"And now, Mr. Chairman, I have done. If my shipmates will thus sting me to death when I am almost at the pinnacle of a noble ambition, I can only yield, as the noble Caesar did when he declared that Brutus ate two slapjacks for his breakfast. I shall fall, not by my own fault, but, like Caesar, by the madness of ambitious office-seekers. But I shall fall free from the taint of dishonor--scot-free." The orator wiped his brow with his coat sleeve, having left his handkerchief in the pocket of his pea-jacket, while the applause of the seamen rang through the island groves and over the silent sea. De Forrest was angry when he saw that the proceedings of the meeting were turned into a farce, and he made haste to reply to Scott's effective speech. The only point he made was, that the last speaker had no expectation of obtaining the lowest cabin office, or even of being the coxswain of the fourth cutter, and therefore his argument was simply ridiculous. "I should like to ask the third lieutenant if I did not say that the highest office lay between the chairman of the meeting and myself," demanded Scott. "Yes, yes," shouted a score. "He did; but he spoke of a conspiracy against his own rights," replied De Forrest. "What is the right of one student, Mr. Chairman, is the right of every one," said Scott--a sentiment which was warmly applauded. "Question!" shouted the jokers. The ring, trusting that the impression produced before the meeting by personal appeal had not been destroyed by the orator of the opposition, permitted the vote to be taken on the main question; and, indeed, Scott's party would not permit anything else to be done. The chairman stated the motion again, which was the appointment of a committee of three to request the principal to adopt the plan of De Forrest. "Those in favor of the motion will manifest it by saying, 'Ay,'" said Cantwell. "Ay!" replied the affirmative members of the meeting. "Those opposed, 'No.'" "No!" yelled the jokers, with all the power of their lungs. It was impossible to determine which side had the majority; but as the "noes" made the most noise, the chairman decided that it was not a vote. "I doubt the vote," shouted De Forrest, much excited. "The vote is doubted," said the chairman. "Those in favor of the motion will muster on the right of the chair; those opposed, on the left." Cantwell then appointed four tellers, two from each side. Two of them, one for, and one against, the measure, were then directed to count the number on each side. "Form a line, and march between the tellers to be counted," added the chairman. The business was done fairly, for each party was watching the other. The tellers on each side, after comparing their results, and finding that they agreed, were ready to report. "How many in the affirmative?" asked the chairman. "Eighty-eight," replied one of the tellers. "In the negative?" "Eighty-one," replied one of the tellers for that side.