long remain the only baby in camp. One day, on going out
to the stables to look at a horse, I heard a sound of baby-talk,
addressed by some man to a child near by, and, looking round the corner
of a tent, I saw that one of the hostlers had something black and round,
lying on the sloping side of a tent, with which he was playing very
eagerly. It proved to be his little baby, a plump little shiny thing,
younger than Annie; and I never saw a merrier picture than the happy
father frolicking with his child, while the mother stood quietly by.
This was Baby Number Two, and she stayed in camp several weeks, the two
little innocents meeting each other every day, in the placid
indifference that belonged to their years; both were happy little
healthy things, and it never seemed to cross their minds that there was
any difference in their complexions. As I said before, Annie was not
troubled by any prejudice in regard to color, nor do I suppose that the
other little maiden was.

Annie enjoyed the tent-life very much; but when we were sent out on
picket soon after, she enjoyed it still more. When a regiment is on
picket, the main camp is usually much smaller, because most of the
companies are scattered about at outposts, and but few are left at
head-quarters. Our head-quarters were at a deserted plantation house,
with one large parlor, a dining-room, and a few bedrooms. Baby's father
and mother had a room up stairs, with a stove whose pipe went straight
out at the window. This was quite comfortable, though half the windows
were broken, and there was no glass and no glazier to mend them. The
windows of the large parlor were in much the same condition, though we
had an immense fireplace, where we had a bright fire whenever it was
cold, and always in the evening. The walls of this room were very dirty,
and it took our ladies several days to cover all the unsightly places
with wreaths and hangings of evergreen. In this performance Baby took an
active, or rather a passive part. Her duties consisted in sitting in a
great nest of evergreen, pulling and fingering the fragrant leaves, and
occasionally giving a little cry of glee when she had accomplished some
piece of decided mischief.

There was less entertainment to be found in the camp itself at this
time; but the household at head-quarters was larger than Baby had been
accustomed to. We had a great deal of company, moreover, and she had
quite a gay life of it. She usually made her appear