The McArthur enquirer. (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1873-1884, 1873-06-25
MARION.

ANiO1ncer, Win q nag, having
arrived from Georgetown, South
Carolina, about an exchange Of.
prisoners, after the usual cere-
mony of blindfolding, was con-
Quoted into Marion's encamp-
ment. When led into that gen.
erals presence, and the bandage
was removed from his eyes, he
beheld in the hero, a swarthy,
smoke-dried little man, with
scarcely enough OF threadbare
homespun to cover his naked
ness; and instead Of tall ranks
of gayly-dressed soldiers, a
handful Of sunburnt militia men,
some roasting potatoes and some
asleep, with their black firelocks
and powder -hornslying by them
on the logs. Having recovered
q D: fffttie from his surprise, he
presented his letter to General
Marion, who perused it, and
soon settled everything to his
satisfaction The officer took
up his hat to retire. ooh, no {"
said Marion, cit is now about
our dinner-time, and I hope, sir,
you will give us the pleasure Of
your company to dinner" At
the mention of the word dinner,
the British officer looked around
him, but to his great mortiica-
ton, could see no signs of a pot,
pan, Dutch-oyen, or any other
cooking utensil that was calcu-
lated to raise the spirits of a
hungry man.
"Well, Tom," said the Cen
eral, to one of his men, "come
give us our dinner"
The dinner to which he allud-
ed was no other than a heap Of
sweet potatoes, that were snug
ly roasting under the embers,
and which Tom, with his pine
stick poker, soon liberated from
their ashy confinement; pinch
ing them every now and then
with his fingers, especially the
big ones, to see whether they
were we'll done or not. Tom
having cleansed them of the
ashes, partly by blowing them
with his breath, and partly by
brushing them with the sleeve
Of his old cotton shirt, he piled
some of the best on a large
I piece of bark, and placed them
between the British officer and
Marion, on the trunk of the
fallen pine on which they sat.
''I fear, sir" said the Gener-
al, "our dinner will not prove
so palatable to you as l could
wish, but it is the best we have
The officer, who was well
bred man, took up one of the
potatoes, and affected to eat, as
if he had found a great dainty
but itwas plain he ate more
from good manners than good
appetite. ID
Presently he broke out into
a hearty laugh. Marion looked
surprised. 81 beg your pardon.
General" )" said he, "but one can
not, you know, always com
mand ones conceits. / was
thinking how droll scme of my
brother officers would look il
our government were to give
them such arbill offare as this!'
II suppose, " replied Marion
$ it is not equal to their style
Of diningF"d sdf aiV % hsa
!. "No, indeed, "quoth the off
Ger, ''and this, 1 imagine, is one
!. ofyour accidental Lent dinners
a sort of bGis-yan i; in general
} no doubt, you live great dea
: better" 0.Iga1uoJ .4Io.ati
"Rather worse," answered
the General, ''for often we d.
not get enough Of this"
"Heayens rejoined the off
, Ger, -" but probably, what 20,
Z lose in meat, you make up il
malt; though stinted in provis
/, ions, you draw double pay
2 "Not a cent, sir" said Mari
! on, "not a cent" a s..., ai
"Heavens and earth thel
: you must be in a bad box;
: don't see, General llslhroy how you ca
: stand it. v t..rr~, s,,ro7
s "Why, sir" replied Marion
n with a smile Of self-approbat ation
ii these things depend on feeling
The Englishman exclaimed
~ do not believe it would be al
easy matter to reconcile me t