It was like a dream, a delirium, yet I could see the blue uniforms, the new faces.

In the very forefront, flung against me by the rush, I distinguished the lad I had sent back into the lines the night before.
"What does all this mean, Ross?
Who are these fellows ?" "Our men, sir," he panted, scarcely able to speak.

"Here--read this," and he thrust a paper into my hand.

My eyes took the words in a flash, and yet for the instant they were vague, meaningless.

It was only as I read them a second time that I understood, and then I gazed helplessly into the faces about me, striving to grasp the full situation.
"HDQTS 9TH ILL.