g to the negro cabin
farthest from her dwelling, I succeeded, after a long time, in getting
"Uncle" Mose to venture out of his door. He said he thought the Yankees
were all gone, but to wait till he crept up to the house and let "Ole
Miss" know I was about. He reported the way clear, and I was soon in the
side porch. After the inmates were satisfied as to my identity, the door
was opened just enough for me to squeeze through. The family, consisting
of females, including the overseer's wife, who had come for protection,
quietly collected in the sitting-room, where a tallow candle, placed not
to attract attention from outside, shed a dim light over my ghostlike
companions clad in their night-dresses. The younger ladies were almost
hysterical, and all looked as if they had passed through a fearful storm
at sea, as various experiences were recounted. The house had been
ransacked from garret to cellar, and what could not be devoured or
carried off was scattered about, and such things as sugar, vinegar,
flour, salt, etc., conglomerately mixed. The only food that escaped was
what the negroes had in their cabins, and this they freely divided with
the whites.

The next day I concealed myself and horse in the woods, and was lying
half-asleep when I heard footsteps stealthily approaching through the
leaves. Presently a half-grown negro, carrying a small basket, stumbled
almost on me. He drew back, startled at my question, "What do you want?"
and replied, "Nothin'; I jus' gwine take 'Uncle' Mose he dinner. He
workin' in de fiel' over yander." My dinner was to be sent by a boy
named Phil, so I said, "Is that you, Phil?" "Lordy! Is that you, Marse
Eddie? I thought you was a Yankee! Yas, dis is me, and here's yer dinner
I done brung yer." Phil, who belonged to my aunt, had run off several
weeks before, but of his own accord had returned the preceding day, and
this was our first meeting.

As Hunter's army was still threatening Lynchburg, to avoid the
scouting-parties scouring the country in his rear I set out on Sunday
morning to make my way back to Lexington by Peteet's Gap. I was scarcely
out of sight--in fact one of my cousins, as I learned afterward, ran to
the porch to assure herself that I was gone--when twenty-five or thirty
Federal cavalry, accompanied by a large, black dog, and guided by one of
my aunt's negroes armed and dressed in Federal uniform, galloped into
the yard and searched the house for "rebel soldiers." Passing t