"I shall never forget the night Crawford persuaded Jim Haliday into his tent to play 'seven-up.' Jim was a 'recruit,' and had just begun to be fascinated by the game of cards. Crawford had always felt morally obligated to teach the recruits all the methods of army life, and generally had a new mode of initiation for each one. Jim, of course, could not be allowed to remain long in camp uninitiated.

"On this particular night, Haliday played with the usual peculiar luck which attends beginners, and frequently made 'high, low, jack and the game,' and probably could have had the gift,' by asking for it; but he did not know that the piece of candle which burned within a foot of his head was loaded, nor that above him was suspended a bucket of water neatly on a pivot from which a small cord hung innocently by the side of Crawford; nor was he aware that beneath him, and beside the box on which he sat, lay at least a quarter of a pound of loose powder. Haliday held wonderful hands; he had just scored the inevitable high, low, jack and the game,' and the eager, flushed face, and sparkling eye, bespoke the excitement and pleasure born of victory, when the candle explodes and a piece of the burning wick sets Haliday's hair in a blaze, the powder is ignited beneath him, and while he and Crawford are both fighting the fire in Haliday's fore-top, Haliday is treated to a cold shower bath from above. Haliday was so badly frightened that he never got angry until next day, when he proposed to lick' Crawford; but Crawford convinced him that the true policy was to claim, that while writing a letter home to his mother in his tent, he thoughtlessly got his head too near the candle. Crawford told me a few days after this episode, while convulsed with laughter, that he regarded it as an outrage that. so few of the boys called on him at his tent. He also stated (and I believe truly) that the setting fire to Haliday's head, by the piece of burning wick, was wholly unforeseen and

unintended. It may have been only imaginative, but it never seemed to me that Haliday held as good hands, or played the game with the same eager, unreserved, child-like confidence, that he did before he encountered Crawford.

"For winter-quarters,' near Brownsville, Arkansas, some of the men built regular log-houses with chimneys and fireplaces; others put up frame structures, six feet by ten, using a tent for a roof, but even these structures had small chimneys with fire-places; two bunks were constructed, one above the other, at right angles to the fire-place, and in front of the lower bunk a board or box was placed in front of the fire for a seat. One dark rainy night while walking down the 'tentine,' old man Seward and Bierman jumped out of the top of one of these structures, carrying the tent roof with them, followed by a cloud of smoke and ashes. I had heard a noise before I left my quarters, but noises were so frequent that I paid no particular attention to this one. Seward and Bierman, who 'bunked' and 'messed' together, were members of the church, and were trying to lead a consistent life; and they succeeded as well as their surroundings would permit, but it was a terribly uphill-business. On the evening in question it seems they had read a chapter,' and were engaged in singing the familiar and comforting hymn:

'It may not be my way,

It may not be thy way,
And yet, in His own way,
The Lord will provide,'

when the back-log' exploded, and threw consternation, ashes, live coals, and burning brands, all over the interior of the 'domicile of the faithful,' and Seward and Bierman, in the excitement and hurry of the moment, and doubtless as a matter of convenience, escaped through the roof.

"I hunted up Crawford, finding him in his bunk; he reached for me, and clutching me tightly by the arm

with one hand, with the other he would stuff the corner of the blanket in his mouth, and shake and kick. He finally became composed enough to tell me that it had been raining all day, and supposing that somebody would need a back-log,' he had prepared one, and han been careful not to cut it too long; that with a half-inch auger he had bored a half dozen holes in it and charged their. with powder, and placed it where everybody must pass over it, in walking up and down the 'tent-line;' 'and do you know,' said he, I watched it for four mortal hours, before anybody took up with it, and yet every man in the company has stepped over it, from one to three times, and I know that fully two-thirds of them were out of wood, and too lazy to cut any; but at last Bierman carried it in, and he and Seward made a good fire and sat down and began to sing hymns. Everything was so quiet that I began to grow restless and uneasy, and concluded to drop in on them and inquire how they were getting on; they were very friendly, but somehow I couldn't make myself at home, and presently when a piece of the bark of the 'back-log' threw the fore-stick' into my lap, I told them I guessed I would go, that it was getting late, that I had been on duty' the night before, and was tired and sleepy; they mentioned that the wood was green and popped badly, and I told them that I had noticed the same thing myself; as I was leaving they were re-adjusting the 'fore-stick' and sweeping up the litter, but before I go to my tent I heard her go off, and saw them climbing ou through the top; then I got in my bunk with my boots on and began to snore. I am glad I called on them, for I would hate to have them suspect me,' and again he clutched me by the arm and stuffed the blanket in his mouth, and shook and kicked. I always thought that Seward suspicioned Crawford as in some way connected with his being blown up, and Crawford thought so too, for he told me that he noticed

a change in his manner. But in the fight at Mulberry Creek Seward had his horse shot under him, and while fooling around trying to save his saddle, a retreat was ordered, and the old man was left behind, nearly tuckered out,' and the surroundings generally were unpleasant. Crawford went back and took him on behind him and got away with him, fraternaily, as well as physically. When the news reached us that Lee and Johnston had surrendered to Grant and Sherman, that the Southern Confederacy had collapsed, and the war was over, we were inhaling the perfume of the magnolia, and a grateful sense of peace took the place of the hideous nightmare of civil war that had oppressed us for four long terrible years, and all eyes, except Crawford's, turned gladly homeward. He alone seemed gloomy and despondent, and went about with the air and expression of one who had been deeply wronged and injured. I ventured to inquire the cause, and he told me that he had prepared a series of entertainments for the boys that would consume at least a year, and yet the war had been abruptly brought to a close, that he had no notice of it, and had not even been consulted in the matter, and that he knew the boys would be disappointed. I do not know whether he is still alive or not, but if he is living, and his eye should rest upon this brief, hasty narrative, I am sure he would not be offended, for two reasons: First, because it is literally true, and secondly, because there never was and never will be, two more devoted frienus rhan we."

CAMP-FIRE XXV.

A

RAW RECRUIT'S ANXIETY-ANOTHER

STORY ABOUT ANOTHER MULE-ON THE ST. FRANCIS RIVER-A GENERAL INCOG. REFUSED A CUP OF COFFEE-A CONFEDERATE'S IDEA OF WHAT THE GOSPEL IS.

S the tones of the previous speaker died away with the soft noise of the wind through the branches of the trees that overhung the glowing embers of the fire, R. C. Coyner, of the 38th Indiana, Vol. Inf., remarked: "I hau just enlisted from the school-room at Hanover College, near Madison, Ind., when we were ordered by General Sherman to head off Buckner, who was raiding the northern part of Kentucky. We were in company with the Louisville Legion, the 6th Indiana, the 1st Ohio, and the 15th Indiana regulars. We were all raw recruits except the 15th Indiana, and knew about as much concerning discipline and drill as so many school-boys; nevertheless, we thought ourselves the flower of the army. After leaving New Albany, Ind., we marched to Louisville, then took the cars to Lebanon Junction, and then marched to Elizabethtown, Ky. After we reached this point we went into camp.

"One day Captain Pointdexter, our captain, detailed me for detached service, and I was ordered to report at General Sherman's headquarters. Upon my arrival I was put in command of a squad whose duty was to guard the general's quarters. I relieved the guard on duty, and posted my men to the best of my ability The day grew apace, and toward night General Sherman emerged from his tent and began to