soft bread,
(Four ounces meat) and
A little salt.

There was one inestimable boon, a copious supply of pure water.

There were at this time no panes of glass, in fact no sashes, in the
windows, and the wind swept freely through. The nights were becoming
cold. Confederate sentries were on the lower floor and outside. They
kept up a custom rather unusual, I think, during the war, of calling out
in sing-song tones every hour the number of the post and the time, with
occasional variations; _e. g._: "Post number fourteen, two o'clock, and
all's well." Then the next sentinel would sing out, "Post number
fifteen, two o'clock, and all's well." Then the melodious voice of the
next, farther away and sadly unorthodox, "Post number sixteen, two
o'clock, and cold as h--l!"

Except one or two rickety tables and two or three old chairs, there was
no furniture in the prison. Some of the officers had contrived to save
a little money when searched, and with money it was possible to procure
small articles slyly smuggled in contrary to orders; but most of us were
disposed to sing with old Isaac Watts,

Dear Lord, and shall we ever live
At this poor dying rate?

From the rear windows we were occasionally entertained with the sight of
exploding shells, which the indefatigable Grant was daily projecting
towards Richmond. Particularly was this the case on the thirtieth of the
month, when the boys in blue captured Fort Harrison, and the next day
when the Confederates made several gallant but unsuccessful attempts to
retake it. At such times we could see some of the steeples or high roofs
in Richmond thronged with non-combatants gazing anxiously towards
Petersburg. The belief that our prison was undermined, a vast quantity
of gunpowder stored in the cellar, and that Dick Turner had threatened
and was desperate enough to blow us all into eternity in case of a
sudden dash of our cavalry into Richmond, somewhat marred the
satisfaction with which we contemplated the evident progress of the
siege. We could sympathize with the Philadelphia Friend, who said to his
wife on the introduction of gun-cotton, "What comfort can thee take,
even when sitting in thy easy chair, when thee knows not but the very
cushion underneath thee is an enormous bomb-shell, ready upon the
slightest concussion to blow thee to everlasting glory?"

At three o'clock, Sunday morning, October 2d, we were roused by the
entry of armed m