lain or shining amidst
the trees you will see the encampments. Head-quarters are busy providing
for the transportation and the maintenance of this great force; and as
rapidly as the railway can carry them, regiment after regiment is sent
west. There is plenty of work for the staff-officers; and yet our life is
not without its pleasures. The horses and their riders need training. This
getting used to the saddle is no light matter for the civilian spoiled by
years of ease and comfort. But the General gives all his officers plenty
of horseback discipline. Then there is the broadsword exercise to fill up
the idle time. Evening is the festive hour in camp; though I judge, from
what I have seen and heard, that our camp has little of the gayety which
is commonly associated with the soldier's life. We are too busy for
merrymaking, but in the evening there are pleasant little circles around
the fires or in the snug tents. There are old campaigners among us, men
who have served in Mexico and Utah, and others whose lives have been
passed upon the Plains; they tell us campaign stories, and teach the green
hands the slang and the airs of the camp. But the unfailing amusement is
the band. This is the special pride of the General, and soon after
nightfall the musicians appear upon the little _plaza_ around which the
tents are grouped. At the first note the audience gather. The guardsmen
come up from their camp on the edge of the ravine, the negro-quarter is
deserted, the wagoners flock in from the surrounding forest, the officers
stroll out of their tents,--a picturesque crowd stands around the huge
camp-fire. The programme is simple and not often varied. It uniformly
opens with "The Star-Spangled Banner," and closes with "Home, Sweet Home."
By way of a grand _finale_, a procession is organized every night, led by
some score of negro torch-bearers, which makes the circuit of the camp,--a
performance which never fails to produce something of a stampede among the
animals.

Last night we had an alarm. About eleven o'clock, when the camp was fairly
asleep, some one tried to pass a picket half a mile west of us. The guard
fired at the intruder, and in an instant the regimental drums sounded the
long roll. We started from our beds, with frantic haste buckled on swords,
spurs, and pistols, hurried servants after the horses, and hastened to
report for duty to the General. The officer who was first to appear found
him standing in front of his t