292 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



tions. How much of an apothecary he is, I know not, 

 but he had neither whiskey nor bitters in store. He 

 would hear nothing of pay for the breakfast we and 

 our horses had had, and was so gracious as to heal in 

 a masterly way our vehicle which had suffered from 

 the ailments of the road. With much difficulty we 

 came this time over the rocky and boggy Laurel-hill. 

 The extraordinary heat of the day oppressed us, and 

 along the whole road, 14 dreary miles, there are only 

 two places where water is to be had, and we had the 

 ill luck not to find them. On the other side of the 

 Laurel-hill, in the Glades so-called, we accidentally 

 got out of the direct road, as night was already begin- 

 ning to fall, and the road we were following led us 

 into a narrow, level valley. Two lads who met us 

 assured us, with a friendlier manner than that cus- 

 tomary here, that w r e should be welcome in their 

 father's house which was near by. When we reached 

 the place, there appeared Mr. Herrman Husband, (for 

 this was the name of the strange man), barefoot and 

 dressed in worn and dirty clothes. The reception was 

 courteous, with no waste of words and with no im- 

 pertinent questions almost the American habit. I 

 should have been rather perplexed how to volunteer 

 our history had not Mistress Husband, while she was 

 making ready the coffee for supper, shown somewhat 

 more of a natural curiosity. Suddenly, as we sat about 

 the fire, the talk fell on the mountains, their valleys, 

 inhabitants, soil and the like, and I was astounded to 

 hear our host, until then sitting still and reflective, all 

 at once begin speaking with enthusiasm, judiciously 

 and not wholly without learning. So far I had met 

 no one, not even among those citizens of the United 



