elling jewelry, etc.

Now I suppose the reader would like to know where the capital came from
with which to commence business; for goods must be bought before they are
sold, and as I have before stated, I had sold even the buttons off my
uniform, in order to supply myself with food to satisfy my hunger.

Well, I happened to be talking one day with Captain Albert Thomas, 24th
New York Cavalry, who has now a studio in Syracuse, N. Y., and he showed
me a gold pen and silver case, that he had been trying to sell, without
success. He was entirely out of money, having some days before used the
last cent of a one hundred dollar bill, which he had most ingeniously
secreted upon his person, when stripped and searched at Libby prison,
upon his entrance into that notorious rebel prison hell, presided over by
the equally notorious Dick Turner. He said he had offered the whole thing
for fifteen dollars in Confederate money, but said he, while some folks
can sell any worthless article, I can never sell anything.

I told him to let me take it, and I would either return him his pencil or
bring him fifteen dollars within half an hour. He gave me the pencil, and
I went down stairs to interview the guard. It would not do to approach him
and offer to sell, as he might assert his authority by trading me a
Confederate bullet instead of scrip, and I was not hankering after rebel
lead just then. So I walked up and down the floor near him, holding the
pencil in my hand so that he could get a good view of it. After a while,
looking around to assure himself that no Confederate officer was near, he
asked in a low tone, "what d'ye ask for it?"

This gave me an opportunity to speak, and I answered as cautiously,
"Twenty-five dollars." "Let me take it; I'll give it back in a minute." I
walked up and handed it to him and stepped back, while he paced up and
down examining it carefully. Finally counting out the amount, he beckoned
me to come to him, and handed me the money. Of course, I was perfectly
safe in allowing him to examine the pencil; for if he had refused to
return or pay for it, I could have had him severely punished for
disobedience of orders, in allowing a prisoner to approach and converse
with him.

Within twenty minutes from the time I took the pen and case, I returned to
Captain Thomas with the fifteen dollars, and had made ten dollars for
myself. This ten dollars I immediately invested in a similar pencil, and
immediately sold it to