"Not a word, sir."
"I suppose the hotel has changed hands; or perhaps it has ceased to exist."
"Possibly so, Captain. Has anything been learned as to the Fourth South Carolina?"
"Only that it is yet in this army--in Jenkins's brigade. I think nothing further has resulted. Aleck will ask very prudently if such a man as Jones Berwick, or Berwick Jones, is missing from that regiment. We shall know in a few days."
"I suppose we shall know before we march again," said I.
"Probably. We shall hardly move before the Federals do. McClellan is giving us another display of caution, sir."
"I think he ought to have advanced on the 18th of last month," said I.
"True," said Captain Haskell; "he missed his chance."
"Why does he not advance now?" I asked.
"He takes time to get ready, I judge. There is one thing to be said for McClellan: he will do nothing rashly; and he has considerable nerve, as is shown by his resistance to popular clamour, and even to the urgency of the Washington authorities. The last papers that we have got hold of show that Lincoln is displeased with his general's inactivity. By the way, the war now assumes a new aspect."