t might contain among
his fellow-sufferers; but greatest of all in importance was the receipt
of a letter from HOME. Even when surrounded by all the incidents of home
life, the postman is ever a welcome visitor; but in the midst of such a
dreary captivity as these men were undergoing, a letter from _home_ was
like a message from heaven.

Their correspondence had, however, its sad as well as its cheerful
aspect. The prisoners were restricted in writing their letters to six
lines, by an arbitrary order from Major Turner, and much ingenuity was
exercised in the effort to crowd into these six lines the thousand and
one messages which many of the writers desired to send to mothers,
wives, sisters and sweethearts. Here is a genuine specimen of a
"regulation" letter from a fond husband to the wife of his bosom:

My Dear Wife: Yours received--no hope of exchange--send
corn-starch--want socks--no money--rheumatism in left
shoulder--pickles very good--send sausages--God bless you--Kiss the
baby--Hail Columbia! Your devoted husband,

A. D. S.

But the "rule of six" was successfully evaded for a considerable time,
by the manufacture and use of invisible ink. The trick was however at
last discovered, and the way in which Glazier tells the story is so
amusing, that we are tempted to give it in his own words:

"A certain captain writing to a fair and undoubtedly dear friend, could
not brook the idea of being limited to six lines, when he had so much to
communicate; so resorting to the use of invisible ink, he comfortably
filled the sheet with 'soft and winning words,' and then fearing lest
his _inamorata_ would not discover the secret he added this postscript:

"'P.S.--Now, my dear, read this over, and then bake it in the oven and
read it again.'

"This was too much. The rebels thinking if the letter would improve by
baking it might be well to improve it at once, accordingly held it over
the fire. This brought to light four closely written pages of the
tenderest and most heart-rending sentiment."

Ever after all letters sent out by the prisoners were carefully
inspected and subjected to the "ordeal by fire," so that, to use the
expressive language of an old soldier, "that game was played."

Among Glazier's fellow-prisoners at this time was a certain Major
Halsted. He was one of those social anomalies that are not infrequently
met with in this