“If you manfully acknowledge your fault, you will be freely and generously forgiven.”

“Mr. Lowington hates me now, after what I have done.”

“O, far from it!” exclaimed the chaplain.  “It will be a greater satisfaction to him than to you to forgive you.  You are no longer of the opinion that you were unfairly used in the distribution of the offices, I suppose.”

“Mr. Agneau, I was beside myself when I resisted the principal.  I should not have done it if I had been in my right mind.”

“You were very angry.”

“I was—­I was not myself.”

“Anger often makes men crazy.”

“You don’t understand me, Mr. Agneau.”

“Indeed, I do.  You mean that you deluded yourself into the belief that you had been wronged, and that you ought not to obey the orders of your officers, and of the principal.  The force that was used made you so angry that you did not know what you were about,” added the sympathizing chaplain.

“In one word, Mr. Agneau, I had been drinking,” said Shuffles, with something like desperation in his manner, as he bent his head, and covered his face with his hands.

“Drinking!” gasped the chaplain, filled with horror at the confession.

“I told you I was worse than you thought I was,” moaned Shuffles.

“Is it possible!”

“It is true, sir; I say it with shame.”

“Are you in the habit of taking intoxicating drinks?” asked the chaplain, confounded beyond measure at this complication of the difficulty.

“I am not in the habit of it, because I can’t get liquor all the time.  My father has wine on his table, and I always was allowed to drink one glass.”

“Can it be!” ejaculated the chaplain.  “A youth of seventeen——­”

“I’m eighteen now, sir.”

“A youth of eighteen in the habit of taking wine!” groaned Mr. Agneau.

“I drank a great deal more than my father knew of while I was at home.”

“I am amazed!”

“I knew you would be, sir; but I have told you the truth now.”

“But where did you get your liquor to-day?”

“It was wine, sir.”

“Where did you get it?”

“I brought two bottles on board with me when I reported for duty yesterday.”

“This is terrible, Shuffles!  Do you know what an awful habit you are contracting, my dear young friend?”

“I never thought much about it till to-night.  It has got me into such a scrape this time, that I don’t believe I shall ever drink any more.”

“As you respect yourself, as you hope for peace in this world, and peace in the next, never put the cup to your lips again.  ’Wine is a mocker; strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.’  Did you drink the two bottles?”

“No, sir; only part of one bottle,” replied Shuffles, with commendable promptness.

“Where is the rest of it?”