nd, once, apple brandy for all hands.
Ragged, barefooted, and even bareheaded men were so common that they did
not excite notice or comment, and did not expect or seem to feel the
want of sympathy. And yet there was scarcely a complaint or murmur of
dissatisfaction, and not the slightest indication of fear or doubt. The
spirit of the men was as good as ever, and the possibility of immediate
disaster had not cast its shadow there.

Several incidents occurred during the stay of the battalion at Fort
Clifton which will serve to illustrate every-day life on the lines. It
occurred to a man picketing the river bank that it would be amusing to
take careful aim at the man on the other side doing the same duty for
the enemy, fire, laugh to see the fellow jump and dodge, and then try
again. He fired, laughed, dropped his musket to re-load, and while
smiling with satisfaction, heard the "thud" of a bullet and felt an
agonizing pain in his arm. His musket fell to the ground, and he walked
back to camp with his arm swinging heavily at his side. The surgeon soon
relieved him of it altogether. The poor fellow learned a lesson. The
"Yank" had beat him at his own game.

The guard-house was a two-story framed building, about twelve feet
square, having two rooms, one above the other. The detail for guard duty
was required to stay in the guard-house; those who wished to sleep going
up-stairs, while others just relieved or about to go on duty clustered
around the fire in the lower room. One night, when the upper floor was
covered with sleeping men, an improvised infantryman who had been
relieved from duty walked in, and, preparatory to taking his stand at
the fire, threw his musket carelessly in the corner. A loud report and
angry exclamations immediately followed. The sergeant of the guard,
noticing the direction of the ball, hurried up-stairs, and to the
disgust of the sleepy fellows, ordered all hands to "turn out."
Grumbling, growling, stretching, and rubbing their eyes, the men got up.
Some one inquired, "Where's Pryor?" His chum, who had been sleeping by
his side, replied, "there he is, asleep; shake him." His blanket was
drawn aside, and with a shake he was commanded to "get up!" But there
was no motion, no reply. The ball had passed through his heart, and he
had passed without a groan or a sigh from deep sleep to death. The man
who was killed and the man who was sleeping by his side under the same
blanket, were members of the Secon