They were perfectly aware of the fact that I had acted without orders and entirely on my own responsibility, and therefore they felt the more grateful.

They urgently invited me to remain a little while longer and partake of an excellent dinner which they said they were preparing for me.

I was pretty hungry about that time, as our rations had been rather slim of late, and a good dinner was a temptation I could not withstand, especially as it was to be served up by such elegant ladies.

While I was eating the meal, I was most agreeably entertained by the young ladies, and before I had finished it the last of the rear-guard must have been at least two miles from the house.
Suddenly three men entered the room, and I looked up and saw three double-barreled shot-guns leveled straight at me.

Before I could speak, however, the mother and her daughters sprang between the men and me.
"Father! Boys! Lower your guns! You must not shoot this man," and similar exclamations, were the cry of all three.
The guns were lowered, and then the men, who were the father and brothers of the young ladies, were informed of what I had done for them.
It appeared that they had been concealed in the woods near by while the army was passing, and on coming into the house and finding a Yankee there, they determined to shoot him.