nd in
better condition for service than if they had spent the evening in
chasing the "elephant" from one to another of the gilded dens of
dissipation with which the metropolis abounds. In spite of his errors and
sins, Somers could not help liking his dashing companion. He was a
dangerous person; but his enthusiasm was so captivating, that he could
not close his heart against him. But, while he liked the captain, he
hated his vices.

They stopped in Philadelphia only long enough to dine, and in Baltimore
only long enough for supper; arriving at Washington in the evening.
Captain de Banyan again proposed to "go round;" which, rendered into
unmistakable English, meant to visit the drinking-houses and
gambling-saloons of the city, to say nothing of worse places. Lieutenant
Somers had grown wise by experience; and no amount of persuasion could
induce him to leave the hotel. It was horrible to him to think of
spending even his leisure time in the haunts of dissipation, when his
country was bleeding from a thousand wounds; when his gallant comrades in
the Army of the Potomac were enduring peril and hardship in front of the
enemy. He had no taste for carousing at any time, and every fiber of his
moral nature was firmly set against the vices which lured on his reckless
companion.

Lieutenant Somers stayed at the hotel that evening, listening to the
conversation of the officers who had been at the front within a few days.
The great battle of Fair Oaks had been fought during his absence, and
there was every prospect that the most tremendous operations of the war
would soon commence. He listened with the deepest interest to the
accounts from the army, and needed none of the stimulus of the bar-room
or the gambling-saloon to furnish him with excitement. He was soon to be
an actor in the momentous events of the campaign; and the thought was
full of inspiration, and lifted him up from the gross and vulgar tastes
of his companion.

Before noon the next day, somewhat against the inclination of Captain de
Banyan, the two officers were on board a steamer bound down the river.
After some delays, they arrived at White House, on the Pamunkey River;
and then proceeded by railroad nearly to the camp of the regiment, at
Poplar Hill, in the very depths of White Oak Swamp.

"My blessed boy!" shouted Sergeant Hapgood when Lieutenant Somers
appeared in the camp.

The veteran rushed upon him, and, not content to shake his hand he
proceeded to