laying in stores for
a solitary tramp, and making a raven in this, to him, strange desert, of
the ill-omened bird that had pounced upon us. He would conciliate his
enemy, and when the latter was growing careless he would spring into
some woods. The pork, with the berries to be found there, would sustain
him after he had broken leash,--and would be all that he would eat, no
doubt, in the course of two or three suns.

We noticed a great stir on all sides of us, converging streams of
stragglers, wounded men, and prisoners, as we made our way, scattering
grasshoppers, over the fields, and soon mingled with the throng of
troops on the open road to Winchester. It was about three miles from
this town that our capture had taken place; and from the immense
wagon-trains rumbling along with us, and the excited manner of their
officers, I augured not as well for the Rebel cause. Perhaps Fortune had
altered her humor, and the white eagles of victory had settled with the
opposite side. Other parties of Union prisoners journeyed with us, and
through the urgent manner of their guards I thought I could discern a
sunlit loop-hole to freedom. In five minutes' time I was assured that
the Rebels were preparing to retreat. Their six-horse teams were rushing
to the rear, and their outlying bodies of cavalry were being hurriedly
dispatched the other way. My mind was very busy upon the new aspect of
affairs.

The last I saw of my orderly was when he had divested himself of the
workman's incumbrance,--his coat,--and was tramping, bootless, haltingly
along in the dustiest part of the road. He had conciliated his watchman
into almost indifference, and was spreading himself with the sand,
(tossed knee-high in little clouds by his feet,) having then become
quite a Rebel in looks. In five minutes I turned upon him; but he had
fallen out of the squad. I have never seen him since.

My own plans would keep me in the Rebel lines some hours longer. It was
my object to escape; but I had already decided upon the evening, when
darkness, and, I hoped, rain, would settle down upon us. I indulged a
hasty prayer in behalf of the vanished man, and durst not more than
snatch a look at where he should have been, lest the guard should miss
him also. At one mile beyond Winchester, which town we had avoided by a
branching road, we came to the office of the provost marshal, a very
humble shell-work; and those of us who wore shoulder-straps were hustled
into his pres