otel in search of its lost mates, emptied and staved in long ago.

Another goblin who frequently appeared to me was the attendant of "the
pathetic room," who, being a faithful soul, was often up to tend two or
three men, weak and wandering as babies, after the fever had gone. The
amiable creature beguiled the watches of the night by brewing jorums of
a fearful beverage which he called coffee, and insisted on sharing with
me; coming in with a great bowl of something like mud soup, scalding
hot, guiltless of cream, rich in an all-pervading flavor of molasses,
scorch, and tin pot.

Even my constitutionals in the chilly halls possessed a certain charm,
for the house was never still. Sentinels tramped round it all night
long, their muskets glittering in the wintry moonlight as they walked,
or stood before the doors straight and silent as figures of stone,
causing one to conjure up romantic visions of guarded forts, sudden
surprises, and daring deeds; for in these war times the humdrum life of
Yankeedom has vanished, and the most prosaic feel some thrill of that
excitement which stirs the Nation's heart, and makes its capital a camp
of hospitals. Wandering up and down these lower halls I often heard
cries from above, steps hurrying to and fro, saw surgeons passing up, or
men coming down carrying a stretcher, where lay a long white figure
whose face was shrouded, and whose fight was done. Sometimes I stopped
to watch the passers in the street, the moonlight shining on the spire
opposite, or the gleam of some vessel floating, like a white-winged
sea-gull, down the broad Potomac, whose fullest flow can never wash away
the red stain of the land.

AMY'S VALLEY OF HUMILIATION

From 'Little Women'

"That boy is a perfect Cyclops, isn't he?" said Amy one day, as Laurie
clattered by on horseback, with a flourish of his whip as he passed.

"How dare you say so, when he's got both his eyes? and very handsome
ones they are, too," cried Jo, who resented any slighting remarks about
her friend.

"I didn't say anything about his eyes; and I don't see why you need fire
up when I admire his riding."

"Oh, my goodness! that little goose means a centaur, and she called him
a Cyclops," exclaimed Jo, with a burst of laughter.

"You needn't be so rude; it's only a 'lapse of lingy,' as Mr. Davis
says," retorted Amy, finishing Jo with her Latin. "I just wish I had a
little of the money Laurie spends on that horse," she added, as if to
he