considerable amount of brogue, and a set of Irish phrases, which did much toward characterizing me as one of the " rale ould stock of bog-trotters."
The bridges were not finished across the Chickahominy when I w^as ready to cross the river, so I packed up my new disguise in my cake and pie basket, and my horse, " Frank," and I took a bath m the cool water of the Chickahominy. After swimming my noble steed across the river, I dismounted, and led him to the edge of the water—gave him a farewell pat, and let him swim back again to the other side, where a soldier awaited his return. It was now evening ; I did not know the precise distance to the enemy's picket line, but thought it best to avoid the roads, and consequently I must spend the night in the swamp, as the only safe retreat. It required some little time to don my new disguise, and feel at home in the clothes. I thought the best place for my debut was the "Chickahominy swamp." I did not purpose, this time, to pass the enemy's lines in the night, but to present myself at the picket line, at a seasonable hour, and ask admission as one of the fugitives of that section flying from the approach of the Yankees, which was a usual thing.
In crossing the river I had my basket strapped on my back, and did not know that all it contained w^as completely drenched, until I required to use its contents. It was, therefore, with feelings of dread and disappointment that I discovered this
