Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War | Page 9

and the surgeon got
him his discharge as unfit for service. He succeeded in reaching Annie,
and a few days of good care made him strong enough to travel back
home.
"I suppose, H., you've heard that Island No. 10 is gone?"
Yes, we had heard that much, but Max had the particulars, and an
exciting talk followed. At night H. said to me, "G., New Orleans will be
the next to go, you'll see, and I want to get there first; this stagnation
here will kill me."
April 28.--This evening has been very lovely, but full of a sad
disappointment. H. invited me to drive. As we turned homeward he
said:
"Well, my arrangements are completed. You can begin to pack your
trunks to-morrow, and I shall have a talk with Max."
Mr. R. and Annie were sitting on the gallery as I ran up the steps.
"Heard the news?" they cried.

"No. What news?"
"New Orleans is taken! All the boats have been run up the river to save
them. No more mails."
How little they knew what plans of ours this dashed away. But our
disappointment is truly an infinitesimal drop in the great waves of
triumph and despair surging to-night in thousands of hearts.
April 30.--The last two weeks have glided quietly away without
incident except the arrival of new neighbors--Dr. Y., his wife, two
children, and servants. That a professional man prospering in
Vicksburg should come now to settle in this retired place looks queer.
Max said:
"H., that man has come here to hide from the conscript officers. He has
brought no end of provisions, and is here for the war. He has chosen
well, for this county is so cleaned of men it won't pay to send the
conscript officers here."
Our stores are diminishing and cannot be replenished from without;
ingenuity and labor must evoke them. We have a fine garden in growth,
plenty of chickens, and hives of bees to furnish honey in lieu of sugar.
A good deal of salt meat has been stored in the smoke-house, and, with
fish from the lake, we expect to keep the wolf from the door. The
season for game is about over, but an occasional squirrel or duck comes
to the larder, though the question of ammunition has to be considered.
What we have may be all we can have, if the war lasts five years longer;
and they say they are prepared to hold out till the crack of doom. Food,
however, is not the only want. I never realized before the varied needs
of civilization. Every day something is out. Last week but two bars of
soap remained, so we began to save bones and ashes. Annie said: "Now
if we only had some china-berry trees here, we shouldn't need any other
grease. They are making splendid soap at Vicksburg with china-balls.
They just put the berries into the lye and it eats them right up and
makes a fine soap." I did long for some china-berries to make this
experiment. H. had laid in what seemed a good supply of kerosene, but
it is nearly gone, and we are down to two candles kept for an

emergency. Annie brought a receipt from Natchez for making candles
of rosin and wax, and with great forethought brought also the wick and
rosin. So yesterday we tried making candles. We had no molds, but
Annie said the latest style in Natchez was to make a waxen rope by
dipping, then wrap it round a corn-cob. But H. cut smooth blocks of
wood about four inches square, into which he set a polished cylinder
about four inches high. The waxen ropes were coiled round the cylinder
like a serpent, with the head raised about two inches; as the light
burned down to the cylinder, more of the rope was unwound. To-day
the vinegar was found to be all gone, and we have started to make some.
For tyros we succeed pretty well.

VIII
DROWNED OUT AND STARVED OUT
May 9.--A great misfortune has come upon us all. For several days
every one has been uneasy about the unusual rise of the Mississippi and
about a rumor that the Federal forces had cut levees above to swamp
the country. There is a slight levee back of the village, and H. went
yesterday to examine it. It looked strong, and we hoped for the best.
About dawn this morning a strange gurgle woke me. It had a pleasing,
lulling effect. I could not fully rouse at first, but curiosity conquered at
last, and I called H.
"Listen to that running water. What is it?"
He sprung up, listened a second, and shouted: "Max, get up! The water
is on us!" They both rushed off to the lake