106 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[September 8, 1881- 



ley of VirginiB mid while the aruiy was marching North and 

 in piov.nbly lo Calle L'a Station, I embraced the apparency 

 good opportunity of ranking a third visit. Striking off from 

 the main column, Iiodefo* an hour, when 1 sighted the 

 h life and soon thereafter was riding through the gateway. 

 1 W8B met at the door hy Mr. Joslin. The tamily were about 

 to sit down to dinrer aid we en tired the diuing-rooni. I 

 did not notice anything unusual in the bearing or behavior 

 llrnj host, hTiBteSB or' the young Indies, but, it all came tome 

 afterwards — t heir rather strained conversation, .Miss Lucy's 

 1 ale face and ag-taied manner, and I remembered so well af- 

 terwards Of Miss Mabel silling so close to me at table. I sat 

 lacing a staircase, the mount of which was quite peep. 1 no- 

 ticed then that Miss Lucy excused herself twice and ascended 

 these stairs, quickly returning each time. Dinner being over, 

 Miss Mabe, " Hob " and I w nt to the front of the hone and 

 ihcrc, in ihe shade, sat for nearly an hour. Mabe remained 

 close to me the whole time. I afterwards remembered her 

 agitated maimer and how careful she was to keep the dog 

 near and that she would not let me go to the barn to got hay 

 for my horse, hut called a negro, who fed the animal. At 

 3 o'clock 1 prepared to go, lidding good-bye to the family. I 

 was soon on my way r . Taking the road back of the house, 1 

 followed it to the wo ds, then taking bearings, 1 struck 

 through the forest the nearest way known to' myself, by 

 which I would probably reach the main column. I had rid- 

 den possibly two hundred yards when from the side 'f the 

 path the uegro T<m appeared, out of breath and the persira- 

 iion streaming d own his black face. 



" .Mars Dick, don't take de ole road to de crick; take de 

 toad what you knows to Keiley Ford ; an' go, for the Lor' 

 >:ikes, as fas' as yer boss kin make it ; dars clanger in de air. 

 Miss Mabe say dis, and may deLor' Stan' by yr." 



"But, Tom, what on earth is wrong? What have you 

 seen P" 



"Mars Dick, Fs seen lots an' beard lots. (So, go, go :" 

 Now thoroughly aware that a great danger hovered near 

 and somehow feeing Miss Mabel knew it, I instantly fol- 

 lowed Tom's advice and direction. Changing my course from 

 lion h west to a little north of west 1 urgi d my horse forward 

 a 1 a rapid rate, keeping my pistol ready and a sharp lookout. 

 A few minutes past four I left, the woods and found myself 

 on the track leading to the ford and probably four hundred 

 yards from it. At this moment I beard hoof strokes behind 

 inc. Turning in the saddle I saw two horsemen approaching 

 at an easy trot. I did not, wa>t for further investigation ; I 

 felt, a near danger. Striking my horse sharply with the spurs 

 I lied dawn the road. At the same instant "zip, zip," came 

 two rifle balls in close proximity. Glancing back I saw a 

 little cloud of blue smoke over the horsenvn and they were 

 flying in pursuit,. It, was now a question of horse flesh. The 

 fine animal I rode had never yet failed me. Could I reach 

 the ford and get, safely over all might yet be well. The river 

 is in sight. Faster and fasier flies the hoise that curries my 

 life and my liberty. A minute more and i am in the swift, 

 current of the Rappahannock, the horse making tremendous 

 plunges under the spurs. " Hall, I" Tlr ee horsemen in blue 

 appear on the u w he*r bank I point back. Instantly three 

 carbines are raised and three balls speed over my head. I 

 look back — the pursuit g Confederates are wheeling about; 

 they le up the bill and are soon "lost to sight— to memory 

 dear." 



Lieutenant P. said that night in camp : " Dick, that's an- 

 other one of your dose calls. You'll be picked up yet. You 

 can't combine love-making with war in the enemy's country. 

 Home of these tiirls will betray you." 



Lieutenant P. did not know the abiding faith in my heart 

 for at least one of those girls She had saved me that day. 



Fall, winter aud spring passed away ami, although I had 

 been a regular scout all that time, 1 had never been able to 

 vi it, the joslins. It was three days after the battle of Ohau- 

 cellorsvile. I was alone on the road from Fredericksburg 

 lea ling to Bealtou. I had left Falmouth the evening pre- 

 vious and, eucouutering Federal pickets ten miles north of 

 town, sta d with the olh'ecr of the picket ad night. Pour A. 

 M. found me in [tie saddle. I knew that the road was dan- 

 gerous, beirg well patroled by Confederate cavalry, but, 

 trusting to my knowledge of the county and ability to keep 

 from beaten paths, 1 pushed on. 



By 9 a, m., I reiched Morrisville, some miles from Beal- 

 ton. Here I met, as prearranged another scout. lie struck 

 for the river, going West; I passed on north. After getting 

 away from Moni>,ville a mile and a quarter 1 was walking 

 my horse through a hollow in the road musing and thinking 

 of things far away, when out of the thick owarf pines on my 

 left sprang three men in partial gr,iy, covering me with their 

 carbines. First, ." Halt ! bait!" Second, "Get off that 

 horse!" Third, "Down with that pistol or your a dead 

 man." My bridle was quickly Beized. I dismounted, and 

 was hurried into the woods, and in a thrice was quickly dis- 

 armed. 



Tne man who took my belt was James Davis. "Mr. Swiv- 

 iller this is the third time 1 spotted you, and followed you, 

 aud now I've got you." Th- big, handsome fellow smiled 

 grimly, and shook me warmly by the baud- I was complete- 

 ly crestfallen and bo iten, and felt aoout as mean as a man 

 feels ovrl anything in this world. 



Davis then recounted th j following: He said that the 

 day I took dinner at. Mr. Joslin's he was in the house, and 

 while we- were, at dinner he was in the room immediately 

 o^er the dining-room, and through a small knot bole in the 

 floor (there being no plaster) he wacbed me. He was then 

 anxious to effect the capture, but he was deterred partly by 

 the p i-ition I occupied facing the stairs which would give 

 me a chance of seeing him about as quick as he could get his 

 pistol on me, and partly by Miss Lucy's urging him to Keep 

 quint, and a horror she in common with the rest of their fam- 

 ily had for serious results that might attend the attempt. 

 He pursued me as soon as Heft, being joined byaconipauion 

 Miss Mabel divining their intentions sent Tom to warn me 

 not to go the way I came. They missed me at the creek 

 pressing, so must have crossed my trail a couple of miles 

 bach in rylng to inte cept me at the upper ford. Dad they 

 changed their course five minutes earlier there would have 

 been i rouble for me; as it was I saved myself by superior 

 speed. 



Going bade in the woods to a place well screened from the 

 road my captors emp'ied haversacks— result, ham, fried eggs 

 and biscuit. We dined, aud the rest of the dav was Spent 

 in talks of the war, and telling sportsmen's yarns for all were 

 fond of dog and gun. Davis and his companions had not 

 learned of ihe death of Stonewall Jackson until so informed 

 hy me. They had been inside the Fed ral lines almost a week 

 previous t i my capture. I will not here describe how I was 

 conducted beyond lh= lines at night, and of the magnificent 

 ride across the Blue Kidge, and the splendid trout I caught 

 rom mountain streams. Four days after my capture I was 



delivered at Gen. FitzhuBh Lee's headquarters, was intro- 

 duced to i hat officer, and most agreeably entertained. My 

 parole and exchange occurred six weeks later. 



October found my brigade fighting Gen. Stuart at different 

 places along the Rappahanncok, At the close of a day's skirm- 

 ishing we bivuaci-ed in the woods. My h'irse wan through 

 fcding, 1 was pieparingto wrap up in my blanket, when 

 it suddenly occurred to me that 1 was but ten or twelve 

 miles from Joslin's house. Cou'd I make a visit ? But then 

 a portion of the enemy must be nearer to Catletts than our 

 forces. However we wanted Information as to the enemies 

 whereabouts, and particularly if they were amassing near 

 Call) It's Station, and I bad already been ordered to ascertain 

 this fact if possible. J therefore determined to combine. 

 pleasure with duty, g°t, what information I could of the ene- 

 my, and visit my friends in the bargain. 1 at once communi- 

 cated mv plans 10 Geo. Kenner, one of the best scouts on rur 

 siatT, he fell in with them at once. My idea wa- to visit, 

 Joslin's that night, leave there before day, and scout the 

 country back. 



Eight o'clock found us in the saddle and away. After a 

 ride of a short, distance tenner stopped as if struck. "If 

 will be strange if James Davis is not at this moment mailing 

 himself com fort able in the very house we propose visiting, 

 since Gen. Stuart's command must be nearer there than we," 

 s-.id he. The whole thing flashed on me in a moment, of 

 course he would be there. Could we not capture him if 

 such was i lie case? We would try. So it was arranged to 

 approach the house with caution," and Bud out if his horse 

 was in the barn, if so that would tell of his presence. 



We pushed on as rapidly as the course we were taking 

 wou'd admit. Ton o'clock found us in the woods two hun- 

 dred yards back of the Joslin House. We stayed there until 

 midnight. Leaving Kanner, 1 m><de my way to the barn, 

 being careful to keep out of sight of the house, not being 

 willing to take any chances in the starlight. The latch 

 string was out and I opened the small door in the rear of the 

 barn and entered. Taking a match from my case I struck 

 it and slowly made my way along 'he stalls. There were 

 three cows and two mules. The light went out. The second 

 match blazed up. The family horse. Ha '. Willi hands 

 t,h excitement, I cautiously struck the third 



atcb, 



nri. In 



iking righ 

 ;hes and I ft 



David's bay mare. 

 ;d his saddle. There would be 



1 qui. •!• 1? and silently made my way out of the barn and 

 joined Keener. It was arranged for one of us to go to the 

 re ir and the other to the front of the "barn and rouse tbe folks. 

 Kenner was to do the talking, his voice being strange. We 

 hoped by this that Davis would think it, some of his own men. 



We started for the house, and when within fifty yards of 

 the barn, hist! what's that? We distinctly hear a horse 

 walking quickly throuah the barn yard. A moment of in- 

 tense suspense and there, breaks ou the stillness of the night 

 the claiter of a horse's hoofs on the road. 



Telling Kenner to wad, I go into 'he barn; as quickly 

 as possible I made my way by sense of touch to near the stall 

 that contained the bay mare aud struck a match. 



The hay mare had vanished ! 



Danger was in the air. We left the place, mounted and 

 rode away "It was some days before we joined the command, 

 but I made that visit before returning aud had ihe mystery 

 solved. Diok SwrvKi.ucr.. 



CONCLUDED IN OTJB NEXT.] 



THE PREVIOUS 'POSSUM QUESTION, 



Tucson, Arizona, August 20. 

 Editor Forest and Stream ■' 



The courtesy which you have extended to the 'possum 

 question, SO innocently raised last spring, emboldens me to 

 ask tha usual parliani' ntary favor of closing the deba'e. 



The marsupial literature, which has been so chorrfnlly 

 given to the public through your columns haa perhaps re- 

 freshed the lauging senses of many a gouty planter and rrvived 

 memories harmless and pleasing. 



The 'possum is not fit to eat in the summer, and only 

 matures with the falling of persimmons in the autumn, when 

 the frost crisps the ground, 



Americans are fond of imagining that no other country 

 produces the opossum, but in No them China I have seen a 

 oersiminon orchard set in rows expressly for the purpose of 

 feeding opossums, which are esteemed a great luxury among 

 the Chinese, who are exceedingly fond of fat things such as 

 pig and 'possum, aud iuvariably eat I hem hot. 



Oue of your correspondents suggests bunting 'possums 

 with a gun. In England, as you well know, a man who 

 would shoot a fox is banished from po he society forever, 

 and a man who is so lost to sportsmanship as to bunt a 'pos- 

 sum with a gun in the night should be condemned to tat him 

 cold and afterward to u- de^go a nightmare. 



Any negro in !h' j Southern Sates can catch a 'possum. 

 Re may climb out on the limb of a pa-paw tree ever so far 

 and twist his tail around a. limb ; but a h'ekory pole in the 

 hands of an expert darkey or ten year old boy will fetch him 

 to the ground ; and then you place the pole across his neck 

 with yi .ur feet on each s de and give a jerk with the hind legs 

 and his neck is broken. 



The contiovirsy did not originate about catching 'possums, 

 but cookinsr them, and the preponderance of evidence is in 

 favor of bakiug with sweet potatoes in an oven or suillet, 

 or in the ground surrounded by stones, "tatama" fashion, 

 and seasoning with sage and red pepper. 



In the coming autumn no doubt the voluminous intelligence 

 you have spread abroad wilt revive a taste tor 'possum sport 

 and 'possum suppers. 



'i he time may come when the American people will plant 

 persimmon orchards like the Chinese and give the 'pes um 

 his due as an epicurean gratification. The question is settled 

 by the majority in favor of baking with sweet potatoes and 

 eating while hot. 



With many thanks for the polite consideration the subject 

 has received I call the " previous question." 



Chatu.bt D. Posion. 



Toads fob Gardens.— According to a French paper a 

 market for the sale of loads to gardeners is held regu'arly 

 every week in Paris. Dealers biing their "goods" in well- 

 ventilated casks, in which the toads are packed in lots c 

 hundred, in damp mo^B. A lot of a hundred good individu- 

 als will bring fifteen to seventeen dollars. The gardeners use 

 them to keep dowD the destructive insects that annoy them. 

 A Dutch gardener, M. Krelage, of naarlem, recommends the 

 use of the toad in preehhouses, as furnishing an excellent 

 means for destroyimj the millepeds that infest the plants. 



Why be slctt ana aulag wpon Uop Bitters will surely cure you ? 



HABITS OF SNAKES. 



AS OBSERVED AT THE PI1U.ADEI.CHIA ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



Editor foie.il and Stream l 



In your ntimbi r of Sep ember t you ask for further infor- 

 mation on the habits of the r-.ttlesnake as slated in an inter- 

 esting letter on that subject from a writer in North Car Jti a. 

 While considerable observation has evidently been made by 

 rrespondent, some of hisconclusonsare not altogether 

 sound, aud y T ou will permit me to state a few facts, which are 

 reasonably well ascertained to be such. 



l . No serpent covers its food with slime before swallowing 

 it. There is no organ provided for such a purpose, and it 

 would be ab mt as easy to paint in waier colors with a sharp- 

 ened slate pencil as to smear a "slimy fluid" ovt r the hair or 

 feather of an animal with the slender pointed tongue of a 

 snake. Deglutition usually begins at once without any pre- 

 linib arie:; when the prey is secured, and the secretion of 

 the salivary giand serves merely to facilitate its passage down 

 the oesophagus and into the stomach. 



2 As to the supposed powets of fascination in snakes. In 

 general, animals placed in a caye to serve as food are perfect- 

 ly indifferent to the presence of tbe snake until the latter be- 

 comes aggressive when 'hey naturally show much fear, but 

 under no circumstance have I ever been able to find any trace 

 of a power to charm on tne part of the snake. It is reason- 

 ably safe to strike out the intentirmm element implied by the 

 common belief, and to attribute the behavior of the. vicim to 

 trance or nervous exhau-tiou It is well ascertained that this 

 cuiious mental state often known as " Braidism " or "Hyp- 

 notism" can be induced by fear, and also by having the atteu- 

 ti m strongly attracted on one object in a fixed manner, for 

 even a sh< rt space of time. Without going into a long dis- 

 cussion it will be apparent to all who are at all familiar with 

 the experiments which have been made on this subject that 

 Ihe slow approach, and -the fixed, glittering eye of the snake 

 might be a frequent cause of this condition iu th" p ey which 

 it Ws8 about to seize, under which circumstances so long as 

 uo external c suse, as a noise or a sudden movement, occurred 

 to give a shock to the nervous system of the animal affeced, 

 there would appear to be a complete p ira ysia of the motor 

 nerves and an incapacity to effect any voluntary motion to 

 cscaue from the spot. It is almost needless to say that these 

 conditions not infrequently exist with human beings in the 

 face of sudden danerrj which may often be of such a nature 

 that the most firm m hever in the supernatural could hardly 

 suppose it to be gified with a voluntary power "f fascina'ion. 



3. When a snake R s quiet for a f-w hours after f eding, it 

 c m hardly be supposed that it d es so to allow digestiou to 

 take place, as this process in most if not in all snakes requites 

 several weeks instead of from two to nine hours. 



The muscular force exerted by the snake in drawing food 

 down its throat is considerable andlong c mtiuued. Furiher- 

 niore, the arrangement of the two bones composing the lower 

 jaw and of some of those entering into the b se of the skull 

 is such that they are movable ou each other, and can be dis- 

 located at will, much enlarging the throat to give passage to 

 the food. After this is swallowed tliey are drawn hack into 

 position by contraction of the elastic ligaments which hold 

 them together. When tbe operation is completed a greater 

 or less tune must be allowed for these overstrained musch s 

 and ligaments to recover their tone and contract. During 

 this time it is reas mable to suppose that the snake would — 

 just as in ordinary cases of fatigue — be disp >sed to be still, 

 ami to gome extent, probably be incapable of exertion. 



4. The usual number of young produced at a birth by the 

 rattlesnake is v«-ry probably from six to twelve as stated but 

 it has been known to be as high as fifteen on oue occasion in 

 the Philadelphia Zoological Garden. 



5. The geutratiza ion that all harmless snakes lay eggs, 

 and all poisonous ones do not is uns aiod. The young of the 

 rat tie-make, as slated by your correspondent, and probably 

 all of the North American venomous serpents are produced 

 alive, but so also are ihe young of many of our harmless spe- 

 cies, as .n the familiar cases of the uarler snakes and coin- 

 water Snakes. The bringing iuto the world of young 



on oviparous or viviparous principles really does not seem to 

 be a matter of vital importance in the economy < f the animal, 



i it can frequently be influenced to some extent by ariificiai 



mdi lions. 



6. The reason given for the quietude of snakes at night in 

 t his latitude is probably ro-rect— viz., the chill of the eight 

 air and the dew on the ground, but in this quietude reptiles— 

 if indeed it be general among them — differ from most ani- 

 mals instead of agreeing with them. The great proportion 

 of wild animals seem to be nocturnal in hab t, notably all 

 i hose, both birds and animals, of a carniverous and there- 

 fore predacious nature. 



7. Tbe development of the rattles differs somewhat from the 

 manner staled. The snake is born with a small knob at the 



aid of the tail, which becomes the button of the forthcoming 

 ratt'e. At the end of ahout six weeks — depending much 

 upon the time when ihe first fo 'd is taken — the young snake 

 sheds its skin and one ra t e is then added, and subsequently, 

 as a general rule, through lif>', oue new ra'lle is formed 

 whenever the skin is shed, but this is exceedingly irregular; 

 the snake some imes sheds three or four times iu the c >urse 

 of a year: sometimes two or three rat' les are produced at 

 once, and occasionally none at a'l, also rattles are frequently 

 lost by accident from the end of the tail — i. e., end of the 

 rattle— which are never reproduced, as the new g owth is ■ I 

 the base. It is thus readily seen, that while under n-rmal 

 conditions there is a general relation between the number of 

 rattles and the age of the snake, it is much too uncertain to 

 afford any correct indication of the latter. 



What a nest of strange notions is that part of the human 

 brain which may be supposed to he devoted to snakes. All 

 men are prone to misrepresentation and superstition in their 

 regard. Everywhere their graceful, gliding m "lions aud 

 their colors — often as striking and brilliant as Nature can 

 paint — are Poked on with aversion and f ar. Hardly a re- 

 ligion of ancient or modern times, be it classed as mythology 

 or theology, in which the serpent is not recognized either as 

 an object to be feared and therefore to be propitiated hy wor- 

 ship, or to be feared and therefore hated as the incarnation 

 of evil. Probably few realers of Forest and Siream has 

 ever had their attention drawn to 'ho fact that in all thebrute 

 creation, the monkey alone— "that rough sketch of man''— 

 rIiows his sentiments in this respect, and that universally in 

 the animals of that oner, so far as inarticu ate sounds and 

 the language of gesture can make plain, horror, aversion 

 and fear mingled with an invincible curiosity are found, 

 just as the same feelings are displayed under the highest dej 

 volopment of al) Nature's forms, 



