fused over the whole
room, in time to warm us before taking our departure for Richmond.

We started a while before dark, seated in good, comfortable cars--the
best we enjoyed on the route. But we only ran a short distance to a
junction, where we were again to change cars. The next train had not
yet arrived, and we built a large fire, as it still continued bitterly
cold. We could easily have escaped, for the passengers mingled with us
around the fire, and we even went to a considerable distance away to
procure fuel. But so confident were we of a speedy exchange, that we
did not make the effort, and the golden opportunity passed unimproved.
Oh! how greatly we afterward regretted that we had not at least made
the attempt. Soon the other train arrived, and a few hours placed us
in Richmond--the goal to which every Union soldier is turning his
eyes, though he would not wish to reach it in the manner we did.

CHAPTER XV.

The City by Moonlight--Old Accusation Renewed--Libby Prison--Discomfort--A
Change--Citizens' Department--Richmond Breakfast--Removed under
Guard--Castle Thunder--Miniature Bedlam--Conceal a Knife--Confined in a
Stall--Dreadful Gloom--Routine of a Day--Suffering at Night--Friends
Exchanged--Newspapers--Burnside--Pecuniary Perplexities--Captain
Webster--Escape Prevented--Try Again on Christmas Night--Betrayed--Fearful
Danger Avoided.

It was still the same sparkling moonlight, and the same intense and
piercing cold, that marked our journey the preceding night, when we
left the cars, and entered the rebel capital.

Everything looked grim and silent through the frosty air, and our
teeth chattered fast and loud as we walked through a few squares of
this now historic city.

But suddenly the sergeant recollected that he did not know what to do
with us, and we were obliged to remain where we were, till he could find
the Provost-Marshal's office, and get instructions. We endeavored to
shelter ourselves as best we could from the unbearable cold, which
really threatened to prove fatal. We had two blankets, or rather pieces
of carpet, and we spread them over the heads of us all as we huddled
together in a solid mass, in the angle of a brick wall. It was
astonishing how much more comfortable this made us--especially in the
inside of the _pack_, where I happened to be. Here we remained shivering
till the sergeant returned. He had found the Provost-Marshal's office,
and proceeded to conduct us thither.

We