attention of both. Me and him hunting in couples as it were.

"That's how it come about that one time, there being a bit of spying to
be done, me and Jim finds ourselves in rebel uniforms, waiting and
listening beside a camp-fire outside the rebel Gineral's tent, using our
ears and our eyes too. When up rides Gineral Stuart, who used to be my
commanding officer in the old days before he turnt reb, when he was in
the regular army.

"My! but I was in a terrible taking, for Stuart had a gredge agin me for
somepin I'd done. I'll tell ye about that another day. 'T warn't me was
to blame. But if he onct caught sight of me, it would be short shrift at
the end of the rope.

"So Jim and me begins edging away, until we could get a gait on without
being noticed; and get away we did, and into the woods where our own
clothes were hid; made the change and was getting back to our own
quarters, happy as larks to be on the home road; laughing to think how
near we'd been to Gineral Stuart, without his knowing it; and patting
ourselves on the back at how neatly we'd done the trick, when Jim looks
up and says, 'Hey, Tom, look at them persimmons,' Sure enough, there was
a tree full of the nicest ripe persimmons you ever see, right in
our way.

"Now our rations hadn't been any too full lately and we were pretty nigh
hungry all the time.

"'Tom,' he says, 'I uster be the best tree-climber in the county. I
gotter get me some of those,'