d nearly smothered him, but added,
with great satisfaction: "I bit his finger terribly, and gave the
rascal a mark he will carry to the grave with him." However, his teeth
were not so sharp as he thought, and he only managed to inflict a
slight scratch. He had no suspicion that I was the person to whom he
referred, as his fright had prevented him from observing anything. For
a while, he was rather cross, and brought up the guards when he came
to feed us; but this soon wore off.

About the middle of the day, some officers came, and, with many
threats, asked us which way our boys intended to travel. I answered,
"I heard them say that they were going to try to get to our lines, and
that traveling in _any_ direction would bring them there, for our men
had you surrounded." They asked no more questions, but retired,
satisfied that there was no information to be gained.

Our anticipations of worse treatment in consequence of our attempted
escape were not realized. Colonel Lee thought the jail was no longer a
safe place, and ordered us to be taken to the city barracks. Our
apartment here was far more pleasant than our quarters in the jail had
been. It was large, well lighted, and provided with a fire-place,
which the chilliness of the days (it was now in October) made a great
acquisition. It also commanded a view of one of the busiest public
squares of Atlanta, and we would sit in the windows, which had no bars
across them, and watch the tide of human life that flowed before us,
for hours at a time, with an interest that only our long seclusion
from the world could have given.

Jack Wells, the commander of the barracks, had been an old United
States soldier. Being thus brought up under a more honorable system
than obtains in the South at present, he did not consider it
derogatory to his dignity to treat prisoners kindly. He would come
around to our room and talk with us by the hour--telling us great
stories of his adventures, and receiving as great in return. Most of
the time he was half drunk, and very frequently did not stop at the
half way point. In these cases, and when he was in a communicative
mood, he would tell us that he did not care a cent which side
whipped--that he only held his present position to avoid being
conscripted. But his masters knew him to be such a faithful, vigilant
officer, and he could so readily control the rude mass who occupied
the rebel portion of the barracks, that they readily forgave these