Page:The woman in battle .djvu/91

Rh to Arkansas for the purpose of recruiting a company for service in Virginia. He said that I would have no difficulty in get ting all the recruits I wanted, as the young fellows in those parts were every one eager to have a dash at the Yankees, and promised to aid me in every way possible.

The apartment in which the supper was served was about ten by twelve feet, and was used as a kitchen as well as dining and sleeping-room. Everything about it was dreadfully dirty, and the table at which we were eating, and the bench upon which Miss Sadie and myself were seated, were both so greasy that I was much afraid of seriously soiling my new clothes; and I do not doubt that my agitation on this subject was attributed by the yellow-calico clad damsel beside me to the close proximity in which I was placed to her. I ate heartily of the viands that were set before me, paying more attention, however, to the chicken than to the greasy bacon and cabbage, which latter, however, were eaten with great gusto by my entertainers. . Before the supper was over I had a terrible fright, and for a few moments fancied that I was on the brink of a discovery that would upset all my plans, and nip my enterprise in the bud. While drinking a glass of buttermilk, which I greatly enjoyed, for it was the best thing on the table, and was most refreshing, my mustache got full of the fluid, and when I at tempted to wipe this ornament, which my Memphis friend had so carefully glued upon my upper lip, and which added so much to the manliness of my countenance, I fancied that it was loose and was about to fall off. Here was a terrible situation, and I cannot undertake to describe what I felt. To say that I was frightened, scarcely gives an idea of the cold chills that ran down my back. The ridicule of my entertainers, and especially of Miss Sadie, was the least thing that I feared, and I would rather brave any number of perils at the cannon's mouth than to repeat the emotions of that dreadful moment. Such a situation as this is ludicrous enough, but it was not a bit funny for me at that time; and I was on pins and needles until I could get away, and take means to secure the mustache firmly on again. I managed, however, to keep a straight countenance, and to join in the conversation with a tolerable degree of equanimity, keeping my hand up to my mouth all the time though, and doing my best to hold the mustache