was of divine
origin. It was said that he was a brother of the Stringfellow who became
so notorious during the Kansas troubles, as a leader of the "border
ruffians," who tried to force slavery into that territory, before the
breaking out of hostilities between the states. Living at home with this
Virginia doctor of divinity, was a married daughter, whose husband was
an officer in the confederate army. They were people of the old school,
cultured, refined, and hospitable, though hard put to it to show any
substantial evidences of their innate hospitality, on account of their
impoverished condition, which they seemed to feel keenly, but were too
proud to mention, except when driven to it by sheer necessity. The
federal cavalrymen were always welcome in that house and the officers in
many instances were very kind to them. Indeed, I suspect that more than
once they were spared the pangs of hunger by the thoughtful kindness of
officers who had found shelter in their home and had broken bread at
their table, only to suspect that the family larder had been stripped of
the last morsel, in order to keep up the reputation for Virginia
hospitality.

About five miles farther down the river, in a lonely spot, where a small
tributary of the Rapidan tumbled down a decline, was a water-power on
which was a rude sawmill, where a single old-fashioned "sash saw" chewed
its way lazily through hardwood logs. The mill was tended by its owner
who, with his wife, lived in a house hard by the mill, the only
occupants of the dwelling and the only inhabitants of the immediate
neighborhood. They led a lonely life, and when its monotony was broken
by the arrival of the officer of the day upon his tour of duty, extended
a quiet, but what appeared to be a not over cordial welcome. The man was
a dwarf. He was so low in stature that when he stood, his head came just
above the top of the dining room table. His diminutive stature was due
to a strange malformation. His legs looked as if they had been driven up
into his body, so that there was little left but the feet. Otherwise, he
was like another, with well formed head and trunk. His wife was a
comely lady both in form and in feature, rather above than below medium
height. Both were intelligent and well read, pleasant people to visit
with; but when this man, with the head and trunk of an adult, the
stature of a child and, to all intents and purposes, no legs at all,
toddled across the floor the effect