“I would jess mope away an’ die ef I didn’t hab dat dere instrument, cap’n,” he explained to Captain Montgomery. “It’s been my pet fo’ ten yahs an’ mo’. Ef I’se killed in dis yere wah, bury de banjo wid me.” “All right, Mungo, I’ll remember that,” answered the captain. “But don’t forget, if you get the chance, to smash that banjo over some Yankee’s head. Do that, and I’ll buy you the best instrument to be found in Richmond.” “De Yankee ain’t born whose head am good enuf to hab dis yere banjo smashed ober it,” murmured Mungo; and there the subject was dropped. The main body of the Confederate army was stationed in and about Manassas Junction and along a little stream known as Bull Run; but there were also bodies of troops at Centerville and Fairfax Court House, situated between Manassas and Washington, and also detachments at Alexandria on the Potomac and at Arlington Heights, just across the river from the Capitol. Andy had been in camp less than a week when he received his first real taste of war life, if not of war itself. In order to strengthen the position of the army at Bull Run, it was decided to throw up breastworks, and this was done under the orders of General Beauregard, who now had under him a force of nearly twenty thousand men. Bull Run is a sluggish stream of water, flowing between steep banks and through a well-timbered country. Its winding course contained many fords and several bridges. The Confederate army occupied about eight miles of the southern bank of this stream, and at once began the work of defending seven of the fords and one of the bridges by throwing up breastworks of dirt and brushwood. With the others in his company, Andy was given first a pick and then a shovel and set to work like any common day laborer. The youth was not used to this, and when night came his back ached as it never had before. The work took the best part of a week, and then Andy found his hands blistered. “Call this fighting?” he grumbled. “It wouldn’t be so bad if a fellow was out in California digging gold, but to work like a nigger on the streets of a town--” He did not finish but heaved a big sigh. That night it rained “pitchforks;” the tent Andy occupied with Leroy was blown down, and he felt utterly discouraged. “Never mind, Andy,” said Leroy, trying to cheer him. “We’ll be fighting before long, and then you can show your mettle to better advantage. I heard some of the officers saying that the soldiers over in Washington would be out this way before the month was up. If they come we ought to give it to ’em red hot.” “They can’t come any too quick for me,” growled Andy.