in the morning, and, after I had gone twenty-five miles, I came to the
farm of William McGee, a brother of the madam, and stopped to change
horses. I found that William McGee was going, in the morning, down to
old Master Jack's; so I took one of their horses, leaving mine to use in
its place, went right to Fryer's Point, delivered the letters to a man
there to carry to Helena, and got back to William McGee's farm that
night. I made up my mind to go with William down to Panola, where madam
was, to tell her about Boss being captured. The next morning, he
started, and Gibson, his overseer and myself accompanied him. He
questioned me about the capture of Boss, what the soldiers had done,
etc., and I told him all I knew of the matter. "Well, Lou," he said,
"why did you not bring us some whisky?" "I did bring a little with me,"
I said. He laughed, saying: "Oh, well, when we come to some clear water
we will stop and have a drink." Then I said: "Mr. Smith will look for me
to-night, but he wont see me. I am going to tell the madam that Boss is
captured." "Hey, ho!" he said, "then you are running away." I replied:
"Well I know Miss Sarah don't know Boss is in prison." We traveled on,
all three of us, stopping at intervals to be refreshed. After two days,
we arrived at Panola. Our journey was a tedious one. The streams were so
swollen in places that we could hardly pass. The Tallehatchie we had to
swim, and one of the men came near losing his horse and his life. The
horses became tangled in a prep vine, as we were nearing the shore at
which we aimed, and, the current being very swift, we were carried
below the landing place; but, finally, we got safely ashore, McGee
landing, and we following. Reaching Panola, wet and weary, I conveyed to
madam the story of her husband's capture and imprisonment, a rumor of
which had already reached her.

The next morning was Christmas, and a number of the family had come to
spend it together. They had heard that McGee was captured and in prison;