red the sheen of a musket among the
bushes; but it was only his imagination, and after waiting half an hour
without hearing any thing suspicious, he shouldered his gun, and commenced
pacing the deck, in full view of the woods. But he was not molested, and
when two o'clock came he saw a figure steal cautiously out of the cabin,
and creep along toward him, under cover of the wheel-house. As he
approached nearer, Frank recognized his cousin.

"Where are the rebs?" inquired the latter.

"The corporal said he saw two of them out there in the woods," answered
Frank, pointing to a thick clump of bushes that stood on the edge of the
bank; "and there was _something_ out there, and I shot at it. But I've been
on deck here, in plain sight, for the last hour, and haven't seen any
thing."

"I hope there are no rebs in there," said Archie; "but I'll keep dark for
awhile. I shipped to fight, but I don't like the idea of having a fellow
send a bullet into me when I can't see him," and he began to settle
himself into a comfortable position behind the chicken-coop.

"I don't think there is any danger," said Frank; "but perhaps it is well
to be careful at first. Be sure and call us when you come off watch," and
he shouldered his rifle and walked leisurely into the cabin.

CHAPTER V.

A Discomfited Rebel.

Archie stood his watch without seeing or hearing any thing of the rebels,
and when he was relieved, at four o'clock, he aroused Simpson, Woods, and
his cousin, and after they had tied up their hammocks, and stowed them
away in the nettings, Woods went to the sergeant's room to obtain his
consent to their proposed excursion. This was easily accomplished, and
while they were filling their pockets with musket-cartridges, Frank
proposed that they should go out and see what it was that had occasioned
the alarm during the night; so they leaned their muskets up in one corner
of the cabin, and ran out on the bank, and there, weltering in his blood,
lay, not a rebel, but a white mule. He it was that, while feeding about in
the woods, had occasioned the disturbance in the bushes, and Frank's shot
had done its work. The two men with muskets had existence only in the
corporal's imagination. Simpson burst into a loud laugh.

"A nice set of fellows you are," he exclaimed. "I shouldn't want you
stationed at my gun in action."

"Why not?" inquired Frank.

"Why, because you can't tell the difference between a mule and a secesh."

Fra