ociferation, "Pass the word for Lieutenant Shipp; pass
the word for Mr. Shipp; send Mr. Shipp to me." It was the colonel's
voice that I heard; so, jumping from my straw, I exclaimed, "Here I am,
colonel; here am I, Sir."--"That's right," said the colonel; "I want you
to go on duty." He then took me by the hand, and said, "Shipp, you have
verified the recommendations I received from your late commanding
officer of the 24th Light Dragoons, and I shall not lose sight of your
conduct. From the information our spies have brought, we have every
reason to believe that the enemy will, under the darkness of the night,
make an effort to regain their lost post, which is of much consequence
to them, and more to us. We must therefore prepare to meet them with
determined force and resistance, or we shall have all our work to do
over again. You must take a steady sergeant and twelve men, and proceed
down close to the reservoir of water. On this side of the reservoir take
up your station. Let your sentinels form a link with the other sentinels
on your right and left; and by no means permit your men to lie down or
sleep, but see that they watch, and are on the alert. Go; I know I need
not explain more to you. Your captain I have posted in a similar
situation." The rain now fell in torrents; the thunder rolled in its
bitterest anger; and the lightning shot in massive sheets along the
mountain-tops, and, by its vivid blaze, showed us a glimpse of the dead
and the dying. I found that, close to my post, lay numbers whom I
believed dead; but I afterwards distinctly heard, during the cessation
of the thunder, the moaning of those below. I don't know any situation
more painful than mine was at that moment: a tempest raging in all its
terrific forms, surrounded by the dead and the dying, and expecting
every moment to be attacked by a cruel and barbarous foe, from whom no
mercy could be expected, should fate throw us into their hands. Nothing
but a sense of duty, and the recollection that I was engaged in the
service of my country, could have supported me under such circumstances.
A high sense of the duties, and an ardent attachment to the profession
of a soldier, will enable a man to do that, with comparative
cheerfulness, from which, under other circumstances, his feelings would
revolt. The enemy were noted for barbarity and craft, and the danger of
surprise was great.

Upon the principle that all stratagems are justifiable in warfare as
well