may be that I am somewhat like Juliana in this respect.

The garden is very fine this year. The vegetables were never more
plentiful, and never of a finer quality. I wish you were here for your
share. It must be a trial to have to eat hard crackers and tough beef
and pork day after day. I should think that you would grow to hate
the sight of them. Sam, the colored man who has been with us so long,
has proved as faithful and trustworthy as Juliana. He makes a most
excellent farmer, and the yield of corn in the bottom land is going to
be amazing.

They say that since the Federal successes in the West the operations of
Skelly's band of guerrillas have become bolder, but he has not threatened
Pendleton again. They say also that a little farther south a band of
like character, who call themselves Southern, under a man named Slade,
are ravaging, but I suppose that you, who see great generals and great
armies daily, are not much concerned about outlaws.

Always keep your feet dry and warm if you can, and never fail to spread
a blanket between you and the damp grass. Give my respects to Colonel
Winchester. Tell him that we hear of him now and then in Kentucky and
that we hear only good. Don't forget about the blanket.

* * * *

There was more, but it was these passages over which Dick lingered
longest.

He read the letter three times--letters were rare in those years, and men
prized them highly--and put it away in his strongest pocket. Colonel