He said no word as they pinned the label on his breast. Then the two
guards sat down between Peter and the roadway. Men of the passing
brigades asked them questions. They replied briefly and smoked with
entire unconcern as to their prisoner, or speculated in regard to what
the Rebs would say or do to him. The mosquitoes tormented him, and once
he shuddered when one of the guards guessed that perhaps the girl would
come back and see him tied up. The story of Grant's unusual punishment
was told over and over to men as the regiments went by. Now and then
soldiers left the ranks to read the sentence of what must mean death.
Some as they read were as silent as the doomed wretch; others laughed or
cursed him for dishonouring the army in which this one crime was almost
unknown. A sergeant tore the corps mark from his coat, and still he said
no word. The long-drawn array went on and on; the evening shadows
lengthened; miles of wagon trains rumbled by; whips cracked over mules;
the cavalry guard bringing up the rear was lost in the dust left by
tramping thousands; the setting sun shone through it ruddy; and last came
the squadron net of the Provost-marshal gathering in the stragglers.
Tired men were helped by a grip on the stirrup leather. The lazy
loiterers were urged forward with language unquotable, the mildest being
"darned coffee-coolers.
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