124

IN FRONT OF THE STONE WALL AT FREDERICKSBURG.

disposal of the dead bodies in front, so that thedead actually sheltered the living.

After two or three hours of this experience webecame somewhat accustomed to the situation,—for man becomes accustomed to almost anythingthat savors of routine, — and learned with consid-erable exactness the limit inside which we mightmove with safety, and the limit also of endurableconstraint. It was somewhat curious to see howstrong the tobacco hunger was with many,— per-haps with most. Men would jump to their feetand run the length of a regiment to borrow to-bacco, and in so doing run the gauntlet of a hun-dred shots. This was so rarely accomplished inentire safety that it won the applause of our lineand hearty congratulations to any one fortunateenough to save his life and sweeten it with thesavory morsel.

All this would have been ludicrous but for theactual suffering inflicted upon so many. Men weremortally hit, and there was no chance to bind uptheir wounds ; they were almost as far beyond ourhelp as if they had been miles away. A little wasaccomplished for their relief by passing canteensfrom hand to hand, keeping them close to theground out of sight, and some of the woundedwere where a little manipulation could be done insafety. It was sad to hear the cries fade away tolow moans, and then to silence, without a chanceto help. The laugh over a successful chase fortobacco would die away only to change into a mur-mur of indignation at the next cruel slaughter.A young officer, boyish and ruddy, fresh from avisit home, with brighter sword and shoulder-straps than most of us, raised his head to look atthe enemy, and a bullet at once pierced his brain.Without a word or groan his head sank again, hisrosy cheek grew livid, and his blood crimsoned hisfolded hands. Next a leg or arm was shatteredas it became exposed in shifting from the weari-someness of our position. Presently a system ofreporting the casualties became established; thenames of the injured were passed from mouth to

mouth;—“Captain M-, 17th, just killed”;

“Private-, Co. C, 11th-, knocked over.”

Those who were fortunate enough to have paperand pencil, and elbow-room enough to get themfrom pocket-depths, kept a list of the names of thekilled and wounded; the occupation this gaveproved a blessing, for the hours were very longand weary.

I suppose ennui is hardly the word where nervesare on the rack, and danger pinions one to a singlespot of earth, yet something like ennui came overus. By chance I found a fragment of newspaperwhich proved a charm that for a time banished theirksome present with its ghastly Held of dead menand its ceaseless danger. Through this raggedpatch of advertisements I sailed away from Fred-ericksburg with the good bark Neptune, whichhad had quick dispatch a month before,—for thepaper was of ancient date,—and was well on herway to summer seas, when I obeyed the printedinjunction and applied on board for passage. Andoh, pleasant summer meadows of the peacefulNorth! who would have suspected you to lurk in

extracts of sarsaparilla and ointment for eruptiveskins ? But I found you there, and forgot the sun-shine and the chill earth, the grim war, the rifle’scrack and the bullet’s whistle,—forgot even tb edead hand that had stretched itself toward me allthe morning with its clutch of grass.

I was called back to the dull wet earth and thecrouching line at Fredericksburg by a request fromSergeant Read, who “guessed he could hit thatcuss with a spy-glass,”—pointing, as he spoke*to the batteries that threatened our right flank-Then I saw that there was commotion at that pal'*of the Confederate works, and an officer on theparapet, with a glass, was taking note of us. Hadthey discovered us at last, after letting us lie heretill high noon, and were we now to receive th®plunging Are we had looked for all the morning^Desirable in itself as it might be to have “thatcuss with a spy-glass” removed, it seemed wiserto repress Read’s ambition. The shooting of a 11officer would dispel any doubts they might hav®of our presence, and we needed the benefit of ahtheir doubts. Happily, they seemed to think usnot worth their powder and iron.

Were we really destined to see the friendlyshades of night come on and bring us release fromour imprisonment ? For the first time we bega®to feel it probable when the groups left the gun 9without a shot. I grew easy enough in mind t®find that sleep was possible, and I was glad to wel'come it as a surer refuge from the surrounding 9than the scrap of newspaper. It was a little di®'oouraging to see a sleeping officer near me wakeneby a bullet, but as his only misfortune, besides 9disturbed nap, seemed to be a torn cap anscratched faco, ho soon wooed back the startlegoddess. I had enjoyed sleep for its quiet anrest, but never before for mere oblivion.

When I returned to consciousness I found th esituation unchanged, except that the list of cask'alties had been swelled by the constant rifle pra®'tice, which was still as pitiless and as continuousas before. It was almost startling to see, on look-ing at the brick house, the Meg Merrilies of the nighbefore standing at her threshold. With the saiu®lost look of helpless horror that her face had wot 11by candle-light, she gazed up and down our pro 9 ^trate lines, and the disenchantment of day a nsunshine failed to make her situation seem in a®way prosaic and commonplace. The desolate p® 1she had to play suited well her gaunt and witchlike features. Shading her eyes with her hand 9last, as if to banish a vision and call her sen®®_back to earth, she searched our lines once m® r ®then, with a hopeless shake of the head, she moveslowly back into the dismal little tomb sheforced to occupy. In which army was her liusbaUserving? Did she search our lines and the de®ranks for any friend of hers ? Was maternal a 1 ’ 3 ^iety added to the physical terrors of her fore®isolation ? _ ^

Slowly the sun declined. He had been our fri® 11all day, shining through the December air with rautumn glow that almost warmed the chill eart >but at his last half-hour he seemed to hangtionless in the western sky. His going down wo®