“Sail in!” shouted a student, who, with others, was observing the treatment.
“On deck, sir!” said the boatswain, sternly, to the speaker. “Report yourself.”
It was a principle in the discipline of the ship that no person should say or do anything to irritate a student undergoing punishment, and no one was permitted, on such occasions, to take part on either side, unless called upon by the officer or instructor to do so. In ordinary cases no boy was required, or permitted, to be a “tell-tale,” and all were expected to remain neutral. The student who had spoken left the steerage, and went on deck, before Clyde had time to “open upon him,” as he intended to do.
“Step in, my lad,” added Peaks.
“What for?” asked the Briton, as he obeyed the order, but not without a suspicion that he was to step upon a red-hot gridiron, or be precipitated through some opening in the deck into the dark depths beneath.
No such calamity happened to him, and he was rather astonished to find that no harsher punishment was used for the flagrant offence he had committed. He had pushed the boatswain overboard, and then run away. Peaks had never manifested any resentment towards him on account of his cowardly trick; but he anticipated some severe discipline on board of the ship. The boatswain closed and locked the door of the brig, and then looked in at the prisoner through the slats.
“Do you understand what the brig is for now?” asked Peaks.
“You have locked me in—that’s all.”
“That’s all, my lad.”
“How long am I to stay here?”