right to talk, and I hope they will talk. Anything
like a decent forward movement of this Corps would have saved the
disgrace of the second Bull Run battle. We all know how the Corps lagged
along the road-side, and the Rebel cannon all the while thundering in
the ears of its Commander.'

"'A Volunteer officer, I suppose,' said the young officer, somewhat
sneeringly. 'Where have you ever seen service?'

"'Yes, sir, a Volunteer officer,' said the Captain straightening up,
facing full the officer, and eyeing him until his face grew paler.
'Where have I seen service? In Mexico, as private in the 4th Regular
Artillery, while you were eating pap with a spoon, you puppy! You had
better have stayed at that business; it was an honest one, at any rate,
and Uncle Sam would have been saved some pay that you draw, while, like
a dishonest sneak, you preach treason.'

"'How dare you insult a Regular officer?' said a gold-striped, dandified
fellow, as he twisted the ends of his moustache into rat-tails.

"'Who the d----l are you?' said the Captain, turning on him so suddenly
that the officer commenced to back; 'with your gold lace on your
shoulders that may mean anything or nothing. What are you anyhow?
Captain? Lieutenant? Clerk? or Orderly? Those straps are a good come
off, boys.' The crowd laughed. 'I suppose he thinks he's a staff
officer.'

"'I am, and a Lieutenant in the Regular army,' said the officer angrily,
and giving the word 'Regular' the full benefit of his voice.

"'Regular and be d----d,' retorted the Captain. 'I want you both to
understand that I am a Captain in the Volunteer service of the United
States; that that service is by Act of Congress on a footing with the
Regular service, and that I'll always talk in this style when I hear
treason. I am the superior officer of you both, and have a right to talk
to you. I've been in service since the Rebellion broke out, and by the
mother of Moses, I never heard treason preached by officers in Uncle
Sam's uniform till I got into this Corps. It makes my blood boil, and I
won't stand it. Pretty doctrine you are trying to teach these soldiers;
but I know by their faces they understand the matter better than you,
and you can't do them any damage.' 'That's so,' sang out several of the
crowd. 'You fellows all talk alike. I have heard dozens of you talk in
the same way, and I believe your ideas are stocked from a higher source.
There is something wrong in the head of this Gran