At length, one morning, when they went on board the receiving-ship to report as usual, they were ordered to present themselves at the depot at two o’clock that afternoon, with their bags and hammocks, in readiness to take the train for the West.  The boys were a good deal disappointed when they heard this, for the idea of serving out their year on the Mississippi River was not an agreeable one.  They had hoped to be ordered to the coast.  But, as Archie remarked, it was “too late to back out,” and they were obliged to submit.  When Archie came to bid farewell to his parents, he found it to be a much more difficult task than he had expected.  The tears would come to his eyes, in spite of himself, as he embraced his mother; and, as soon as he could disengage himself from her arms, he seized his bag and hammock, and rushed out of the house to conceal his emotion.  When they reached the depot, they found that the draft to which they belonged numbered nearly two hundred men, some of whom were old sailors, while others, like themselves, were entirely unacquainted with the life they were about to lead.

The journey to Cairo—­which was then the naval depot of the Western rivers—­was a long and tedious one.  They were treated with the greatest kindness by the officers who accompanied them, and at almost every station the people would flock around the cars with baskets of provisions, which were freely distributed.

Early on the fifth morning they reached their destination, and were immediately marched on board a small steamer which lay alongside of the naval wharf-boat, and carried to the receiving-ship, which lay anchored in the middle of the river.

CHAPTER II.

Learning the Ropes.

As they came on board the receiving-ship they were all drawn up in a line, the roll was called, and they were divided off into messes.  The mess to which Frank and his cousin belonged was called “Number Twenty-five.”  As they were about to be dismissed, the officer who had called the roll said to Archie: 

“You will be cook of this mess.”

“Sir?” said Archie, in surprise.

“You will be cook of this mess,” repeated the officer, in a louder tone.  “But what is the matter with you?  Are you hard of hearing?”

“No, sir; but I can’t cook.”

“Never mind; you can try.  You may go below, lads.”

The men did as they were ordered, and our heroes seated themselves on one of the broadside guns, and Archie said: 

“I’m in a nice fix, ain’t I?  I don’t know any more about cooking than a hog does about gunpowder.”

“I will assist you all I can,” said Frank; “but I wonder what we shall have for dinner?  I hope it will be something good, for I’m as hungry as a bear.”

At this moment the whistle of the boatswain’s mate sounded through the ship, and that personage passed them and called out, in a low voice: