Page:The Story of Aunt Becky's Army-Life .djvu/148

112 self, often got in places of trust, and caused us much annoyance in the exercise of their authority to withhold.

Such, at one time, was the man dispensing sanitary stores. Cases of fruit, put up by loving hands to tempt a sick soldier's taste, went into rich pies to garnish his dinner table, and wines bottled to revive a sinking wounded body, which some one loved and prayed for, went down throats where water was seldom a beverage. But there were good and humane men also with Sanitary, and of them I never failed to obtain what I wished.

Of the Christian Commission we invariably procured the desired article, if in their stores. Their labor was voluntary, and of course only the benevolent-hearted, in a spirit of humanity, could afford to give away six weeks of valuable time in dispensing the comforts to those who had nearly given up sweet life for their country's sake, while those in the Sanitary department received from fifty to a hundred dollars per month, which, with the chance of fare which they had, and the position which it gave, made it quite an object.

I had an order one day from Surgeon Yount to get some brandy for a man who lay very low—(we had orders for only a pin's worth from Sanitary)—and wanted the best, and "our" Commissioner would not let me have it, saying they had none. In less than an hour I met one of our cooks returning from the same place, and he said, "Look here, Aunt Becky," while with a little laugh of satisfaction