"Why, where the devil have you been? We have been hunting you every place."
I explained that I had been poking about the city all day, and was so tired that I was going straight to bed.
"No you ain't; we are going to initiate you to-night. We got our orders to-day. Elkton has his commission, and has authority to enlist his men—you know we have nearly all we need for our section. I am to be Sergeant in charge of the piece and you are to be Corporal."
Then, with a slap on the shoulder, he hauled me to one side, and whispered: "We have got it all fixed for our big bounty, and we want your papers right away."
I was cornered. I must go along or get out of town. There could be no possible excuse for further putting off this step.
I asked only the one question—"Where do we go?"
"Why, into Maryland, of course!"
Being further assured that this battery was to be at once sent to the front, I agreed to go along with him—to get the money. We found Elkton in our room, attending to the papers of some of the other recruits, and, at a favorable opportunity, I, with a trembling hand and a doubting heart, signed my assumed name to the papers, and by that act became a Rebel soldier. There was one great relief to my mind while performing this necessary act. It was distinctly understood that I was to be made the Corporal, and, as such, it would be my duty to sight and fire the gun of our section. I determined that if the occasion should arise before I could get away from them, when it would become my duty as a Rebel soldier to sight that gun, that it should never be pointed in a way to do any damage.
My object was to use this scheme as a disguise to again get to the front at Manassas, and find out what had been done there. I could not learn anything at Richmond, and once more in the Rebel Army at Manassas, disguised in a gray uniform, I would find some way to anticipate any forward movements. I would also be "handy" to our army, and be able to reach our pickets quickly.
If I were caught going over to the enemy, with a Rebel jacket on, I'd be shot as a deserter; but I had the consolation of knowing that, if I were caught in any other clothes, I should be hung anyhow. While this was not a very comforting thought, I knew it was true.