rmy.

Maps, papers, books, and luggage lay around the room; all the gentlemen
were smoking and wine sparkled in most of the glasses. Some swords were
lying upon the floor, a pair of spurs glistened by the bed, and three of
the officers had their feet in the air.

"What is it you wish, Lieutenant?" said General Marcy, gravely.

The boor in uniform at my side, related his errand and order, gave the
particulars of my arrest, declaimed against our agent, and submitted the
journals. He told his story stammeringly, and I heard one of the
officers in the background mutter contemptuously when he had finished.

"Were you aware of the order prohibiting correspondents from keeping
with the advance?" said the General, looking up.

"I had not been notified from head-quarters. I have been with the army
only a week."

"You knew that you had no business upon scouts, forages, or
reconnoissances; why did you go?"

"I went by invitation."

"Who invited you?"

"I would prefer not to state, since it would do him an injury."

Here the voices in the background muttered, as I thought, applaudingly.
Gaining confidence as I proceeded, I spoke more boldly--

"I am sure I regret that I have disobeyed any order of General
McClellan's; but there can nothing occur in the rear of an army.
Obedience, in this case, would be indolence and incompetence; for only
the reliable would stay behind and the reckless go ahead. If I am
accredited here as a correspondent, I must keep up with the events. And
the rivalries of our tribe, General, are so many, that the best of us
sometimes forget what is right for what is expedient. I hope that
General McClellan will pass by this offence."

He heard my rambling defence quietly, excused the Lieutenant, and
whistled for an orderly.

"I don't think that you meant to offend General McClellan," he said,
"but he wishes you to be detained. Give me your pass. Orderly, take this
gentleman to General Porter, and tell him to treat him kindly. Good
night."

When we got outside of the tent, I slipped a silver half-dollar into the
orderly's hand, and asked him if he understood the General's final
remark. He said, in reply, that I was directed to be treated with
courtesy, kindness, and care, and asked me, in conclusion, if there were
any adjectives that might intensify the recommendation. When we came to
General Porter, the Provost-Marshal, however, he pooh-poohed the
qualifications, and said that _his_ business was