Page:War; or, What happens when one loves one's enemy, John Luther Long, 1913.djvu/28

WAR answers right away that I'm coming to get her, because she's ours now. But at Memphis they turned me back unless I'd take the oath of allegiance to a lot of foolish things, and if I waited long they'd, maybe, put me in jail, for safe-keeping, or improve my appearance with chicken feathers. Well, I helped to tar and feather a fellow once—Elick Schnatz. He didn't make much trouble, only asked several times to be excused. He was such a perfect gentleman about it that I tried to get him excused. But the boys said he was worthless and they hadn't had any fun for some time. However, they said, on account of me, they wouldn't put any tar in his hair. And Schnatz he thanked me for that.

"Because," he says, "I don't know as there's any kind of soap'll take tar out of hair without taking the hair out—and I'm fond of my hair. If you are ever tar-and-feathered, Vonner, I'll try and get your hair excused for you, anyhow," says he.

But Schnatz wasn't in Memphis at that 12