em from rabbits into soldiers. If this side of the
picture of that early day has not before been put into history, then
history has been to that degree incomplete, for it had and has its
rightful place there. There was more Bull Run material scattered through
the early camps of this country than exhibited itself at Bull Run.
And yet it learned its trade presently, and helped to fight the great
battles later. I could have become a soldier myself, if I had waited.
I had got part of it learned; I knew more about retreating than the man
that invented retreating.

(1) It was always my impression that that was what the horse was there
for, and I know that it was also the impression of at least one other
of the command, for we talked about it at the time, and admired the
military ingenuity of the device; but when I was out West three years
ago I was told by Mr. A. G. Fuqua, a member of our company, that the
horse was his, that the leaving him tied at the door was a matter of
mere forgetfulness, and that to attribute it to intelligent invention
was to give him quite too much credit. In support of his position, he
called my attention to the suggestive fact that the artifice was not
employed again. I had not thought of that before.

MEISTERSCHAFT

IN THREE ACTS (1)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

MR. STEPHENSON. MARGARET STEPHENSON.
GEORGE FRANKLIN. ANNIE STEPHENSON.
WILLIAM JACKSON. MRS. BLUMENTHAL, the Wirthin.
GRETCHEN, Kellnerin

ACT I. SCENE I.

Scene of the play, the parlour of a small private dwelling in a village.
(MARGARET discovered crocheting--has a pamphlet.)

MARGARET. (Solus.) Dear, dear! it's dreary enough, to have to study this
impossible German tongue: to be exiled from home and all human society
except a body's sister in order to do it, is just simply abscheulich.
Here's only three weeks of the three months gone, and it seems like
three years. I don't believe I can live through it, and I'm sure Annie
can't. (Refers to her book, and rattles through, several times, like
one memorising:) Entschuldigen Sie, mein Herr, konnen Sie mir vielleicht
sagen, um wie viel Uhr der erste Zug nach Dresden abgeht? (Makes
mistakes and corrects them.) I just hate Meisterschaft! We may see
people; we can have society; yes, on condition that the conversation
shall be in German, and in German only--every single word of it! Very
kind--oh, very! when neither Annie nor I can p