The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1900-09-28

terms of rapture Of the effect of that
moonlight; nor could 1 pursue the sub
jcct without quoting his very words;
but this | must say, that at no mo-
ment i'll my life have I felt the infu-
ence of Il bright scene more forcibly
than | felt it then.
But no great while was granted for
such indulgences. Orders had already
been issued to prepare the troops for
immediate Decentralization; these it
was the duty of every officer to exert
himself in carrying into effect.
Like my comrades, 1 accordingly
devoted the greater portion of my
walking hours to the inspection ofarms,
the arrangement of necessaries, and the
handling out Of ;:ccotrement. On the
present occasion, as the distance be-
tween Baltimore and the beach could,
it, was calculated, be traversed in
in twelve hours, the men were not
encountered as they had been encum-
bered during the inroad upon Washing
ton, with their full quantity of bag
gage. Three days provisions were, in
deed, put up in their haversacks, but
as far as clothing is concerned, a KNAPP
sack, containing spare shirt; with
blanket strapped over it, constituted
the whole load that each was required
to carry. In one respect, however;
the burden was increosed:- some incon-
venience having been formerly expe-
rienced in bringing up ammunition,
the store of powder and ball committed
to our charge was, on the present
occasion greater than usual. A SOL
dier's pouch, as any military man
knows, is made to contain sixty rounds
Of cartridges, es,-to-night, twenty addi
tional rounds, carefully wrapped up in
stout paper, were assigned to each of
the privates. This done, all, both
officers and men, addressed themselves
to repose, we lay down some in the
bed places, others upon the deck,
clothed and accounted for service; and
in shorter space of time than might
have been expected, the majority were
fast asleep; but know not whence it
came. l could not follow their ex-
ample. 1t was in vain that l had re-
course to tue eXpedients customary in
such cases,-closing my eyes, and
counting hundreds and thousands and
tens of thousands. Sleep obstinately
refused to come upon me; till wearied
at last with the fruitless effort, l rose
and ascended the deck The night
was as clear and balmy as ever;a heavy
dew, indeed, fell, but its moisture, so
far from being disagreeable, served to
refresh both living and dead substance
after the excessive heat of the day
There was not a sound to be heard,
except the ripple of the water against
the ships side, the cry of sentinels ex-
changing, as every half hour came
round, "All's well! and the heavy
breathing of those who preferred the
cool deck to the sufocating atmos-
phere Of the cabin.
1t was, take it all in all, as striking
a night-scene as l recollect at any
time to have witnessed. What my
own feelings were, however, | cannot
pretend to state That I looked for
ward to the morrow without something
like uneasiness, it wonld be the height
of folloy to affirm; no man can believe
himself to stand on the brink, as it
were, of eternity, without uneasiness;
yet were all the anticipations of what
that morrow might bring forth, ina
dequate to repress consciousness of
exquisite enjoyment, to which the
sights and sounds about me gave BIRTH
1 walked the deck for some hours in a
state bordering upon enthusiasm; nor
did | quit it; till the bells of the differ
ent ships striking eight. warned nc
that midnight has passed.
ITO BE CONTINUED.)