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188 finally I succeeded in persuading him of the impropriety of such a course, although he yielded very unwillingly. He then wanted to go and make a night of it somewhere; and on my refusing, started off by himself, I being unable to induce him to go home and get in bed. I did, however, talk him into letting me take charge of his money, with the exception of his small change, and on the plea that I had promised to meet a friend at the hotel, contrived to get away from him. I disliked very much to let Phil go off by himself in the condition he was in, but as he was just enough under the influence of what he had imbibed to be troublesome, and was bent upon having what he called, some fun, my own safety demanded that I should leave him. My New Orleans experience had been a severe one, and it was much too fresh in my memory for me to be willing to run any unnecessary risks of being arrested on similar charges in Memphis, especially as I felt certain that it would not be so easy to get out of the clutches of the authorities a second time, while my future prospects would, in all probability, be irreparably damaged. So, cautioning my friend to take good care of himself, I went back to the hotel as fast as I could, and was soon asleep. The next morning Phil came around to the hotel to claim his money, which amounted to over two thousand dollars in Confederate bills. He did not look as fresh as he might have done if he had followed the good advice I gave him the night before, was in a somewhat repentent mood, and, as people when feeling rather badly through their own indiscretion are apt to feel, he was very confidential about a variety of private affairs. During our conversation that morning, he told me any number of his secrets, and especially gave me to under stand that matters were not going as well as could be wished between him and his lady-love. I had a fancy that the young lady was, perhaps, offended at something he had said or done while a little under the influence of liquor, and tried to console him and to encourage him, by offering to aid him in anyway I could towards straightening matters out. I little suspected what the real difficulty was, or I, perhaps, would not have been so ready in offering my assistance. Alas, poor Phil! his affections were bestowed in the wrong direction, but he lived in hope that things would finally shape them-