, parents and other loved ones, only to come to the army and be
surrounded by irreverent comrades. They would tell how hard it had
seemed, to be deprived of the help and consolation of regular and
customary religious services in the midst of such surroundings, and how
much harder the trial had been when the change to prison life had taken
place and the separation from home had become total; the recital, an
earnest assurance that religious faith was a great consolation in time
of adversity, and a stirring appeal to others to have faith that He did
all things well, being sufficient to awaken dormant feelings in some, to
inspire new thoughts and resolutions in many and to cause all to feel
more resigned. No doubt as to the support and consolation afforded by
religious faith could have existed in the mind of anyone observing the
earnestness and fervor of the leaders in these gatherings.

The religious exercises were not sufficient, however, to suppress the
natural inclinations of most of the prisoners to gamble on the slightest
provocation; in fact, the confinement and the necessity for doing
something to kill time were the means of increasing the ordinary
tendencies in this direction.

In ordinary army life it was a common thing, during most any halt, to
see "keno" and "chuck-luck" games going on. The halt would scarcely be
called before "chuck-luck" boards would begin to appear from knapsacks
here and there and rubber ponchos be spread for "keno" games. Five
minutes later one could scarcely look in any direction without seeing
games of chance in full blast. The prison certainly witnessed more of
this in proportion, as the dealers were not reformed in the least, and
the gullible ones were as numerous as ever, while the victims of the
mania for trying to gain much for little, with the chances all in favor
of losing more, were increased by the causes mentioned and from the
rebel guards who were allowed to remain within the stockade. After
roll-call each morning a dozen or more games would be called in as many
different parts of the prison, and an interested crowd would soon be
gathered around each game in the open air to watch the betting, which
would, at times, cause quite an excitement.

Lieutenant and Adjutant McCann, of the prison guards, always took a
lively hand in these games, and he could be seen almost every morning
squatting down or sitting flat on the ground, where he could partake of
the excitement of "bucking