This subject had early attracted the attention of Mr. Lowington, the principal of the academy squadron; and he had done all he could to moderate and expel the feeling among the students. But they were all human beings, subject to the infirmities of the flesh; and they could not be wholly different from the more mature actors on the stage of life. They were fully instructed and warned in regard to the effect of cherishing this vicious spirit; but that was all that could be done. The boys were to meet and encounter the same circumstances in the great world as on board of the vessels of the academy fleet; and they received all the preparation for the ordeal it was possible to give them. “That proves that one of us will have to go down,” said Blair, while the seamen in the waist were applauding the promotion of Speers. “I don’t believe in this thing,” added Richards, with no little excitement in his tones and manner. “Who ever heard of such a thing as a fellow in the steerage leaping over the heads of all the masters?” “It is done; and it’s no use to talk about it,” continued Blair. “Speers’s marks give him that place, or he would not have it.” “There is something wrong about it.” “What can be wrong?” “It looks as though the books of the professors had been doctored. Didn’t the vice-principal say it was as great a surprise to the faculty as to fellows?” “That only shows that they have had their eyes open; and, if there was any thing wrong about the books, they would have discovered it.” “It would have been easy enough for Speers to alter half a dozen figures on the book,” Richards insisted. “I don’t believe Speers is a fellow of that sort,” Blair objected. “If he had done such a thing, the professors could see that the figures had been changed.” “I don’t understand it; and I can’t explain it in any other way,” added Richards, shaking his head. “Second master,” the vice-principal proceeded, “Henry Raymond. He is absent, but the principal instructs me to hold his position the same as last month.” Raymond’s absence was explained, as it was in all the vessels of the fleet; and it was satisfactory to all except Ben Pardee and Lon Gibbs, of the “marines,” who had been engaged in an attempt to run away. The vice-principal glanced at his list again, and the students waited with intense interest for the name of the next officer. “Third master,” said he; and there was another long pause. Blair and Richards were holding their breath in their anxiety to hear the next name, for there were only two chances more for the cabin. “Third master,” repeated the vice-principal, “Barclay Lingall.”