He gave his horse a lash, but I reined mine in, telling him that I would give him twenty feet. When he had this distance, I gave my steed a cut with the whip, and flew past my cavalier like the wind, saying, loud enough for every one to hear me, "This is the way we caught you at Blackburn's Ford and Bull Run."
This was enough for him; and turning his horse, he rode back to the hotel, to find that a large party there were interested in the race, and that there were some heavy bets on the result, the odds being all against him. This gentleman, apparently, did not desire to continue his acquaintance with me, for I saw no more of him.
A few days after this occurrence I said farewell to my Charleston friends, and went to Atlanta, were I was very warmly received. The surgeons who had been attached to the hospital, and many others, called, and a disposition to show me every attention was manifested on all sides.
The Federal General Wallace and his staff were stopping at the same hotel as myself, as was also Captain B., one of the officers whom I had met in Washington, and whom I had used for the purpose of getting acquainted, and of furthering my plans in that city. I met this gentleman in the hall, and passed friendly greetings with him, and shortly after he came into the parlor for the purpose of having a friendly chat. The captain, up to this time, had never suspected in the least that I was not, and had not been, an adherent of the Federal cause ; and not supposing that I had any special interest in the war, our conversation turned chiefly upon other topics. I knew that he must shortly be undeceived, but I did not care to tell him about the part I had taken in the contest, or the advantages I had taken of his acquaintance with me.
Undeceived.
While we were talking, Confederate General G. T. Anderson came in, and called me "Lieutenant." The astonishment of the captain was ludicrous. He could not understand what the general meant at first, and thought it was a joke. The truth, however, came out at last, and he learned not only that I was a rebel, but that when I met him in Washington I was endeavoring to gain information for the Confederates.
The captain, being somewhat bewildered, took his departure soon after, and at the invitation of General Anderson, I
