The Josephine had a fair passage, and reached Lisbon on the day after the Young America had anchored in the river. She was loudly cheered when she luffed up under the quarter of the ship, but not a sound came from the disappointed and disheartened runaways in response, and more fully than the sufferers themselves did the members of the Order of the Faithful believe that the way of the transgressor is hard.
Mr. Fluxion immediately went on board of the ship, and reported to the principal. For an hour they discussed the events of the cruise of the Josephine up the Mediterranean; but both were satisfied that the discipline of the squadron had been triumphant. Mr. Lowington was more indulgent towards Cleats than the vice-principal was disposed to be, and he was put on probation.
Before night the original order on board both vessels was restored, and again the runaways mingled with the faithful ones. Each party had a story to tell, and the glories of the beautiful Rhine lost nothing in the description given by the tourists. The narrative of the adventures of the excursionists was galling to the others, for the latter had nothing but sea life to speak of, unless it was the harbor of Genoa. It was painful to be obliged to say that they had been up the Mediterranean without putting a foot on shore during their absence. Certainly those who had done their duty could appreciate the pleasures of their trip, after contrasting it with that of the runaways; and perhaps they needed this contrast to enable them fully to realize the satisfaction which follows right doing.
Fresh provisions and water were taken in by both vessels. Only a few of the students went on shore, and those on duty; and at noon on the day after the arrival of the Josephine, the squadron got under way, homeward bound. The usual routine on board was restored, and the studies of the school-room were mingled with the duties of the ship. Only one gale disturbed the serenity of the passage, and both vessels came to anchor in Brockway harbor, after a voyage of thirty days. The runaways had behaved tolerably well during the trip, for they had learned that there was no safety or satisfaction in rebellion and disobedience. They were not reformed, and perhaps never will be; but they were controlled, and saved from a vicious life on shore during the period of the cruise.
Others had been reformed, and converted from evil-disposed boys into well-meaning ones. Shuffles and Pelham were not the only ones who had been turned aside from the error of their ways, though their individual experience has not been detailed. The moral results of the voyage were very good. If the discipline of the ship and her consort had not reformed all the vicious characters, it had restrained their evil tendencies, and kept them away from the haunts of vice, though its most pernicious haunt is within the soul of the evil-doer.
On the other hand, the intellectual results of the cruise were abundantly satisfactory. The students had made excellent progress in their studies, and not a few of them were already competent navigators. There had been hardly a case of sickness on board, and the boys were all in rugged health. Mr. Lowington, therefore, had every reason to be satisfied with the success of his great experiment. He intended to make some changes in the vessels, and return to Europe the following spring, after spending the winter in various ports of the United States.
The Academy had a vacation during the Christmas holidays, and all the students went home. Perth and some others declared they should not return, but their parents thought otherwise, and with hardly an exception, they did return, and the institution continued to prosper.
Shuffles, it need not be said, kept his promise to Lady Feodora, and hardly a week passed in which a letter did not cross the ocean from him to her, and from her to him. One of the latter informed him that Lady Feodora had not seen Sir William for a month; for, with her father's consent, she had dismissed him. Paul Kendall spent much of his spare time in writing letters which went to Belfast. No doubt Lady Feodora will, in due time, become Mrs. Shuffles, and Grace Arbuckle Mrs. Kendall. It may even be said that promises to this effect have already passed between the respective parties. Our readers will wish them joy, and we heartily join in the hope that life will be as happy to them as duty faithfully done can make it.
For the present we take our leave of the Academy Squadron, though we hope in the future to be the chronicler of more of the travel and adventure in foreign lands of Young America Abroad.