nd before long there was not a pot or
skillet to be found.

By this time the stockade was broken in several places, and we could
pass in and out at will, but it was more the desire to feel that we
could do so which prompted any egress than any desire to go anywhere, as
we were all anxious to get home, and did not want to go by ourselves
when all were going so soon.

An irrepressible Zouave prisoner got into the headquarters room one day,
and, filled with enthusiasm and the conviction that the Confederacy was
busted, nearly destroyed the records in the office before he was
discovered and kicked out.

Finally, the rations not coming, the rebels got an ox-team with which to
haul the sick men, and we made a start for Shreveport.

It is a matter of record that I was the last man to leave the stockade
on this occasion, and consequently the last prisoner confined in it. I
made it a point to see that every other human being was out of the
enclosure before I departed, and to have others know the fact. I will
not attempt to describe my feelings as the final exit was made; suffice
it to say that it was one of the happiest moments of my life.

CHAPTER XXIV.

LIBERTY AT LAST.

On the second day out from the stockade, and before reaching Marshall,
we came to a house where a farmer was offering to trade for blankets.
Mine was on a horse at the head of the procession, but I had a ten-cent
"shinplaster," with which I bought some biscuits of the man. He had two
loads of blankets piled up close by, which he had already secured by
trading, and he had some wine in bottles for further use.

I was very anxious to possess some of that wine, and I hustled around
among the prisoners and borrowed a blanket from a young fellow who was
willing to take my word that I would return it or give him mine when we
caught up with the leaders of our band. I secured three bottles of wine
for the blanket, and we had some refreshments, eating the biscuits and
drinking the wine until there was no more left.

As we hurried on to catch up I saw a pile of blankets near the fence,
and I at once returned the boy's blanket to him in the shape of a better
one, taken from this pile.

The next morning I gave myself permission to leave the rest of the
outfit and forage on ahead, which I kept up till we reached Four Mile
Springs, where I arrived thirty-six hours ahead of the main body.

Here I found a lot of Smith's men who had deserted, and who were r