w responsibilities that were about to come to
me, and figuring on the salary. A hundred and fifty dollars a month!
It is cruel to raise the salary of a poor devil from thirteen dollars a
month to a hundred and fifty. I wondered how in the world the government
was ever going to get that much out of me. Certainly I couldn't do any
more than I had been doing towards crushing the rebellion for thirteen
dollars. And what would I do with so much money? In my wildest dreams of
promotion I had never hoped to be a commissioned officer. I had thought
sometimes, a week or two after I enlisted, that if I was a general I
could put down the rebellion so quick the government would have lots of
nations left on its hands to spoil, but a few months active service had
taken all that sort of nonsense out of me, and I had been contented as
a private. But here I was jumped over everybody, and made an officer
unbeknown to me, It made me dizzy. I was not very strong anyway, and
this thing had come upon me suddenly I was thinking of the magnificent
uniform I would have, and the fancy saddle and bridle, and the regular
officer's tent, with bottles of whiskey and glasses, when Jim asked me
if I wouldn't just hold that frying-pan of bacon over the fire, while
he cooked some coffee. He said we would just eat a little to settle our
stomachs, and then go out to Thanksgiving dinner.

"Thanksgiving dinner," I said. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't you know," said Jim, "to-day is Thanksgiving? The 'angel' told
me last night to bring you out to the plantation to-day, and I was going
after you at the hospital if you hadn't showed up. She has received a
letter from her brother, who is a rebel prisoner at Madison, and he says
a Yankee hotel-keeper at Madison, that you had written to, had called
at the pen where they were kept, and had brought him a lot of turkey and
fixings, and offered to send him a lot for Thanksgiving, so the rebel
boys could have a big feed, and he says he is well and happy, and going
to be exchanged soon. And she wants us to come out and eat turkey and
'possum. I had rather eat gray tom-cat than possum, but I told her we
would come. So we will eat a little bacon and bread, and ride out."

"Well, all right Jim," I said. "We will go, but in my weak state I can't
be expected to eat possum. If there is anything of that kind to be eat,
Jim, you will have to eat it. However, I will do anything the rebel
angel asks me to do," I added, r