me,
though he gave no sign of having done so. As more troops passed, men
began leaving their companies and rushing toward the house. I walked
out and ordered them away in the name of the general. They all knew who
I was, and obeyed, much to the astonishment of the old lady and her
daughter.

Turning to my hostess, I said:

"Madam, I can't keep them out of your chicken-house or your smoke-house
or your storerooms, but I can keep them out of your home, and I will."

I remained on the porch till the entire command had passed. Nothing was
molested. Much pleased, but still puzzled, the old lady was now
convinced that I was no Tennessee lad, but a sure-enough Yankee, and
one with a remarkable amount of influence. When I asked for a little
something to eat in return for what I had done, the best there was in
the house was spread before me.

My hostess urged me to eat as speedily as possible, and be on my way.
Her men folks, she said, would soon return from the timber, and if they
learned that I was a Yank would shoot me on the spot. As she was
speaking the back door was pushed open and three men rushed in. The old
lady leaped between them and me.

"Don't shoot him!" she cried. "He has protected our property and our
lives." But the men had no murderous intentions.

"Give him all he wants to eat," said the eldest, "and we will see that
he gets back to the Yankee lines in safety. We saw him from the
treetops turn away the Yanks as he stood on the porch."

While I finished my meal they put all manner of questions to me, being
specially impressed that a boy so young could have kept a great army
from foraging so richly stocked a plantation. I told them that I was a
Union scout, and that I had saved their property on my own
responsibility.

"I knew you would be back here," I said. "But I was sure you wouldn't
shoot me when you learned what I had done."

"You bet your life we won't!" they said heartily.

After dinner I was stocked Tip with all the provisions I wanted, and
given a fine bottle of peach brandy, the product of the plantation.
Then the men of the place escorted me to the rear-guard of the command,
which I lost no time in joining. When I overtook the general and
presented him with the peach brandy, he said gruffly:

"I hear you kept all the men from foraging on that plantation back
yonder."

"Yes, sir," I said. "An old lady and her two daughters were alone
there. My mother had suffered from raids of hostile