amily, and repeated her confidence
in the "good Laud's" having saved the General for some good purpose.
Finally she could not restrain herself any longer, and said:

"'Massa Gen'l, what you do wid Ham? Whar is he? I 'spect he be kill and
you done 'eluded you not tell ole Marfa'.

"'No, Martha,' said the General; 'Ham is well. I left him with Capt.
Jackson and Capt. Day to take care of our traps.'

"'Well, dat's all right. I feered he kill.'

"'No, Aunty; he is all right.'

"The next day Joseph Dent came in from the farm and told us he had
learned the night before that a meeting of a few of the leading men
had been held at Windsor, Canada, and that meetings were to be held
at different places in the Northern States by prominent Knights of
the Circle to consider what was best to be done, and also to appoint
delegates to meet somewhere in Canada at a time and place to be
hereafter designated, and that several propositions were being
considered about work which would be undertaken very soon; such as
destroying property, raiding in the North, releasing prisoners, etc.

"This information was of such a character that we deemed it important to
have a full report of what was at the time being done in Canada, as
that seemed to be the base of the enemy's operations for our part of the
country, and inasmuch as Peter had promised James Whitcomb, now Orderly
to Gen. Anderson, that he would go to Detroit and visit his aged parents
and satisfy them of his innocence should they have learned of his
misfortune in having been court-martialed and condemned, we concluded
that this would be an excellent opportunity for him to pass over to
Windsor or elsewhere in Canada and gather what information he could.
This being understood, he left at once, desirous that no time should be
lost during his leave of absence.

"The family being gathered in the parlor that evening, Gen. Anderson
said:

"'Mary, now give us your experience as a visitor at the White House; how
the President appeared to you, etc.?'

"Mary related what had transpired in a modest way, saying in conclusion
that nothing but the feeling aroused in her breast by the outrage that
was about to be perpetrated upon that poor, innocent boy could have
induced her to have undertaken such an expedition. She said she could do
anything except to ask favors. Said she:

"'Tom, my dear, you need have no fears about my ever becoming a lobbyist
in Washington, or a courtier at the White Ho