midnight
I told him that a few of us would certainly be present , and thanked him kindly . When he was gone I told the boys , and they wanted to give three cheers , but I got them to keep still , and we talked all the afternoon of the soft snap we had struck , and cleaned up for the party . My intention was to pick out half a dozen of the best dressed , recruits , those that could make a pretty fair showing in society to go with me , but they all wanted to go , and there was no way to prevent it , so all but one Irishman , that we hired to stay and watch our camp , went . Well , we ate oranges fresh from the trees , joined in the dance , ate refreshments , and drank the old gentleman 's wine , and had a good time , made a good impression on the ladies , and went back to camp at midnight . On the way over to the party I told the boys the gentleman was coming to see us the next day , and we should have to get a bottle of champagne some-where , to treat him , as I had told him we expected , some more up from the city . When we came back from the party a German recruit pulled a bottle of champagne out of his pocket , which he had stolen from the man 's house in order to treat him with the next day . The gentleman came over to our quarters the next day , and we opened our bottle , and he drank to our very good health , though I thought he looked at the label on the bottle pretty close .