f view; but it requires no effort to enable the mind nurtured
"beneath New England's sky" to dwell again, in thought, among its native
hills.

"Once more, O Mountains of the North, unveil
Your brows, and lay your cloudy mantles by!
And once more, ere the eyes that seek ye fail,
Uplift against the blue walls of the sky
Your mighty shapes, and let the sunshine weave
Its golden net-work in your belting woods,
Smile down in rainbows from your falling floods
And on your kingly brows at morn and eve
Set crowns of fire! So shall my soul receive
Haply the secret of your calm and strength,
Your unforgotten beauty interfuse
My common life, your glorious shapes and hues
And sun-dropped splendors at my bidding come,
Loom vast through dreams, and stretch in billowy length
From the sea-level of my lowland home!"
_Whittier._

CHAPTER IV.

THE SKIRMISH.

The morning of Sunday, October 13, 1863, proved a disastrous one to the
Ninth Maryland Regiment, who were only a few miles distant from our
encampment at Harper's Ferry. As it proved, the enemy in considerable
force, under Gen. Imboden, had made an early and vigorous attack on that
Regiment at Charlestown, and captured them bodily, in number about three
hundred. Every available man of the Thirty-Fourth was promptly called out,
and preceded by a Battery which was stationed near by, we started in
pursuit. Often had the wish been expressed that we might see some actual
fighting, and at last the wish was to be gratified.

A running fight commenced soon after reaching Charlestown, the Battery
which was still in advance, having engaged the enemy just beyond that
place. We pushed on, passing at one time the dead body of a soldier,
killed during the morning's engagement, and a few miles of rapid marching
bring us into close proximity to the foe, as the shells falling within a
short distance from our ranks fully prove. Each Company has been assigned
the best position allowed by the character of the ground, which is
somewhat uneven and obstructed by fences. A lively discharge of musketry
is kept up from both sides for a time, but finally ceases. At about this
period in the fight, a small body of mounted infantry from the enemy's
force charge toward us till but a short space intervenes, and then
wheeling easily, soon disappear in the distance. We afterwards learn that
the Springfield muskets o