第31章

York? Why, what corps is that in? Oh, it is?

Why, I thought they wasn't engaged t'-day--they 're 'way over in th' center.Oh, they was, eh? Well, pretty nearly everybody got their share 'a fightin' t'-day.By dad, I give myself up fer dead any number 'a times.There was shootin'

here an' shootin' there, an' hollerin' here an'

hollerin' there, in th' damn' darkness, until Icouldn't tell t' save m' soul which side I was on.

Sometimes I thought I was sure 'nough from Ohier, an' other times I could 'a swore I was from th' bitter end of Florida.It was th' most mixed up dern thing I ever see.An' these here hull woods is a reg'lar mess.It'll be a miracle if we find our reg'ments t'-night.Pretty soon, though, we 'll meet a-plenty of guards an' provost-guards, an' one thing an' another.Ho! there they go with an off'cer, I guess.Look at his hand a-draggin'.He 's got all th' war he wants, I bet.

He won't be talkin' so big about his reputation an' all when they go t' sawin' off his leg.Poor feller! My brother 's got whiskers jest like that.

How did yeh git 'way over here, anyhow? Your reg'ment is a long way from here, ain't it? Well, I guess we can find it.Yeh know there was a boy killed in my comp'ny t'-day that I thought th' world an' all of.Jack was a nice feller.By ginger, it hurt like thunder t' see ol' Jack jest git knocked flat.We was a-standin' purty peaceable fer a spell, 'though there was men runnin' ev'ry way all 'round us, an' while we was a-standin'

like that, 'long come a big fat feller.He began t' peck at Jack's elbow, an' he ses: 'Say, where 's th' road t' th' river?' An' Jack, he never paid no attention, an' th' feller kept on a-peckin' at his elbow an' sayin': 'Say, where 's th' road t' th'

river?' Jack was a-lookin' ahead all th' time tryin' t' see th' Johnnies comin' through th'

woods, an' he never paid no attention t' this big fat feller fer a long time, but at last he turned 'round an' he ses: 'Ah, go t' hell an' find th'

road t' th' river!' An' jest then a shot slapped him bang on th' side th' head.He was a sergeant, too.Them was his last words.Thunder, I wish we was sure 'a findin' our reg'ments t'-night.It 's goin' t' be long huntin'.But I guess we kin do it."In the search which followed, the man of the cheery voice seemed to the youth to possess a wand of a magic kind.He threaded the mazes of the tangled forest with a strange fortune.In encounters with guards and patrols he displayed the keenness of a detective and the valor of a gamin.Obstacles fell before him and became of assistance.The youth, with his chin still on his breast, stood woodenly by while his companion beat ways and means out of sullen things.

The forest seemed a vast hive of men buzzing about in frantic circles, but the cheery man con-ducted the youth without mistakes, until at last he began to chuckle with glee and self-satisfaction.

"Ah, there yeh are! See that fire?"

The youth nodded stupidly.

"Well, there 's where your reg'ment is.An'

now, good-by, ol' boy, good luck t' yeh."A warm and strong hand clasped the youth's languid fingers for an instant, and then he heard a cheerful and audacious whistling as the man strode away.As he who had so befriended him was thus passing out of his life, it suddenly oc-curred to the youth that he had not once seen his face.