e so dismal a failure of it, that they all laughed heartily.

And so they merrily chatted through the meal. The men then resorted to
the smoking-room, and when all had lighted their cigars or pipes, Fred
asked:

"Which of the battles of the war of the great Rebellion do you consider
to have been the hardest fought, Doctor Jones?"

"Chickamauga is conceded by the majority of our historians to have been
the most savagely contested of the great battles of the war. Something
near forty per cent of the men engaged were killed, wounded, or taken
prisoner."

"Were you in that battle, Doctor?"

"I was."

"I would be glad if you would tell us about it; that is, I mean, your
own personal experiences."

"Well," returned Dr. Jones, taking a look out of the window by which he
sat, "we are spinning along at a rattling gait toward Franz Joseph Land,
and I don't know that we can do any better than tell war stories to pass
away time.

"I believe I told you that I was fifteen years old when I enlisted. The
battle of Chickamauga occurred September 19, and 20, 1863, one year
after my enlistment, so that I was a lad of sixteen at the time of the
battle. You cannot presume that a boy would have seen much that would be
of historical value, where all was horrible roar of musketry, booming
of cannon, confusion, and blood-curdling yells of charging battalions.

"The morning of September 19, 1863, dawned upon us beautiful and bright.
I shall never forget that lovely morning. Throughout the rank and file
of our army there was a feeling that we were upon the eve of a great
battle; but we did not dream that the armies of Bragg and Longstreet had
combined, and we were opposing from fifty-five thousand to seventy-five
thousand men. But our confidence in our commander, General Rosecranz,
was so great that we would have fought them just the same if we had
known of the great odds against us.

"Heavy skirmishing began quite early in the morning along the picket
lines. This gradually swelled into the incessant roar of pitched battle.
At about nine o'clock we were ordered to the front at a double-quick. We
crossed a field, then into a wood where we met the fire of the enemy.
Being a musician I was counted a noncombatant, and my duties during
battle consisted in helping the wounded back to hastily extemporized
hospitals.

"So on we charged into the woods, already densely filled with smoke.
Then the bullets flew swiftly about us, and men began f