WAR
it to me. "Give him your ammunition, Gross," he says to the man, and he emptied a double handful of brass cartridges into my hands.
"Now," said the officer, "I believe in you, though you and your sons are under suspicion. Prove your loyalty to the Union by keeping up a patrol of this vicinity. There's a spy near you. Mallory. He must be caught. You can catch him. He won't be on guard for you. If you meet any strangers—or even not strangers—who can not give an account of themselves, take them into custody. I am authorized to deputize you a provost marshal of the United States. If any one resists or will not stand, fire upon him."
"By the Lord, I will!" says I, hot.
"You so swear?" says the officer. "Hold up your right hand."
I did it.
"But there is a suspicious circumstance affecting you and your sons. Why aren't some of you in the Union army if you are loyal?"
"Well," I says, kind of humble, "that's so,
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