he
contents of his purse, and requesting him to wait till he could go home,
soon returned with a full suit of clothes.

We had reliable information to the effect that the garrison at Johnson's
Island was small, and that the United States sloop of war Michigan was
anchored off the island as an additional guard. If the sloop of war
could be carried by boarding, and her guns turned upon the garrison, the
rest would be easy of accomplishment; and there appeared to be no
obstacle to the seizure of as many vessels in Sandusky harbor, as might
be required for purposes of transportation. They were to be towed over
to the Canada shore, about twenty-five miles distant. There were several
difficulties to be overcome; the chief one being how to notify the
prisoners of the attempt about to be made. This was accomplished after
several visits to Baltimore and Washington, by the brave and devoted
Mrs. M. and her daughter; and finally the wife of General ---- obtained
permission from the authorities at Washington, to visit her husband,
then a prisoner on Johnson's Island. Although the interview between them
was brief, and in the presence of witnesses, she contrived to place in
his hand a slip of paper, which informed him that our progress would
appear in the New York Herald's "Personals" over certain initials, and
so disguised as to be intelligible only to those who were initiated.
Next, it was important to know the exact condition of affairs in
Sandusky, up to the time of our departure from Canada; and this was
effected through the agency of a gallant gentleman, a retired British
army officer, who went over to Sandusky upon the pretext of duck
shooting, and who by a pre-arranged vocabulary, conveyed daily
intelligence to us up to the time of our departure from Montreal.
Everything progressed favorably, until we began to make final
preparations for departure. Colonel K., who knew personally the manager
of an English line of steamers upon the lakes, and confided in the
integrity of the man, recommended him as most competent to give valuable
information; and to him, under the seal of confidence, I applied. The
only interview between us, (and in the presence of Colonel K.) was
brief, and the object of the expedition was not divulged to him; nor was
it intimated to him that any hostile act was contemplated; but he
probably drew the inference. His replies to my questions were so
unsatisfactory that I never saw him again, having recourse to o