said the captain; "I
will give you five hundred." "All right," said the "kunnel," who
evidently thought five hundred "dollars" a small matter of difference in
a "hoss swap," "strip your hoss." In the meantime I, with others, had
looked the horses over with considerable care and could see but little
difference in value between them; they were both very much alike--stout,
pony-built sorrels, and in Iowa would have sold for from $75 to $80 in
greenbacks.

Just at this time a rebel officer rode by on a beautiful little dapple
"dun" pony; he was pacing along at a fine rate, and called forth many
expressions of admiration. One of the officers remarked: "The kunnel got
a big bargain in that hoss; he done paid only $5000 for him." This horse
may have been worth $100 in greenbacks. I had never seen the relative
values of the two moneys so well illustrated before.

[Illustration: LIEUTENANT WALTER S. JOHNSON.]

CHAPTER IV.

BRIGHT SPOTS.

Lieut. Walter S. Johnson, of Company I, my regiment, now of Lincoln,
Neb., was captured with me, and was one of our number on the march from
Mark's Mills, Arkansas, the scene of our undoing, to Tyler, Texas. He
was afterwards one of my comrades in an attempt to escape. A couple of
his experiences are well worthy of record here, and, while one of them
occurred during our absence without leave from the stockade, it is
related in this chapter because neither incident came to my knowledge
until a recent date, and, both being illustrative of kind treatment
received, it seems right to place them in a chapter which may be said to
be Lieutenant Johnson's, especially as neither of them otherwise needs
particular location in my narrative.

The balance of this chapter is to be understood, without quotation
marks, as coming from my comrade:

After we had been on our weary march for a number of days, a man came
among the prisoners for the purpose of buying up all greenbacks that
were for sale. He did not need much help to carry off his purchases, as
we had been previously interviewed by others on the same subject, but
without the offer to give an equivalent or even the courtesy to ask
whether we had a superfluous quantity. This man, therefore, made a
favorable impression, and we became curious to learn his object. He was
a genteel, unassuming fellow, and spent two or three days with us,
talking to individuals as the opportunity offered. At last I asked him
why he was giving $5 of Confedera