thousand."

"And when the Yankees got a-going," chimed in the planter, clapping his
hands and swaying his body back and forth after the manner of a negro
who had been carried away by some sudden enthusiasm, "they never
stopped. It was such a stampede that their officers couldn't do nothing
with 'em. The soldiers who were running away from the battle met the
civilians who were riding out from Washington to see it, and the two
living streams of humanity, one going one way and t'other going t'other
way, got all mixed up together; and all the while there were our
batteries playing onto 'em and our cavalry riding through 'em and
sabering first one and then another, till--Hey--youp! I'll be doggone if
I can seem to get it through my head, although I have read it more'n a
hundred times."

This astounding intelligence almost took away the breath of the men who
listened to it. Of course they had known all the while that whipping the
North was going to be as easy as falling off a log, but to have their
opinions confirmed in this unexpected way almost overwhelmed them. They
knew it was bound to come, but they hadn't looked for it so soon. They
gazed at one another in silence for a moment or two, and then the shout
they set up would have done credit to a larger squad than theirs. The
planter, who really acted as though he had taken leave of his senses,
joined in, laughing and shaking his head and slapping his knees in a way
that set Rodney Gray in a roar. It was a long time before the captain
could bring his squad to "attention."

"There's a good deal more in this paper," said he, "and if you will let
me have it, I should like to read it to the boys when we go into camp.
We belong to Price, and want to catch up with the men who went by here
yesterday."

"Then you'll have to skip along right peart," replied the man. "That's
the way they were going stopped long enough to drink my well 'most dry,
and then went off in a lope. As for the paper, take it along. You don't
reckon there's any chance for a mistake, do you?"

"Not the slightest. President Davis knew what he was doing when he sent
that telegram to Richmond."

"But fifteen thousand against thirty-five thousand," said the planter,
whose excitement had not driven all his common sense out of his head.
"That's big odds, and it kinder sticks in my crop. Well, good-by, if you
must be going, and good luck to you."

"It doesn't stick in my crop," replied the captain. "I knew we