We found a soft, white root in the swamp which answered our purpose.

A boy near us had a tolerably sharp pocket-knife, for the use of which a couple of hours each day, we gave a few spoonfuls of meal.

The knife was the only one among a large number of prisoners, as the Rebel guards had an affection for that style of cutlery, which led them to search incoming prisoners, very closely.

The fortunate owner of this derived quite a little income of meal by shrewdly loaning it to his knifeless comrades.

The shapes that we made for pieces and pawns were necessarily very rude, but they were sufficiently distinct for identification.