The journey of the students was continued by railway to Utrecht. Approaching this city, the country assumed a different aspect, presenting occasional undulations, while in the town itself there is quite a slope down to the River Rhine, on which it is located. The treaty of Utrecht, which settled the peace of Europe after the war of the Spanish succession, was signed at the house of the British minister; but it has since been pulled down. The principal object of interest in the city is the tower of the Cathedral of St. Martin, which is three hundred and twenty-one feet high, and commands a view of nearly the whole of Holland and a portion of Belgium. The sexton has his residence more than a hundred and fifty feet above terra firma, where his family are domiciled, and where his children were born. Doubtless they will be regarded as persons of high birth.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, the weary travellers reached the vessels of the squadron. Holland "was done," and the excitement was ended. Many of them were tired out and cross, and it was a relief to know that the squadron would go to sea the next morning. During the rapid run through Holland, Wilton and Perth had found abundant opportunities to discuss their mischievous scheme of running away with the Josephine. They had so contrived it that eight of the Knights of the Golden Fleece had occupied a compartment by themselves in the railway carriages. As the squadron would arrive at Havre on Friday or Saturday, no time was to be lost in arranging the details of the precious scheme, which had been fully explained and assented to by the confederates.
The first point to be gained was to "cut up," so that the whole twenty-six Knights should be condemned to imprisonment on board the ship, while the rest of the students, with the instructors, went to Paris. Mr. Hamblin was still the centre of all their hopes in this direction; for hazing him would enable them to kill two birds with one stone. It was a great satisfaction to annoy him, independently of the result to be gained. Wilton proposed to "keelhaul" him. This was a barbarous punishment, formerly in use in the English and Dutch navies, and consisted in dragging the culprit under the keel of the vessel by ropes attached to the opposite yard-arms. Perth declared that this was utterly impracticable, and a third suggested that it was only necessary to "talk" the matter in order to bring down the punishment upon their anxious heads. Monroe, who always adopted moderate counsels, thought it would be just as well to frighten the old gentleman out of his wits. Indeed, all, except Wilton, protested against inflicting any serious injury upon him. A ducking, or something of that kind, would do him no harm; but they did not wish to hurt, only to annoy, him.
After supper the students felt a little brighter. Mr. Hamblin was pacing the deck, as he always did towards evening, and Perth drummed together his forces to play the first act in the drama. The names of the twenty-six Knights had been written down on a sheet of paper, and a dozen of them took position in the waist, with their backs to the professor. Scarcely had the actors taken their places before the Josephine's gig came alongside with Captain Kendall, who visited the ship to receive his instructions from the principal for the next day.
Paul stepped upon deck; but, perceiving that Mr. Lowington was engaged in an earnest conversation with Dr. Winstock, he did not interrupt him, but paused in the waist. Of course the conspirators suspended operations, and Paul spent the time he was waiting in conversation with them about the wonders of Holland. As he stood there, Mr. Hamblin cast frequent glances at him, and brooded heavily over the indignities which had been heaped upon his learned head by the young commander, as he believed. Probably the current of his thoughts would have assumed a different direction if he had been aware that the principal and the surgeon were discussing the best means of "letting him down easily."
Mr. Lowington at last discovered that Paul was waiting for him, and the difficult subject was deferred. The captain of the Josephine went below with the principal, and the conspirators began to discuss in a very unguarded manner the process of keelhauling the obnoxious professor. As the learned gentleman passed the group, he could not help hearing his name mentioned. The boys soon became very earnest in their manner. They had seated themselves under the lee of the hatch, and did not appear to notice the fact that Mr. Hamblin was passing on the other side of it at intervals.
"We'll keelhaul him," said Wilson; and the savant distinctly heard the remark, though he did not know what it meant; only that it was some trick to be played off upon him.
"If he didn't hear that, he's deaf as a post," added Perth, as the professor passed on.
"He'll leave the ship as soon as we have keelhauled him," was the next remark which Mr. Hamblin heard.
Of course this meant himself; and he paused when he had satisfied himself that he was not observed. As this was just what the conspirators wanted, they revealed their wicked scheme fully, though with some appearance of concealment.