d her bidding, and the full moon on
the face of an old fashioned corner clock was disclosed, she continued,
"It's just ten minutes after eleven, and you Yanks had better be off."

Although the Adjutant was

"Like steel amid the din of arms;
Like wax when with the fair,"

this lack of appreciation of poetic sentiment so abruptly shown, brought
him out in a roar, and completely disconcerted the Lieutenant. They both
retired speedily, and long after, the circumstance was one of the
standing jokes of the camp.

One of the most prominent and eagerly wished-for occurrences in camp, is
the arrival of the mail. The well filled bag, looking much like one of
the bags of documents forwarded by Congressmen for private purposes at
Uncle Sam's expense, was emptied out on the sod that evening in front of
the Colonel's marquee, and bundles containing boots, tobacco, bread,
clothing of all kinds, eatables, and what-not,--for at that time Uncle
Sam's army mails did a heavy express business,--were eyed curiously, by
the crowd impatient for distribution. Most singular of all in shape and
feeling was a package, heavily postmarked, and addressed to the Colonel.
It contained what was a God-send to the larder of the mess,--a quarter
of fine tender meat. But what kind of animal, was the query. The Major,
who was a Nimrod in his own locality, after the most thorough
inspection, and the discovery of a short straight hair upon it,
pronounced it venison, or young kid, and confirmed the Colonel in the
belief that he had been remembered by one of his Western friends. But
deer or dog was a matter of indifference to hungry campaigners. A hearty
meal was made of it, and speculation continued until the Brigadier, who
had perpetrated the joke upon the Colonel, saw fit, long after, to
reveal that it was mutton that had been taken from some marauders during
the day's march.

During the first and second days of the march, cannonading had been
heard at intervals on the right flank. This day, however, the silence
was ominous; and now at its close, with our army in close proximity to
Fredericksburg, it indicated peaceable, unopposed possession, or delay
of our own forces. But of the delay and its cause, provoking as it was,
and costly as it has proved, enough has probably been written. An
Investigating Committee has given the public full records. If we do not
learn that delinquents have been punished, let us hope that the warning
has b