament, including the frescoes, is the work of native artists," continued the doctor, as they walked up to the altar. "In the crypt under this altar lie the remains of Queen Christina of Sweden."

"Mr. Mapps said she was buried in St. Peter's, at Rome," interposed the captain.

"Not the celebrated Queen Christina, but the wife of St. Eric, whose remains are intombed in the cathedral of Upsala. Here is an epitaph to Katrina Mänsdotter," said the doctor, as they passed to the side of the church.

"I never heard of her before, which is not very strange," replied Lincoln.

"Do you remember who was the son and successor of Gustavus Vasa?"

"Eric XIV. He was deposed by the Swedish parliament, kept a prisoner nine years, and then poisoned."

"Good! That is more than I could have told about him. Eric's father proposed to marry him to Queen Elizabeth of England; and Eric, while the negotiations were still pending, proposed to Mary, Queen of Scots, and to two other princesses. He was actually flirting with four ladies of royal blood at the same time. The accepting of either, he felt, would make trouble; and he relieved himself of any difficulty by marrying Miss Mänsdotter. She was a very pretty girl, the daughter of a petty officer of the Guards, who had attracted his attention while she was selling fruit in the market of Stockholm. She was sincerely attached to him, tyrant and oppressor as he was, and clung to him through his misfortunes. After his imprisonment she retired to Finland, and passed the remainder of her days in obscurity."

"That's a good story for a novelist to work upon," suggested Lincoln.

"Very likely the incidents of the career of Katrina have been used by the Swedish novelists; but I am not as familiar as I intend to be with them. I see that the works of Madame Schwartz, a celebrated Swedish writer, are now in process of translation in the United States. Several volumes have been published, and they are having a large circulation. This lady locates some of her stories, or parts of them, in Finland."

Many of the tombs in which the Finland worthies were buried are half above and half below the pavement of the church. The conductor of the little party opened the door of one of them, and the captain looked into the gloomy space. Within it several coffins were crumbling to decay. The man raised one of them, exhibiting the body of the occupant. The features of the face were well preserved, though the person had been dead three hundred years. They were of a brownish color, not unlike guano. Following the example of the conductor, the visitors touched the face, which was hard and rather spongy.

"I should think this body would decay," said the captain.

"No; there is something in the atmosphere which has changed it to adipocere. Sometimes bodies buried in the ground are petrified, or turned into stone. In Italy, and in some other countries, you will see the bodies of saints in the churches, though I remember none as perfect as this, for they are very black, and much shrivelled. In the vaults at Palermo vast numbers of the dead are preserved by the conditions of the vault in which they are buried."

Other monuments were examined, and the party left the church, giving the solemn man—who had not yet spoken a single word—a mark for his services, at which he solemnly bowed as he put the money in his pocket. Crossing the river, Dr. Winstock and Lincoln walked over the rest of the town, which, however, contained nothing worthy of note. There was nothing in the costume of the people to distinguish them, and the shops and houses were hardly different from those in England or America. The streets are paved with cobble stones, and a few droskies may be seen; but the people, who are more intensely Swedish than in the eastern provinces of Finland, do not take kindly to Russian customs and institutions. After the destruction of the university by fire, it was removed to Helsingfors, and the hostility of the province to their new ruler caused the transfer of the seat of government to the same place. The town wears an aspect of desolation in its streets, for very few people are seen in them; and, except on the wharf at the arrival of a steamer there, nothing of the bustle of business is seen. The place has lost much of its former importance.

The students wandered idly through the deserted streets, and it was noticeable that but few of them paid any attention to their surroundings. A group of the seamen sat on the quay above the bridge, apparently engaged in an animated discussion. Though the Finnish women were pulling about in boats on the narrow river, the boys were not interested in their movements. Their conversation did not relate to Finland or the Finns. Scott, the joker, was in the centre of the ring, and did the greater part of the talking, and of course the subject was that which had been introduced at the picnic on the island. Without having any distinct plan in the beginning, Scott had become a leader among the democratic element of the ship. His crude ideas, which had formed themselves into objections to the De Forrest scheme, were now seeking recognition as a plan. He had been laboring very earnestly to defeat the wishes of the cabin "nobs," as he persisted in calling them.

"We can't go for such a fellow as Cantwell," said one of the students. "He is a conceited and overbearing fellow."

"I don't care a fig for Cantwell, personally," replied Scott. "It is the principle of the thing that I'm looking after. I know that Cantwell is unpopular in the steerage as well as in the cabin. But there's a conspiracy against him. Just as soon as he had earned his rank, the fellows in the cabin put their heads together to cheat him out of it. I was appointed on the committee, and they called a meeting in the cabin, where I was not allowed to go, to prevent me from attending. Was that fair?"

"No, no!" responded the seamen.

"Right! Besides, I want those swells in the cabin to know that we are a power."

"But they came to us before the meeting on the island," suggested one of the group.

"Yes; just so. But what did they come for? To know if we approved the plan? Not a bit of it. The plan was cooked up in the cabin. They came to us just as the politicians go to the dear people—for votes. They argued, talked, and begged for our votes at the meeting. By and by they will get up a plan by which no fellow shall be promoted from the steerage to the cabin. Cantwell and Victory! That's my motto."

"I say, Scott, don't you think it is absurd for us to vote for the most unpopular fellow in the ship?" asked Wainwright.

"No, I don't. He's the only fellow in the cabin that is not in the ring, and therefore the only one we can vote for. Don't you see it?"

"I don't want to vote against Captain Lincoln," another objected. "He is a first-rate fellow, and a good sailor."

"But Lincoln went in for this plan, was present at the meeting, and voted in favor of it," replied Scott. "I like Lincoln as well as any fellow, but I don't like this trying to keep any one out of the place he has fairly earned."

"That's so," said a dozen of the boys.

This was only a specimen of the electioneering which was going on in a dozen different places in Åbo at the same time. Only a few of the students entered the cathedral, and not many of them could tell, when they returned to the squadron, whether the streets of the town were broad or narrow, or whether the houses were one or two stories high. While the seamen were at work for Cantwell, the officers were speaking a good word for Captain Lincoln, whom they desired to reëlect to his present position.

At six o'clock most of the students were in the vicinity of the bridge, ready to repair to the boats when the boatswains gave the signal. Dr. Winstock and Lincoln were at the hotel on the quay called the Society's House, which is said to be the most northern one in the world. Students were arriving in the droskies, which many of them had employed for the sake of a ride; and when they came to pay their fare there were many amusing scenes, for neither party understood a word of the language of the other. Most of the students, too, had changed their Swedish money into Russian in Stockholm, and were unprovided with Finnish currency, for they supposed that Russian money was current in Finland. The drivers would not take the rubles and copecks, and some very cheerful rows ensued. But the principal, with Professor Badois—who spoke Swedish—at his elbow, interfered, and paid the fares. The students embarked, the line of boats was formed, and the squadron moved down the river, with half of Åbo on the quay, gazing in solemn silence at the departure of the strange visitors, for as such they certainly regarded them. In less than an hour the boats were alongside the vessels to which they belonged, and were soon hoisted up to the davits.

The signal for sailing was shown on board of the Young America, and a lively scene followed. Anchors were hove short, sails shaken out, and the Finnish pilots were at their stations. As the breeze was fresh and fair, the principal desired to take advantage of it; and, after a stay of only five hours at Åbo, the squadron was under way again, threading its course through the channels among the numerous islands. In the watch on deck, and that below, the business of electioneering was continued with the utmost vigor. Scott and his friends were busy everywhere, and even the stale expedient of a secret society among the "anti-De Forresters" was proposed, and enthusiastically adopted. Scott and Jones were intrusted with the task of furnishing a constitution, and inventing the necessary dark-lantern machinery for the organization.

Boys have a decided taste for secret associations, though, as the experience of the present time shows, not more than adults, male and female. The number of these "orders" among full-grown men is on the increase, and the boys, in all parts of the United States, have manifested a strong desire to keep up with the times, and follow the example of their elders. Secret societies had several times been formed on board of the Young America, but generally for purposes of mischief, such as running away, or capturing one of the vessels. The present association appeared to be for political purposes—to influence the election of officers. Scott was, in the main, a very sensible fellow; and his only idea of a secret society was to make some fun out of it, though he was quite willing to have it used for accomplishing his purpose, which, in its turn, was little more than a gigantic joke, so far as he was concerned.

The wind, which had been fresh all day, diminished in force after the squadron sailed, and at half past eight, while the sun was still above the horizon, there was a dead calm, and the vessels were obliged to anchor for the night, for the pilots declined to run during the darkness in the intricate navigation of these seas. The squadron anchored near a rocky island, the top of which was covered with trees. The same "eternal silence" seemed to pervade the region as among the Aland Islands. When everything was made snug on board, a portion of the students asked permission to go on shore, which was readily granted to all who desired to do so. This number was found to include the entire crew of the ship.

"The Bangwhangers will meet at the farther side of the island," whispered Scott. "Pass it along."

"The what?" asked Laybold.

"The Bangwhangers. Don't you belong to the night-bloomers?"

"I don't understand you," replied Laybold.

"You don't? Well, your head is thicker than a quart of molasses. Didn't you fellows ask me to get up a secret society?"

"Yes."

"Well, I have done it; but you popsquizzles don't seem to know your own chickens. The new institution is to be called the Bangwhangers, of whom you are which. Now, don't tell any one who isn't a Bangwhanger anything at all about it."

"I see."

"I should think you might, if your ears were only half as long as a donkey's."

The students tumbled into the boats; and, as most of the officers were busy preparing ballots for the election on the following day, none of them went on shore, the boats being in charge of the several coxswains. Ordinarily the seamen would not have been permitted to visit the shore without at least one officer in each boat; but as it did not seem possible that any mischief could be done on this uninhabited island, the rule was waived. The students landed; and in a few moments several boats from the Josephine and Tritonia brought a majority of the crews of these vessels. Scott and several of his most intimate friends went to the highest part of the island.

"Every Cantwell man may join our society; no one else," said Scott, after he had told them the name.

"All right."

"And we will give them the first degree at once."

"What's that?"

"The first degree is next to nothing; only to get the fellows together to organize," said Scott, as he leaped upon a rock. "Come up here, Jones; I'll give you the first degree."

Jones joined the joker on the rock.

"Do you agree to vote for Cantwell, to say nothing to nobody, and never to eat soup with a darning-needle?" asked Scott, in a low tone.

"Of course I do," laughed Jones.

"Answer in these words:—

"To all these three I do agree."

Jones repeated the words in due form.

"All right. I appoint you R. P. F. pro tem."

"R. P. F.! What does that mean?"

"I can't tell you till you have taken your second degree; only remember the letters. Now, bring the fellows to me, one at a time."

Wainwright was the next one, who was obligated in the same manner, and Jones was instructed to tell the candidates what to say in token of their assent.

"To all these three, I do agree," replied Wainwright.

"I declare you a Bangwhanger, and appoint you L. P. F."

"What does that mean?" demanded the initiate.

"We can't tell you till you take your second degree," replied Jones.

In half an hour fifty had joined the association. The third one was appointed I. L. M., and the fourth; O. L. M. Thus far only those who were known to be ready to vote for Cantwell were invited to join; and those who were admitted formed a ring to keep the outsiders at a reasonable distance.

But there were plenty of applicants, and the number increased as those outside of the circle heard the laughter of those on the rock. If Scott was at the bottom of the affair, it was fun. One after another the R. P. F. and the L. P. F. continued to bring in the candidates.

"Do you agree to vote for Cantwell, to—"

"No; I don't agree to that," interposed one of them.

"Turn him out!" added Scott. "R. P. F., do your duty."

This duty was a very simple one, and consisted only in leading the refractory applicant outside of the ring. A dozen more that followed, and had before refused to commit themselves, promptly agreed to all the conditions. All on the island had joined except about twenty, who had been turned out; but so great was the curiosity of some of these, that they promised to accept the conditions, if admitted.

"Bangwhangers, I congratulate you on your admission to this honorable and most respectable order," said Scott, when all who wished to join had been admitted. "But there may be some black sheep among you, and the obligation will be repeated;" and he repeated again, loud enough for all to hear him, "All that agree will repeat the couplet in due form, and sit down on the ground. Officers, turn out every fellow that don't sit down."

"All down!" shouted the students, and all of them suited the action to the word.

"All good men and true; but you must prove yourselves to be such. Do as I do;" and the joker put the forefinger of his right hand on the end of his nose.

All the members did the same.

"When I meet a Bangwhanger, I put my finger to my nose, and say, 'Bang.' In reply, he puts his finger to his nose, and answers, 'Whang.' Now I will do it with the R. P. F. Bang!"

"Whang!" replied Jones: putting his finger to his nose.

"Right. You can try it on with the brother nearest to you."

While the fraternity were practising this important part of the work, Scott instructed Jones still further in the mysterious art. When the R. P. F. fully understood his part, the joker called the members to order again, and told them to learn the dialogue which he would rehearse with Jones, for it was the form by which a Bangwhanger was to know a brother of the order.

"Bang!" said Scott, putting his finger to his nose.

"Whang!" replied Jones, doing the same.

"Who knows?"

"Eye, nose," answered Jones, drawing his finger over his right eye, and then placing it on the end of his nose, as he mentioned the name of each organ.

"Who knows?"

"Eighty noes."

"Right, Brother Bangwhanger; come to my arms," added Scott. "But the number is to be modified so as always to show the exact strength of this honorable and most respectable order."

The joker and his companion went through the dialogue several times, till every member was familiar with it, and then they practised it among themselves, amid peals of laughter.

"Now, Brother Bangwhangers, we are to elect officers. The first and highest is the C. B.," continued Scott.

"What does it mean?" asked half a dozen or more.

"I can't tell you till you take the second degree," replied the joker. "Please to nominate."

"Scott!" shouted the members.

"Brother R. P. F., spare my modesty, and put the question," said the joker.

Jones put the question, and of course Scott was unanimously elected.

"The next office, is the D. C. B. Please to nominate."

"Wainwright."

He was elected.

"Now for the Q. D."

"Hobbs." And he was chosen.

"The Y. D. K."

"Edson." And no one objected.

"The I. L. M."

"Merrill." And the vote was unanimous.

"The O. L. M."

"Hall." And he went in.

"The R. P. F."

"Jones." And the nomination was confirmed.

"The L. P. F."

"Brown." And he was the choice of the members.

"Eight officers, and they are all chosen. They will constitute the original second degree men, and, after they have been instructed, we shall be ready to admit you all to that enviable distinction. Now, the Q. D. and the Y. D. K. will count the members."

The number reported was eighty-two, which was nearly a majority of the students in the squadron.

"Who knows?" called the C. B.

"Eighty-two knows," replied several.

"That's enough to put a veto on the De Forresters. Now, remember the solemn pledge you have taken, to vote for Cantwell, to say nothing to nobody, and never to eat soup with a darning-needle."

"To all these three I do agree," responded the members, laughing.

"Although the last is the most important, the first is not to be neglected; and any member who knows, and don't do, shall be headed up in a mackerel kit and thrown overboard by the R. P. F., before he takes the second degree, in which the sublime mysteries of the order will be fully elucidated. Who knows?"

Scott coined jokes and puns for a few moments, to the intense enjoyment of the members; and by this time four of the outsiders desired to become members. They were immediately admitted.

"Who knows?"

"Eighty-six noes."

"Good! All hands to the boats."

The coxswains called their crews, and the students returned to their vessels.

CHAPTER V.

AN EXCITING ELECTION.

It was the last day of the month, and the instructors in the three vessels of the squadron were very busy in adding the merit-rolls on the record books. It was necessary that all this work should be very carefully done, for a mistake of a single mark might send a cabin officer into the steerage, or a seaman from the steerage into the cabin. Every addition was verified, therefore, by a second person. The students had abundant opportunities to canvass and electioneer, as all the instructors were at work in the main cabin. While the seamen were on shore, the officers had been using the Novelty presses and the types in printing the ballots for the next day. And they had just as much difficulty in "making up the slate" as a ring of older politicians. While few of the officers were willing to stand as candidates for positions lower in rank than those they held at the time, some desired to go a little higher. There were no little compromising and "log-rolling" but it ought to be said that Commodore Cumberland and Captain Lincoln, while they were willing to place themselves "in the hands of their friends," refrained entirely from pressing their claims. On the other hand, De Forrest and Beckwith had used their influence to better their own condition. The former was afraid his merit-rank would be lower than his present position, and he agreed with the latter to make him second lieutenant, if Beckwith would work to nominate and elect him as first. The nominations were full of difficulty. De Forrest, as the originator of the plan which had been adopted, felt that he had some claims to consideration. Of course, as Judson and Norwood were to be displaced if De Forrest and Beckwith were advanced, it was necessary for the latter aspirants to work privately and carefully. But the secret could not long be kept, and when the first and second lieutenants learned that there was a movement on foot to displace them, they were very angry and indignant, and protested with all their might against the injustice. The De Forrest plan was already at a discount with a considerable portion of the cabin officers.

The discussion in the after cabin was becoming violent and noisy; and at the suggestion of Captain Lincoln, it was voted to appoint a committee, who should retire to a state-room and prepare a ticket. The commodore, the captain, and Sheridan, the first midshipman, constituted this committee; and after an absence of an hour, they reported that the several officers should be nominated in the order of their present rank. This report, if accepted, would defeat the aspirations of Beckwith, and he refused to assent to it. De Forrest, who felt that his claims were not recognized by the report, was not satisfied with it. As each of these aspirants had several friends, the compromise was not agreeable. The name of Cantwell had not been mentioned for any position. He sat in a corner of the cabin, a silent but interested listener, until the vote on the report of the committee was about to be taken.

"Mr. Chairman," said he, addressing Ryder, the fourth lieutenant, who had been chosen to this position, "it strikes me that these proceedings are slightly insular. Who are expected to vote this ticket when it is made up?"

"All who are willing to do so, of course," answered Ryder.

"Then you are selecting candidates for the crew to vote for, as well as the officers?"

"Certainly."

"It seems to me, then, that the seamen ought to be represented in a meeting of this kind. They are to cast four fifths of the votes, but are not permitted to say a word in regard to the nominations," continued Cantwell, in a very quiet tone, in strong contrast with the one he had usually adopted, showing that Scott's lesson on Sunday had done him some good.

"How can we hold a caucus of the whole ship's company?" inquired De Forrest.

"It can be done on deck without the least difficulty."

"It don't seem practicable to me," added Beckwith.

"I suppose the ticket nominated here is not binding upon any one," suggested Captain Lincoln. "For my part, I quite agree that the crew ought to be consulted. Mr. Chairman, I move that this report be laid upon the table. If my motion prevails, I shall offer another, looking to a caucus of the whole ship's company."

"I second the motion," added Cantwell.

"Mr. Chairman, I don't see the use—"

"The motion to lay on the table is not debatable," interposed Ryder. "It is moved and seconded that the report of the committee be laid on the table."

The motion was rejected, only half a dozen of the officers voting in favor of it. The report of the committee was accepted by a bare majority.

"As I said before, I suppose the action of this meeting is not binding upon any one," continued Lincoln, "but is simply an arrangement among ourselves."

"I think it is binding upon all who are present at this meeting," replied the chairman, who was decidedly in favor of the report, for he foresaw that, if De Forrest and Beckwith were advanced, Judson and Norwood would be crowded down, and he would not be a candidate for either of the five highest places in the ship.

"I certainly do not consider myself bound by it," said Cantwell.

"Nor I," added De Forrest.

"Nor I," repeated Beckwith.

But the business was finished, though nothing had really been done. One Novelty press was immediately set at work in printing what Ryder, Judson, and Norwood called the regular ticket, while De Forrest and Beckwith seized upon the other to print their own ticket, in which Ryder was utterly ignored. By the time the seamen returned from the island, three hundred of each of these tickets had been printed.

Scott had carefully instructed the members of the new order to "say nothing to nobody" in regard to the strength of the organization, or anything else relating to it. Of course those who had been to the island, but refused to join the order, knew something about the matter. They were aware that the members were all pledged to vote for Cantwell; but they had not estimated the number who had accepted the obligation.

As soon as the boats had been hoisted up, the friends of the two tickets which had been made up in the cabin went to work upon the seamen. De Forrest and Beckwith had made all sorts of promises to various officers to support them at the election following that of the next day, if they would go for the "independent ticket," as they styled their own, at the present time. When the advocates of the "regular ticket" understood what the "bolters" were doing, they crossed out De Forrest's and Beckwith's names, and substituted that of Ryder for third lieutenant, and that of Murray, the second master, for fourth. The young gentlemen were having a foretaste of the complications of politics, and a great deal of ill feeling was aroused. It was evident enough to the fair-minded, unselfish ones in the cabin, that the new plan was not working well, and they were very much disgusted at the conduct of De Forrest and Beckwith in particular. It was nothing but a scramble for office, without much regard for fitness among the candidates. The only redeeming feature of the business was the fact that Lincoln's name was on both of the cabin tickets; but then he was so popular, and so thoroughly competent for the captaincy, that neither of the factions dared to think of displacing him.

"I say, Longwood, I want you to go for the independent ticket," said De Forrest, addressing one of the students who had declined to join the Bangwhangers.

"The opposition have just formed a secret society, and all its members are pledged to vote for Cantwell," replied Longwood.

"Cantwell! nonsense! He can't be elected to any office."

"No use; the fellows know him too well. We had a meeting in the cabin, and there will be two tickets. This will be the winning one;" and the third lieutenant handed Longwood one of the printed ballots.

"What's the other ticket?"

"The present officers; but I have just found out that they are taking my name off the ticket, and putting on Murray's. What do you think of that? Is it fair play?"

"Well, I don't know; but if you are working against the regular ticket, you can't expect its friends to go for you," replied Longwood.

"But they want to shove me down, and I hope my friends won't let them do it. I got up this plan, you know, but the fellows don't seem to give me any credit for it. Vote this ticket—won't you?"

"I'll see," answered the voter, as the candidate passed on to another.

The first lieutenant, Judson, knowing the influence of Scott among the crew, went to him the moment he came on board, to present the claims of the regular ticket.

"I'm a Cantwell man," replied Scott.

"It's no use to go for him; he can't be elected," said Judson.

"Who knows?" added Scott.

"We have had a meeting in the cabin, and have regularly nominated a ticket."

"Probably it didn't occur to you that the crew had any right to meddle with the matter."

"Yes; we considered the subject; but we hadn't time to call a meeting of the whole ship's company."

"Time is short," laughed Scott.

"If the fellows in the steerage wish it, perhaps we can put Cantwell on the regular ticket as fourth lieutenant, instead of Murray."

"I am not authorized to speak for our fellows; and I don't know that they would vote your ticket even if you put Cantwell's name on it."

"Cantwell's name wouldn't strengthen our ticket at all."

"Perhaps not."

Scott took one of the ballots, but would not even promise to consider it.

"The officers have had a caucus in the cabin, Scott," said Cantwell.

"So Mr. Judson informs me; and they haven't put your name on the ticket?"

"No; of course I didn't expect them to do it. I told them the crew ought to be consulted, and Captain Lincoln tried to make a motion to that effect, but they wouldn't do it."

"Never mind what they do; none of their tickets will be elected."

"I don't know about that. They have two tickets, and every fellow in the cabin except me, is at work for one or the other of them. Whichever one is elected, I shall be thrown overboard."

"Perhaps not—who knows?" said Scott. "You may be elected captain, after all—who knows?"

"Impossible! I should be satisfied if I were fourth lieutenant, and I am sure my merit-rank would give me that place. But it's no use; I'm counted out."

"Not yet; wait till after election before you give it up. The fellows like fair play; and if you hadn't put on airs before this plan came up, they would make you commodore, just because the cabin nobs are trying to count you out. That's what's the matter. They like your cause a good deal better than they like you. As it is, they mean to see that you have fair play to-morrow. If you should happen to be elected to any office to-morrow, I hope you will try to be a good fellow."

"I certainly shall," replied Cantwell.

De Forrest was waiting for a chance to speak to Scott, and the C. B. passed on, leaving Cantwell in a very desponding state of mind. The situation had taken the conceit out of him. Conscious of his ability to win even the highest position, he had taken no pains to conciliate his associates, and he was reaping the legitimate harvest of his selfish conduct and his overbearing manner. Certainly the De Forrest plan had already done him a great good. His manners were changed, for he had learned that he was not of half so much consequence as he supposed; and his present depression of spirits did not permit him to put on airs, he had learned that, in all communities, every individual owes something of respect, kindness, and consideration to every other individual, even the superior to the inferior. It was a lesson which he would have been compelled to learn a few years later, if the circumstances had not obliged him to accept it at the present time. It is certainly true that young men are older and wiser at eighteen than at any subsequent period of their lives, and in Cantwell's case this self-importance was considerably exaggerated above the average. Most young men have to be "taken down," and the rough circumstances of life generally do it in the course of a few years, without any earthquake or other violent commotion.

Scott's party did no electioneering. Knowing what the next day was to bring forth, they were particularly jolly, and listened good-naturedly to all the cabin politicians had to say. They were remarkably cautious and prudent, and though the fact of the secret organization was known throughout the ship, the officers did not suspect that it numbered members enough to control the election. The canvass was lively till the anchor watch was stationed on deck, and all hands were compelled to turn in.

The next morning a dense fog hid even the nearest island from view. The Finnish pilots declined to take the vessels through the intricate channels among the islands, except under the most favorable circumstances. After breakfast the principal sent a note to each of the vice-principals. Scott pulled an oar in the boat which delivered them. While the messenger was in the cabin, he went on the deck of the Josephine, and walking about among the crew with the forefinger of his right hand on his nose, he soon discovered half a dozen making the sign.

"Bang!" said he, selecting one of them.

"Whang," laughed the seaman.

"Who knows?"

"Eye, nose," answered the other, making the proper signs.

"Who knows?"

"Eighty-six noses."

"Right, Brother Bangwhanger; come to my arms. Vote for Lincoln for commodore," said Scott; "and pass it along to every member."

After repeating this direction in due form to several others, the C. B. returned to the boat, and did the same thing on board of the Tritonia. In each of the two consorts, the members of the order were to nominate a ticket to suit themselves; and so far as they were concerned, the pledge to vote for Cantwell was meaningless. When the boat returned, all hands were piped to muster, and the principal, with the merit-roll in his hand, mounted the rostrum over the main hatch.

"Young gentlemen, in accordance with the change in the method of appointing the officers, announced at Åbo yesterday, the election of commodore of the squadron will take place at ten o'clock to-day," said Mr. Lowington. "The result of the balloting in the consorts will be transmitted without delay to the ship. The election of captain will immediately follow, and then of the four lieutenants, each in the order of rank, and on separate ballots."

"We have printed ballots containing the names of all the candidates," said De Forrest.

"I think it best to elect only one officer at a ballot."

"I hope the election will be postponed till eleven o'clock then, in order to give us time to prepare the separate ballots."

"Very well; I consent to the change of time; and the consorts shall be notified at once," replied the principal, who went to the cabin, wrote two notes, and sent them to the vice-principals by the adult forward officers.

"Now, let us understand the method of proceeding thoroughly," continued Mr. Lowington, as he returned to his position on the hatch. "Only a captain is eligible to the office of commodore, or the present incumbent may be reëlected. Only the present cabin officers can be candidates for the five highest offices in the ship; and agreeably to the proviso relating to the ship, no officer who falls below the rank of No. 16 is eligible to any office, but must return to the steerage. Are these rules fully understood?"

"Yes, sir," responded the crowd.

"Further, if any student who is now the commodore, the captain, or a lieutenant, should not be elected to one of these positions, what would his rank be for next month?"

"Just the same as it would have been, if the new plan had not been adopted," replied De Forrest.

"I am glad you understand it," added the principal, with a significant look at the third lieutenant. "I will now read the merit-roll, in order that you may know who are, and who are not, eligible to the elective offices. Lincoln is number 1; Cumberland, 2; Norwood, 3; Judson, 4; Murray, 5; Cantwell, 6; Sheridan, 7; Ryder, 8; Vroome, 9; Beckwith, 10; De Forrest, 11; Wainwright, 12; Jones, 13; Orlof, 14; Messenger, 15; Brown, 16. All but three of these may be candidates for the first six offices; and those not elected to higher positions will take their rank by the merit-roll."

Three of the cabin officers had dropped into the steerage, and three in the steerage had risen to the cabin; and when the names of the latter were read, they were greeted with earnest applause. The rest of the names on the roll were read, and the ship's company dismissed. The Novelty printing presses were again in demand. Scott obtained one, and De Forrest the other; and so rapidly was the printing of the ballots accomplished, that by ten o'clock the required number were printed. Promptly at six bells, or eleven o'clock, the ship's company were piped to muster again. The principal made careful arrangements for a fair vote. The box was placed on a water cask, and on each side of it one of the instructors, to see that no one put in more than one ballot. The students were then formed in a single line, on the starboard side, and required to march around the box, deposit their votes, and then to come round upon the port side, the forward officers standing amidships to prevent any from passing over and voting a second time. The principal was aware that the most intense excitement pervaded the crew, and he deemed it proper, even for the appearances' sake, to guard against "repeaters" and "ballot stuffers." One officer and two seamen were appointed to count the votes, and when all had deposited their ballots, the committee, attended by the two instructors, retired to the main cabin to perform their duty. While they were thus engaged, a boat from the Josephine, and another from the Tritonia, brought the result of the voting in these vessels to the ship. The returns were in sealed envelopes, and were sent down to the committee. In a short time the votes were counted, the returns from the consorts added, and the whole verified by the instructors present. Murray, the officer on the committee who had been named first was to make the report.

When he came on deck, the ship's company gathered around the rostrum, from which the result was to be announced, and there was intense anxiety manifested by both parties.

"Give your attention to the report of the committee," said Mr. Lowington.

"Whole number of votes, 170," said Murray, reading from the paper in his hand. "Necessary for a choice, 86. Captain Wolff has 5; Captain Langdon has 9; Commodore Cumberland has 64; Captain Lincoln has 92, and is elected."

The De Forresters looked at each other in blank amazement, for this result was wholly unexpected by them. It had never occurred to them that Cumberland could be defeated, and all the anxiety they had in relation to the vote for commodore was to ascertain the strength of the opposition, who were understood to be running another candidate.

"Captain Lincoln, I congratulate you on your election," said Cumberland, as soon as he could in some measure recover from his astonishment.

"I thank you, commodore; but this is none of my doings. I am more astonished than you can be, and don't propose to stand it," replied Lincoln.

"Three cheers for Commodore Lincoln," called one of the opposition, and they were given on the instant; and Cumberland joined heartily in the tribute.

"Mr. Lowington, I wish to decline!" shouted Lincoln. "I was not a candidate for this position; I did not, and do not, desire the position."

"All the captains were candidates," replied the principal. "If you had given notice before the vote that you did not desire the position, and would not accept, it would have been another thing."

"But I had no suspicion, till the ballot was taken, that any one intended to vote for me," pleaded Lincoln. "I do not like to accept the place for several reasons."

"I hope he will accept it, sir," said Commodore Cumberland; "and I wish to say that, if another ballot is taken, I must decline to be a candidate."

The opposition applauded violently. It was understood that Lincoln declined out of regard to his friend and superior; but the noble conduct of the commodore put to the blush some of the smaller aspirants for office.

"I do not think that Captain Lincoln can decline, under the circumstances," said the principal. "Such a step does not seem to be in order. Besides, young gentlemen, you desired to vote, and I shall not interfere with the freedom of the elections. I hope you will have voting enough to-day fully to satisfy you. We will now proceed to the election of the captain of the ship."

The boats from the Josephine and the Tritonia returned with the result of the vote for commodore, and the balloting proceeded as before. This was really the exciting contest of the day, and the De Forresters were somewhat demoralized by the result of the ballot for commodore. Under the arrangement made by the principal, the most perfect order prevailed. Every student on board had been provided with all the ballots in circulation, and the time for electioneering had gone by. But the unexpected election of Lincoln as commodore had deranged the plans of all but the opposition. All others, however, voted for Cumberland for captain, for the ballots had nothing upon them but the name of the candidate, and "Regular," "Independent," or "Equal Rights" ticket, the last being the rallying cry of the opposition. The votes were deposited in silence, and it was a very anxious period for the cabin officers, for the present ballot would effectually prove where the strength lay. The committee retired, and all hands nervously awaited the result. In ten minutes Murray appeared with the paper on which the state of the vote was written. As this ballot decided the great question of all the elective offices, the hearts of the officers were in their mouths, and the agitation of some of them was even ludicrous.

"Give your attention to the report of the committee," said the principal; but this was an unnecessary request, for every student was all attention the moment Murray showed his head above the companionway.

"Whole number of votes, 88," said the chairman "Necessary for a choice, 45; Lieutenant Judson has 1; Commodore Cumberland has 39; Fourth Master Cantwell has 48, and is elected."

The opposition cheered lustily, and laughed their satisfaction, as they beheld the blank dismay of the agitators.

"I'll quit the ship!" cried De Forrest, his face red from the violence of his wrath. "I'll run away the first chance I get."

"So will I," replied Beckwith. "We are sold out."

"Mr. De Forrest," said the principal, in a loud tone, which immediately produced the silence of curiosity.

"Sir," replied the malcontent.

"Did I understand you to say you would leave the ship?"

"I did say so, sir," replied the third lieutenant, who, however, did not intend to be over-heard by the principal. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"It is well you did not. I see that you are not satisfied with this result."

"No, sir, I am not; and I don't think any one else is. We have been cheated."

"Do you mean to say that the ballot was not perfectly fair."

"That was fair enough, but there is cheating somewhere."

"I don't think there is. The result is not much different from what I expected," replied the principal, with a pleasant smile on his face. "When I learned that the officers had held a caucus for the nomination of candidates in the after cabin, and refused to consult the seamen on the subject, it seemed quite probable that the regular ticket would be defeated. I heard that Captain Lincoln attempted to have a meeting of all hands to consider the subject, but was overruled. I am not astonished that he is elected commodore. Young gentlemen, you wished to vote, and you have voted."

The opposition cheered and applauded furiously. They cheered Lincoln and the principal, and had begun to give three groans for De Forrest, when they were checked by Mr. Lowington.

"It is weak and foolish now to say there has been cheating, when the result does not please you," continued the principal. "It appears now that Cantwell, who is No. 6 on the merit-roll, has been elected captain by a majority of the votes. Captain Cantwell, I congratulate you on your election, and you shall have every facility for discharging your duty."

"Thank you, sir. I am very much obliged to those who voted for me; and I will endeavor to do my duty faithfully, courteously, and kindly," replied the new captain.

There were two or three attempts to hiss but the demonstration was promptly checked, even before it was drowned out by the vociferous applause of the opposition. Commodores Lincoln and Cumberland manfully congratulated Cantwell, and promised to support him fairly and honorably in the discharge of his duty.

"Young gentlemen, the fog is lifting, and we must proceed with the elections," resumed the principal, "You will now bring in your ballots for first lieutenant."

Cumberland was the nominee of the opposition for this office, and as the regulars voted for him also, he was elected over the independent ticket of De Forrest, who had put himself in nomination, and who obtained but thirteen votes. Of course he was more disgusted than before. He declared that his friends had deserted him, and served him a mean trick. Judson was chosen second lieutenant, and Norwood third, by about the same vote. Sheridan, who was the candidate of the opposition, received just the number necessary for a choice, which seemed to be the exact strength of the Bangwhangers in the ship, the rest of them being in the consorts. The elective offices being filled, it was necessary to fix the rank of the remaining officers by the merit-roll. Murray was the new first master; Beckwith's rank was the same as before; and De Forrest was first purser—an office of trust, but generally disliked by the students, who did not wish to be mere clerks. By the changes of the month, three of the Bangwhangers became officers.

The students were dismissed from muster, and the new officers ordered to put on the uniform of their rank. Very exciting conversations in the after cabin and steerage followed. Lincoln and Cumberland treated the new captain kindly, for which he was very grateful. Wainwright, Jones, and Brown, who had been promoted from the steerage, congratulated him, but no other officer said a word to him. He was captain, but the position promised to have its thorns as well as its roses. However, his first lieutenant, the late commodore, who was one of the ablest seamen on board, and was above any jealousy or meanness, had treated him handsomely, and promised to support him. At dinner, after he had put on his captain's uniform, Cantwell seated himself at one end of the table, while Lincoln sat at the other, and the first lieutenant at the captain's right. Most of the officers looked ugly, and it was not a cheerful meal.

CHAPTER VI.

A CALL AT HELSINGFORS.

Cantwell, since the examination in seamanship, had used every moment of his spare time in studying the books on this subject, and in conversation with Peaks and the other adult forward officers. When his shipmates went on shore, he remained on board, because the veteran boatswain was less engaged at these times. He was thoroughly in earnest, but of course it was not possible for any one to master a profession of so many details in a few days, or even a few weeks. The new captain was conscious of his deficiency in this respect, and even willing to acknowledge his unfitness for the position to which he had been elected. Under the former rule it would have been hardly possible for him to reach either of the first two offices of the ship until he had learned all the details of his business, for even a single examination, such as that which had so greatly changed his relative rank a few days before, would have prevented his improper elevation. Ordinarily, there was such an exercise every week, and every day instruction was given in knotting, splicing, and other work on rigging; in sea-terms and the names and uses of ropes, blocks, spars, sails, and other parts of a ship; while navigation and the practical working of a vessel were a daily lesson conducted by the principal.

Probably there was not a boy in the squadron who had not some taste for nautical matters, and, with hardly an exception, every one had entered the Academy Ship or her consorts at his own request, or at least with his own consent. Though some found their sailor life quite different from what they expected, all were more or less ambitious to learn their duty as seamen. It was always the case that a large majority of the ship's company had been connected with the institution one or more years, and were thoroughly familiar with all the minor details of seamanship; could hand, reef, and steer, set and furl a sail, and knew with more or less certainty what should be done in nearly every emergency liable to occur to a vessel. In other words, a large majority of the officers and seamen were old sailors. These young men were not ignorant, stupid persons, into whose heads it was necessary to hammer an idea; but nearly all of them had a tolerable education when they entered the institution. The fact that a large portion of them were wild and wayward did not detract from their natural ability, for the wildest and the most wayward are often the most brilliant and quick-witted. With such a proportion of well-trained seamen on board, the new comers learned more from them incidentally, than from the set exercises in seamanship. They were interested and anxious to become familiar with the details of their profession, for he was a dull and stupid fellow who did not expect, some time or other, to be an officer. But Cantwell had not been long enough in the ship to master the details; besides, his manner was cold and repulsive, and the veterans were not disposed to make much talk with him. He realized now that he had made a mistake in not cultivating the good will of his shipmates.

Captain Cantwell expected trouble among the officers. He knew that, with half a dozen exceptions, they disliked him exceedingly. Cumberland treated him very handsomely. Sheridan, the fourth lieutenant, had been elected to a position higher than his merit-rank by the opposition, and therefore the captain counted upon his influence and support; and the second purser and first and fourth midshipmen had come into the cabin from the crew by their own merit. But at least nine of the officers were hostile to him; some of them bitterly hostile, as Beckwith and De Forrest. He was confident that a few of them would do all they could to expose his deficiencies, and to make his position uncomfortable. When he appeared in the cabin, in the uniform of his rank, he could not fail to see the sneer which was on the faces of several of the officers. But he maintained his dignity, resolved not to notice any demonstration unless it was an open and palpable insult. After dinner most of the officers went on deck, and in a short time the principal sent for the captain.

"The fog has lifted, and the pilots say they can go to sea now. You will get under way immediately," said the principal.

Captain Cantwell touched his cap, and called to Brown, the fourth midshipman, who approached him with the proper salute.

"You will ask the first lieutenant to come on deck," said the captain.

"On deck, sir," reported Cumberland, touching his cap to the new captain; and it seemed very strange to Cantwell to see the late commodore paying this mark of respect to him.

"You will get under way immediately."

"Under way, sir," replied the executive officer, saluting his superior again.

It is rather doubtful whether Cantwell could have given all the orders in detail which were necessary to execute this manœuvre, and certainly his position as captain was much less trying than it would have been as first lieutenant. If a majority of the officers were surly and dissatisfied, a majority of the crew were delighted when they saw the new captain on the quarter-deck; not that they had any particular respect or regard for him personally, but because he represented their cause, and was the evidence of their triumph. All hands were called, and never were orders more promptly obeyed. In a few moments the Young America was standing off before the wind, followed by the rest of the squadron. The vessels threaded their way through the channels among the islands, and passed out into the broad bay, for it was not deemed prudent to take the steamer's course, nearer the main shore. The usual routine of study was pursued during the afternoon, as the squadron, with a light breeze, rolled lazily along towards her next port.

"Your plan does not seem to work very well, De Forrest," said the principal to the new first purser, whose duties required his presence in the main cabin, when he had finished his recitations.

"No, sir; we didn't have fair play. Scott got up a secret society, and dragged more than half the seamen into it," replied De Forrest, bitterly. "I hope such things will be prevented."

"What things?" asked Mr. Lowington, mildly.

"Secret societies, sir."

"I am not in favor of such associations for political purposes; but I think the crew had a perfect right to organize for this election."

"But the students who joined the society had to pledge themselves to vote for Cantwell."

"That is virtually done at all caucuses and political conventions. You think such societies ought to be suppressed—do you?"

"I certainly do, sir."

"Then I suppose we must begin in the cabin," laughed the principal.

"We had no secret society in the cabin, sir."

"No?"

"Certainly not, Mr. Lowington."

"Inasmuch as no seaman is allowed to enter the after cabin, your meetings there were, to all intents and purposes, secret. You proposed to keep the offices among yourselves, and you nominated the candidates, without consulting the crew, who were to find most of the votes to elect them, if they were elected. I think Scott was perfectly justified in taking the course he did. The secret society, I suspect, is rather for amusement than for anything else. You knew of its existence, and it is only a fair counterbalance for your meetings in the after cabin."

"We have come to the conclusion, sir, that our plan does not work very well," added De Forrest, rather sheepishly.

"It has not been tried under favorable circumstances. I have a higher opinion of it than you seem to have," replied Mr. Lowington. "It was brought forward, I am told, by yourself and others, to prevent Cantwell from becoming captain or first lieutenant. This was an unworthy purpose, and in the eyes of the crew it amounted to persecution."

"We did not think he was fit for either of these places."

"Perhaps he was not; and if your plan had not been adopted, he would only have been fourth lieutenant. As the matter stands now, you have actually made an unpopular officer your captain by your attempt to persecute him. However odd and ridiculous Scott's tactics may have been to defeat your intentions, they were based upon a genuine love of fair play. You have been caught in your own trap."

"I confess that we have, sir; and we would like to get out of the trap," replied De Forrest.

"That is quite impossible. Cantwell has been fairly elected, and he shall serve out his month."

"But after that, sir?"

"I adopted the new plan to please you, and I purpose to give it a full and fair trial. It has some very manifest advantages, the principal one of which is, that it makes the officers in some measure responsible to the crew for their conduct. It encourages courtesy and kindness in the superior. But I am aware that it has some disadvantages, not the least of which is this electioneering, though this is inseparable from republican institutions."

"I think we shall ask to have the old plan restored," added De Forrest.

"After two or three months' trial of the present plan, if a large majority of the squadron desire it, I shall be willing to make the change; but I hope to see one election which shall be fairly conducted, and in which no false issues shall be introduced. In the last, the main question was whether the officers should deprive Cantwell of his merit-rank; and every other issue was in some manner related to this."

"But Cumberland, whose rank by merit was No. 1, was displaced from his office, though all the students like him very well; perhaps not so well as Lincoln, but very well," suggested De Forrest.

"It was known to the crew that Lincoln wished to have a caucus of the whole ship's company—a spirit of fairness to which he owes his election. If Cumberland desired the same thing, it was not known in the steerage."

"The fellows say that three of the new cabin officers are members of Scott's secret society," added De Forrest.

"Then they will be likely to interfere with the secret proceedings of the after cabin."

"Brown, the fourth midshipman, is one of them. He may be the next captain;" and there was an expression akin to horror on De Forrest's face.

"He may be; and he is a better seaman than Cantwell, for he has been in the ship two years."

"But it will be too bad to jump him over the heads of all of us."

"That is one of the difficulties incident to your plan. Even politicians will acknowledge that the ablest and best statesmen in our country are very seldom elected to the highest offices; but in the army and navy, in time of war, the ablest men are almost certain to find their proper sphere."

"I hope the old plan will be restored, sir; for I don't like the idea of a secret society jumping the lowest officer over all our heads, simply because he is a member. It doesn't look right to me."

"It isn't right; but I expect to see the same spirit of fairness at the next election which was displayed at the last one. If the cabin officers give the crew fair play, I have no doubt the seamen will exhibit the same spirit. If you wish to do the business just right, have a fair caucus, and you will nullify all the influence of the secret society."

The principal went on deck then, but in the evening he had a long talk with Scott, who declared that all he wanted was fair play, and that the secret society would not, and could not, be used in the interest of anything but fair play.

The next morning the squadron was approaching Helsingfors. The town is protected by the extensive fortifications of Sveaborg, planted on seven islands, and from its great strength the fortress has been called the "Gibraltar of the North." The scenery in the vicinity, consisting of vast numbers of islands, is quite picturesque. The works were bombarded by the combined English and French squadrons during the Crimean war, in 1855; but though the attack was a very fierce one, it was entirely unsuccessful. It was the last stronghold of the Swedes in Finland, and when it was besieged by the Russians, in 1808, it was surrendered to them by Admiral Cronstedt, while he had still sufficient means of defence; and he is charged with treachery, though it has never been proved, for he did not enter the Russian service, and left no fortune at his death. The Finns were indignant at his conduct, and their patriot poet, Runeberg, has written some indignant verses, which have the ring of Scott's minstrel poem:—

"Conceal his lineage, hide his race;

The crime be his alone;

That none may blush for his disgrace,

Let it be all his own!

He who his country brings to shame,

Nor race, nor sire, nor son may claim."

The appearance of Helsingfors, approaching from the sea, is very imposing, for its public buildings are large, elegant structures, the principal ones being on elevated ground. The inner harbor is nearly in the shape of a square, and vessels go up to the wharves on the left.

"What is that large building, Dr. Winstock?" asked Commodore Lincoln, as the ship stood up the harbor.

"That is the Russian church."

"It is a magnificent building," added the young officer, as he gazed with admiration upon the lofty building with its gilded dome.

"All the Russian churches are beautiful buildings; and you will find that those in St. Petersburg and Moscow far excel this one. The large structures in front of us are the Lutheran church, the University,—which was moved from Åbo to this place,—and the Senate House."

"I did not expect to find any such place as this away up here. Why, it is one of the finest cities I ever looked upon!" exclaimed the commodore.

"I was as much astonished as you are when I first came here," added the doctor.

The squadron anchored quite near the shore, and after the sails had been furled, the yards carefully squared, and everything hauled taut, the recitations in the steerage proceeded as usual. They were continued without interruption, except for dinner,—though of course all the classes were not occupied at the same time,—till three o'clock in the afternoon, when the boats were manned, and all hands were allowed to go on shore.

"The gig is ready, sir," reported the officer to whom the charge of this boat had been given, to the captain.

"I shall not go on shore," replied Cantwell.

"Not go on shore, Captain Cantwell?" said Mr. Lowington, who stood near him.

"No, sir; not unless it is necessary that I should do so."

"It is not necessary that you should go, but I should think you would desire to see the town."

"I cannot spare the time, Mr. Lowington," answered the captain, with a smile. "As you are aware, sir, I am deficient in seamanship; and Mr. Peaks, who has kindly consented to help me, has more leisure when the ship's company are on shore than at any other time."

"I commend your zeal, and I will not interfere with your purpose," replied the principal, as he went over the side, and took his seat in the professor's barge.

On the shore, the doctor, the commodore, Paul Kendall, Shuffles, and the ladies, made up a party, and went to the Society's House, which is the name of the principal hotel here, as well as in Åbo and Wyborg, where they endeavored to procure a commissionaire who spoke English; but none was to be had. The elegant Greek church was the first object of interest, and they walked over to the hill on which it is located. As if to follow literally with the words of Christ to Peter, this church "is founded upon a rock." It is built of brick, and, like nearly all Russian churches, is in the form of a Greek cross. At a little distance from the main structure, but connected with it, is the bell tower. As the party approached, the bell began to ring for a service. Its tones were quite different from those heard in other countries, but more melodious, and lacking the sharp qualities. Instead of a wheel and rope to ring it, as most bells are rung, two men were stationed in the belfry, and, by a rope attached to the tongue, were swaying it hack and forth, till it struck the metal on each side.

As the tourists entered the building, they were passed by a man with a long, heavy, red beard, clothed in a kind of brown gown, or robe, who, the doctor said, was a priest. The interior of the church was different from any other which most of the party had seen. Opposite the entrance was a screen, or partition, extending to the ceiling, which was covered with pictures of the saints, or other holy persons, of the Greek church. Only the face, and sometimes the hands, of the person represented are shown, the rest of the picture being covered with gold. In the middle of this partition is a lofty archway closed by two doors of gold, or gilt. In front there is a platform, on which the priests stand in performing the service. In various parts of the church are pictures of the Russian saints, before each of which is a candle, or other light. In one corner there was a cenotaph, covered with gold, which represents the tomb of Christ, used at Easter and Christmas in the service. There was no seat, bench, or other convenience for sitting, for no one is allowed to sit in a Russian church. Men were lighting the candles and lamps before the pictures of the holy persons, reverently bowing and crossing themselves as they approached them. The party were deeply interested, but they obtained a better idea of the religion of the Russians in St. Petersburg.

The travellers next obtained admission to the Senate House, in which the hall intended for the meeting of the senate on state occasions is the principal attraction. It contains a magnificent throne for the emperor, who has twice presided in person at the sessions of this body; but whether he is there or not, his gaudy seat seemed to be the representative of his power. This building contains the remains of the library saved from the great fire at Åbo, which has been increased to one hundred thousand volumes. After a walk through the University, founded by Queen Christina, which has usually about five hundred students, and a walk up the long flight of steps leading to the Lutheran church, the party returned to the great square.

"There's a costume!" exclaimed Lincoln, when, in turning a corner, they came suddenly upon a Russian drosky, the driver of which was dressed in the long pelisse and bell-crowned hat of his class.

"Yes; and that's just what you will see in every Russian city," replied the doctor. "All the drivers are dressed just alike, and this garb is worn only by them."

The pelisse was a long green garment, reaching down to the ankles, with bright globular buttons. The hat was similar to a European fashion which had its day at least fifty years ago, and an occasional one was seen even forty years ago. The diameter of the body at the top was about twice that at the brim. The drosky was a narrow vehicle sitting low on four small wheels. The seat for the passengers was narrow, though two persons can crowd into it. In front, and higher up, is a seat for the driver. At the end of the shafts was a wooden bow, or arch, over the horse's shoulders.

"What in the world is that bow for?" asked Lincoln.

"That's a question which is more easily asked than answered," replied the doctor. "I have looked at it a hundred times, but I have never been able to see that it is of the slightest use, though I have seen a check rein attached to it. For this purpose it is worse than useless; and if there is a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals in Russia, I hope it will take hold of the matter, for it is infinitely worse for the poor beast than when the check is hooked at the saddle."

"If it is useless always, and sometimes cruel, I hope all the bows in Russia will be banished," laughed Mrs. Kendall.

"Sent to Siberia," suggested Mrs. Shuffles.

"Beaux are very well in their places," added Dr. Winstock; "and marriage seems to be a better remedy than banishment."

The driver of the drosky gathered up his petticoats and jumped off his box, when the party paused before his vehicle. He looked vastly more pleasant and amiable than a New York hackman, touched his hat, bowed, and smiled blandly, as he pointed insinuatingly at the carriage. At the same moment three more droskies rushed to the spot, the drivers intent upon obtaining a job. They talked, but of course none of the Americans could understand a word they said. The party intended to ride, and three of them were taken; but it was no easy matter for either of the ladies and her husband to crowd into the seat. Paul Kendall solved the difficulty in his own case by taking half of the driver's place. Lincoln and the doctor were better accommodated, and led the way, the latter pointing in the direction he wished to go. They went up a very broad street, with a green in the middle, like the Champs Elysées in Paris, in which there were well-kept avenues. On the walks were several neat stands for the sale of soda, which were attended by pretty girls, who seemed to be doing a good business. A ride up this street, and down another, with what they had seen before, nearly exhausted the town, which contains twenty-four thousand inhabitants, but is spread out over a large extent of country. All the streets were wide, some of them disagreeably wide, when any one wishes to cross to the opposite side.

Returning to the square, Dr. Winstock pointed down a street by the steamboat landing, which extended along the west shore of the bay. The driver understood him promptly, for this street led to the Botanical Gardens, which is a popular place of resort for the people. It was about a mile from the town, and on the arrival of the party a band was playing in front of a large building which contained a very handsome restaurant, sometimes used as a ball-room. The tourists entered this place, and seated themselves at one of the tables.

"What's the use of coming in here, when we can't speak a word of the lingo?" laughed Paul.

"I never go hungry for the want of language," replied the doctor, as a very polite waiter presented himself.

"Do you speak English?" he added to this man.

The waiter shook his head.

"Do you speak French?" asked the doctor in this language.

The attendant shook his head again.

"Sprechen sie Deutsch?"

"Ya; ein wenig; nicht fiel," replied the man, a gleam of sunshine lighting up his face, when the difficulty seemed to be solved.

But his knowledge of German was exceedingly limited, though after several blunders he brought the lunch and coffee which the surgeon ordered. The feast consisted of the same "snack" which is served in Sweden—little fishes, thin slices of sausage, and of salmon, and the inevitable sandwich of caviar, or fish spawn. As in Sweden, the coffee was excellent; but none of the party had yet conquered their repugnance to the slimy caviar. When they had about finished the lunch, the attentive waiter appeared with half a dozen dishes of veal cutlets.

"What have you there?" asked the surgeon.

"Kalbfleisch,"—which means veal,—replied the waiter.

"I did not order it."

"Ja, mein herr."

"No; I said kalt Fleisch," added the doctor; and Paul laughed heartily, though this was only a specimen of the blunders the man made.

The surgeon had called for kalt Fleisch, or cold meat, and the first word is not unlike Kalb.

"Rechnung," said Dr. Winstock, which means, "Bring me the bill;" as the French say, "Addition," for the same thing, and the Austrians, "Bezahlen."

The bill, which doubtless included the veal cutlets, was three marks, or sixty cents, for each person—a foretaste of Russian prices, dearer than in any other part of Europe. It was paid, and the party took a walk through the gardens, extending down to the sea-shore. It is simply a pleasant place, without being very attractive. A hill near the point of the peninsula commands a fine view of Sveaborg and the Gulf. There is an extensive bathing-house near the rocky shore. A trip among the islands in the vicinity is very agreeable, and little steamers may be chartered for such excursions at three rubles an hour. The party returned to the town, and drove to the landing-place, where they were fortunate enough to find Professor Badois, to act as interpreter in paying the drosky fares; for however bland the drivers were in their manners, they were evidently familiar with the tricks of their craft.

The several ship's companies went on board at once. The next morning the squadron sailed for Wyborg, where she arrived after a day and a night at sea, though the steamers make the trip in twelve hours. Twelve versts from the town, the vessels passed into the harbor, which is an extensive bay, through a narrow passage, on both sides of which were vast piles of lumber, from which craft of all sizes and kinds were loading. Off the town the squadron came to anchor, but no one was permitted to go on shore until after the recitations in the afternoon.

CHAPTER VII.

WYBORG AND THE SECOND DEGREE.

"I should like to know what the name of this place is," said Lincoln to Dr. Winstock, who was seated near him in the commodore's barge, which was leading the line to the shore. "In one book it is Viborg; in another, Wiborg; in a third, Wyborg." "The different spellings of the same word simply indicate the attempts of authors to render the foreign sounds into English," replied the surgeon. "We have the same variety in many other words. On the English maps of Russia, you will find the names of rivers, provinces, and towns given in many different ways; as, Kief, Kiev, and Kiew, the latter being the German rendering of the word; Nyzni, Nysni, Nezhnii, and a dozen other forms. Of course you can take your choice. As for Wyborg, I think it will hardly pay to land, for there is really nothing to be seen here. Like Constantinople, the best view of the town is from the outside."

"It certainly looks well from the bay."

The students landed at the town, which is built on uneven ground. Most of the streets are narrow and crooked, and the travellers soon realized the truth of the surgeon's view. At the east side of the place is an old castle in ruins. On a rock, rising from an arm of the sea, is a lofty old tower, which has played its part in many a battle and siege, for Wyborg was long a bone of contention between Sweden and Russia, before the latter obtained possession, of it. Looking to the eastward of the town, vast sheets of water may be seen, on which small steamers ply, as at Stockholm, and a few miles distant are a garden and summer resort for the people. A series of rivers and lakes connects Lakes Ladoga and Saima, and a canal at Wyborg joins both of these great sheets of water to the Gulf of Finland. Lakes Onega and Ladoga are united by the River Svir, upon which plies a small steamer. The waters of Lake Onega also mingle with those of the Volga. The Volkof River flows from Lake Ilmen into Ladoga, and is navigable for barges; and Lake Ilmen, by the help of a canal, is also connected with the Volga. A boat may, therefore, start from the upper waters of the Finnish lakes, and go through to the Caspian Sea.

A couple of hours in Wyborg fully satisfied the party, and they returned to the boats for an excursion by water around the town. The scenery in the vicinity is very pleasant, and at seven o'clock the students landed at a green island.

"Now, fellows, we can attend to the second degree," said Scott, when he had gathered some of the Bangwhangers around him, and found a retired place.

The members of the fraternity knew each other so well, that there was no difficulty in separating themselves from the rest of the ship's company. The eight officers assembled near the shore, on a point of land where there was a wooden shanty, that had evidently been used for cleaning and curing fish, for a villainous smell came from it, which was very trying to the olfactories of the members.

"How will this do?" asked Jones, as he opened the door of the shanty.

"First rate. We shall initiate the candidates into the mysteries of a horrible odor at the same time," replied Scott, as the officers entered the rude building.

"A fellow that has been to sea three months needn't mind this," laughed Jones.

"All right; place the O. L. M. outside of the building, the I. L. M. inside, near the door," said Scott, as he turned over a fish-tub for his own throne as C. B., and placed it at one end of the building, while Wainwright, the D. C. B., located himself at the other end.

"Officers, to your stations; proceed to open a lodge of Bangwhangers. Y. D. K., on my right; Q. D., on my left; R. P. F. and L. P. F., on my left. Brother D. C. B., are you a Bangwhanger?"

"Of course I am."

"Bang!"

"Whang!"

"Who knows?"

"Eye, nose."

"Who knows?"

"Eighty-six noes."

"Right; come to my arms. How many officers in a lodge of Bangwhangers?"

"Eight; and nothing can be done with a less number," replied the D. C. B., who answered all these questions, and named all the officers.

"Brother O. L. M., what are you?"

"I am the Outside Lookout Man," replied Hall, who had been called in to answer.

"What do you do?"

"Keep a sharp lookout on the outside of the lodge."

"If any outsider approaches, what do you do?"

"Give him fits."

"Right; keep your weather eye open. Brother I. L. M., what are you?"

"The Inside Lookout Man."

"What do you do?"

"Keep a sharp lookout inside."

"If any outsider comes in, what do you do?"

"Kick him out."

"Suppose he is bigger than you are?"

"Give him a stick of candy, and tell him his grandmother is waiting for him round the corner."

"Right; keep a stiff upper lip. Brother R. P. F., what are you?"

"The Right Pilot Fish."

"What do you do?"

"Stand on the starboard side of the candidate, and tow him round."

"Right; heave ahead, my hearty. Brother L. P. F., what are you?"

"The Left Pilot Fish."

"What do you do?"

"Stand on the port side of the candidate, and help tow him around."

"Right; stand by the hawser. Brother Q. D., what are you?"

"The Quill Driver."

"What do you do?"

"When anything is done, make a note of it."

"Right; mind your eye, my hearty. Brother Y.D.K., what are you?"

"The Yellow Dirt Keeper."

"What do you do?"

"Keep the money."

"Will you keep it?"

"I'll bet I will."

"Right; stand by the locker. Brother D. C. B., what are you?"

"The Deputy Chief Bangwhanger."

"What do you do?"

"Make faces at the C. B. when he is present, and take his place when he is absent."

"Your duties are important—where do you sit?"

"Opposite the C. B."

"What for?"

"To help him keep up his dignity."

"How?"

"By making faces at him."

"What is the C. B.?"

"The Chief Bangwhanger."

"What does he do?"

"Bosses the job, and is the biggest toad in the puddle."

"Why is he like strong drink?"

"Because he goes to the head," replied the D. C. B., with a hideous grimace, which made all the officers laugh.

"Right; you have said enough; clap a stopper on your jaw tackle," said Scott. "The ship is under way, and the officers are at their stations."

Scott added that they had no time to spare, and the business must proceed at once.

"Sail ho!" shouted the lookout, outside of the door.

"Sail ho!" repeated the one on the inside.

"Where away?" asked the C. B.

"Alongside now," replied the I. L. M.

"The name?"

"Clyde Blacklock; and he wants to come on board."

"Has he been instructed in the Rule of Three?" which meant the three clauses of the obligation.

"Ay, ay, sir."

"Let him in."

The R. P. F. and the L. P. F. went out, and soon returned with Clyde Blacklock between them. On his head, and drawn entirely over it, was a white cap. A yard of cotton cloth had been purchased at Helsingfors, which had been sewed up like a meal bag. This was pulled down over the candidate's face, and the square end of it hung down in front of him, having upon it, in letters cut out of black cloth, and sewed upon the cotton, the mysterious device AT-VI., which, however, did not relate to "Plantation Bitters."

"Hah! You have caught him!" exclaimed the C. B., in the most savage of tones.

"Ay, ay, sir! We captured him outside, and in spite of his frantic struggles, have brought him before you to be examined," replied the R. P. F.

"What is he?" demanded Scott, in gruff notes.

"A vile Indian."

"Hah!"

"A 'ticklarly vile Indian."

"When was he caught?"

"At six."

"Has he been searched?"

"Not yet."

"Does he confess?"

"Not yet."

"Clyde Blacklock, answer me truly," said Scott, solemnly. "Did you steal it?"

"Answer him," said the candidate's conductor, in a low voice.

"Steal what?" asked Clyde.

"The bag out of which a faithless Brother of the Most Respectable Order of Bangwhangers let the cat," added the C. B., tragically.

"No, I didn't."

"Let him be searched!" continued Scott, in a sepulchral tone.

Whereupon the officers, who had silently gathered around the candidate, began to punch him in the ribs, and under the ears, not to hurt, but only to tickle him. As Clyde was sensitive in this direction, as almost anybody would be when taken by surprise, the effect was very decided, and the candidate wriggled, and squirmed, and roared.

"He has it I We have found it upon him!" said the R. P. F., suddenly.

"Hah!" cried Scott. "The vile Indian is guilty."

"Guilty!" responded all the other officers.

"Does he see it?" demanded the C. B.

"He don't see it."

"Let him see it!"

Then the R. P. F. and the L. P. F. seized the white cap by the corners, and jerked it violently from Clyde's head, and laid it on the floor before him, with the letters right side up to him. All the officers pointed at the cap, with the most extravagant expressions of surprise and indignation upon their faces.

"Behold the bag!" exclaimed the group, in concert.

"And it has our mark upon it," replied Scott, with indignation in his looks and tones. Then suddenly changing his voice and manner, he continued, very gently, "Brother Blacklock, this degree is founded upon the story of a vile Indian in the wilds of America. Some emigrants were travelling over the prairies of the great west, intending to settle in Nevada. One of them had a favorite Maltese cat, of which the whole party were very fond. They were very much afraid of losing the creature, and for greater security they carried her in a bag,—precisely like that just found upon you,—bearing upon it the initials of the owner's name, which was, in full, Andrew Thomas Vincent Iverson. For a guide they had a vile Indian, who, like all vile Indians, was very fond of whiskey. One night this vile Indian was particularly 'dry.' and wanted to 'wet his whistle' with fire-water. After the emigrants had gone to sleep, he searched the camp for some of his favorite beverage. He came across the bag containing the Maltese cat. As the contents thereof seemed to be lively, he thought it contained a bottle of whiskey. He opened the bag, and the cat leaped out, not whiskey; in other words, he let the cat out of the bag—at all times a very grave and terrible offence. When he saw what he had done, he was alarmed, and concealed the bag within his clothes, intending to make the emigrants believe that the cat had run away, carrying the bag with her. But, vile Indian that he was, his employers suspected him, and punching him in the ribs, they discovered the bag. Then they knew that he had let the cat out of the bag, and as the penalty of his crime, they compelled him to eat Bologna sausage until he couldn't help barking. Brother Blacklock, this solemn ceremony is intended to convince you that, should you ever let the cat out of the bag, you will be subjected to the same penalty as the vile Indian, who was A 'Ticklarly Vile Indian. This bag bears our mark,—AT-VI.,—which relates to the hour you were caught—at six. It also means A 'Ticklarly Vile Indian, and alludes, besides, to the rallying number of our order—AT., eighty; VI., six. Brother Blacklock, it is your next move. Take a seat where you find one."

"This will never do," interposed the D. C. B. "Some of the members will die of old age before we can give them the second degree at this rate."

"I was thinking of that myself," replied Scott; "and I have the remedy. We will go through the first part with the candidates singly, and explain the meaning of it to the crowd all together. Then it won't take two minutes apiece."