TWO SCOUTS. 



N the desultory and sporadic warfare car- 

 ried on in the Southwest, the scout — 

 or "skeout," according to the dialect 

 of the region — was a very important element 

 of our organization, and it is amusing now to 

 recall the variety of odd-fish of every descrip- 

 tion who applied for the remunerative employ- 

 ment that this branch of the service afforded. 



The interest of our life at Union City was not 

 a little enhanced by two specimens of this genus 

 with whom we had much to do, — Pat Dixon 

 and "The Blind Preacher." 



One day the guard brought in a suspicious 

 character from the picket-line. He was about 

 twenty-five years old, long, lank, and dusky, — 

 a sort of half-Indian, half-Irish looking fellow, 



