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 towhich Frank and his cousin belonged was called "Number Twenty-five." Asthey were about to be dismissed, the officer who had called the roll saidto 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 oneof the broadside guns, and Archie said:
"I'm in a nice fix, ain't I? I don't know any more about cooking than ahog does about gunpowder."
"I will assist you all I can," said Frank; "but I wonder what we shallhave for dinner? I hope it will be something good, for I'm as hungry as abear."
At this moment the whistle of the boatswain's mate sounded through theship, and that personage passed them and called out, in a low voice:
"Mess cook Number Twenty-five!"
"He means me, don't he?" inquired Archie, turning to his cousin.
"I don't know, I'm sure. Ask him."
"Mess cook Number Twenty-five," again shouted the mate.
"Here I am," said Archie.
"Well, you ought to be somewhere else," said the mate, sharply. "Why don'tyou go and draw your rations?"
"I don't know where I should go," answered Archie.
"Then fly around and find out;" and the mate turned on his heel andwalked away.
"Now, that's provoking," exclaimed Archie. "Why couldn't he tell a fellowwhere to go? I'll tell that officer that I didn't ship for a cook; Ishipped to fight. I wish I was at home again."
But regrets were worse than useless, and Archie began to look around tofind some one who could tell him where to go to draw his rations. Atlength he met one of the men who belonged to his mess, whose name wasSimpson, who told him that he must go to the paymaster's store-room, andoffered to show him the way; and, as he saw that Archie was entirelyunacquainted with life on shipboard, Simpson told him to come to himwhenever he wanted any advice.
As Archie entered the store-room, the paymaster's steward, a boy about hisown age, who was serving out the provisions, after inquiring the number ofhis mess, said:
"It's lucky that you came in just as you did, for I have sent themaster-at-arms after you. If you don't attend to your business better thanthis, I shall have you put on the black-list for a week or two."
Now, Archie had never been accustomed to being "ordered about by any boyof his size," as he afterward remarked, and he felt very much like makingan angry reply. But he knew it would only get him into trouble, and,choking down his wrath, he answered:
"If any one will tell me what my duty is, I shall be glad to do it."
"You haven't been in the navy a great while, have you?" inquired thesteward, with a laugh.
"No; this is my first attempt at learning to be a sailor."
"Well, all I have got to say," continued the steward, "is, that you willsoon be sorry that you ever made the attempt."
"I am sorry now," said Archie; "and if I ever get home again, you'll nevercatch me in another scrape like this. I don't like the idea of havingeverybody order me around, and talk to me as though I was a dog."
"No reflections," said the steward sharply. "Better keep a civil tongue inyour head. But now to business. In the first place, here are your dishes,"and he handed Archie a number of tin pots and plates, a large pan, and amess-kettle.
"What shall I do with these?" asked Archie.
"Why, eat out of them, to be sure," answered the steward; "what else wouldyou do with them? I shall hold you responsible for them," he continued;"and if any of them are lost, they will be charged to your account. Now goand put them away in your mess-chest, which you will find on theberth-deck, and then come back, and I will give you your rations."
Archie accordingly picked up his dishes, and started--he knew not whither,for he had no idea to which part of the vessel he should go in order tofind the berth-deck. But he had often boasted that he would have nodifficulty in getting along in the world while he had a tongue in hishead; so he made inquiries of the first man he met, who told him to go upto the captain, who was always ready to send the executive officer to showlandlubbers over the ship. If there was any joke in this, Archie was tooangry to notice it, and he was about to make a suitable rejoinder, when avoice close behind him said:
"Now, shipmate, what's the use of being so hard on the boy?"
Archie turned, and found Simpson at his side.
"The youngster hain't been to sea as long as you and I have," continuedthe latter. "If we were ashore, he would stand a better chance of gettin'along than you nor me."
"Then, shiver his tim'ers, why didn't he stay ashore, where he belongs?"asked the man, gruffly.
"Oh, he's got the right stuff in him, and will soon learn the ropes,"answered Simpson. "Come, now, my little marlinspike," he continued,turning to Archie, "follow in my wake, and I'll show you where ourmess-chest is;" and the kind-hearted sailor led the way to the berth-deck,and showed Archie the mess-chest, which had "No. 25" painted on it. Archieput all his dishes into it, with the exception of the mess-kettle and twoplates, which, according to Simpson's directions, he took back to thestore-room, to put his rations in. The steward then gave him a large pieceof salt beef, some coffee, sugar, butter, and sea-biscuit.
"Is this all we have to eat?" inquired Archie, as he picked up his rationsand followed Simpson back to his mess-chest.
"All!" repeated Simpson; "yes, my hearty, and you may thank your luckystars that you have got even this. You'll have to live on worse grub northis afore your year is out. But I see you don't like the berth of cook,so I'll take it off your hands. Give me the key of the chist."
Archie accordingly handed it over, and then went in search of his cousin,whom he found perched upon a coil of rope, engaged in writing a letter.
"Well," exclaimed the latter, as Archie came up, "how do you get along?"
"I don't get along at all," said Archie; "I tell you, we've got ourselvesin a fix. What do you suppose we are going to have for dinner?"
"I don't know," answered Frank. "Well, we will have a chunk of salt beef,coffee without any milk, butter strong enough to go alone, and crackers sohard that you couldn't break them with an ax. I tell you, the navy isplayed out."
"Well, it can't be helped," said his cousin. "We are in for it. But we'llsoon get accustomed to the food; we are seeing the worst of our year now."
"I certainly hope so," said Archie; "but I know I can stand it if any oneelse can; and when I fairly get started, I won't ask favors of any one."
Frank made no reply, but went on with his letter, and Archie leaned on oneof the guns and gazed listlessly into the water. At length they wereinterrupted by the boatswain's whistle, blown three times in succession,long and loud.
"What's the matter now, I wonder," said Frank, as the sailors commencedrunning about the ship in all directions.
"I know," answered Archie, as he saw Simpson dive into the cook's galleyand reappear bearing the mess-kettle, filled with steaming coffee, in onehand, and a large pan, containing the salt beef, in the other--"dinner isready."
The cousins walked aft to their mess-chest, and found the berth-deckfilled with men, who were sitting around the chests, brandishing theirsheath-knives over plates fall of salt beef and "hard-tack."
Coming directly from home, where they had been accustomed to luxuriousliving, our young sailors thought they could not relish this hard farebut, as they had eaten no breakfast, they were very hungry, and the foodtasted much better than they had expected.
When dinner was ended, Simpson began to gather up the dishes belonging tohis mess, preparatory in washing them.
Frank and Archie offered theirassistance, and Simpson directed the former to take the mess-kettle and goup to the galley after some hot water. When he was returning, he saw a manstealing around the deck, holding something behind him that looked verymuch like a bundle of rope, and keeping a close watch on every one he met.Frank did not know what to make of this, and stepping up to theboatswain's mate, he inquired:
"What is that man doing with that bundle of rope behind him?"
"That ain't a bundle of rope, you landlubber," replied the mate; "that's aswab."
"Well, what is he doing with it?"
"The best way for you to learn would be for you to spill some of thatwater you have got in your kettle on the deck."
Frank, without stopping to think, tipped up his kettle, and turned outsome of the water; and the man, who had been watching his every movement,sprang toward him and threw down the swab, exclaiming, "I've caught you,my hearty; now you may log this bit of rope for awhile."
"What do you mean?" inquired Frank, amid a roar of laughter from everysailor who had witnessed the performance. "What does he mean?" repeatedthe mate; "why, he means that you have got to wipe up that water you havespilt on deck, and carry that swab until you can catch some one else doingthe same thing."
For the benefit of the uninitiated, we will make an explanation. It oftenhappens on shipboard, especially receiving-ships, that the men become verycareless; and in carrying water, paint, or grease about the ship,frequently spill some of it on deck. While this state of things continues,it is impossible to keep a ship clean, and, in order to break up thishabit, the culprits are obliged to wipe up whatever they have spilled, andthen carry a swab about the deck until they can detect some one elseequally unfortunate. This is not a pleasant task; for, as soon as thisrule is put in force, the men become very careful, and the lucklessoffender is sometimes obliged to walk the decks the entire day before hecan detect any one in the act of violating it.
Frank, of course, did not understand this, and the mate had got him intothe scrape for the purpose of getting the man who first had the swab, whowas a particular friend of his, out of his unpleasant position.
"Come, youngster, drop that mess-kettle and pick up that swab," commandedthe mate.
Frank knew he had no alternative; so he set his mess-kettle on deck out ofthe way, and picking up the swab, walked aft to the place where he hadleft Simpson.
"Hullo, there," exclaimed the latter, as Frank approached, "what's thematter with you?"
Frank related the whole circumstance, and Simpson could scarcely restrainhis indignation.
"That bo'son's mate ought to be mast-headed for a whole week," heexclaimed. "But I'll square yards with him some day. I'm sorry you havegot into this scrape, but it can't be helped. I've seen many a goodfellow, in my time, in the same fix. Now you must walk around the ship,and if you see any one spill the least drop of water, or any thing else,on deck, rush up and give him the swab. There are a good many landlubberson board, who don't know the rules, and you won't have any trouble incatching them. Always be careful to keep the swab behind you, out ofsight."
Frank was a good deal mortified at being the victim of this novel mode ofpunishment; but he consoled himself with the thought that he would soonlearn his duty, and be enabled to avoid all such scrapes. He walked aboutthe vessel for an hour, trailing the swab along the deck behind him; butit seemed as though every one was particularly careful.
Meanwhile Archie, who had learned the particulars of the case fromSimpson, was acting as a sort of scout, hoping to be of some assistance tohis cousin. But he looked and waited in vain for some one to violate therule, and finally he resolved to make use of a little strategy inreleasing Frank.
Discovering a man coming out of the galley with a pail of water, Archiewalked rapidly down the deck, and jostled him with sufficient force toempty half the contents of his pail on the deck. Archie did not, ofcourse, stop to apologize, but hurried on, and before the man could lookup to see who had caused the mischief, he had disappeared Frank, who hadbeen watching his cousin's motions, immediately stepped up and dropped theswab before the man, and walked away, laughing in his sleeve, when hethought how cleverly his release had been accomplished.
When the hour of bedtime arrived, the boys were instructed how to get intotheir hammocks, and laughed at for tumbling out on the opposite side. But,after a few attempts, they succeeded in gaining the center of theirsuspended beds, and were soon in a sound sleep.