officer of a great government which was engaged in a gigantic contest. On my suggesting my willingness to follow the thing up by visiting the prisons for the purpose of finding the spy, and if possible discovering the facts with regard to any conspiracy that might be on foot, he did not give me any definite answer at once, but said he would think about it; but I saw plainly that he considered the idea as rather a good one, and did not doubt that he would speedily make up his mind to send me.
When we had finished talking over this matter, I proceeded to give him a detailed account of what I saw and heard in Richmond. I said that the rebels were very strict and very suspicious, and would not allow any one to go to the front, or to visit the prisons or the public buildings. I was, how ever, able to pick up quite a number of facts that might be useful, and then went on to tell him a well-connected story, partly true and partly false, about the, way things looked, and the way people talked; what the forces in the field, and their locations were; how the blockade-runners managed to get in and out of port; what I had seen and heard on the road as I was going to and fro, and so on. None of the real facts that I gave the colonel were of any importance, although I magnified them as much as I could, but they served to give an air of plausibility to my narrative, and to convince him that I was quite an expert spy, considering that I was a mere beginner.
Baker asked me numerous questions, which I answered to the best of my ability, so far as was consistent with the good of the Confederate cause; and when we had concluded our conversation he praised me very warmly, said that I was a plucky little woman, that he had thought I had vim enough to go through if any one could, that I had done a good service to the country, and a variety of other nice things, which had the effect of making me feel quite pleasant and quite at my ease with him again; being reasonably certain, although not absolutely sure as yet, that he was harboring no malevolent intentions towards me. Baker also remarked, that not hearing anything of me for such a long time, he had been getting somewhat uneasy about me ; to which I replied, by telling him how and why I had been detained; and the explanation appeared to be entirely satisfactory, for he said no more on that point.
I was curious to know exactly how well he was informed
