o be expected of
them? Nothing, I should say. That is what they did.

We waited for a dark night, for caution and secrecy were necessary;
then, toward midnight, we stole in couples and from various directions
to the Griffith place, beyond the town; from that point we set out
together on foot. Hannibal lies at the extreme south-eastern corner of
Marion County, on the Mississippi River; our objective point was the
hamlet of New London, ten miles away, in Ralls County.

The first hour was all fun, all idle nonsense and laughter. But that
could not be kept up. The steady trudging came to be like work; the
play had somehow oozed out of it; the stillness of the woods and the
sombreness of the night began to throw a depressing influence over the
spirits of the boys, and presently the talking died out and each person
shut himself up in his own thoughts. During the last half of the second
hour nobody said a word.

Now we approached a log farm-house where, according to report, there was
a guard of five Union soldiers. Lyman called a halt; and there, in the
deep gloom of the overhanging branches, he began to whisper a plan of
assault upon that house, which made the gloom more depressing than
it was before. It was a crucial moment; we realised, with a cold
suddenness, that here was no jest--we were standing face to face with
actual war. We were equal to the occasion. In our response there was no
hesitation, no indecision: we said that if Lyman wanted to meddle with
those soldiers, he could go ahead and do it; but if he waited for us to
follow him, he would wait a long time.

Lyman urged, pleaded, tried to shame us, but it had no effect.
Our course was plain, our minds were made up: we would flank the
farmhouse--go out around. And that is what we did. We turned the
position.

We struck into the woods and entered upon a rough time, stumbling over
roots, getting tangled in vines, and torn by briers. At last we reached
an open place in a safe region, and sat down, blown and hot, to cool off
and nurse our scratches and bruises. Lyman was annoyed, but the rest of
us were cheerful; we had flanked the farm-house, we had made our first
military movement, and it was a success; we had nothing to fret about,
we were feeling just the other way. Horse-play and laughing began again;
the expedition was become a holiday frolic once more.

Then we had two more hours of dull trudging and ultimate silence and
depression; then, about dawn, we st