p we shortly came upon a mountain stream which flowed
along the road-side, and here we were permitted to stop and bathe our
travel-bruised feet. But our business was urgent, and we were soon in
line again pressing on up the mountain. When eight or nine miles
distant from Carlisle we halted for a noon-rest. At this point the two
lips of the gap approach at the base within one hundred feet of each
other--two-thirds of which space is occupied by the brook, and the
remainder, for the most part, by the road. This place is a Thermopylae
but being only a side-door of the State of Pennsylvania, no step had
been taken to close it against invaders. The day was beautiful, and we
stretched ourselves along the shady bank to rest, sleep, write, nibble
on our hard tack, or do whatever pleased us best. All about us being

"A forest primeval,"

there was no near chance for foraging, and so we all rested. Some with
surprising versatility improvised hook and line, and went
a-fishing--their luck ranging from a nibble to the smallest variety of
minnow. Others equally enterprising hunted for blackberries in places
where a blackberry would have been frightened to death to find itself
growing--whether they climbed trees for them is not positively known.

Reports now began to come in of a great battle going on, of which we
had abundant proof before the day was ended. Up to this time our
campaign had been quite an innocent one; and though we had had some
wearisome marching, yet benignant skies had uniformly attended us. But
now all was to be suddenly changed. First came the hot rumors of
battle, and we realized the urgency of the moment, and wondered whether
we should be in time to help in our feeble way to win the great victory
we hoped for, little dreaming that the contest was already decided--the
great victory already won. Next came clouded skies; and as we rested,
there rose to our ears the distant mutter of thunder, and soon big
drops began to fall. Presently a mist was seen to gather around the top
of the mountain far above our heads; and soon the top disappeared in
the shroud which crept ominously down, down the mountain side. We began
to think of shelter, and unrolled our overcoats and rubber cloths. The
thunder grew louder, the lightning flashed more and more vividly and
the rain fell in torrents. A poor little cabin on the road-side gave
shelter to a few. A leaky shed treacherously invited others. Some
seemed to think it unsoldier-li