ible "silver spear;" and several instances had
lately occurred of sentinels keeping their eyes and ears shut fast
during the brief time required for a small mounted party to pass their
posts. I do not mean to insinuate that venality was the general rule; so
far from this being the case, I understood that it was necessary to make
such overtures with great caution, while the negotiation involved
certain delay and possible failure. Detachments were constantly shifted
from point to point, and regiments from station to station. Some corps
were notoriously more accessible than others. According to common
report, the recruits from New England, Massachusetts, and Connecticut
were the easiest to deal with, and the subalterns were said to be
usually open to a fair offer. But perhaps this was a scandal after all;
for the Marylander holds the Yankee proper in such bitter dislike and
contempt that he would miss no chance of a by-blow.

Once over the river at this point and you were comparatively safe. There
were no regular pickets or patrols on the further bank, and only
scattered reconnoitering parties of cavalry were to be evaded. Under
cover of darkness, with a good local guide, this was easily done--one
long night's ride.

To this route my Mentor and I did at last seriously incline, for good
and sufficient reasons.

The Southern "trooper" fares, I believe, far better in many ways than
his Northern compeer. Besides being more carefully groomed and tended,
he carries a rider better able to husband a failing animal's strength,
so as to "nurse him home." But the "raiders" travel often far and fast
through a country fetlock-deep on light land, where provender is scanty
and shelter there is none. The daily wear and tear of horse-flesh during
this last bitter winter has been something fearful, and even at the time
I speak of the difficulty of obtaining a really serviceable "mount" in
Virginia could hardly be over-estimated. From one thousand to one
thousand five hundred dollars were spoken of as ordinary prices for a
fair charger, and men willing to give that sum had been forced to go
into South Carolina before they could suit themselves. In my own case
the difficulty was increased; for in hard condition, without cloak,
valise, or accoutrements, I drew fourteen stone one pound, in a common
hunting-saddle. Now, an animal well up to that weight, with anything
like action on a turn of speed, is right hard to find on the
Transatlantic s