This was all new to me, representing as it did a line of service seldom met with in the wilderness; and soon quite a number of curious loiterers gathered likewise along the edge of the parade.
Among them I could distinguish a few French faces, with here and there a woman of the lower orders, ill clad and coarse of speech.

A party of soldiers, boisterous and quarrelsome from liquor, pressed me so closely that, hopeful of avoiding trouble, I drew farther back toward the curb, and standing thus, well away from others, enjoyed an unobstructed view across the entire field.
The battery had hitched up preparatory to returning to their quarters before I lost interest in the spectacle and reluctantly turned away with the slowly dispersing crowd.

Just then I became aware of the close proximity of a well-dressed negro, apparently the favored servant in some family of quality.

The fellow was observing me with an intentness which aroused my suspicion.

That was a time and place for exercising extreme caution, so that instinctively I turned away, moving directly across the vacated field.