and blankets from the ground. The probable reason of this vigilance was doubtless caused by their having discovered several tunnels which we had commenced and were carrying forward as fast as possible.

Our plan of operations was as follows: We have been allowed to build ourselves small sheds, to afford a shelter from the burning sun, of some refuse boards that were lying about; and under these sheds we have made bunks to sleep on. A bunk was selected in a shed as near the dead-line as possible, and under this bunk we sunk a hole or "well," as it was termed, straight down to the depth of five or six feet. From the bottom of this well the tunnel extended out under the stockade. Only one man could dig at a time, and as the work was very fatiguing, we relieved each other often. The dirt was brought to the mouth of the tunnel in meal sacks which had been stolen from the ration wagon.

Two or three were detailed to carry off the dirt to the sinks. We usually commenced operations after ten o'clock in the evening, and continued until nearly daylight. Upon leaving the tunnel, a board was fitted in about a foot from the surface, and then dirt was swept over so as to obliterate all traces of the digging.

From sixteen to twenty days were required to finish the narrow road to liberty. Fires were built by the guard at short intervals between the dead-line and stockade, completely encircling the camp, so that the tunnels had to be carried a great distance, in order to have the place of egress as safe as possible.

If the work could have been completed, we should

have chosen some dark and stormy night to remove the slight cap of earth at the outer extremity of the subterranean channel, and then stealing out cautiously, so as not to attract the attention of the vigilant sentinel, we would have made for the woods and swamps.

Those who had done the digging were to have had the first opportunity to pass out, and then as many more were to go, as could get through the tunnel before daybreak.

Our plan was a good one, and we felt confident that it would prove a perfect success until the eve of its completion, when either some cowardly traitor in our midst, or a detective sent in by the authorities, exposed the scheme, and thus blighted our brilliant prospects.

UNPLEASANT CONSEQUENCES.

The result of this attempt to reach "God's country," is a reduction of rations, and a resort to every restriction which could possibly be conceived by an enemy.

While in Libby, I imagined that the deeds of villainy were well-nigh exhausted,-I had thought that the catalogue of crime was nearly filled by the Confederate miscreants, but alas! you have only to see the heartlessness and the intrigues of the authorities here,—you have only to witness the suffering, the frenzy, and the fever, and you will then say, that these are the deeds of pitiless monsters.

A short time since, Captain Irich, Forty-fifth New York volunteers, sent a watch and chain by Captain Tabb, to be sold for not less than four hundred dollars,

Some time afterward Tabb was seen wearing the chain, and upon being questioned, said he had sold the watch for two hundred dollars, and the chain had been given to him. Irich thereupon demanded either the property or the four hundred dollars, threatening to expose the whole affair if they were not given up. For this offence he was bucked several hours-but the articles were restored.

Irich was a German, and thoroughly posted in military tactics, besides being a fine swordsman. When we were being marched into Camp Oglethorpe, Tabb had given an unmilitary order, and Irich corrected him, when the infuriate Rebel ordered him to keep silent, threatening with drawn sabre to split his head open. Irich, with a little stick in his hand dared him to strike a blow, and the braggart was forced to put up his sword, amid the jeers of the citizens standing about. This may have been the reason for the severity of the punishment in the affair of the watch.

RELIGIOUS MEETINGS.

Prayer meetings, and other religious assemblies, are held almost every evening; and if the prayers of prisoners can avail, our President will be wise as Solomon, and our armies universally successful. Captain Tabb had heard that it was customary to pray for the President and the generals of our army, and one evening during service came in to put a stop to it. While he was issuing his orders in one corner of the room to Chaplain White, Fourth Rhode Island Battery, Chaplain Dixon, Sixteenth Connecticut, stepped forward and offered