om me at some
future time.'

"After she had gone Peter remarked that perhaps she was sent down South
by the Golden Circle, and I might be bestowing favors on the wrong
person. I said, 'True, but I will take my chances on that girl's being
honest, and, not only honest, but a regular little heroine.'

"Here the conversation on this subject came to an end, and we took up
the condition of the army. Peter said the jealousies between officers in
the Army of the East were strange; that there was nothing of this
kind among the Western troops; that all seemed to have the same common
purpose, and that was success; but, said he, it may be partly accounted
for in this, that we are all alike unskilled in the arts of war, and do
not know enough to get up these conspiracies and jealousies. We are all
volunteers, save two or three, and all obey orders, and go into a battle
to win, each one believing he is doing the best fighting. It seems
that at the battle of Pageland the only object of some of the leading
commanders was to find some way to lose the battle and at the same time
save their own scalps.

"Gen. Anderson said:

"'Well, I do not know how I may succeed as a commander; but I will have
the courage to relieve any man, and send him to the rear, of whom I
may have the least suspicion, whether it be for cowardice, want of
good intentions toward the Government, good faith toward his superior
officer, or for any other cause that might give uneasiness about his
properly performing his duty.'

"'That would seem to me to be the proper course for any commander of
forces,' I replied."

"Uncle Daniel," said Dr. Adams, "I am curious to know what became of
those two generals--Farlin and Fitzgibbon."

"Well, sir, the same power that is now rewarding those who struck us
the heaviest blows, both North and South, is paying homage to these men.
They are both held in high esteem by many people, and you would think
they were the only loyal men that were near the battlefield on that
day."

"Yes," said Col. Bush; "to have lost an arm or leg on the Union side
is like the brand of Cain nowadays; but to have been a rebel or to have
belonged to the Golden Circle, or failed in some way by which the rebels
profited or gained advantage, entitles one to a medal or some high
position of honor and emolument."

CHAPTER IX.

BATTLE OF ANTLER'S RUN--SERAINE WHITCOMB LEAVES FOR THE
SOUTH--PLOTTING IN CANADA--DISCOVERY OF A CONSPIRACY