de kitchen; dar's whar you blong. Dese folks spile you ef dey
don't mind deyselves.

"The family, or a considerable portion of them, again being together, we
naturally drifted in our conversation as to the war, it being uppermost
in everybody's mind at that time; so I found an opportunity to tell Col.
Anderson and Peter all about my trip, what had occurred, and what I had
promised to do. Peter said that I would have to be very cautious, and
that the first thing was to understand whether or not the Postmaster
here could be trusted. Should he allow it to be known that I was
frequently communicating with the President, the enemies at Allentown
would manage in some way to discover my communications, and thereby my
life would be in danger.

"I knew the Postmaster, however, and that he could be trusted; so that
part of the matter was settled.

"Colonel Anderson suggested that there should be no haste in settling
the arrangements; that it was of such importance that a little
reflection would do no harm; so we laid the matter over for the
present."

"Uncle Daniel," said Col. Bush, "we who were in the army felt the
influence of the Knights of the Golden Circle. There was one time during
the war when we would have hundreds of desertions in a night; nor could
we stop it for a considerable length of time. We finally discovered
that the people opposed to the war were engaged in every possible way
in influencing the relatives of the soldiers. They would sometimes get
their wives to write about their sufferings, sickness in their families,
and in every way that it could be done they were rendered dissatisfied."

"Yes," said Maj. Clymer, "that is true in every respect. Part of my
command deserted, and I have found since the war that they were induced
to do so by these very influences."

"The situation at that time was very critical," said Dr. Adams. "I
remember well when mobs were organized and when soldiers were shot down
on the road in this vicinity while returning to their commands after
being home on a leave of absence.

"O, yes, those were perilous times for all who were in favor of their
country's success. Returning, however, to family matters:

"On the morning of the next day, after Peter, Col. Anderson and myself
had talked over the matter of my Washington trip, and sat down to
breakfast, Col. Anderson found a paper under his plate. All eyes were
upon him, and he turned his upon the paper. He read it, and looked at
me