said that some grapes were all that he cared for. It was early in the
season, and they could not be bought. But just at this moment Mrs.
Randall opportunely sent in some beautiful clusters. The countenance of
the dying boy brightened with delight as he saw them. They made his last
moments happy, for within half an hour he turned his head on the pillow,
and with one short sigh was gone.

The large basketfuls of rosy apples from this lady were hailed with the
utmost delight by those allowed to eat them. "I have wanted an apple
more than anything," was often the eager reply, as they were offered to
those who had recently come from a long captivity; and as they were
distributed through the wards, not the least gratifying circumstance was
the invariable refusal of the ward-masters and nurses to take any. Their
diet was not sumptuous, and apples were a great luxury to all; but they
would say, "No, thank you, let the men who have just come have them
all."

On the 17th of November, 1863, the steamer New York came in, bringing
one hundred and eighty men from Libby Prison and Belle Isle. Most of
these were the soldiers who had fought at Gettysburg. Never was there an
army in the world whose health and strength were better looked after
than our own; the weak and sick were always sent to the general
hospitals; and the idea that our men were ever in other than the most
sound and robust condition at the time of their becoming prisoners has
no foundation. Language fails to describe them on their return from the
most cruel of captivities. Ignominious insults, bitter and galling
threats, exposure to scorching heat by day and to frosty cold at night,
torturing pangs of hunger,--these were the methods by which stalwart men
had been transformed into ghastly beings with sunken eyes and sepulchral
voices. They were clothed in uncleanly rags, many without caps, and most
without shoes. Their hair and beards were overgrown and matted. The
condition of their teeth was the only appearance of neatness about them:
and these were as white as ivory, from eating bread made of corn and
cobs ground up together. A piece of such bread four inches square daily,
with a morsel of meat once a week and a spoonful of beans three times a
week, had been their food for several months. Some were too far gone to
bear the strain of removal from the steamer; nine died on the day of
arrival, and one third of the whole number soon followed them. Roses,
which had linger