Page:The woman in battle .djvu/79

Rh and it's just as good for him. If he don't begin to drink strong stuff, he'll never want to."

"That's so," said the major; "hard drinking is a bad habit, and I wish sometimes I hadn't acquired it ; but when a fellow 's in camp, and cut off from civilization, he is apt to take more than is good for him; and when he once gets a start in that way, it is hard to stop." Then turning to me, he said, " What part of the country do you come from?"

"He has just returned from the North," put in my friend.

"Ah, indeed!" said the major. "To what command are you attached, sir?"

"To none, as yet," I replied.

Said my friend, " He is a West-Pointer, and has made up his mind to do some fighting for the South."

"The devil he is!" remarked the major, shaking me heartily by the hand; "I am glad to find him on the right side. This is the kind of fellow we want, and, with a few more of the same sort, we will whip the Yankees inside of ninety days." . In a few moments a dozen or more men were gathered around, eagerly shaking my hand and plying me with all kinds of questions. They made such a decided demonstration, that I began to be a little frightened, but stood my ground valiantly, and replied to their queries the best I was able. Said one, "What do the Yankees think of us people down South?"

"Why," replied I, '< most persons say that there will be no fighting, and I do not think they want to fight if they can help it."

"We'll show them about the fighting," said another.

"Yes, lieutenant," said a third, "one Southerner can whip any ten they send down here, and will do it in thirty days at the farthest."

The major now asked, "What do you think about foreign intervention?"

This was something I had never given even a thought to; but I answered very boldly, and in a style that I thought would be appreciated by my auditors, "We don't want any