"Not much difference, then; but, I tell you what, that old Twenty-eighth is a whopper--a thousand men." I said nothing; I could hear the gurgling of the water as it ran down the neck of the canteen. The man chuckled, "Branch's brigade ort to have a branch; blowed if it ortn't." He was pleased with himself for discovering something like a pun or two. For two reasons it was policy for me to go back, or start back, with this man; first, I wanted him to talk more; second, if I should linger at the water, he might think my conduct strange. Going up the hill, he asked me to take the lead. I did so, venturing the remark that these two new regiments made Branch's brigade a very big one. "Yes," said he; "but I reckon they won't stay with us forever." "Wonder where they came from," said I. "Too hard for _me_," he replied; "especially the Twelfth; the Forty-fifth was at Goldsborough, but not in our brigade." We reached the street of the Seventh. I stepped aside. "I stop here," said I. "Well," said he, "I'm much obleeged to you for showin' me that branch--that branch that belongs to Branch's brigade," and he went his way. And now I tried to take some rest. I thought it more prudent to stay at one of the camp-fires, fearing that if I concealed myself I should be stumbled upon and suspected, so I went up to one of the fires of the Twenty-eighth, wrapped my gum-blanket around me and lay down. But I found it impossible to sleep. The newness of the experience and the danger of the situation drove sleep as far from me as the east is from the west. I believe that in romances it is the proper thing to say that a man in trying situations sleeps the sleep of the infant; but this is not romance. I could not sleep. Some time before day a man lying near my fire stretched himself and sat up. I watched him from the corner of my eye. I wanted no conversation with him; I was afraid he might question me too closely, and that my replies would not prove satisfactory to him. I kept quiet; I knew enough--too much to risk losing. Suddenly he looked toward me. I was afraid that he had become aware of a foreign element thrown into his environment. My fears were confirmed. He opened his mouth and said, "Who--in--the--hell--that--is." The utterance was an assertion rather than an inquiry. I made no response. He continued to look at me--shook his head--nodded it--then fell back and went to sleep.