e regiment moved on to Mingo Flats; drove in the
rebel pickets; heard the Secesh varmints beat the long roll; knew they
were scared; _and still it rained_! Colonel Sullivan, of the Indiana
regiment, was in, command: sent out a big gun; boys went on a big
hill; found the enemy were eight or ten thousand strong; big gun
ordered back, and as we only had two thousand men, remembered the
axiom about "discretion being the better part of valor;" obeyed the
aforesaid axiom. _Still, recollect, it kept raining in torrents_;
dripping down Quarter-master Shoemaker's pants into his boots; running
over Colonel Anderson's back. Major Christopher looked dry, in order
to get a drink: but that was a failure. Captain Westcott looked sad;
in fact he said it was the wettest time he ever knew or heard tell
of--wondered if old Noah ever explored these big hills.

Captain Russell picked out a fine hill to locate upon, if this really
intended to be another deluge. Captain Clark observed he was fond of
_heavy wet_. Jules Montagnier said it was _due_ time to _dry up_.
_Still it rained._ The regiments were ordered to fall back. Well, the
mud was so infernal slippery it was very easily done; some fell
forward in the vain endeavor to fall back. After killing seven or
eight poor, pauper-looking, "Secesh varmints," the boys set fire to
Marshall's store, the enterprising proprietor being away from his
business--a very notorious Secessionist, having donated $25,000 to
the C. S. A. The building made a _beautiful_ fire, and our boys
brought away a fine lot of saws, augers, and various other articles of
_dry goods_. The loss of the augers, Colonel Anderson says, will be a
great _bore_ to Marshall. _Please don't forget how infernal hard it
was raining all this time._

Well, they reached the first ford on their return trip; a sad misnomer
now, for it was an unfordable ford. The water of old Elkwater was
rearing and plunging, and furiously wild. Every mountain (and there
are myriads) was sending out its wet _aid_ to swell the raging
torrent; the regiment, at this time, only three miles from the
Secessionists. A bold front had to be put on, as it was a sure thing,
if the rebels found out the weakness of our force, we were goners.
There was no doubt, however, but that they were terribly frightened,
as they had heard we were twenty thousand strong. Anxiously the boys
waited the falling of the mighty waters. _It had now rained twenty-six
hours._ Large trees cam