Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 23.djvu/327

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rob my man Joe's bucket, and as he generally carried two (one for < .irly breakfast), he could spare a little. But, finally, the boys robbed him so systematically that he would hide one of his buckets under the tent-cloth, or in the bushes nearby. I don't think I ever heard the inquiry made, " Is the water good ? " if he had plenty of water, would get one of the boys to pour a little water upon his hands, which were wiped upon a dirty towel.
 * Before beginning to prepare his dough for making bread, the cook,

APPETITE WAS ALWAYS GOOD.

One of the glories of this housekeeping was that there was no complaint of want of appetite. Everything was good. The only trouble was about the quantity. I defy any man or woman to make two dozen biscuit, every one exactly the same size, and yet, if they were not, there was trouble in the mess. It was amusing to see how the cook eyed each one when in a plastic state, turning them around, eyeing their rotundity, thickness, etc. He was an artist. They \v< re, when done, generally put in little piles on the ground or on a bench, and viewed by the boarders with the keenest discrimination. There was much difficulty also in getting the piles exactly the same M/r, though with the same number of biscuit. In one of the messes it became a rule that the men would turn their backs upon the rows of biscuit and the cook would take a long stick and cry out: " Who will take this pile?" If Sergeant Jones said "I will," and turned around and found his pile not the biggest, he would exclaim in great disgust: "This is the smallest pile on the board." But there was generally no further complaint. The poor fellows were so hungry they could not delay to gratify their appetites. When the last man got his pile there was silence, and the scanty meal soon disappeared. It was rarely that the food was well chewed, but it was always quickly digested. There were no overloaded stomachs and there were no colics. One of my men, I will not call his name (a Richmond gen- tleman) lest I might offend him, would sometimes eat a dozen biscuit at a meal.

One night about 2 o'clock, while we camped very near the enemy's lines, not allowed to speak in loud tones or have any fire, some of the men went off to a neighboring house and got a woman to bake their biscuit. On this occasion I saw in the darkness on the side of the mountain a small group of moving objects, and presently I heard talking in low tones. I became uneasy, fearing the enemy was plan- 21