The carpenter slapped his victim over a few times on the deck before he reached the stairs to the main deck. Oscar could not stand this: he said it hurt, and he became comparatively quiet. His tyrant walked him down the steps. The boys on both decks gathered to witness the exciting scene; but no one offered to interfere, and no one spoke a word of comfort for the rebel.

“Will Orwell!” called the victim, when he saw his crony among the spectators to his humiliation. “Come here, and help me!”

“No, I thank you! I don’t believe in butting your head against a stonewall, and I told you not to do it beforehand.”

The carpenter opened the door of the ice-house, and thrust his prisoner into the dark hole, as it was when the door was closed.

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CHAPTER XII.

CAPTAIN GILDROCK’S FIRST LESSON IN NAVIGATION.

Mr. Brookbine secured the door of the ice-house, and put the key into his pocket. The interior was ventilated for the benefit of the provisions that were kept on the ice when the steamer was on a long cruise, but there was no window or other opening which would admit a particle of light.

“What’s the trouble, Mr. Brookbine?” asked Jepson the engineer, who was the master-machinist and an instructor of the school.

“That is the most desperate young cub I ever happened to encounter,” replied the carpenter, as he proceeded to relate what had happened in the Goldwing and on board of the steamer.