om, and through
an avenue of muskets, and amidst the shouts of an enthusiastic little
crowd, the General passed into a room decorated with flowers, through the
centre of which was stretched a table groaning under the weight of
delicious fruits and smoking viands. With little ceremony the hungry
company seated themselves, and vigorously assailed the tempting array,
quite unconscious of the curious glances of a motley assemblage of men,
women, and children who assisted at the entertainment. The day had been
dark, the journey dull, and the people we had seen silent and sullen; but
here was a welcome, the hearty, generous welcome of sympathizing friends,
who saw in their guests the defenders of their homes. They were Germans,
and our language came broken from their lips. But they are Germans who
fill the ranks of our regiments. Look where you will, and the sturdy
Teuton meets your eye. If Missouri shall be preserved for the Union and
civilization, it will be by the valor of men who learned their lessons of
American liberty and glory upon the banks of the Rhine and the Elbe. We
think of this at Hermann, and we pledge our German hosts and our German
fellow-soldiers in strong draughts of delicious Catawba,--not such Catawba
as is sent forth from the slovenly manufactories of Cincinnati, for the
careful vintners of Hermann select the choice grapes, and in the quiet
cellars of Hermann the Catawba has time to grow old and to ripen.

We at length extricate ourselves from the maze of corn-cakes and pancakes,
waffles and muffins and pies without number, with which our kind friends
of Hermann tempt and tantalize our satiated palates, and once more set
forth after the wheezing, reluctant locomotive, over the rough road,
through the dreary hills, along the bank of the treacherous river.

At ten o'clock, in ten weary hours, we have accomplished one hundred and
twenty miles, and have reached Jefferson City. The train backs and starts
ahead, halts and backs and jerks, and finally, with a long sigh of relief,
the locomotive stops, and a gentleman in citizen's dress enters the car,
carrying a lantern in his hand. It was Brigadier-General Price, commanding
at Jefferson City. He took possession of the General, and, with us closely
following, left the car. But leaving the train was a somewhat more
difficult matter. We went along-side the train, over the train, under the
train, but still those cars seemed to surround us like a corral. We at
len