re of their votes when the election should be ordered.

These young gentlemen were not only plotting to take the ship, but to
"take in" each other. While both worked for the League as a whole, each
worked for himself as an individual. Shuffles was much more thorough
than his rival in the making of his converts. He told them the whole
story, and taught them to look full in the face the extreme peril of the
undertaking. He did not conceal anything from them. On the other hand,
Pelham merely represented the project as a means of redressing the
grievances of the officers and crew; of having their money restored to
them, and abolishing certain portions of the regulations which pressed
hard upon those who were disposed to be unruly.

Though the number of "links" in the "Chain" has been mentioned, it was
not known to either of the rivals. Each knew his own peculiar followers,
but he did not know how many the other could muster. Though there were
signs and passwords by which the members could know each other, there
were no means by which any one could precisely sum up the whole number
of "links." Shuffles could count thirteen including his rival, while
Pelham could number nineteen without his coequal in authority. The
former believed the list to consist of about twenty four, while the
latter estimated it above thirty. With them it was a struggle for an
office, as well as to redress their fancied wrongs, and they mutually
deceived each other in order to obtain the advantage.

"How many do you suppose we can muster now?" asked Shuffles, on the
evening of the eighteenth day out, as they met in the waist, when both
were off duty.

"About twenty," replied Pelham.

"There are more than that."

"Perhaps there are."

"But it is time to stretch the Chain," added Shuffles, in a whisper.

"Not yet."

"If we are ever going to do anything, we must begin soon. We have so
many members now that the danger of exposure increases every day."

"We can't do anything here. Besides, I am not in favor of having the
time or the manner of accomplishing the work talked about among the
members. I believe in one-man power in an affair of this sort. There
should be one head, who should plan and command; all the rest should
obey. If every step in the thing must be discussed and agreed upon, we
shall never do anything. One fellow will want it done in one way, and
another in some other way."

"I think you are more than half right," replied Shuffle