echclon, station of extra carriages, animals, men, and sup-
plies just behind the lines, surely could not be as peaceful
as this-peaceful and attractive even on a gray day.
“The first platoon of Battery A," the colonel said to Captain Dana, "will go into position to-morrow night."
It brought it very close, but those who got that first word received also the impression that the movement would be a temporary one, and that the battery would come out again after the coup de main, and that we would somehow get some road work. The colonel shook his head. The batteries would go into position as soon as possible after their arrival. The French would remain for a while to show us the ropes, but the task of supporting our infantry was now to be our own. How would the men accept such news in its raked uncxpectedness?
The National Army was a good deal of an experiment. It contained every type, race, and temperament. Had its brief training fused these uncongenial elements into a serviceable whole? Each battery commander asked himself this when he made his abrupt announcemeat immediately after his arrival, before his men had had an opportunity to forget the fatigue of their three days' journey. One such scene answers for the whole.
The day was about done. In the chilly shadow of the woods the battery stood in line. Shelter halves were draped from the men's arms. They waited for the order to take interval and pitch tents.
Except for a pleasant rustling of wind in the tree tops the forest was silent when the captain faced his command. “At ease!" he called.
There may have been something unfamiliar in his tone. The dead leaves of the forest carpet rustled with the rest. less movement of many feet. Serious, expectant eyes answered the battery commander's stern regard.
“Men," he began, "I have an announcement to make. I
