Outward Bound by Oliver Optic

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[Illustration: YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD

By
OLIVER OPTIC

OUTWARD BOUND

BOSTON
LEE & SHEPARD.]

* * * * *

OUTWARD BOUND;

OR,

YOUNG AMERICA AFLOAT.

A STORY OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE.

BY

WILLIAM T. ADAMS

(_OLIVER OPTIC_).

BOSTON:
LEE AND SHEPARD.

1869.

* * * * *

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
WILLIAM T. ADAMS,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court
of the District of Massachusetts.

* * * * *

TO GEORGE WEBSTER TERRILL

_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 DENMARK AND SWEDEN.

II. _NORTHERN LANDS_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN PRUSSIA AND RUSSIA.

III. _VINE AND OLIVE_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.

IV. _SUNNY SHORES_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN ITALY AND AUSTRIA.

V. _CROSS AND CRESCENT_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN GREECE AND TURKEY.

VI. _ISLES OF THE SEA_; OR, YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND.

* * * * *

PREFACE.

Outward Bound is the first volume of "A Library of Travel and Adventure
in Foreign Lands," and contains the voyage of the Academy Ship "Young
America" across the Atlantic. The origin and progress of this aquatic
institution are incidentally developed, and the plan is respectfully
submitted to the consideration of those who are interested in the
education and moral training of the class of young men who are the
characters in the scenes described in this work. Besides a full
description of the routine and discipline of the ship, as an educational
and reformatory institution, the volume contains a rather free _expose_
of the follies and frailties of youth, but their vices are revealed to
suggest the remedy.

The story includes the experience of the officers and crew of the Young
America, eighty-seven in number, though, of course, only a few of them
can appear as prominent actors. As the ship has a little world, with all
the elements of good and evil, within her wooden walls, the story of the
individual will necessarily be interwoven with that of the mass; and the
history of "The Chain League," in the present volume, of which Shuffles
is the hero, will, it is hoped, convey an instructive lesson to young
men who are disposed to rebel against reasonable discipline and
authority. In the succeeding volumes of this series, the adventures,
travels, and "sight-seeing," as well as the individual and collective
experience of the juvenile crew of the Academy Ship, will be narrated.
They will visit the principal ports of Europe, as well as penetrate to
the interior; but they will always be American boys, wherever they are.

The author hopes that the volumes of the series will not only be
instructive as a description of foreign lands, and interesting as a
record of juvenile exploits, but that they will convey correct views of
moral and social duties, and stimulate the young reader to their
faithful performance.

HARRISON SQUARE, MASS.,
November 2, 1866.

* * * * *

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE IDEA SUGGESTED 11

II. THE YOUNG AMERICA 27

III. THE ENSIGN AT THE PEAK. 43

IV. OFFICERS AND SEAMEN. 59

V. OUR FELLOWS. 75

VI. THE FOURTH OF JULY. 91

VII. HEAVING THE LOG. 106

VIII. OUTWARD BOUND. 122

IX. THE WATCH BILL. 138

X. MAKING A CHAIN. 154

XI. THE GAMBLERS IN NO. 8. 170

XII. THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL. 186

XIII. PIPING TO MISCHIEF. 202

XIV. ALL HANDS, REEF TOPSAILS! 218

XV. AFTER THE GALE. 233

XVI. THE WRECK OF THE SYLVIA 248

XVII. PEAS AND BEANS 263

XVIII. THE RESULT OF THE BALLOT 280

XIX. MAN OVERBOARD! 299

XX. THE END OF THE CHAIN LEAGUE 318

* * * * *

OUTWARD BOUND.

OUTWARD BOUND;

OR,

YOUNG AMERICA AFLOAT

* * * * *

CHAPTER I.

THE IDEA SUGGESTED.

"There are no such peaches this side of New Jersey; and you can't get
them, for love or money, at the stores. All we have to do is, to fill
our pockets, and keep our mouths closed--till the peaches are ripe
enough to eat," said Robert Shuffles, the older and the larger of two
boys, who had just climbed over the high fence that surrounded the fine
garden of Mr. Lowington.

"What will Baird say if he finds it out?" replied Isaac Monroe, his
companion.

"Baird," the gentleman thus irreverently alluded to, was the principal
of the Brockway Academy, of which Shuffles and Monroe were pupils in the
boarding department.

"What will he say when he finds out that the King of the Tonga Islands
picks his teeth with a pitchfork?" added Shuffles, contemptuously. "I
don't intend that he shall find it out? and he won't, unless you tell
him."

"Of course, I shall not tell him."

"Come along, then? it is nearly dark, and no one will see us."

Shuffles led the way down the gravelled walk, till he came to a brook,
on the bank of which stood the peach tree whose rich fruit had tempted
the young gentlemen to invade the territory of Mr. Lowington with intent
to plunder.

"There they are," said the chief of the young marauders, as he paused
behind a clump of quince bushes, and pointed at the coveted fruit.
"There's no discount on them, and they are worth coming after."

"Hark!" whispered Monroe. "I heard a noise."

"What was it?"

"I don't know. I'm afraid we shall be caught."

"No danger; no one can see us from the house."

"But I'm sure there's some one near. I heard something."

"Nonsense! It was only a dagger of the mind, such as Baird talks about,"
answered Shuffles, as he crawled towards the peach tree. "Come, Monroe,
be quick, and fill your pockets."

This peach tree was a choice variety, in whose cultivation the owner had
been making an elaborate experiment. Mr. Lowington had watched it and
nursed it with the most assiduous care, and now it bore about a dozen
remarkably large and beautiful peaches. They were not quite ripe enough
to be gathered, but Shuffles was confident that they would "mellow" in
his trunk as well as on the tree. The experiment of the cultivator had
been a success, and he had already prepared, with much care and labor, a
paper explanatory of the process, which he intended to read before the
Pomological Society, exhibiting the fruit as the evidence of the
practicability of his method. To Mr. Lowington, therefore, the peaches
had a value far beyond their intrinsic worth.

Shuffles gathered a couple of the peaches, and urged his companion to
use all possible haste in stripping the tree of its rich burden.

"Hallo, there! What are you about?" shouted some one, who hastened to
make his presence known to the plunderers.

Monroe began to retreat.

"Hold on!" interposed Shuffles. "It's no one but Harry Martyn."

"He can tell of us just as well as anybody else."

"If he does, he will catch it."

"What are you doing?" demanded Harry Martyn,--who was a nephew of Mr.
Lowington, and lived with him,--as he crossed the rustic bridge that
spanned the brook.

"Don't you see what I'm doing?" replied Shuffles, with an impudent
coolness which confounded Harry.

"Stop that, Shuffles!" cried Harry, indignantly. "My uncle wouldn't take
ten dollars apiece for those peaches."

"That's more than he'll get for them," added Shuffles, as he reached up
and gathered another peach.

"Stop that, I tell you!" said Harry, angrily, as he stepped up, in a
menacing attitude, before the reckless marauder.

"Shut up, Harry! You know me, and when I get all these peaches, I've got
something to say to you."

Shuffles was about to gather another of the peaches, when Harry, his
indignation overcoming his prudence, grasped his arm, and pulled him
away from the tree.

"What do you mean, Harry Martyn?" exclaimed Shuffles, apparently
astonished at the temerity of the youth. "I can't stop to lick you now;
but I'll do it within twenty-four hours."

"Well, don't you touch those peaches, then."

"Yes, I will touch them. I intend to have the whole of them; and if you
say a word to your uncle or any one else about it, I'll pulverize that
head of yours."

"No, you won't! You shall not have those peaches, anyhow," replied the
resolute little fellow, who was no match, physically, for Shuffles.

"If you open your mouth----"

"Hallo! Uncle Robert! Help, help! Thieves in the garden!" shouted Harry,
who certainly had no defect of the lungs.

"Take that, you little monkey!" said Shuffles, angrily, as he struck the
little fellow a heavy blow on the side of the head with his fist, which
knocked him down. "I'll fix you the next, time I see you."

Shuffles consulted his discretion rather than his valor, now that the
alarm had been given, and retreated towards the place where he had
entered garden.

"What's the matter, Harry?" asked Mr. Lowington, as he rushed over the
bridge, followed by the gardener and his assistants, just as Harry was
picking himself up and rubbing his head.

"They were stealing your peaches, and I tried to stop them," replied
Harry. "They have taken some of them now."

Mr. Lowington glanced at the favorite tree, and his brow lowered with
anger and vexation. His paper before the "Pomological" could be
illustrated by only nine peaches, instead of thirteen.

"Who stole them, Harry?" demanded the disappointed fruit-grower.

The nephew hesitated a moment, and the question was repeated with more
sternness.

"Robert Shuffles; Isaac Monroe was with him, but he didn't take any of
the peaches."

"What is the matter with your head, Harry?" asked his uncle, when he
observed him rubbing the place where the blow had fallen.

"Shuffles struck me and knocked me down, when I called out for you."

"Did he? Where is he now?"

"He and Monroe ran up the walk to the back of the garden."

"That boy shall be taken care of," continued Mr. Lowington, as he walked
up the path towards the point where the marauders had entered. "The
Academy is fast becoming a nuisance to the neighborhood, because there
is neither order nor discipline among the students."

The thieves had escaped, and as it would be useless to follow them, Mr.
Lowington went back to the house; but he was too much annoyed at the
loss of his splendid peaches, which were to figure so prominently before
the "Pomological," to permit the matter to drop without further notice.

"Did he hurt you much, Harry?" asked Mr. Lowington as they entered the
house.

"Not much, sir, though he gave me a pretty hard crack," answered Harry.

"Did you see them when they came into the garden?"

"No, sir? I was fixing my water-wheel in the brook, when I heard them at
the tree. I went up, and tried to prevent Shuffles from taking the
peaches. I caught hold of him, and pulled him away. He said he couldn't
stop to lick me then, but he'd do it within twenty-four hours. Then he
hit me when I called for help."

"The young scoundrel! That boy is worse than a pestilence in any
neighborhood. Mr. Baird seems to have no control over him."

Suddenly, and without any apparent reason, Mr. Lowington's compressed
lips and contracted brow relaxed, and his face wore its usual expression
of dignified serenity. Harry could not understand the cause of this
sudden change; but his uncle's anger had passed away. The fact was, that
Mr. Lowington happened to think, while his indignation prompted him to
resort to the severest punishment for Shuffles, that he himself had been
just such a boy as the plunderer of his cherished fruit. At the age of
fifteen he had been the pest of the town in which he resided. His father
was a very wealthy man, and resorted to many expedients to cure the boy
of his vicious propensities.

Young Lowington had a taste for the sea, and his father finally procured
a midshipman's warrant for him to enter the navy. The strict discipline
of a ship of war proved to be the "one thing needful" for the
reformation of the wild youth; and he not only became a steady young
man, but a hard student and an accomplished officer. The navy made a man
of him, as it has of hundreds of the sons of rich men, demoralized by
idleness and the absence of a reasonable ambition.

When Mr. Lowington was thirty years old, his father died, leaving to
each of his three children a quarter of a million; and he had resigned
his position in the navy, in order to take care of his property, and to
lead a more domestic life with his wife and daughter than the discipline
of the service would permit.

He had taken up his residence in Brockway, the early home of his wife.
It was a large town on the sea shore, only a few miles from the
metropolis of New England, thus combining all the advantages of a home
in the city and in the country. For several years he had been happy in
his peaceful retirement. But not wealth, nor even integrity and piety,
can bar the door of the lofty mansion against the Destroyer of the race.
His wife died of an hereditary disease, which gave no indication of its
presence till she had passed her thirtieth year. Two years later, his
daughter, just blooming into maturity, followed her mother down to the
silent tomb, stricken in her freshness and beauty by the same insidious
malady.

The husband and father was left desolate. His purest and fondest hopes
were blighted; but, while he was submissive to the will of the Father,
who doeth all things well, he became gloomy and sad. He was not seen to
smile for a year after the death of his daughter, and it was three years
before he had recovered even the outward semblance of his former
cheerfulness. He was rich, but alone in the world. He continued to
reside in the home which was endeared to him by the memories of his
loved and lost ones.

When his wife's sister died in poverty, leaving two children, he had
taken them to his home, and had become a father to them. Harry Martyn
was a good boy, and Josephine Martyn was a good girl; but they were not
his own children. There was something wanting--an aching void which they
could not fill, though Mr. Lowington was to them all that could be asked
or expected of a parent.

Mr. Lowington busied himself in various studies and experiments; but
life had ceased to be what it was before the death of his wife and
daughter. He wanted more mental occupation; he felt the need of greater
activity, and he was tempted to return to the navy, even after his
absence of ten years from the service; but this step, for many reasons,
was not practicable. At the time when his garden was invaded by the
vandal students from the Brockway Academy, he was still thinking what he
could do to save himself from the inglorious life of ease he was
leading, and, at the same time, serve his country and his race.

Shuffles had robbed his garden of some of his choicest fruit; had struck
his nephew a severe blow on the head, and threatened to inflict still
greater chastisement upon him in the future. Mr. Lowington was justly
indignant; and his own peace and the peace of the neighborhood demanded
that the author of the mischief should be punished, especially as he was
an old transgressor. It was absolutely necessary that something should
be done, and the retired naval officer was in the right frame of mind to
do it. Just then, when he was wrought up to the highest pitch of
indignation, his anger vanished. Shuffles at sixteen was the counterpart
of himself at fifteen.

This was certainly no reason why the hand of justice should be stayed.
Mr. Lowington did not intend to stay it, though the thought of his own
juvenile depravity modified his view, and appeased his wrath. He put on
his hat and left the house. He walked over to the Academy, and being
shown to the office of the principal, he informed him of the
depredations committed in his garden.

"Who did it, Mr. Lowington?" demanded the principal, with proper
indignation in his tones and his looks.

"Shuffles."

"I need not have asked. That boy gives me more trouble than all the
others put together," added Mr. Baird, with an anxious expression. "And
yet what can I do with him?"

"Expel him," replied Mr. Lowington, laconically.

"I don't like to do that."

"Why not?"

"It would be an injury to me."

"Why so?"

"It would offend his father, who is a person of wealth and influence.
When Shuffles came to Brockway ten other boys came with him. He was
expelled from another institution, which so incensed his father that he
induced the parents of ten others to take their sons out, and send them
to me. If I expel Shuffles, I shall lose about a dozen of my students,
and I can't afford to do that."

"But must the neighborhood suffer from his depredations?"

"I will talk with the boy; I will keep him in his room for a week."

"I'm afraid the boy needs severer measures. If this were the first, or
even the third time, I would, not say so much."

"My dear sir, what can I do?"

"The boy needs strict discipline. If I were still in the navy, and had
him aboard my ship, I could make a man of him."

"I don't think anything can be done."

"Something must be done, Mr. Baird. My garden shall not be robbed with
impunity."

"I will do what I can, Mr. Lowington."

But the owner of the stolen fruit was by this time satisfied that
nothing would be done. The principal of the Brockway Academy had not
force nor influence enough to control such a boy as Shuffles. Mr.
Lowington took his leave, determined to apply to another tribunal for
the correction of the evil. That night the peach thieves were arrested,
and put in the lock-up. The next day they were tried, found guilty, and
sentenced to pay a fine and costs, which Mr. Baird promptly paid. Within
a week Mr. Lowington's stable was burned to the ground. Shuffles was
seen near the building just before the fire broke out; but it could not
be proved that he was the incendiary, though no one doubted the fact. He
was arrested, but discharged on the examination.

"You see how it is, Mr. Lowington," said the principal of the Academy,
as the two gentlemen met after the examination. "It would have been
better for you if you had not prosecuted the boy for stealing the
peaches."

"I don't think so," replied Mr. Lowington. "I must do my duty, without
regard to consequences; and you will pardon me if I say you ought to do
the same."

"If I expel the boy he would burn the house over my head."

"Then you think he burned my stable?"

"I don't know; it cannot be proved that he did."

"I have no doubt of the fact. I have no ill will against the boy. I only
desire to protect myself and my neighbors from his depredations."

"I think you were very unfortunate in the method you adopted, Mr.
Lowington," replied the principal of the Academy. "It has reacted upon
yourself."

"Shall this boy steal my fruit and burn my buildings with impunity?"
added Mr. Lowington, with considerable warmth.

"Certainly not."

"I applied to you for redress, Mr. Baird."

"I told you I would talk with the boy."

"Such a reprobate as that needs something more than talk."

"What would you do with him, sir?" demanded Mr. Baird, earnestly.

"I hardly know. I should certainly have expelled him; but that, while it
protects the Academy, does not benefit the boy."

"It would only harden the boy."

"Very likely; and his remaining will harden a dozen more by his
influence. Mr. Baird, I shall be obliged to take my nephew out of your
institution," added Mr. Lowington, seriously.

"Take him out?"

"I must, indeed."

"Why so?" asked Mr. Baird, who was touched in a very tender place.

"Because I am not willing to keep him under the influence of such an
example as this Shuffles sets for his companions. As the matter now
stands, the young rascal has more influence in the Academy than you
have. You cannot manage him, and you dare not expel him. The boy knows
this, and he will not leave his advantage unused."

"I hope you won't take Harry out of the school," said Mr. Baird.

"I must."

"Others may do the same."

"I cannot help it; with my view of the matter, they can hardly do
otherwise."

"But you see, sir, what the effect of this step must be."

"Mr. Baird, I must be frank with you. You have declined to expel
Shuffles, while you know that his influence is bad. You asked me what
you should do? and I told you. Now, you prefer to retain Shuffles, but
you must lose others. Permit me to say that you should do your duty
without regard to consequences."

"I cannot afford to lose my scholars."

"Your position is a difficult one. I grant, Mr. Baird; but without
discipline you can do nothing for yourself or the boys."

Mr. Lowington went home, Harry was taken from the Academy, and a dozen
parents and guardians followed the example of the advocate for
discipline. Mr. Baird was in despair. The institution was falling to
pieces for the want of discipline. The principal had not the nerve to
enforce order, even with the limited means within his reach. He went to
see Mr. Lowington and begged him to assist in stemming the tide which
was setting against the Brockway Academy. The retired naval officer
became deeply interested in the subject of school discipline in general,
especially in its connection with the education of rich men's sons given
to insubordination. He pitied poor Mr. Baird in his perplexities, for he
was a good man and an excellent teacher.

In the mean time Shuffles grew worse instead of better. Finding that he
could have his own way, that the principal was no match for him, his
influence for evil was stronger than Mr. Baird's for good. The worthy
schoolmaster had finally resolved to expel his troublesome student,
when Mr. Lowington one day surprised him by offering to buy out the
Academy at a price far exceeding its value. He gladly accepted the offer
as the best solution of the problem, and the naval officer became
principal of the Brockway Academy.

Mr. Lowington did not expel the refractory pupil at once. He waited for
an overt act; but Shuffles found the anaconda of authority tightening
upon him. He attempted to vindicate himself before his fellow-students
by setting fire to a haystack on the marsh, belonging to the new
principal. A searching investigation followed, and Shuffles was
convicted. Mr. Lowington wrote to the boy's father, announcing his
expulsion. Mr. Shuffles went to Brockway full of wrath, and threatened
the new head of the institution with the loss of a large number of his
scholars if he disgraced his son by expelling him. If the boy had done
wrong,--and he supposed he had,--let him be talked to; let him be
confined to his room for a day or two; but he must not be expelled; it
was a disgrace to the boy.

The principal was as firm as a rock, and Mr. Shuffles was calm when he
found that threats were unavailing. Mr. Lowington pointed out to his
visitor the perils which lay in the path of his son. Mr. Shuffles began
to be reasonable, and dined with the principal. A long and earnest
consideration of the whole matter took place over the dessert. The fiat
of expulsion was revoked, and young Shuffles was turned over to the
ex-naval officer, with full power to discipline him as he thought best.
Mr. Lowington had converted the father, and he hoped he should be able
to convert the son.

After dinner, Mr. Shuffles went down the bay with his host in the yacht.
On the way they passed the school ship Massachusetts, to which boys are
sentenced by the courts for crime and vagrancy, and on board of which
they are disciplined and educated. Mr. Lowington explained the
institution to his guest.

"An excellent idea," said Mr. Shuffles.

"It is just the place for your son," replied Mr. Lowington.

"But it is for criminals."

"Very true."

"Robert is not a criminal."

"If he is not now, he soon will be, if he continues in his present
course. If I had him on shipboard, I could make a man of him."

"Then I wish you had him on shipboard."

"Perhaps I may yet," replied the principal, with a smile. "I did not
purchase the Academy with the intention of becoming a pedagogue, in the
ordinary sense of the word. I have no intention of remaining in it."

"I hope you will."

"I have been thinking of fitting up a vessel like the school ship, that
rich men's sons may have the benefit of such an institution without the
necessity of committing a crime. I could do more for the boys in a month
on board ship than I could in a year at Brockway."

This was the first mention which Mr. Lowington made of his plan, though
he had been considering it for several weeks. Mr. Shuffles hoped that
this idea of a nautical academy would be reduced to practice; for he now
felt that it was just what his son needed. The project was discussed
during the rest of the trip.

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