country, a man of obscure origin, a member of a very
humble calling, prior to entering the army, and yet possessing the
personal appearance and manners of a man of distinction. He really
belonged to that terribly maligned craft of whose followers it is
popularly said, "It takes nine to make a man,"--he was a tailor. Upon
this fact some of the little wits of the prison, forgetting that one of
the bravest of Napoleon's generals, and one of the most intrepid of
America's sons, had each followed the same occupation, were in the habit
of jokingly asking him to repair their old and dilapidated clothes.

When this jest was first indulged in, those who knew the undaunted
spirit and somewhat irascible temper of the major, expected to hear him
blaze out upon the perpetrator of the _mauvaise plaisantrie_, or
possibly knock him down. To their surprise, however, he did neither. For
a single moment a gleam of passionate wrath shot up in his eyes, but it
was instantly suppressed, and he joined in the laugh against himself.
Seeing, however, that the victim of the joke did not appear at all
disturbed or hurt, other, better-natured fellows followed in the wake,
and the jest of asking the major to patch a pair of breeches or mend a
coat, became somewhat threadbare by repetition.

It happened, however, that one day the rebel surgeon accidentally tore
his coat across the breast, and turning to Major H. said, he would give
him a bottle of wine if he would repair it. "Yes, sir," said the major,
"if you will furnish me with a needle, thread, and a few other
indispensables, I will take the whole suit and make it look very
different." He added, "the fact is, I would rather do anything than rust
in idleness in this d----d prison." Finding that he spoke seriously, and
as if it were an ordinary business, the Confederate sawbones, who had a
lively appreciation of Yankee handicraft, accepted the offer, and all
next day the major was hard at work clipping and scouring and pressing
the surgeon's uniform, every now and then the owner thereof passing by
and smiling approval; and it was remarked that his face wore that
complacent expression common to all good men when they have furnished
employment for idle hands--and it is not going to cost them anything.

The same evening, however, when the work, so neatly done, was finished,
the major very quietly slipped it upon his own dignified person, and
taking with him a fellow-prisoner as "hospital steward," co