"You are going to march in the ranks?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes. I want to see war as it is. These boys are my friends from New
York."

"You will fight with them?"

"No--just see with their eyes--that's all. And then tell you exactly
what happened. I can hide behind a barn or a tree without being
court-martialed."

She looked at him quickly with a new interest, pressed his hand again
and said:

"Good luck!"

"And home again soon!" he cried with a wave of his arms as he hurried to
join his marching men.

The army camped at Centreville, seven miles from Beauregard's lines, and
spent the 19th and 20th of July resting and girding their loins for the
first baptism of fire. The volunteers were eager for the fray. The first
touch of the skirmishers had resulted in fifteen or twenty killed. But
the action had been too far away to make any serious impression.

Between the two armies crept the silvery thread of the little stream of
Bull Run, its clear beautiful waters flashing in the July sun.

Saturday night, the 20th, orders were issued to John's regiment to be in
readiness to advance against the enemy at two o'clock before day on
Sunday morning. A thrill of fierce excitement swept the camp. They were
loaded down with overcoats, haversacks, knapsacks and baggage, baggage,
baggage without end. The single New York regiment to which he had
attached himself required forty wagons to move its baggage. They had a
bakery and cooking establishment that would have done credit to
Broadway. They hurriedly packed all they could carry in readiness for
the march into battle. What would happen to the rest God only knew, but
they hoped for the best. Of course, the battle couldn't last long. It
was only necessary for this grand army to make a demonstration with its
drums throbbing, its fifes screaming, its bayonets flashing and its
magnificent uniforms glittering in the sun--the plumes, the Scotch
bonnets, the Turkish fez, the Garibaldi shirts, the blue and grey and
gold, the black and yellow, and the red and blue of the fire
Zouaves--when the rebel mob saw these things they would take to their
heels.

What the boys were really afraid of was that every rebel would escape
before they could use their handcuffs and ropes. This would be too bad
because the procession through the crowded streets at home would be
incomplete without captives as a warning to future traitors. They were
going to have a load to carry with their blanket