e over eleven hundred tobacco-and-gin
redolences, remarkably quiet for them; shooting at a mark, going
through squad drill, drinking bad liquor by the canteen and swearing in
a way that would have made the "Army in Flanders" sick with envy.

In the latter amusement I joined internally; and it did me so much good
that I bought the anti-administration newspaper of Charleston and,
getting out of bullet range, put my back against a tree and tried to
read. _Mercury_ was ever a blithe and sportive god, and his gambols on
Mount Olympus were noted in days of yore; but the modern namesake--or
else my present position--had soporific tendencies; and fear of the
target shooters growing dimmer and dimmer, I lost myself in sleep.

It was near sundown when I was awakened by the snort of a locomotive,
and a freight train hove in sight. The drums rolled, the troops formed
in line, each packing his household on his back as he trotted along;
and, as the cars backed up, the men broke ranks and jumped aboard,
filling every crack and corner, and seeming to pile on top of each
other.

A berth there was utterly impracticable to any man with any of his
senses in active operation. That squirming, dense mass of humanity was
more than the oldest traveler could stand, and I gave up my place in
the rush. Luckily, there was an express car along, and I found the
agent. He was very busy; and eloquence worthy of Gough, or Cicero, or
Charles Sumner got no satisfaction. Desperation suggested a masonic
signal, with the neck of a black bottle protruding from my bag. The man
of parcels melted and invoked terrible torments on the immortal part of
him if he didn't let me "g'long wi' the 'spress," as he styled that
means of locomotion.

The accommodation was not princely--six feet by ten, cumbered with
packages of all shapes and sizes and strongly flavored with bacon and
pipe. Yet, "not for gold or precious stones" would I have exchanged
that redolent corner. The agent waxed more and more polite as the
bottle emptied, regretted the want of room, regaled himself with
frequent "nips," and me with anecdotes of a professional nature.

From him was learned that he was with the train that had carried my old
friends, the Zouaves, to their fresh fields of glory in Virginia. They
retained a lively recollection of their lesson at Montgomery, and had
kept rather quiet till reaching Columbia. There the devil again got
unchained among them, and they broke out in a styl