|After they had walked four or five miles the youths began to feel
hungry, and at Jack's suggestion they stopped for breakfast at the side
of a little brook, which could supply them with that very important
ingredient of a traveler's meal, water. Not only did they drink from the
brook while devouring the hard biscuit and boiled beef they had brought
along, but they bathed their feet in the stream, and carefully dried
them before putting on their shoes and stockings.
Very early in their campaigning they had learned the lesson of caring
for their feet. An old soldier said to them before they left Booneville:
“Make it a rule to bathe your feet whenever you have a chance, and
always dry them carefully before covering them again. Of course there
will be times when you must put on wet shoes and stockings and travel in
them for miles and miles, but never do it if you can help it. Wet feet
cause blisters, rheumatism and all sorts of trouble, and many a man has
broken down on a march because his feet were not properly cared for.”
“I should think the officers would look out for their men's feet,” said
Jack, when the soldier made the above suggestion.
“So anybody would think, very naturally,” was the reply; “but the fact
is, a good many of the officers do nothing of the kind. They are either
above that sort of thing or else they give general directions to the
men, and then let them take care of themselves. A good infantry captain
will see to it that his men take care of their feet, just as a good
cavalry captain looks out for the shoeing of his horses and tries every
way he can to keep them from getting sore backs.
“And remember another thing,” he continued; “at night always take
off your boots or shoes, and sleep with your feet bare or only with
stockings on. Your rest with your feet free does twice as much good as
the same amount of rest with them confined in the leather you have worn
all day. This is the rule with all old travelers. Of course there are
times, when you are close to the enemy and a surprise may be looked for
at any moment, when you must make an exception to the rule; but don't
make the exception if it can be avoided.”
Jack was skeptical on this point, and determined to try for himself.
So he slept one night with his boots on and the next with them off, and
found it just as the old soldier had told him. He candidly admitted
his mistake, and said that for the future he should n't be so confident
about his own opinions when they did n't coincide with those of persons
older and more experienced than himself.
“One thing more bear in mind,” said their informant, “and that is about
sleeping around a campfire.”
“What is that?”
“When you sleep near a fire always lie with your feet to it if you can.
If you turn your head toward it you will quite likely have a headache in
the morning, and, anyway, you won't sleep well. The brain should be
kept cool while we are sleeping, and the feet warm. We cover our feet
at night when we sleep in beds, but leave our heads exposed. Follow the
same plan in camp, and if you have warmth anywhere have it at the feet.
“When you sleep in a tent have your head where you can get the greatest
amount of pure air to breathe. The Indians understand this, and when
they sleep in their circular wigwams or lodges they have their feet
toward the center and their heads nearest the circumference.”
These simple directions were of great use to Jack and Harry in their
subsequent campaigning, and should be remembered by any of the young
readers of this story. Other hints came to them from time to time, which
we may introduce hereafter.
After breakfast they continued their journey. Half a mile or so farther
on they came to a house, where they asked the way to the next village,
to make sure that they were on the right road. A woman and two
tow-headed children were the sole possessors of the establishment, and
they eyed the young travelers with an air of suspicion. After answering
the question, the woman asked where they were from.
“We've come from the other side of the Missouri,” answered Jack, “and
are going down to see some of our friends.”
“I know where you're going,” said the woman. “You don't look old enough
for soldiers, but you're going South. Did you see any Yanks at Rolla?”
“Yes, lots of'em,” said Harry; “and't wasn't easy to get away from
there.”
“Yes, yes, that's what they say,” responded the woman, fully convinced
by Harry's answer that her suspicions were correct. And then she added,
“Wonder 'f I could get to Rolla and get some snuff?”
The boys were non-committal on this point, but thought she would have
no trouble if she went straight to the provost-marsha's office when she
entered the village, and told what she wanted.
“And I want a little tea and coffee, too,” she added; “and then some
salt and other things for the house.” Harry told her she might get a
pound or so of each, but he was sure the officers would n't let anybody
come through the lines with more than that. “That's what they told us
at Rolla,” he added, “and so we did n't try to bring anything along,”--a
statement which was literally true.
She promised to follow their directions, and then grew confidential. She
told them her husband was down on the St. Francis river, where General
Hardee was getting up an army to drive the Yanks out of Rolla and all
that part of the state. “He's in Colonel Jones's regiment,” said she;
“and if you see him, tell him we're getting on all right and hope they
'll be along soon, as we're getting mighty short of things to eat.”
Jack gravely made a mental note of the name of the man by pronouncing
it several times, and promised to hunt him up as soon as they got where
Colonel Jones's regiment was. The woman then invited the youths to stay
and have something to eat. As they had just breakfasted they declined
the invitation, but accepted the offer of some milk. One of the children
brought it from the springhouse, and the young adventurers drank freely
and with a good relish. They had a conscientious twinge in so doing,
but swallowed the twinge along with the milk, and after thanking the
kind-hearted woman for her hospitality continued on their way.
“Funny she should want snuff before anything else,” said Jack, as soon
as they were out of earshot of the house.
“Nothing so very funny about that,” replied Harry. “Don't you know how
they use it?”
“I've heard something about it, but don't know exactly.”
“I picked it up the other day,” Harry explained, “and this is how it
is: They call it 'snuff-dipping' in the South,” he continued, “and it
is very much the fashion among the middle and lower-class whites down in
the cotton states, but not much in Missouri as yet. They take a little
stick and chew the end until it's soft like a brush; then they dip
this moist brush in snuff and rub it on the gums and around the mouth
generally, and in this way they use up a good deal of snuff in the
course of a year. It is said to produce a pleasant sort of mild
intoxication, and after using it a little while a woman gets as much
addicted to snuff-dipping as a man does to chewing tobacco or smoking.
It's the same sort of vice, and I can't say I blame the women much, when
all the men around them are chewing or smoking tobacco.”
“Do they all use it?” queried Jack; “I mean do the young women dip snuff
the same as the older ones?”
“I did n't think to ask that question,” Harry responded; “but the man
who told me said the women who dipped snuff mostly did it 'on the sly,'
at any rate in the beginning of it. Probably they get bolder about it in
time, just as boys do when they learn to smoke. After a while they get
accustomed to snuff, and don't get the excitement out of it that they
want, and then they take to smoking pipes just like men.”
Later observation convinced Jack that Harry had been correctly informed.
The further they went in the South the more they found the use of
tobacco prevailing among the women, and in several instances they found
little concealment practiced in the custom of snuff-dipping. At one
house where they called a middle-aged woman held her snuff-stick in her
mouth all the time she was talking with them, just as a man might hold a
cigar there, and an older woman sat by the fireplace smoking a corn-cob
pipe with the utmost indifference to the presence of the young visitors.
They did not stop again until early in the afternoon, when they called
at a house and asked if they could have dinner. There was a man about
the premises, in addition to the woman and the usual complement of
tow-headed children. He promptly said they hadn't much to offer, but
the boys should be welcome. He had nothing but hog and hominy, and he
reckoned that was all they would find anywhere on the road.
Jack took the lead as spokesman, and assured him that hog and hominy was
good enough for anybody, and was all they wanted; and he further said
that cold hog was just as good for them as hot, and if there was any
cold in the house it would make them a first-rate dinner.
This avowal of democratic principles smoothed the way at once, and in a
little while dinner was ready. Fried bacon and cornbread constituted the
repast, which was washed down with milk, the boys intimating that they
preferred it to any other beverage, partly for the reason that it was
nutritious and partly because of the general scarcity of tea and coffee
through all the war-stricken region. The host was not inclined to be
talkative on the topics that were just then the most absorbing, probably
for the reason that he did n't know exactly who and what his visitors
might be, and preferred to remain neutral. Many men in Missouri tried to
adopt this course, but sooner or later most of them were drawn into the
war on one side or the other; neutrality was next to impossible where a
man was able to bear arms or contribute in any way to the contest which
involved the existence or the destruction of the nation.
When the meal was over Jack asked how much they owed for it. The man
said he did n't want anything, but if they had fifty cents to spare for
the children it might come handy. Accordingly Jack gave twenty-five
cents to one of the children, Harry gave the same amount to another, and
everything was satisfactory.
Just as they arose from the table there was the sound of hoofs outside,
which drew everybody to the door. The hearts of the youths beat a little
faster than usual when they saw eight or ten horsemen riding up to the
house and ranging themselves in front of it.