"I'm going home, I'm going home,
To die no more, to die no more."

It was as if they had left behind them forever all sorrow and suffering,
and that for them there could be no more distress, or pain, or anguish.
It was a long, weary, dusty ride. Some died on the way, but hope kept
most of them alive.

They reached the city of Charleston, passed from the cars to a
steamboat, which was to take them down the harbor to the place of
exchange. The waters danced joyfully around them, as if greeting them
with gladness. The breezes came in from the dark blue ocean and fanned
their wasted cheeks. The waves, like a loving mother, gently rocked them
and sung a soothing lullaby. But O what joy to behold once more the dear
old flag! How serenely and lovingly it floated in the breeze! They
saluted it with cheers,--shed tears of gratitude,--clasped each other by
the hand,--rushed into each other's arms. Those who were able to stand
danced in a delirium of joy! Paul was too weak to sit up. He could only
lie upon the deck, and gaze upon the flag till his eyes filled with
tears, and say: "Thank God, I have seen it once more!" Beneath that flag
there was joy, peace, comfort, food, clothing, and freedom. Hospital
nurses were there with blankets, and great kettles filled with soup and
coffee. For the wounded there were bandages; for the sick there were
cordials, wines, and medicines. There were tender-hearted men, ready to
relieve all their sufferings. It was like passing from the prison of
despair into a paradise of peace and rest, and in joy and gladness they
began to sing,

"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

The strong men on board of the ship, the nurses, and the stout-hearted
sailors wept like children, and spoke hard words against the Rebels when
they looked upon the haggard countenances, the hollow cheeks, the sunken
eyes, of the skeleton forms around them.

Although Paul was so weak that he could hardly lift his hands to his
head, although his comrades were passing away, although every day he saw
their bodies, wrapped in hammocks and weighted with shot, cast into the
sea, yet he never experienced such bliss, such contentment, as while
lying on the deck through the long summer day, looking up to the old
flag, and the clear sky, and out upon the calm and peaceful sea,
thinking of the sea of glass and the great white throne, and the
calmness, sereneness, and rest of h