Study and recitation were impossible, and nothing was attempted of this kind.  The storm was now what could justly be called a heavy gale, and it was no longer practicable to lay a course.  Before eight bells in the forenoon watch, the royal and top-gallant yards had been sent down, and the ship was laid to under a close-reefed main-topsail, which the nautical gentlemen on board regarded as the best for the peculiar conditions which the Young America presented.

When a ship is laying to, no attention is paid to anything but the safety of the vessel, the only object being to keep her head up to the sea.  In the gale, the Young America lay with her port bow to the wind, her hull being at an angle of forty-five degrees, with a line indicating the direction of the wind.  Her topsail yard was braced so that it pointed directly to the north-east—­the quarter from which the gale blew.  The helm was put a-lee just enough to keep her in the position indicated.  She made little or no headway, but rather drifted with the waves.

The young tars had a hard forenoon’s work; and what was done was accomplished with triple the labor required in an ordinary sea.  All hands were on duty during the first part of the day, though there were intervals of rest, such as they were, while the boys had to hold on with both hands, and there was no stable abiding-place for the body.  The ship rolled so fiercely that no cooking could be done, and the only refreshments were coffee and “hard tack.”

“This is a regular muzzler, Pelham,” said Shuffles, in the afternoon, as they were holding on at the life-lines in the waist.

“That’s a fact; and I’ve got about enough of this thing.”

“There isn’t much fun in it,” replied Shuffles, who had been watching for this opportunity to advance the interests of the “Chain.”

“No, not a bit.”

“It’s better for you officers, who don’t have to lay out on the yards when they jump under you like a mad horse, than for us.”

“I suppose I shall have a chance to try it next term.”

“Why so?”

“I lost twenty marks last night.  I got mad, lighted the lamp, and smoked a cigar in my state room.”

“Will the loss of the twenty marks throw you over?”

“Yes?  I’m a goner!” added Pelham, with a smile.

“What made you mad?”

“The captain snubbed me; then Lowington came the magnificent over me.  A single slip throws a fellow here.”

A single slip in the great world throws a man or woman; and young men and young women should be taught that “single slips” are not to be tolerated.  More children are spoiled by weak indulgence than by over-severe discipline.  But a boy had a better chance to recover from the effects of his errors in the Young America, than men and women have in the community.

By gradual approaches, Shuffles informed the fourth lieutenant of the object of the “Chain,” which Pelham promptly agreed to join, declaring that it was just the thing to suit his case.  He was in a rebellious frame of mind; and though he could not feel that the enterprise would be a complete success, it would afford him an opportunity to annoy and punish the principal for his degrading and tyrannical regulation, as the recreant officer chose to regard it.