brought him back to consciousness,
and he was taken at once to the fort. The wherry was again carried to
the landing before the hay-camp, and the crowd of soldiers dispersed
through the ravines and groves in the direction of their barracks.

Captain Bartlett accompanied Redmond Carter to the place where the mule
and pony were picketed, and, saying that he would ride Puss to the post,
ordered one of the men to saddle her, and entered into conversation with
the boy.

"I think you are out of place in the army, Carter," said he.

"What, sir! Have I not always done my duty well?" asked Reddy, in
dismay.

"Much better than the average soldier. But that is not what I mean. You
seem qualified for something better than the position you occupy. You
are not of the material from which the army is usually recruited. This
slip of paper, found beside the orderly bench at the office," observed
the officer, handing the boy his sketch of the Trojan horse with the
accompanying Latin sentence, "shows that you have been a student. I do
not know what accident brought you here, but I think school is the
proper place for you."

"Nothing would please me better, sir, than to be able to return to
school; but it is not possible at present."

"Are you willing to tell me how you come to be in the service?"

"Yes, sir; it is not a long story," replied the young soldier. "My
father and mother died when I was too young to remember them, and I was
left to the care of a guardian, who sent me to school, and afterwards to
an academy, where I prepared for college. I passed my entrance
examination to the Freshman class in June, and expected to go on in
September; but the failure of companies in which my property had been
invested left me destitute, and I gave it up."

"But you have relatives?"

"Lots of them; but they showed little inclination to help me. There had
been some family differences that I never understood, and I was too
proud to go begging for assistance. I shipped on a granite-schooner for
Philadelphia. I was miserably seasick the whole trip, and was discharged
by the master of the vessel without pay. Having no money I could not
find food while looking for work. I obtained an odd job now and then,
but soon wore my clothes to rags, so that no respectable establishment
would think of hiring me. I slept on the streets, and frequently passed
a day without proper food. One day I passed a recruiting-office, and it
suggested a means of escap