ould procure. The next day, having
made our camp in the secure depths of a dry swamp, we lighted the only
fire we allowed ourselves between Columbia and the mountains. The ham,
which was almost as light as cork, was riddled with worm-holes, and as
hard as a petrified sponge.

We avoided the towns, and after an endless variety of adventures
approached the mountains, cold, hungry, ragged, and foot-sore. On the
night of December 13 we were grouped about a guide-post, at a fork in
the road, earnestly contending as to which way we should proceed.
Lieutenant Sill was for the right, I was for the left, and no amount of
persuasion could induce Lieutenant Lamson to decide the controversy. I
yielded, and we turned to the right. After walking a mile in a state of
general uncertainty, we came to a low white farm-house standing very
near the road. It was now close upon midnight, and the windows were all
dark; but from a house of logs, partly behind the other, gleamed a
bright light. Judging this to be servants' quarters, two of us remained
back while Lieutenant Sill made a cautious approach. In due time a negro
appeared, advancing stealthily, and, beckoning to my companion and me,
conducted us in the shadow of a hedge to a side window, through which we
clambered into the cabin. We were made very comfortable in the glow of a
bright woodfire. Sweet potatoes were already roasting in the ashes, and
a tin pot of barley coffee was steaming on the coals. Rain and sleet had
begun to fall, and it was decided that after having been warmed and
refreshed we should be concealed in the barn until the following night.
Accordingly we were conducted thither and put to bed upon a pile of
corn-shucks high up under the roof. Secure as this retreat seemed, it
was deemed advisable in the morning to burrow several feet down in the
mow, so that the children, if by any chance they should climb so high,
might romp unsuspecting over our heads. We could still look out through
the cracks in the siding and get sufficient light whereby to study a map
of the Southern States, which had been brought us with our breakfast. A
luxurious repast was in preparation, to be eaten at the quarters before
starting; but a frolic being in progress, and a certain negro present of
questionable fidelity, the banquet was transferred to the barn. The
great barn doors were set open, and the cloth was spread on the floor by
the light of the moon. Certainly we had partaken of no such sub