engaged of a livery man a saddle horse for next day. I did a heap of thinking that night over the stranger's case, but when morning came I was none the wiser for it. His horse was brought around after breakfast and he rode off. I was tempted to get another and follow him, but by what right? What had he done or what was he going to do? I went up to my room on an errand, not yet decided whether to go or stay, and in the hallway my foot struck a memorandum book. I carried it into my room, and the first thing my eye caught was the name inside the cover "George Paige." It was a well-worn book, and nearly full of entries. Most of them seemed to relate to trips between Boston and Providence, but near the back end I found one reading:

About ten miles north of Marietta, Ga.; turn to right where highway bends to left; go into woods about ten rods; look for twin beech tree, with initials "D. S. G." cut low down.

My heart gave a jump. That was the spot where the Yankee cavalry run me into hiding, and these were the initials I had seen on the tree! Had this stranger come down to unearth a skeleton? I was wondering over the matter when I heard the clatter of hoofs and knew that he had returned. He had discovered the loss of this book. Now, then, I did what you may call a mean trick. I pocketed the book, got down stairs without being seen, and went to the nearest justice and demanded a warrant for the arrest of George Paige for robbery. Before he had ceased looking for his lost memorandum a constable made him prisoner. Meanwhile I had engaged a horse and wagon, borrowed an empty tea chest and a spade, and, as Paige went to jail, I drove out of town. I wanted to unearth that skeleton myself.

It was six years since I had left it, but I had but little difficulty in finding the grave, although the beech tree had been cut down. Indeed, I walked almost straight to it, and, though the initials were indistinct, they were there as witnesses. In half an hour I had unearthed the "corpse." He, or it, consisted of a rotten coffee-sack wrapped around a muddy blue blouse, and inside the blouse were three gold watches, $420 in gold, $1,203 in greenbacks, half a dozen gold rings, a fine diamond pin, two gold bracelets, a gold-lined cup, a full set of cameo jewelry, a solid silver back comb, and about four pounds

of silver spoons and forks, the whole find being worth to me nearly $8,000.

The stuff had been deposited there by two or three or perhaps. half a dozen foragers, and much of it had been stolen from the dead on the battle fields.

When the treasure had been secured I drove on to Cartersville, and from thence sent the horse back and telegraphed to Paige my regrets at his situation, as I had discovered my mistake in accusing him. He was held a day or two and discharged. He rode out to the spot, found the treasure gone, and left the state without a word as to what his real errand had been.

Strike for the Union! strike for No! for his home and her he loved

ADMIRAL PORTER'S REMINISCENCES.

Visit of President Lincoln to Richmond.

SHARP DODGE TO SOOTHE SOUTHERN FEELINGS.

NARROW ESCAPE FROM A GRIEVOUS BLUNDER.

By DAVID D. PORTER, Admiral U. S. N.

S we lay below Richmond in the flagship Malvern, Mr. John A. Campbell, late justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, sent a request to be allowed to come on board with General Weitzel. He wanted to call on the President. He came on board and spent an hour. The President and himself seemed to be enjoying themselves very much, to judge from their laughing so much. I did not go down to the cabin. In an hour General Weitzel and Mr. Campbell came on deck, asked for a boat, and were landed. I went down below for a moment, and the President said: "Admiral, I am sorry you were not here when Mr. Campbell was on board. He has gone on shore happy. I gave him a written permission to allow the state legislature to convene in the capitol in the absence of all other government."

I was rather astonished at this piece of information. I felt that this course would bring about complications, and wondered how it had all come to pass. It had all been done by the smooth tongue of Mr. Campbell, who had promised the President that if the legislature of Virginia could meet in the place where the Confederate congress had met, they would vote Virginia right back into the Union; that it would be a delicate compliment paid to Virginia, which would be appreciated, etc. Weitzel backed up Mr. Campbell, and the President was won over to agree to what would have been a most humiliating thing if it had been accomplished.

When the President told me all that had been done, and that General Weitzel had gone on shore with an order in his pocket to let the legislature meet, I merely said: "Mr. President, I suppose you remember that this city is under military jurisdiction, and that no courts, legislature, or civil authority can exercise any power without the sanction of the general commanding the army. This order of yours should go through General Grant, who would inform you that Richmond was under martial law, and, I am sure, he would protest against this arrangement of Mr. Campbell."

The President's common sense took in the situation at once. "Why," he said, "Weitzel made no objection, and he commands here."

"That is because he is Mr. Campbell's particular friend," I said, "and wished to gratify him, and I don't think he knows much about anything but soldiering. General Shepley would not have preferred such a request."

"Run and stop them," said the President, "and get my order back! Well, I came near knocking all the fat into the fire, didn't I?"

To make things sure, I had an order written to General Weitzel, and signed by the President, as follows: "Return my permission to the legislature of Virginia to meet, and don't allow it to meet at all." There was a fruit wagon at the landing, and, giving the order to an officer, I said to him: "Jump into the wagon and kill the horse, if necessary, but catch the carriage which carried General Weitzel and Mr. Campbell, and deliver this order to the general." The carriage was caught before it reached the city. The old fruit wagon horse had been a trotter in his day, and went his three minutes. The general and Mr. Campbell were surprised. The President's order was sent back, and they never returned to try and reverse the President's decision.

Mr. Campbell evidently saw that his scheme of trying to put the state legislature in session with the sanction of the President had failed, and that it was useless to try it again. It was a clever dodge to soothe the wounded feelings of the South, and no doubt was kindly meant by the late Justice Campbell, but what a howl it would have raised at the North. Mr. Campbell had been gone about an hour when we had another remarkable scene. A man appeared at the landing dressed in gray home

spun, with a somewhat decayed appearance, and with a staff about six feet long in his hand. It was, in fact, nothing more than a stick taken from a wood pile. It was two and a half inches in diameter, and was not even smoothed at the knots. It was just such a weapon as a man would pick up to kill a mad dog with.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" asked the officer of the deck. "You cannot come on board unless you have important business."

"I am Duff Green," said the man; "I want to see Abraham Lincoln, and my business concerns myself alone. You tell Abraham Lincoln Duff Green wants to see him."

The officer came down into the cabin and delivered the message. I rose and said, "I will go up and send him away," but the President said, "Let him come on board. Duff is an old friend of mine, and I would like to talk to him.”

I then went on deck to have a boat sent for him, and to see what kind of a man this was who sent off such arrogant messages to the President of the United States. He stepped into the boat as if it belonged to him; instead of sitting down he stood up, leaning on his long staff. When he came over the side, he stood on the deck defiantly, looked up at the flag and scowled, and then, turning to me (whom he knew very well), he said, “I want to see Abraham Lincoln." He paid no courtesy to me or to the quarter-deck.

It had been a very long time since he had shaved or cut his hair, and he might have come under the head of "unkempt and not canny."

"When you come," I said, "in a respectful manner the President will see you, but throw away that cord of wood you have in your hand, before entering the President's presence."

"How long is it," said he, "since Abraham Lincoln took to aping royalty? Man dressed in brief authority cuts such fantastic capers before high heaven that, it makes the angels weep. I can expect airs from a naval officer, but I don't expect to find them in a man with Abraham Lincoln's horse sense.

I thought the man crazy, and think so still. "I can't permit you to see the President," I said, "until I receive further instructions, but you can't see him at all until you throw that wood pile overboard."