w Lieutenant Anderson excited under fire,
but he was excited _now_, and mad too. He said to one of the fellows,
"Go back under the hill, get on a horse, ride as hard as you can, and
tell those men on the hill, what confounded work they are doing, and if
they fire any more shells, here, I will open on them immediately." In a
few minutes it was stopped, with many regrets on the part of our
friends.

=The Narrow Escape of an Entire Company=

In the midst of all this, an incident took place that created a great
deal of amusement. Along the line, just back of and somewhat protected
by the works, the Texans had pitched several of the little "shelter
tents" we used to capture from the enemy, and found such a convenience.
One of these stood apart. It had a piece of cloth, buttoned on the back,
and closing that end up to about eighteen inches from the top, leaving
thus, a triangular hole just under the ridge pole. In this little tent
sat four men, a captain and three privates, all that were left of a
Company in this Texan Brigade. These fellows were playing "Seven-up"
and, despite the confusion around, were having a good time. Suddenly,
one of the shells from the hill behind, struck, tumbled over once or
twice, and stopped, right in the mouth of that tent, the fuse still
burning. The game stopped! The players were up, instantly. The next
moment, one fellow came diving headforemost out of that triangular hole
at the back, followed fast by the other three--the captain last. It only
took "one time and one motion" to get out of that. Soon as they could
pick themselves up, they, all four, jumped behind a tree that stood
there; and then, the fuse went out, and the shell didn't burst.
Everybody had seen the shell fall, and were horror stricken at the
apparently certain fate of those four men. Now, the absurdity of the
scene struck us all, and there were shouts of laughter at their expense.
Despite their sudden, hasty retreat through that narrow hole everyone of
the scamps had held on to his "hand," and they promptly kicked the shell
aside, crawled into the tent again, and continued their little game;
interrupted, however, by jokes from all sides. It was very funny! The
smoking shell, in front, and those fellows shooting through that hole at
the back, and alighting all in a heap, and then the scramble for that
tree. As the shell went out, it was a roaring farce. If it hadn't, it
would have been a tragedy. The Captain said that these th