ey were
going to have a battle, and the general said he'd let me know!"

"Gin'ral?" demanded the old darky suspiciously; "who dat gin'ral dat
gwine tell you 'bout de battle? Was he drivin' de six-mule team, or was
he dess a-totin' a sack o' co'n? Kin you splain dat, Mars Will'm?"

"Don't you think I know a general when I see one?" exclaimed the boy
scornfully. "He had yellow and gilt on his sleeves, and he carried a
sabre, and he rode first of all. And--oh, Mose! He's coming here to pay
me a visit! Perhaps he'll come to-night; he said he would if he could."

"Dat gin'ral 'low he gwine come here?" muttered the darky. "Spec' you
better see Miss Celia 'fo' you ax dis here gin'ral."

"I'm going to ask her now," said the boy. "She certainly will be glad to
see one of our own men. Who cares if all the niggers have run off? We're
not ashamed--and, anyhow, you're here to bring in the decanters for the
general."

"Shoo, honey, you might talk dat-a-way ef yo' pa wuz in de house,"
grumbled the old man. "Ef hit's done fix, nobody kin onfix it. But dess
yo' leave dem gin'rals whar dey is nex' time, Mars Will'm. Hit wuz a
gin'ral dat done tuk de Dominiker hen las' time de blueco'ts come to
San' River."

The boy, sitting entranced in reverie, scarcely heard him; and it was
only when a far trumpet blew from the camp in the valley that he started
in his saddle and raised his rapt eyes to the windows. Somebody had hung
out a Union flag over the jasmine-covered portico.

"There it is! There it is, Mose!" he cried excitedly, scrambling from
his saddle. "Here--take the bridle! And the very minute you hear the
general dashing into the drive, let me know!"

He ran jingling up the resounding veranda--he wore his father's
spurs--and mounted the stairs, two at a jump, calling: "Celia! Celia!
You'll be glad to know that a general who is a friend of mine----"

"Hush, Billy," said his sister, checking him on the landing and leading
him out to the gallery from which the flag hung; "can't you remember
that grandfather is asleep by sundown? Now--what is it, dear, you wish
to tell me?"

"Oh, I forgot; truly I did, Celia--but a general is coming to visit me
to-night, if you can possibly manage it, and I'm so glad you hung out
the flag--and Moses can serve the Madeira, can't he?"

"What general?" inquired his sister uneasily. And her brother's
explanations made matters no clearer. "You remember what the Yankee
cavalry did before," she said a