also that they walked at a more rapid pace than usual, did an
uncommon amount of eating and drinking, and had a large number of
friends they were always ready to discuss the last battle with. I
suppose this was all for the purpose of showing the amount of
courage they had.

They were ready enough to go to the front to-day if somebody would
only show them the way.

It was now the morning of the 10th of July; and a bright breezy
morning it was. The symptoms of the siege now took a positive form
and became really alarming. These symptoms were manifested in a
singular manner at two prominent points of the defenses. A
dilapidated and very much distressed mule, his ears erect and his
tail askance, galloped down the road into Tenallytown, making a
noise so hideous that the quiet inhabitants ran out in a state of
great alarm. They then went to packing up their household goods,
their tubs, tables, chairs, and crockery, and getting them ready for
removal to a place of safety. In addition to this, the unruly animal
sent terror into the very hearts of a number of cavalrymen who were
out picketing the distant hills. These gallant troopers put spurs to
their horses and never stopped until they got safely into
Georgetown, where they circulated numerous stories concerning Mr.
Early and his men, who, they declared, had driven them in.

The other remarkable manifestation took place at Brightwood, a
sleepy little town composed of four houses and a lamp-post, and
situated not far from the city, on the Fourteenth-street road. A
distressed cow came bellowing into this town just at daylight, with
her head and tail erect, and driving the pickets before her. The