TWO SCOUTS. 183 



On New Year's day, as we were sitting at a 

 sumptuous dinner, and mitigating so far as we 

 could the annoyance to our hosts of being in- 

 vaded by a rollicking party of Northern officers, 

 Voisin, who had been called out, returned to 

 the table to tell me that a man and a woman 

 would like to see me in my room. I was not 

 prompt to respond, and asked who they were. 

 He replied, "0, who can tell 1 ? I suppose some- 

 body with a complaint that our men have 'taken 

 some hams of meat ' [" meat " being the Tennessee 

 vulgate for hog flesh only], or something of that 

 sort ; the man seemed to have something the 

 matter with his eyes." And he gave me a large 

 and expressive wink. 



Ensconced, with such comfort as large and 

 rattling windows permitted, before our blazing 

 fire, sat our serene Methodist friend and his 

 sullen wife. Taking me aside, he told me that 

 he had passed the previous evening at a private 

 house between Jackson and Bolivar in religious 

 exercises, which were attended by Forrest and 

 officers of his command. After the devotions 



