d
salt," laughed Raymond.

"If the ship were bound to Belfast, its course would be nearer west. We
are not going to Belfast. We are going to Brest. Mr. Lowington said the
ship's company needed a little exercise to perfect the discipline, and
to save the trouble and expense of going into the dock at Havre, the
vessels will be left in the harbor of Brest. He never had a thought of
giving up the trip down the Rhine."

"Is that so?" asked the leader of the mild rebels.

Paul repeated the explanation to the penitents which the principal had
given the day before.

"We understood that we were going to sea just to please Shuffles," said
Lindsley.

"The captain certainly wanted better discipline, and he did propose a
day or two at sea for its improvement," added Paul.

"I don't care for two or three days at sea, if we are to go to the
Rhine," continued Raymond. "I'm satisfied now."

The conversation was continued till the starboard watch was piped to
supper. Raymond was fully satisfied now that he had made a fool of
himself, and, what was even worse, that he and his companions had been
the dupes of the runaways. Those who belonged in the starboard watch
were permitted to go to the table, and they did ample justice to the
cold roast beef, butter toast, and tea which covered the mess tables.
Peaks and the head steward paced the steerage, as before, and no one
without a ribbon was allowed to partake. At six o'clock, after the port
watch had been relieved, the second supper was served, and the rest of
the hungry and thirsty delinquents enjoyed the change in their bill of
fare.

Then the runaways sat down to their supper of salt beef and hard bread,
without tea or water. The food did not suit them, and they turned up
their noses at it. The thirst created by their salt breakfast in the
morning had required large draughts upon their water bottles, and
before dinner they had exhausted the supply. They were very thirsty,
though none of them were actually suffering. The fact that they could
not get any water made them want it all the more. They ate none of the
salt meat, which by this time was loathsome to them. Ship bread was dry
feed, and they could eat very little of it. Doubtless it was a hard
case for them, the sons of rich men; but they had only to obey the
boatswain's pipe, and "eat, drink, and be filled."

"I can't stand this," said Monroe, when a group of them had gathered in
their mess-room after the unpalatable supp