er
general; who, in case that general did not succeed, could take his
place before he failed to do so.

The Military Necessity produced by this interference took place at
Paris, very recently, and shortly after the new General of the Mackerel
Brigade had so nearly won the battle by that revelation of manly Shape
to which I referred in my last letter.

Finding that the terrible bombardment of Paris, my boy, had routed the
straggling Confederacies from that ancient city, the whole Mackerel
Brigade marched safely across Duck Lake, leaving only the Orange County
Howitzers on this side. Scarcely had the spectacled host occupied the
city, when there appeared upon the main street the overwhelming Shape
of the new General of the Mackerel Brigade, mounted upon a steed which
was almost as sagacious as a human being; and holding his hat in one
hand, after the manner of Washington entering Trenton. It was as though
Frank Leslie's illustrated artist had just been commanded to draw a
warlike picture, my boy, representing one of those equestrian heroes
who all appear in precisely the same attitude, and seem to have lifted
their hats for the particular purpose of showing with what mathematical
precision their hair is parted.

Instantly there arose cheers so loud that they must have been heard by
the cowardly Confederacies on the hills behind Paris, and several
Mackerels became so enthusiastic to be led against the enemy, that they
actually started on the war-path by themselves, and only turned back
when they discovered that they happened to be going in the wrong
direction.

Having received all the cheers, and immediately dispatched them to the
reliable morning journals around the country, the General of the
Mackerel Brigade ordered the Conic Section, under Captain Bob Shorty,
and Company 3, Regiment 5, under Captain Villiam Brown, to march out of
Paris, and form in line under the guns of the Southern Confederacy; at
the same time directing Captain Samyule Sa-mith, to take Company 2,
Regiment 1, and strike through a defile in the hills.

Samyule formed his veterans in the shape of a horse-shoe, and says he:

"Comrades, now is the time to repent of your sins, for you haven't got
much time left. As for myself," says Samyule, seriously, "my sins are
all those of commission, and those who gave me my commission are
responsible for them. If any of you younger Mackerels have in your
possession the last things your mothers gave you, now