I put 'em in me pocket, but I 'spects they's blowed out; and when I was a-comin' away fru de woods, right dar whar ole Elick Potts used to hab his cabin--reckon you nebber seed dat cabin; it was all tumbled down 'fore you was born--right dar in de clarin' I seed five horses, all tied to de trees.

'Lor's a massy!' I said to mesef, 'is de war come agin ?' Fur I nebber seed so many hosses in de woods sence de war.

An' den while I was a-lookin' roun' fur a tree big enough to git behind, wrapper an' all, out comes Mah'sr George Mason from a bush, an' he hollers, 'Hello, Uncle Braddock, you come a-here.' An' then he says, 'You ain't much, Uncle Braddock, but I guess you'll do!' An' I says, 'Don't believe I'll do, Mah'sr George, fur you know I can't march, an' I nebber could shoot none, an' I got de rheumertiz in both me legs and me back, and no jint-water in me knees--you can't make no soldier out er me, Mah'sr George.' And then he laughed, an' says, 'You would make a pretty soldier, dat's true, Uncle Braddock.

But I don't want no soldiers; what I want you to do is to take these horses home.' 'To where?
says I.'To Akeville,' says Mah'sr George.

An' he didn't say much more, neither; for he jist tied dem horses all together and led 'em out into a little road dat goes fru de woods dar, an' he put me on de head horse, an' he says, 'Now, go 'long, Uncle Braddock, an' ef anything happens to dem hosses you'll have to go to jail fur it.