ous business always, and a number of persons, of both sexes, who undertook to defy Butler by communicating with their friends in the interior, or who employed themselves in smuggling goods or intelligence through the lines, were caught and punished; sentences calculated to inspire terror in those who were capable of being terrified being imposed, without regard to the sex or social standing of the offenders.
A favorite punishment, for those who managed to fall under the displeasure of the commanding general, was a sojourn, for periods of time varying according to Butler's notions of the gravity of their offences, on Ship Island, a desolate strip of sand on Mississippi Sound, which had been used by the Federal forces as a rendezvous before the attack upon the city. Butler was compelled to live on this sandbank for a number of months, before Admiral Farragut made it possible for him to take up his abode in one of the finest residences of New Orleans, and he appeared to have contracted such an intense dislike to the place, that he could imagine no worse fate for those who were imprudent enough to defy his will, than to send them there. I came very near being obliged to make Ship Island my home for a time under orders from Butler, and only escaped such a fate through my address and courage, and the thoroughness of the preparations I had made to meet such an emergency.
Running the Lines.
Unlike many others, I settled myself down resolutely to the business of running the lines, and was not satisfied with making a trip or two, and then either ceasing operations altogether, or else waiting until suspicion should die away before making another attempt. I considered myself as much in the Confederate service as I was when I wore the uniform of an officer, and I felt it my duty to be, like a soldier, always vigilant, and always ready to do the enemy all the damage I possibly could. I therefore went about the prosecution of my plans systematically, taking all proper precautions, of course, to avoid detection, but trusting a good deal to luck and to my ready wit to get me out of any difficulty into which I might happen to fall.
I had very few friends or acquaintances, for I did not care to be extensively known, being well aware that the more people there were whose attention was attracted to me, the
