ng "present," tapped their caps with two
fingers, and said, explosively; "Sergeant of Guard, Number Five!"

The Major rose, gave me his hand, and said that I would find a candle in
my tent, with waterproof and blankets on the ground. I was to give
myself no concern about the nag, and might, if I chose, sit for an hour
to write, but must, on no account, attempt to leave the canvas, for the
guard would instantly shoot me down. The guard in question had a
_doppel-ganger_,--counterpart of himself in inflexibility,--and both
were appendages of their muskets. He was not probably a sentient being,
certainly not a conversational one. He knew the length of a stride, and
the manual of bayonet exercise, but was, during his natural life, a
blind idolater of a deity, called "Orders." The said "Orders," for the
present evening, were walking, not talking, and he was dumb to all
conciliatory words. He took a position at one end of my tent, and his
double at the other end. They carried their muskets at "support arms,"
and paced up and down, measuredly, like two cloaked and solemn ghosts. I
wrapped myself in the damp blankets, and slept through the bangs of four
or five court-martials and several executions. At three o'clock, they
changed ramrods,--the old doppel-gangers going away, and two new ones
fulfilling their functions.

CHAPTER X.

AFTER THE VICTORY.

The two ramrods were still pacing to and fro, when I aroused in the gray
of the morning; but they looked very misty and moist, as if they were
impalpables that were shortly to evaporate. The Major poked his head
between the flaps at eight o'clock, and said that breakfast was ready;
but the ramrod nearest me kept vigilantly alongside, and I thought he
had been invited also. The other ramrod guarded the empty tent, and I
think that he believed me a doppel-ganger likewise.

I wondered what was to be done with me, as the hours slipped rapidly by.
The guards were relieved again at ten o'clock, and Quartermaster's men
commenced to take down the tents. Camps were to be moved, and I inquired
solicitously if I was to be moved also. The Major replied that prisoners
were commonly made to walk along the road, escorted by horsemen, and I
imagined, with dread, the companionship of negroes, estrays, ragged
Confederates, and such folk, while the whole army should witness my
degradation. Finally, all the tents were lifted and packed in wagons, as
well as the furniture. I adhered to a st