Page 131 - Among the camps, or, Young people's stories of the war

had been brought up with the horses ; each one was his pet
or his friend.

After that the war seemed to be much more about Jack's
home than it had been before. The place was in the posses­
sion first of one army and then of the other, and ar last, one
winter, the two armies lay not far apart, with Jackhs home
just between them. “ The Y ankeesJ* were the nearer.
Their pickets were actually on the plantation, at the ford,

and at the bridge over the little river Into which the creek
emptied, in the big woods. There they lay, with their camps
over behind the hills, a mile or two farther away. At night
the glow of their camp-fires could be seen. Jack had a
pretty aunt who used to stay with his mother, and many

young officers used to come over from the Confederate side
to see her. In such cases, they usually came at night, leav­
ing their horses, for scouting parties used to come In on
them occasionally and stir them up. Once or twice skir­
mishes took place in the fields beyond the creek.

One evening a party of young officers came in and took
supper. They had some great plan. They were quite mys­
terious, and consulted with jack's mother, who was greatly
interested in them. They appeared a little shy of talking

before Jack ; but when his mother said he had so much judg­
ment that he could be trusted, they talked openly in his pres­
ence. They had a plan to go into the Federal camp that
night and seize the commanding officer, They wanted to
know all the paths. Jack could tell them. He was so