will, in giving it a bumper." He filled the glass of each guest-now prisoner-and gave one also to each of the soldiers, in his left hand-his right still holding the ready revolver; then, doing the same by us, he rose, and we followed his example.

"I drink," said he, "to the health of my friend, the Captain, here present, and to the success of our sacred cause!" and he drained the glass. Of course, we did likewise; the Captain, however, not exactly knowing whether to feel complimented or not. 66 I gave him one, when I stopped his speech, at all events," muttered he in my ear.

The rebel guests sat silent, and touched not their glasses. "What!" cried Bead, "you refuse to do honor to such a toast! Upon my soul, I pity you !"

"Is it not enough to break into a private house like a burglar?" cried one of the rebels, suddenly—“ but you must insult us with ribald scoffs."

Bead's brow darkened, but ere he could reply, or the other finish his sentence, Captain Buff anticipated one, and interrupted the other, by saying:

"Silence, sir! and Bead, for God's sake, let's be serious!" and he whispered something in the Lieutenant's ear.

"You are right, Captain !" said Bead. "Doctor, be good enough to take a couple of men, and escort these gentlemen of susceptible feelings to the boats; relieve the Sergeant as you pass him, and-hold! Smith, go and send Corporal Jukes to me; he's in the kitchen. Jukes, all safe in your

department?"

66

* * *

Quiet as lambs, sir. Only four of 'em: three women and the sleepy chap. They want to go back with us--at least 'sleepy' does; but there'll hardly be room, sir."

"We'll find room! Send in the Sergeant, and four men ; take the others with you, Doctor! We'll join you in half an hour or so, as soon as we have attended to a little business here, with our host."

I politely signified to the prisoners my readiness to wait on them. They rose doggedly, and in a few moments we left the house, and wended our way through the fog to the river side.

"What will be done with us, sir?" asked one of the prisoners of me, as he marched gloomily along by my side.

"Upon my word, I don't know. If you are officers in the regular Confederate army, you will be treated as prisoners of war; if you are guerrillas, I suppose-that is, I think it very likely

"Well, sir?"

"That you will be

hanged!"

He started aside, and in so doing nearly ran against the barrel of the revolver, in the hand of the soldier on his other flank.

This seemed to steady him, for he said, quickly, "We are commissioned officers, sir: and any outrage upon our persons will be followed by speedy and terrible retaliation!"

I made no reply, and in a few moments more we reached the boats, and found every thing all right.

IV.

Somewhat more than half an hour later, Lieutenant Bead and his party joined us.

Each of his men seemed laden with mysterious looking packages, and behind them came the "sleepy chap," as Jukes called him, with Sambo, both also bearing burdens. These, and the prisoners, safely stowed in the boats, we pushed off, and pulled stoutly up the river.

"I had a devil of a time with the bride," whispered Bead, in whose boat I now was. "She was resolved to go with her new-wedded lord. In fact, I had to threaten to shoot him on the spot, in order to bring her to reason."

"What have you got in all those bundles?"

"Contraband of war, my boy. Aid and comfort to the enemy."

"But what?"

"Well, firstly, half a dozen revolvers; ditto, sabres; two or three rifles and fowling-pieces; ditto

"I saw them. I mean the things wrapped up, and the boxes."

"Ah! Why, the old gentleman was so grateful that we did not cut his throat, and those of all his guests, male and female, as Yankees generally do, you know; nor set fire to his house and out-buildings, as perhaps we ought to have done, he being a 'noted malignant' that he forced on our acceptance-when I say forced, &c., I speak metaphorically, and with poetic license, you know-quite a large quantity of champagne, claret, and other costly wines, besides a store of delicious hams, of rice, and of other edibles, and even wished us to take a considerable sum in gold, which he had intended bestowing on his son-in-law, for recruiting the somewhat diminished ranks of his guerrilla legion, or for some other equally patriotic purpose." "But you did not take it, eh?"

"Certainly not! That is, we made an equitable exchange with him for the dross; giving him crisp, loyal, authentic greenbacks for his rebel bullion, dollar per dollar! It was magnanimous-it was even weak! Nay! it was almost criminal, perhaps! But his forlorn daughter's eyes were so soft and bright through her tears, and she called me an accursed Yankee robber' so sweetly, that I was melted almost to forgetfulness of my duty!"

"Bead, you are incorrigible!" I exclaimed, laughing, in spite of myself, at his mock heroics. "What did the Captain say?" "He! Why, it was he who suggested the idea. Didn't you see him whisper to me, just before I detached you to escort the rebels to the boat? Well, he said-'I think, Bead, you ought to search the premises for contraband of war; and our winecellar is very low, you know, just now.' And, of course, I took the hint."

"Is Captain Crow an officer in the regular line, or a guerrilla chief?"

"O! ne plus ultra guerrilla! Though, no doubt, he has a commission of some sort, which will save him from the 'Tristan L'hermite' of our division. And, to tell the truth, I shall really rejoice, for his bride's sake, if he has a safeguard of the kind. For, in spite of her peculiar style of complimenting my friends and myself, she was a real beauty. You sympathize with my sentiments, I fancy, Sir Lover, eh?"

*

It was nearly three o'clock when we landed within our own lines, and almost four, before I threw myself on my mattress, where slumber profound speedily descended upon me.

Having to leave for home, that same morning, however, I was afoot before seven, and while making a hasty toilet, Corporal Jukes was admitted, by special request, to an audience. He brought a small pile of sandwiches on a tin plate, and a bottle of Clicquot; also a neat pasteboard box, carefully tied.

"Lieutenant Bead's compliments, sir," said he, saluting with the bottle, "and ordered me to say that sandwich and champagne is excellent to travel on; also begs you will accept this little souvenir-I'm repeating the Lieutenant's own words, sir of last night, and hand it to your fair nam—namer—I didn't exactly catch that foreign word, sir; but it means the lady you

"I understand, Corporal: inamorata was the word, probably. Thank you! Give my compliments, and thanks also, to Lieutenant Bead. Hand me the box."

"I forgot to mention, sir," said Jukes, "that the Lieutenant told me to ask you, as a special favor, not to open the box tillthat is to present it just as it is to the lady."

"Ha! Perhaps it's an infernal machine! No matter. I'll humor him, and you may tell him, that, in case of the worst, I forgive him with my latest breath.'

The Corporal grinned, and departed.

V.

Upon my honor, it was really too bad! Bead was certainly a flinty-hearted and perfidious wretch, as the Captain asserted

so emphatically. "Or words to that effect." For-what do you think was the souvenir in the mysterious box?

Sympathizing, and about-to-become indignant reader; it was nothing more nor less than the Bridal- Wreath of Mrs. Captain Crow! C. D. G.

THE CAMPAIGN IN MISSOURI AGAINST PRICE.

THE invasion of Missouri by the rebel General Price, with the troops of his command, had been long predicted by Southern sympathizers of this State, and long expected by the various murderous bands of guerrillas and bushwhackers who infested its border districts. These bands of marauders grew more formidable and daring as the season advanced, their numbers being augmented by those disloyal citizens who were ready to hail Price as their deliverer, and who confidently looked forward to his permanent occupation of the State as soon as the crops should be harvested and the leaves should fall. The atrocities committed by these predatory bands during the season of expectancy, have never been equalled, even in the records of barbarous nations, and the blackest page in the history of this rebellion will set forth the massacres and outrages committed by these bush-ranging fiends. Price, the deliverer of Missouri, as he delighted to call himself, and to be called, crossed the State line from Arkansas via Pocahontas, and Poplar Bluff, about the 15th of September. His force, according to our best information, consisted of about fifteen thousand men, nearly all mounted, and eighteen pieces of artillery. This force was divided into three divisions, commanded respectively by MajorGenerals Shelby, Marmaduke, and Fagan. From Poplar Bluff, Price advanced, via Bloomfield, to Pilot Knob, driving before him the various outpost garrisons, and threatening Cape Girardeau. His advance was slow, from the fact that he stopped to plunder the towns, and conscript the citizens along his line of march. He seemed especially anxious to procure horses to mount such of his command as were on foot, and for this purpose had foraging parties scouting the country in every direction; no animal capable of bearing a saddle escaped their rapacity.

There were troops enough and to spare within the State to have whipped this boastful invader on its southern border, but had they been concentrated there, the fairest portions of the department would have been left to the tender mercies of such outlaws as Bill Anderson, Todd, Thrailkill, and other notorious guerrillas. Price, therefore, advanced without opposition to his attack on Pilot Knob, to which point the gallant General Ewing had been previously sent. This point was partially for

tified, and garrisoned by a trifle less than one thousand men. On the morning of the 26th, the attack on the town commenced, and for several hours the battle raged fiercely outside the works. The fighting continued for two days, Ewing finally retiring to the fortifications, and defending them most pertinaciously, notwithstanding the rebels assaulted him several times. in force. Finding that the works could not be carried by assault, the rebels planted their artillery upon a commanding hill, and would have soon compelled the stubborn garrison to surrender had not night fallen upon them. Seeing that his position was untenable, Ewing resolved to evacuate the place. Accordingly, about three o'clock A. M. of the 28th, the small band of Federals marched out of the fortifications, taking the road towards Harrison, on the southwest branch of the Pacific Railroad. Although the enemy had troops on all sides of the town, Ewing's retreat was not discovered by them until the explosion of a magazine in the fort, which occurred some time after his departure, and when he was well on his way to Harrison. Pursuit was immediately commenced, and for two or three days the Federals were sorely pressed and compelled to fight for every mile they made in their retreat. A small force of cavalry, sent out from Rolla, met Ewing's forces at Harrison, and with them Ewing continued to retreat to Rolla, where he arrived safely on the 1st of October with upwards of eight hundred of his men.

During the attack on Pilot Knob, and the subsequent five days, the rebel loss amounted to about five hundred, exceeding ours by more than three hundred men, which fact may be attributed to the over-confidence of the rebels, who thought they had but to threaten the place to secure it.

From Pilot Knob one division of the enemy marched to Franklin, on the Pacific Railroad, where they burned the depot, and were engaged in plundering the town when a small brigade of General A. J. Smith's Infantry marched in on the double quick, and speedily put the pillagers to rout.

The enemy was unmolested for several days following this, during which time he marched toward the Missouri River, reaching that stream at a point a little below Hermann, with his left extending toward Jefferson City, the capital of the State, which place he seemed determined to occupy. Our commanders and troops were not idle meantime, although the unusually low stage of water in the Missouri River rendered the transportation of troops a slow and tedious task. This fact alone may be said. to have protracted the Missouri campaign at least two weeks, inasmuch as the rebels had destroyed the railroad so effectually that troops and supplies had to be transported by water, and no headway could be made with any boat drawing over twenty-six inches of water. However, the cavalry from the various districts