came from Foster's only the day before. That's where the attack was
to have been made."

"Why wasn't it made?"

"_I_ don't know. Some think it was because you came in, and were
_expected out_ that way."

"Oh! That accounts for your being so late! You think we are spies, sent
in to survey, and report on the route?"

"No, I do not. I think you are honest men, and I've _said so_."

And I have no doubt it was because he "said so" that we got out of
Richmond.

By this time we had reached a dingy brick building, from one corner of
which protruded a small sign, bearing, in black letters on a white
ground, the words,--

LIBBY AND SON,

_SHIP-CHANDLERS AND GROCERS._

It was three stories high, and, I was told, eighty feet in width and a
hundred and ten in depth. In front, the first story was on a level with
the street, allowing space for a tier of dungeons under the sidewalk;
but in the rear the land sloped away till the basement-floor rose
above-ground. Its unpainted walls were scorched to a rusty brown, and
its sunken doors and low windows, filled here and there with a dusky
pane, were cobwebbed and weather-stained, giving the whole building a
most uninviting and desolate appearance. A flaxen-haired boy, in ragged
"butternuts" and a Union cap, and an old man, in gray regimentals, with
a bent body and a limping gait, were pacing to and fro before it, with
muskets on their shoulders; but no other soldiers were in sight.

"If Ben Butler knew that Richmond was defended by only such men, how
long would it be before he took it?" I said, turning to the Judge.

"Several years. When these men give out, our women will fall in. Let
Butler try it!"

Opening a door at the right, he led us into a large, high-studded
apartment, with a bare floor, and greasy brown walls hung round with
battle-scenes and cheap lithographs of the Rebel leaders. Several
officers in "Secession gray" were lounging about this room, and one of
them, a short, slightly-built, youthful-looking man, rose as we entered,
and, in a half-pompous, half-obsequious way, said to Judge Ould,--

"Ah! Colonel Ould, I am very glad to see you."

The Judge returned the greeting with a stateliness that was in striking
contrast with his usual frank and cordial manner, and then introduced
the officer to us as "Major Turner, Keeper of the Libby." I had heard of
him, and it was with some reluctance that I took his proffered hand.
However, I did take it, and at t