After a little conversation, he asked me if I had seen that overcoat of Stephens's.

I replied that I had.
"Well," said he, "did you see him take it off ?" I said yes.

"Well," said he, "didn't you think it was the biggest shuck and the littlest ear that ever you did see ?" Long afterwards I told this story to the Confederate General J.B.Gordon, at the time a member of the Senate.
He repeated it to Stephens, and, as I heard afterwards, Stephens laughed immoderately at the simile of Mr.Lincoln.
The rest of the winter, after the departure of the peace commissioners, passed off quietly and uneventfully, except for two or three little incidents.

On one occasion during this period, while I was visiting Washington City for the purpose of conferring with the administration, the enemy's cavalry under General Wade Hampton, passing our extreme left and then going to the south, got in east of us.

Before their presence was known, they had driven off a large number of beef cattle that were grazing in that section.