lf immediately. He was standing in front
of the grate. Taking a package of "fine-cut" from his pocket, and
removing from his mouth an immense quid which he threw into the grate,
he replaced it with a fresh wad and, looking at me, said, "Do you know
who I am? Whom do you look upon as your superiors?"

Instantly, but very quietly, I replied, "I believe you are the Honorable
James M. Mason, Confederate States Commissioner to England."

"Yes," he replied, "and in a very few days I shall be Minister of the
Confederate States to the Court of St. James." It was when England,
France and Spain were on the point of acknowledging the Confederate
States of America as a nation.

I then said, "I acknowledge no superior on this side of the ocean; in
America the Secretary of War and all officers senior to me are my
superiors, and especially Col. Gorgas, from whom I receive my orders.
Not only on general principles can I take no orders from you, but I have
an order sent me after the battle of Bull Run, giving me _carte
blanche_, and directing me not to allow myself to be governed by
political emissaries of the Government. Now, if you are not a political
emissary of the Government I don't know what you are."

There was no possible answer to this defining of our relative positions
and there was no more controversy. The dispute lasted some time, but I
have related enough to answer my purpose.

The order to which I referred was sewed into the sole of a boot, the
wearer of which, a German by birth, made the journey from Richmond to
London by way of New York. On arriving in London the order was removed
from its hiding place by cutting the stitches of the sole. The incident
serves to show the impossibility of preventing secret correspondence in
time of war.

Another incident of the same character may be mentioned. The first
vessel to run the blockade from England was the "Fingal," Commander
James D. Bulloch. It was necessary to send to Savannah, the port for
which Commander Bulloch intended to strike, a set of signals in advance.
These were secreted by removing the wrapper of a well-made cigar and
carefully replacing it, after rolling the paper containing the signals
upon its body. I myself did this bit of cigar work. On arriving off
Savannah, Commander Bulloch displayed his signals, which were
immediately answered, and he piloted his ship into the harbor with which
he was familiar. So long as the War Department depended entirely on its