rty, tired, and fatigued, as to be hardly recognizable. We thrust her
into a chair, and made her speak. She had just come with Charlie, who
went after them yesterday; and had left mother and the servants at a
kind friend's, on the road. I never heard such a story as she told. I
was heartsick; but I laughed until Mrs. Badger grew furious with me and
the Yankees, and abused me for not abusing them.

She says when she entered the house, she burst into tears at the
desolation. It was one scene of ruin. Libraries emptied, china smashed,
sideboards split open with axes, three cedar chests cut open,
plundered, and set up on end; all parlor ornaments carried off--even
the alabaster Apollo and Diana that Hal valued so much. Her piano,
dragged to the centre of the parlor, had been abandoned as too heavy to
carry off; her desk lay open with all letters and notes well thumbed
and scattered around, while Will's last letter to her was open on the
floor, with the Yankee stamp of dirty fingers. Mother's portrait
half-cut from its frame stood on the floor. Margret, who was present at
the sacking, told how she had saved father's. It seems that those who
wrought destruction in our house were all officers. One jumped on the
sofa to cut the picture down (Miriam saw the prints of his muddy feet)
when Margret cried, "For God's sake, gentlemen, let it be! I'll help
you to anything here. He's dead, and the young ladies would rather see
the house burn than lose it!" "I'll blow your damned brains out," was
the "gentleman's" answer as he put a pistol to her head, which a
brother officer dashed away, and the picture was abandoned for finer
sport. All the others were cut up in shreds.

Upstairs was the finest fun. Mother's beautiful mahogany armoir, whose
single door was an extremely fine mirror, was entered by crashing
through the glass, when it was emptied of every article, and the
shelves half-split, and half-thrust back crooked. Letters, labeled by
the boys "Private," were strewn over the floor; they opened every
armoir and drawer, collected every rag to be found and littered the
whole house with them, until the wonder was, where so many rags had
been found. Father's armoir was relieved of everything; Gibbes's
handsome Damascus sword with the silver scabbard included. All his
clothes, George's, Hal's, Jimmy's, were appropriated. They entered my
room, broke that fine mirror for sport, pulled down the rods from the
bed, and with them pulverized m