194
	  Volunteer Officers.
  After a visit to the marquee and a brief inter-
view with Major Kimball, (Hawkins being ab-
sent) we were guided throughout the premises by
a Lieutenant Silva, a young fellow of Virgin-
ian birth; who, if the reverse of good-looking
was decidedly obliging.  After rambling everywhere,
we were invited to dine with the officers, by a
certain Captain Jardine, of a company raised
at Fort Lee, and accepting it, I found my-
self seated beside Mr. Webster, father of the 
present object of Boweryem�s affections and
opposite her brother, a Lieutenant in 
this particular company.   The �second acting
Lieutenant� is young Thomson Mc Elrath,
(my Lake Superior chum) and he, too, turned
up with his father in the course of the after-
noon.       Two other persons recognized me, one,
I believe, Rodriguez, an ex-boarder at 132 Blee-
cker, the other a brother of Steiner the repor-
ter.      I observed in all of these young fellows
a strong sense of personal importance; they
enjoyed the vanity of the business exceedingly; in-
deed I suppose there�s nothing more calculated
to develop the innate cock-a-doodle-ness of
humanity than going a soldiering.   Men fight
none the worse for it.              We returned