Shuffles was terribly exercised by the repeated flings of his disconcerted rival.  He was already satisfied that the enterprise had come to an end, unless Pelham could be quieted; and he was about to propose a new ballot, when he was ordered by the quartermaster on duty to take his trick at the wheel.

“What does all this mean?” demanded Pelham of the receivers, when the captain-elect had gone to his duty.

“I only know that the captain and all the officers of the first part of the port watch voted, and other fellows who would no more join this thing than they would jump overboard,” replied McKeon.

“How could they vote—­how could the captain vote—­without understanding the whole thing?” demanded Pelham, perplexed at the inconsistency of the facts.

“I think I know something about it,” added Grossbeck.

“What do you know?”

“Haven’t you heard of the new game?”

“What new game?”

“‘Don’t know Beans.’”

“Shuffles said something about it, but I did not comprehend his meaning.”

Grossbeck explained the game, whose history had been circulated among “our fellows.”

“And this game was played while the voting was going on?” said Pelham, who began to see the trick which his rival had put upon him.

“I didn’t know anything about it till supper time,” answered Grossbeck.

“I see it all,” continued Pelham.  “The receivers were the ‘butts,’ and about a dozen fellows voted for Shuffles, including Gordon and Kendall, supposing they were simply playing ‘Don’t know Beans.’”

It did not require a great deal of penetration on the part of the fourth lieutenant to comprehend the trick of his rival.  He was indignant and angry, and all the more so because he had been outwitted, even while he was attempting to outwit his unscrupulous competitor.

The next day, the quarter watches off duty played “Don’t know Beans” to their satisfaction.  It was found, when everybody was watching the “butts,” that very few could deposit their beans without detection.  A few hours’ trial of the new pastime convinced all except “our fellows” that it was a senseless game, and it was speedily abandoned.

On the nineteenth day of the voyage, the Young America encountered another gale, but it was not nearly so severe as the one through which she had passed when off Cape Sable.  The ship ran for twelve hours under close-reefed topsails; but as the gale came from the south-west, she laid her course during the whole of it, and behaved herself to the entire satisfaction of all on board.  On the following day, the wind had hauled round to the north-west, and the sea subsided, so that the ship went along very comfortably.