Page:The woman in battle .djvu/405

Rh he had a matter of serious business on hand, and, evidently with a different interest in me from what he had felt before, he inquired, with a rather severe and serious air, "Where are you from, madam?"

"I am from Holly Springs. A man there gave me these papers, and told me that if I would get them through he would pay me a hundred dollars."

"What kind of looking man was he, and where did he go after he left you?"

"I mustn't tell you that, sir; the man said not to tell any thing about him, except to the one these papers are for, and he would understand all about it."

"Well, madam, you will have to go with me to headquarters. When we get there I will see what can be done for you."

His relief came, not a great while after, and off we started for headquarters. As I had informed my new-made friend that I was hungry, having ridden for a considerable distance since very early in the morning, he stopped with me at a white house near the road, and sending the guard on, went in with me, and asked the woman, who appeared to be mistress of the establishment, to give me some breakfast. Quite a comfortable meal was soon in readiness, and while I was eating, the lieutenant busied himself in trying to ascertain something about the number and position of the Confederate troops. I told him that there seemed to be a large force of them near Holly Springs, but beyond that statement, which was, I believe, far from being the truth, I atn afraid he did not find me a very satisfactory witness. I am sure that such information as I did give him was not likely to be of very great use. After I had finished my breakfast, the lieutenant took me to Moscow, on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and here, for the first time, I was subjected to very serious annoyance, and first began to appreciate the fact that I was engaged in a particularly risky undertaking. The soldiers, seeing me coming into the town mounted on a ragged little pony, and under the escort of an officer, jumped at the conclusion that I was a spy, and commenced to gather round me in crowds.