A Little Union Scout

e the more precious they were in her eyes. Among other things she found an old scrap-book that her mother and I thought was safe under lock and key. She sat in a sunny place and read it page b

of them said that if there were more such men in the army the cause of the Union would progress more rapidly; whereas the Southern papers, though p

who had been a Confederate soldier? This idea no sooner took shape than she became insistently inquisitive. As for her father, the very sight of the

the smiling features of Harry Herndon, my life-long friend and comrade, the handsome face of Jack Bledsoe, one of our college mates from Missouri, and the beau

d the course, and the orders came from one whom we had never dared to disobey-Harry's grandmother. And then, when we were ready to go, she cut in ahead of our pl

eral Maury and were most courteously received. The Virginia Herndons-Harry belonged to the Maryland branch-were related to him-and he liked the name. We caught

d to the command of General Forrest, who was sadly in need of men. As it happened, we had little difficulty in finding our man. We had heard that he was in the neighborhood of Chattanooga, giving his men and horses a much-needed rest; but on the way news came to us that, i

eneral Forrest's movement to the neighborhood of Chattanooga for a retreat; for, shortly after he moved in that direction, an ambitious Federal officer asked and received permission to enter Northern Alabama with a force large enough to worry the Confederate l

give it his attention. Within a very short time he had followed and overtaken it, passing it on a road that lay parallel to its line of march. Then it was that the Federal commander began to hear

y would witness the rout and capture of the Confederate who had for so long harassed the Federals in Tennessee. As he came to the hill he passed within a few hundred yards of For

rom the south. It happened also that we were following the road leading through the valley to the left of the hill on which the opposing forc

We had proceeded not more than a hundred yards along the road within the compass of the valley when a six-pounder broke the silence

we-all, when we ain't done a blessed thing? When it come ter dat, we ain't ez much ez speaken ter um, an' here dey come,

e guard of the Federal commander collided with Forrest's famous escort. We had no idea of the result of the collision, or that there had been a collision. We had paused to make sure of our position and whereabout

se forward, and we followed right at his heels. In a moment we saw him leap from his horse and throw the bridle-reins to a troo

with a coldly critical eye, but gave us no greeting. He replaced the watch in his pocket and waved his hand to a bugler who was standing expectantly by his

you than the babe at its mother's breast. I could only catch glimpses of the fighting through the smoke, and though I was as close to General Forrest as any of his men

an Indian's when in perfect repose, was now inflamed with passion and almost purple. The veins on his neck stood out as though they were on the point of bursting, and h

rate effort on the extreme right. "He's tryin' to git away!" yelled Forrest in a voice that could be heard all over the field. "Tell

led Forrest in a voice that co

e in front of us, and presently I could see them running o