The National tribune., 1902-01-30

comparatively safe. / was on neutra
ground, or unobserved ground, 70
an hour at least l could not know
whether the rcliefs came as ordi
narily-Once every two hours. Their
would probably be nobody passing be
some officer should 20 the rounds of tn
sentinels; that was something | mus
| risk.
l came down from the tree and eau
| tiously approached the mouth of the gully
| climbed another tree. from which | haC
Il better view. | could now see that th'
gully extended far mp the hill, and | sus
pected that the pickct-line stretched across
it; but there was no indication of the pur
pose which had caused the men TO go int
the gully. My position was a good one
and | waited. / could see Il part of th'
pickct-line-that is, not the men, but th'
rifle-ptS.
Ten minutes went by. Coming dowl
the hill from the right in an oblique di
rection toward the gully. / saw an nm
armed rebel. He disappeared. He hat
gone down into this gully, which. | was
now confident, separated by its width th'
pickcts of different commands. Wha
could this unarncd man he doing in th'
gully: Nothing for me to do but to wait
| was hoping that an opportunity hat
been found.
Soon | saw another .Inan coming dowT
toward the gully: hc was coming from
the other side-thr left; he was armed
At nearly the same instant the unarmCC
man reappcared his back was toward me
he held his cantccn in his hand. The sit
uation was clear; there was water in th,
gully; my opportunity had come.
| came down from the tree. Almost al
hour would bc mine before the vidcts
were relieved. Cautiously | made my
way to the mouth of the gully. | lay fiat
and watched. y man was climbing the
side of the gully; he was going To the left
he was armcd-dOubtlesS the man | had
seen moment before. | went into the
gully. | must get to that spring or pool
or whatever it was, before another mar
should come.
Before the man had reached the picket
line, | was at the SpTing-and it was
good one. at least for that swamp. 4
little hollow had been made by digging
with bayOnets, perhaps, or with the hands
on one side of the gully, Just where q
huge bulk of unfallen earth would pro
tect the hole from the midday sun, the
only sun which could reach the bottom
of this Tavinc. defended by its wall on
either hand. The hole was so small that
only one cantecu could be filled at Il time
but the water was good compared with
that Of the Chickahominy. Doubtless il
was the difficulty of getting pure water
that justified the relaxation of discipline
which permitted the men to have recourse
to this spring in rear of their yidet lines
CantcCn in hand. | sat down by the
spring. Fully three minutes | sat and
waited. Seeing how muddy | was, | took
ont my knife and began Scraping the mud
from my SHOES and clothing.
/ heard a step. | put my cantccn into
the water and held it down with one hand
continuing 10 scrap. mud with the other
Pill mine. too, said It voice.
| did not look up.
"Ain't this a swamp to read about
Did you ever see the likes o muskctoes?' ~
Il couldn't see EN-" said |: "suppoSin'
you mean whilst | was on videt."
He laughed. Bet you had TO fight 'Cm,
though. Say--you won't git that mud
off that-away; let it dry"
/ did not reply. He was standing al
most over me, upon sort Of shelf in the
side of the gully, az there was not room
Gimme your cantcen," said |.
He handed it to me. 1t was bright
new tin cantccn of the cheap COnfeder-
ate make-mcOvercd. / knew at once
that this man belonged to the fresh reg
imcnt. The old Confederates had sup
piled themselves. from battleficlds and
prisoners, and the greater capture of
stores, with good Union canteens Even
while | was thinking this, he said,
''What'n you take to boot 'twixt your
canteen and mine?''
Don't want to swap" said /.
| filed his cantccn.
"NOw. gimme your. hand" said l.
He held out his hand, which | grasped
and he pulled hard: it took two pulls to
bring me to his side. ] did not look at
him, but knew that he was a small man.
He turned away. l followed him.
could see that his uniform was new. We
reached the edge of the gully, and stood
still.
Now | could see the pits. The gully
was deeper up the hill There was a pit
on either side of the gully. which was
about 40 feet wide Had | known of the
existence Of that gully. could have
stolen through the picket-line in the night
but perhaps they had it guarded at
night
SAY" said my companion. why didn't
you go back on your own sidef''
Ask me no questions, and I'll tell You
no lies" said l.
He was two steps ahead of me-a man
of small stature. His shoes and his cloth
ing up to his knees were almost as muddy
as mine. He walked slowly up the hill
In very few minutes we would be within
the picket-line: it took all my will to pre-
serve composure; | was glad the man
was in front of me. We stepped slowly
up the hill.
could see nobody at the pits. The
pickets were lying down, probably. half
of them asleep, the other half awake but
at ease | was wishing my leader would
speak again. The nervous tension was
hard. What should do when We reached
the line? | had no plan, except to walk
on. | wished my leader would continue
to march, and go past the pits-then |
could follow him; the trivial suggestion
aroused sclf-contempt; l was thinking of
straws to catch at. l must strengthen
my will.
He had made four steps; he said, Suns
up"
This was not much of an opening. L
TO respond, Don't see it, my
SELF
Look at that big pine up yonder," said
he.
BE another hot day" said 1; wish
was up there
What for?"
so l could get some Sleep
you won't git any down here in this
old field; that's shore"
That's what's a-troublin' me-" said /;
and Eve got to take care of myself"
Ben sick?"
"No, not down sick: bnt the hot sun
don't do me any good"
bilious, ! reckon" said he
NO" said |; mot bilious; it's my
head"
Bet I'd go to the Surgeon, then, ef it
was me-" he said.
"WiSh | could see the Doctor" I re-