He sprang into the middle of the road some six paces in front of me, presented his gun at me with deliberate aim, and pulled the trigger without saying a word.  Altogether it was a very odd performance on his part and an unpleasant experience for me.  When his gun failed to fire, he changed his attitude at once, and began the second part of his programme.  He dropped his piece to the position of ordered arms, kept himself erect as on dress-parade, raised his right hand high, and shouted, “The cannons! the cannons!”

I stood and looked at him ten seconds; then I tried to slip round him, keeping my eyes on him, however, for fear that his gun might, after all, be loaded; he faced me again, and repeated his cry, “The cannons! the cannons!”

The rain was beginning to fall in big drops.  I rushed past him, and seeing—­nearer to me than the house—­some immense haystacks with overhanging projections resulting from continued invasion by cattle, I was soon under their sheltering eaves.  As I ran, I could hear behind me the warning voice of the soldier, who evidently had lost his reason in battle.

* * * * *

As night fell on the 24th I was standing behind a tree, waiting to surprise Company H. I had reached the lines while they were moving; Hill’s Light Division was passing me.  Soon came General Gregg, riding at the head of his brigade; then one regiment after another till the last—­the First—­appeared in sight, with Company C leading.  I remained behind the tree; at last I could see Captain Haskell marching by the side of Orderly-sergeant Mackay; then I stepped out and marched by the side of the Captain.  At first, in the twilight, he did not know me; then, with a touch of gladness in his voice, he said:  “I did not expect you back so soon.  Are you fully recovered?”

“I report for duty, Captain,” I replied.

He made me keep by his side until we halted for the night, and had me tell him my experiences in the hospital and on the road.  He informed me briefly of the movements which had taken place recently.  The regiment had been under fire in the battle with Banks, but had not suffered any loss.  On this day—­the 24th—­the regiment had been under fire of the Federal artillery on the Rappahannock.  We were now near the river at a place called Jeffersonton, and were apparently entering upon the first movements of an active campaign.

The company was much smaller than I had known it.  We had lost in the battles of the Chickahominy many men and officers.  Disease and hardship had further decreased our ranks.  Captain Haskell was almost the only officer in the company.  My mess had broken up.  There were but four remaining of the original nine, and these four had found it more convenient for two men, or even one, to form a mess.  I found a companion in Joe Bellot, whose brother had been wounded severely at Gaines’s Mill.  Bellot had a big quart cup in which we boiled soup, and coffee