Henceforth every man must groom and see to his own horse, but I see no reason, military or otherwise, why we shouldn't get our food cooked for us; and it will be just as well, as long as we can, to have a few bundles of straw for us to lie on instead of sleeping on the ground.
"Another ten men we can also choose by lot to go to Winchester; which is, I imagine, the point we shall move to if the enemy advance, as I fancy they will, from the other side of the Shenandoah Valley.

The rest must be sent home." Each man accordingly wrote his name on a piece of paper, and placed it in a haversack.

Ten were then drawn out; and their servants were to accompany the troop at once.

The servants of the next ten were to proceed by train to Winchester, while the slaves of all whose names remained in the bag were to be sent home at once, provided with passes permitting them to travel.

To Vincent's satisfaction his name was one of the first ten drawn, and Dan was therefore to go forward.