unwilling to quarrel, he probably thought that it was a good opportunity to air the spirit of blackguardism, which is the strongest characteristic of mime people, and persisted in following me up. At length I could not stand his insolence any longer, and to put a stop to it slapped his face. He evidently had not expected anything of this kind, for he seemed stunned for a moment, while I walked off, determined to take no further notice of him, unless absolutely compelled to do so. When he recovered himself he gave me a volley of abuse, and threatened to shoot me; but, fortunately for himself, a friend who had seen the encounter stepped up, and taking him in charge, prevented him from making a fool of himself any further. I thought that perhaps he might attempt to revenge himself in some way for the indignity I had put upon him, but he doubt less came to the conclusion that this was a case where discretion was the better part of valor, and so prudently kept out of my way. I never saw his homely visage again, although I every day appeared in the most public places, where he would have had no difficulty in finding me if he had desired to.
One of Cupid's Mistakes
.
Not being successful in getting the kind of appointment I desired at Richmond, I concluded to try my luck elsewhere. I went to Danville, and remained a couple of days, and on my return to Richmond obtained a pass and transportation for the West. When I got as far as Lynchburg, however, I changed my mind, owing to meeting some of the boys from Leesburg, who persuaded me to go there with them, as there was every prospect of another fight coming off soon. This suited me exactly, and to Leesburg I accordingly went, with a full determination to take a hand in a battle if one did come off. The fight did occur, although not so soon as I expected or wished, and I played my part in it as successfully as I had done at Bull Run. In the mean time, however, I splurged around Leesburg in fine style, and enjoyed myself immensely, being quite as successful as I- had been in other places in winning the regards of the members of my own sex, not one of whom appeared to have the slightest suspicion that I was other than I pretended to be.
One young lady in particular, Miss E., showed a marked regard for me; and as she was a very charming girl, our acquaintance would probably have developed into a decided
