she is very useful to me, and I want you
to get in with her. As soon as you read this I want Si to
give her that pair of horn combs I gave him. Do it at once.
Sincerely your friend,

"Levi Rosenbaum."

Si knit his brows in perplexity and wonderment over this strange
message. He looked at Shorty, but Shorty's face was as blank of
explanation as his own. He fumbled around in his blouse pocket, drew
forth the combs, and handed them to the woman. Her dull face lighted
up visibly. She examined the combs carefully, as if fitting them to a
description, and, reaching in her bosom, pulled out another letter and
handed it to Si.

When this was opened Si read:

"Dear Boys: Now you will understand the comb business. I
wanted to make sure that my letter reached the right men,
and the combs were the only things I could think of at the
moment. Mrs. B. will prize them, though she will never think
of using them, either on herself or one of her shock-headed
brats. I want you to play it on her as far as your
consciences will allow. Pretend that you are awful sick of
this Abolition war, and tired fighting for the nigger, and
all that stuff. Make her the happiest{184} woman in
Tennessee by giving her all the coffee you can spare. That
will fetch her quicker and surer than anything else. Like
most Southern women, she is a coffee-drinker first and a
rebel afterward, and if some preacher would tell her that
heaven is a place where she will get all the Yankee coffee
she can drink, she would go to church regularly for the rest
of her life. Tell her a lot of news--as much of it true as
you can and think best; as much of it otherwise as you can
invent. Follow her cautiously when she leaves camp. Don't
let her see you do so. You will find that she will lead you
to a nest of spies, and the place where all the whisky is
furnished to sell in camp. I write you thus freely because I
am certain that this will get in your hands. I know that
your regiment is out here, because I have been watching it
for a week, with reference to its being attacked. It won't
be for at least awhile, for there's another hen on. But make
up to the old lady as much as your consciences and stomachs
will allow you. It will be for the best interests of the
service.

"Sincerely your friend, Levi Rosenbaum."