dventure
with the bayonet, for he had gone unwounded through the determined
charges of his corps, with the same deadly weapon, at Williamsburgh and
Fair Oaks; and he had grown to have confidence in himself and in any
body of men that used the modern footman's lance with the due ferocity.
Though five years younger than his brother Richard, John Crawford looked
older than he did even in his sickness; for the exposures of a year had
browned his round and ruddy face, if it had not dimmed the brightness
of his blue eye; and the heavy waved brown hair and moustache in which
he retained so prominent a characteristic of his Gaelic ancestry of a
hundred years before, added materially to the appearance of manly
maturity. Were it a _preux chevalier_ sitting under this verbal lens for
his photograph, there might be difficulty in proceeding farther in this
description; for though your knight of old seems to have been splendidly
oblivious as to the needs of clean linen, and able to wear one surcoat
and one suit of armor for any length of time without becoming repugnant
to the nose of his lady when brought-into the opportunity for an
embrace,--yet the heroes of this day have sore need of occasional aid
from the washerwoman, and even the tailor becomes necessary for the
replenishing of worn-out and faded garments. John Crawford the
Zouave--the truth must be told--though he showed very little shirt,
showed that little in an unclean condition; and the baggy red of his
trousers and the hanging blue of his jacket, both looked shabby and
discolored. Not much more could be said in favor of the white and yellow
turban with the dirty white tassel hanging behind, ostensibly worn on
his head but really drooping on the back part of it, quite as much as
were the ladies' bonnets two or three years ago when the suggestion was
made that they "should be carried behind them in a spoon." And yet this
soiled and uncombed man was a soldier--every inch a soldier--and had in
him all the materials for the making of a hero.

We have said that John Crawford was in good health and spirits, after
sharing with the army in all its battles, fatigues and privations. He
was so, not alone because the corps was somewhat better managed and
cared for than many of the others, but because he was a sober man and
one physically well-educated. He did not heat his blood for fever, and
debilitate his system for exposure, by the use of liquor whenever he
could reach it; and havi