On the other hand, it is equally true, that there was a bond of sympathy and association among the good boys, as there is among good men.  If a good man wishes to establish a daily prayer meeting, he does not apply to the intemperate, the profane swearers, and the Sabbath breakers of his neighborhood for help; there is a magnetism among men which leads him to the right persons.  If a bad man intends to get up a mob, a raffle, or a carousal, he does not seek assistance among those who go to church every Sunday, and refrain from evil practices, either from principle or policy.  He makes no mistakes of this kind.

In every community, perhaps one fourth of the whole number are positively good, and one fourth positively bad, while the remaining two fourths are more or less good or more or less bad, floating undecided between the two poles of the moral magnet, sometimes drawn one way, and sometimes the other.

The Young America was a world in herself, and the moral composition of her people was similar to that of communities on a larger scale.  She had all the elements of good and evil on board.  One fourth of the students were doubtless high-minded, moral young men, having fixed principles, and being willing to make great sacrifices rather than do wrong.  As good behavior, as well as proficiency in the studies, was an element of success in the ship, a large proportion of the positively good boys were in the after cabin.

Another fourth of the students were reckless and unprincipled, with no respect for authority, except so far as it was purchased by fear of punishment or hope of reward.  Occasionally one of this class worked his way into the cabin by superior natural ability, and a spasmodic attempt to better his condition on board.

The rest of the ship’s company belonged to the indefinite, undecided class, floating more or less distant from the positive elements of good or evil.  They were not bad boys, for, with proper influences, they could be, and were, kept from evil ways.  They were not good boys on principle, for they could be led away in paths of error.

“Our fellows” were the positively bad boys of the floating academy; and they existed in no greater proportion in the ship’s company than in the communities of the great world.  To this class belonged Shuffles, Wilton, Monroe, and others.  To the positively good boys belonged Gordon, Kendall, Martyn, and others—­not all of them in the after cabin, by any means.

Shuffles and Wilton walked forward to find some of these kindred spirits.  They seemed to know just where to look for them, for they turned in at Gangway D. Over each of the six passages from which the mess rooms opened, a lantern was suspended, besides four more in the middle of the steerage.  It was light enough, therefore, in the rooms for their occupants to read coarse print.

In the lower berths of mess room No. 8 lay two students, while another sat on a stool between them.  Their occupation was sufficient evidence that they belonged to “our fellows,” for they were shaking props for money, on a stool between the bunks.  As Shuffles and Wilton approached, they picked up the props and the stakes, and drew back into their beds.