"FRONT!--that's right--_Left_--FACE! That's good--FRONT!--all right; now
again--_Right_--FACE!--FRONT!--_Left_--FACE!--FRONT!--_About_--put your
right heel so--FACE! Ah! you've lost that; well, never mind; it will all
come back. I tell you what, I've drilled old Company H many a day."
I really began to believe that Surgeon Frost had an affection for me,
though, of course, his affection was based on a sense of proprietorship
acquired through discovery, so to speak.
After supper he said: "You are strong enough to go with me to Company H.
W'ell drive over in an ambulance."
From points on the road we saw long lines of camp-fires. On the crest
of a hill, the doctor pointed to the east, where the clouds were aglow
with light. "McClellan's army," said he.
"Whose army?" I asked.
"McClellan's; the Yankee army under McClellan."
"Oh, yes! I read the name in the paper to-day," said I.
"He has a hundred and fifty thousand men," said he.
"And their camp-fires make all that light?"
"Yes--and I suppose ours look that way to them."
Captain Haskell's company was without shelter, except such, as the men
had improvised, as the doctor said; here and there could be seen a
blanket or piece of canvas stretched on a pole, and, underneath, a bed
of straw large enough for a man. Brush arbours abounded. The Captain
himself had no tent; we found him sitting with his back to a tree near
which was his little fly stretched over his sleeping-place. Several
officers were around him. He shook the doctor's hand, but said nothing
to me. The officers left us.
"I have brought Jones over, Captain," said the surgeon, "that you may
tell him personally of your good intentions in regard to his first
service with you. He wishes to be enrolled."
"If Private Jones--" began the Captain.
"My name is Berwick--Jones Berwick," I said.
"There's another strange notion," said the doctor; "you've got the cart
before the horse."
"No, Doctor," I insisted earnestly; "my name is Jones Berwick."
"We have it 'B. Jones,'" said the doctor; "and I am certain it is
written that way in your diary. If you are Private Berwick instead of
Private Jones, no wonder that nobody claims you."
"I know that my surname is Berwick, but I know nothing of Private
Berwick," said I.
"Well," said Captain Haskell, "if you have got your name reversed, that
is a small matter which will straighten itself out when you recover your
memory. What I was going to say is, that you may be received into my
company as a recruit, as it were, but to be returned to your original
company whenever we learn what company that is. We will continue,
through brigade headquarters, to try to find out what regiment you are
from--and under both of your names. While you are with me I shall
cheerfully do for you all that I can to favour your condition. You will
be expected, however, to do a man's full duty; I can stand no shirking."
The Captain's tone was far different from that he had used toward me in
the tent; his voice was stern and his manner frigid.
"We will take the best care of you that we can," he continued, "and will
keep to ourselves the peculiar circumstances of your case; for I can
well understand, although you have said nothing about it, sir, that you
do not wish confidences."
His tone and manner were again those of our first interview.
"Captain," I said, "I know nothing of military life."
"So we take you as a new man," said he, adopting anew his official
voice, "and we shall not expect more of you than of an ordinary recruit;
we shall teach you. If you enroll with me, I shall at once make a
requisition for your arms and accoutrements, your knapsack, uniform, and
everything else necessary for you. You may remain in the hospital until
your equipment is ready for you. Report to me day after to-morrow at
noon, and I will receive you into my company. Now, Frank, excuse me; it
is time for prayers."
The men gathered around us. Captain Haskell held a prayer-book in his
hand. A most distinguished-looking officer, whose name the doctor told
me was Lieutenant Barnwell, stood near with a torch. Some of the men
heard the prayer kneeling; others stood with bowed heads.