g, and if a person asked twice for beef, or
butter, he was stared at by the negroes, as if he had eaten an entire
cow. I soon brought the head-waiter to terms by promising him a dollar a
week for extra attendance, and could even get ice after a time, which
was a luxury. There was a bar upon the premises, which opened
stealthily, when there were liquors to be sold. Cider (called
champaigne) could be purchased for three dollars a bottle, and whiskey
came to hand occasionally. There were cigars in abundance, and I used to
sit on the upper porch of evenings, puffing long after midnight, and
watching the sentinels below.

There was some female society in Warrenton, but the blue-coats engrossed
it all. The young women were ardent partisans, but also very pretty; and
treason, somehow, heightened their beauty. Disloyalty is always
pardonable in a woman, and these ladies appreciated the fact. They
refused to walk under Federal flags, and stopped their ears when the
bands played national music; but every evening they walked through the
main street, arm in arm with dashing Lieutenants and Captains. Many
flirtations ensued, and a great deal of gossip was elicited. In the end,
some of the misses fell out among themselves, and hated each other more
than the common enemy. I overheard a young lady talking in a low tone
one evening, to a Captain in the Ninth New York regiment.

"If you knew my brother," she said, "I am sure you would not fire upon
_him_."

As there were plain, square, prim porches to all the dwellings, the
ladies commonly took positions therein of evenings, and a grand
promenade commenced of all the young Federals in the town. The streets
were pleasantly shaded, and a leafy coolness pervaded the days, though
sometimes, of afternoons, the still heat was almost stifling. A jaunt
after supper often took me far into the country, and the starlights were
softer than one's peaceful thoughts. To be a civilian was a
distinguished honor now, and I enjoyed the staring of the citizens, who
pondered as to my purposes and pursuits, as only villagers can do. There
is a quiet pleasure in being a strange person in a country town, and so
far from objecting to the inquisitiveness of the folk, I rather like it.
One may be passing for a young duke, or tourist, or clergyman, or what
not?

The Ninth New York (militia) regiment guarded Warrenton, and it was
composed of clever, polite young fellows, who had taken to volunteering
before the