pon the top of his hat, forcing it far down upon his head. Mr.
Hamblin immediately threw himself into an undignified passion. When he
had with some difficulty extricated his head from the linings of his
hat, he looked up to see who had been guilty of this act of flagrant
disrespect.

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Hamblin," shouted Grimme, a seaman, whose legs
were twined around the end of the gaff, while he was in the act of
passing a signal halyard through an eye.

The captain had received orders from the principal to have the Josephine
ready for the visit of a distinguished person on the following day, and
Mr. Cleats was preparing to dress the rigging.

"You scoundrel!" roared Mr. Hamblin, gazing up at the unfortunate youth
who had been the cause of his misfortune.

"Did it hurt you, sir?" asked Paul, stepping up to the professor.

"Was that done by your order, Mr. Kendall?" demanded the irate _savant_.

"No, sir; it was not," replied Paul, blushing with indignation at such
an insinuation.

"It is very singular that the rope should fall just at the moment I was
passing," added Mr. Hamblin, sourly, as he straightened out his crumpled
tile.

"I am sorry it occurred, sir," said Paul, who uttered no more than the
literal truth.

Mr. Hamblin glanced around the deck at the students who were collected
there. They did not seem to be sorry; on the contrary, there was a look
of diabolical satisfaction in the expression of most of them, and not a
few were actually laughing.

"I demand the immediate punishment of the offender," said Mr. Hamblin,
irritated by this manifestation on the part of the students.

By this time Grimme had descended from his perilous perch, having
completed the reeving of the halyard. Without a moment's delay, he
hastened to the spot where the angry man stood, and touched his cap with
the utmost deference.

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Hamblin. I hope you will excuse me," said
Grimme, who really wore a very troubled look.

"You did it on purpose, you scoundrel!" growled the professor, savagely;
for he could not fail to see the ill-suppressed chuckling of the
students in the waist.

"No, sir! I did not, sir!" protested Grimme. "I had the end in my mouth,
and was just going to drop the coil when I saw you."

"And you did drop it when you saw me."

"I did not mean to drop it then. I was going to wait till you had
passed; but my foot slipped, and, in catching hold of the gaff with my
hand, I let go t