a sure-thing game." One morning, while he was
intently engaged in this occupation, some waggish prisoners quietly
appropriated his revolvers without his being aware of the transaction;
to slip them from the belt being an easy matter when he was in such a
posture and so much interested in trying to "break the bank."

When McCann "went broke" himself he left the stockade, still without
noticing his loss, but it was not long before he became aware of the
theft and indulged in some righteous indignation. He gathered a detail
of guards and returned to the stockade, demanding the return of his
pistols. Of course, no one had seen them, and not a soul in the
enclosure knew anything of them.

The suggestions and remarks, together with the adjutant's ire on this
occasion, made the scene an amusing one, but it soon took a serious
turn. One of the prisoners would suggest that the officer had lost his
"guns" in the woods before entering the stockade; another would remark
that his own men were no better than others, and that some of them had
probably "cramped" the weapons; the next would suggest that he might
find the pistols in his own quarters if he looked more carefully; and
the men kept this up until the officer became nearly frantic with anger.
He made numerous threats, but they were insufficient to cause the
surrender of the lost revolvers, and no suspicion of any particular
parties could well exist under the circumstances, as any one of the 6000
prisoners might have been the malefactor.

The fact that two good revolvers were in the hands of the prisoners was
not one calculated to cause indifference on the part of the rebels, as
untold trouble might result; so, after a council of war at headquarters,
it was decided that cutting off the rations of the entire crowd within
the stockade until the missing articles were found would probably
inspire the prisoners with better sight, and we were informed that
unless the pistols were surrendered within twenty-four hours we should
have no more to eat after that time until we discovered and returned the
adjutant's armory.

This action was regarded as a "bluff" by the prisoners, and, after a
general discussion, it was decided that our sight could not be improved
by such methods; but when we had fasted for twenty-four hours, and the
beef and meal wagons had failed to put in an appearance at the regular
time, we concluded that the rebels meant business, and it was not long
until someone d