“I cannot do that,” replied the principal, shaking his head. “And I hope no student will give way for another.”
“Captain of the Frisbone,” replied Tom, who would gladly have given up the position in favor of O’Hara.
Wainwright came in third, and selected his present office in the Tritonia.
“O’Hara is the fourth on the list,” the principal proceeded.
Tom Speers engineered a very warm demonstration in favor of his friend, when the announcement was made, as O’Hara had done when his own was mentioned.
“I am knocked out of my place!” exclaimed Vroome, the captain of the Josephine.
But O’Hara, without an instant’s hesitation, selected the position of first lieutenant of the Frisbone, and then he wanted to hug Tom.
“Murray,” read the principal from the list.
The Josephines shook again; but Murray preferred his old place as first lieutenant of the Prince, for he and the captain were very dear friends, and were always together with the doctor when they went on shore. Vroome fortunately came next, and the Josephines were put out of misery.
The principal went through the list, and it was found by the students, that the officers were not very different from what they had been before, except in the few cases where extraordinary efforts had been made. With hardly an exception, they preferred to remain in the vessels they had belonged to before. Scott came out third lieutenant of the Tritonia, and Blair recovered his lost place in the cabin, Richards having fallen out of it. Gregory and Clinch were seamen, and chose to serve in the Prince.