s song of which they are very fond, one
verse of which often comes back to me:

'So I've had a sight of drilling,
And I've roughed it many days;
Yes, and death has nearly had me,
Yet, I think, the service pays.'

Indeed it does,--richly, abundantly, blessedly, and I thank God that he
has honored me by letting me do a little and suffer a little for this
grand old Union, and the dear, brave fellows who are fighting for it."

Early in March she returned to St. Louis, expecting to make another trip
down the river, but her work was nearly over, and the seeds of disease
sown in her winter's campaign were already overmastering her delicate
constitution. She determined to go eastward for rest and recovery,
intending to return in the autumn and fix herself in one of the Western
hospitals, where she could devote herself to her beloved work while the
war lasted. At this time she writes to her Eastern friends: "I shall
soon turn my face eastward, and I have more and more to do as my time
here grows shorter. I have been at the hospital every day this week, and
at the Government rooms, where we prepare the Government work for the
poor women, four hundred of whom we supply with work every week. I have
also a family of refugees to look after, so I do not lack employment."

Early in June, Miss Breckinridge reached Niagara on her way to the East,
where she remained for a month. For a year she struggled against disease
and weakness, longing all the time to be at work again, making vain
plans for the time when she should be "well and strong, and able to go
back to the hospitals." With this cherished scheme in view she went in
the early part of May, 1864, into the Episcopal Hospital in
Philadelphia, that she might acquire experience in nursing, especially
in surgical cases, so that in the autumn, she could begin her labor of
love among the soldiers more efficiently and confidently than before.
She went to work with her usual energy and promptness, following the
surgical nurse every day through the wards, learning the best methods of
bandaging and treating the various wounds. She was not satisfied with
merely seeing this done, but often washed and dressed the wounds with
her own hands, saying, "I shall be able to do this for the soldiers when
I get back to the army." The patients could not understand this, and
would often expostulate, saying, "Oh no, Miss, that is not for the like
of you to do!" but she would playfull