Had the "Lost Cause" been triumphant, my lips would have been sealed
as to my own service. As it is, I glory in having served it, and
cherish fondly even the slightest token that "my boys" do not forget
me.)

"On the last day of the Southern Soldiers' Reunion at Dallas, and when
sentiments had been read in honor of this and that officer of
distinction in the service of the Lost Cause, a lady occupying a
somewhat retired position on the platform handed to General Gano a
slip of paper on which was traced the following noble sentiment as
read by General Gano in a clear, distinct voice, and in tones that
expressed his entire concurrence.

"The sentiment and the name subscribed are sufficient of themselves.
We give it as follows:

"'THE PRIVATE SOLDIER OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY.

"'He bore in his bosom a heart of oak; he withstood the brunt of
battle and sustained the heat and burthen of the day. His blood
nourished the laurels which otherwise had never bloomed to grace
the brow of Lee and Jackson. For myself, no blessing has ever
crowned my life more highly prized than the God-given privilege I
enjoyed during four years of the war, of ministering to the boys
who wore the ragged, unornamented gray.

"'Your devoted friend and comrade,

"'MRS. FANNY A. BEERS,
"'Late of the Confederate Army.'

"To this sentiment came the response of three cheers and a regular
rebel yell, repeated and repeated for the space of twenty minutes.

"But the most touching feature followed. A number of old Confederate
soldiers, who had in wounds and sickness received gentle and healing
ministrations from the hands of Mrs. Beers, and learned just then that
she was present, in defiance of all order, rushed to the stand and
gathered about her. Each and every one bore the mark of some wound
received in the war, and wore about their person some fragment of
Confederate uniform--a hat, a coat, or other article--as souvenirs of
the days of trials and glory.

"Like old children they gathered around her, grasping her hand and
blessing her and testifying to all the world what a blessing she had
been to them.

"It was, indeed and truly, the most touching and striking incident of
the late reunion of Confederate veterans at Dallas."

CHAPTER III.

CAMP NICHOLS.

The Louisiana Soldiers' Home.

I must begin with a digression, for, as thought concentrates itself
upon this pleasant subject, one is irresistibly imp