The National tribune., 1898-02-17
Z. C. III. c., C.. B., now

III us by parallel tf2ck ABOUT q nail ml
distant. Mccarthy and jumped out of Il
carriage, and | ran across the prairie 10 CT
him off, which Just succeeded in doing /
borrowing the spare horse Of the last man
the train.
4alloped up to the front, and found I'll
General riding with an incidentally prett
woman. who was introduced to me as til
VIE of an officer on AIagruder'S stat, and sll
Is naturally the object of intense attention
ali the good-looking officers who accompan
the General through this desert.
Gen. Magruder, who commands in TeXa:
is a fine, soldleIlike man, of about 3d. wit
broad shoulders, a ford complexion, an
bright eyes. He wears his whiskers ant
mIlstaches in the English fashion, and he wa
dressed in the Confederate gray uniform. III
was kind enough to beg that would turI
back and accompany him in his tour through
Texas
He had heard of my arrival, and was fully
determined i should do this. He asked afte
several officers of my regiment whom he haC
known when he was on the Canadian frontier
He is NiTginian, great talker, and has al
ways been a great ally of English officers.
He insisted that Mccarthy and | should
turn and dine with him, promising to pro.
vide us with horses TO catch up Mr.. Sargent.
After we had agreed to do this, had long
and agreeable conversation with the General,
who spoke of the Puritans with intense dis
gust, and of the first importation of them as
that peStiferous crew of the Mayfiowern
but he is by no means rancorous against in
dividual Yankees. He spoke very favorably
OF Mcclellan, whom he knew to be a gentle
man, clever, and personally brave, Though he
might Lack moral courage TO face response
bility.
Magruder had commanded the Confederate
troops at Yorktown who opposed McClel-
lans advance. He told me the different
dodges he had resorted to, to blind and de-
ceire the latter as to his (Magruders) strength;
and he spoke of the intense relief and amuse-
ment with which he had at length seen Nc
Cleilan with his magnificent army begin to
break ground before miserable earthworks
defended only by 5000 men. Hooker was in
his regiment. and was essentially mean
man and a liar" OF Lee and Longstreet he
spoke III terms of the highest admiration
Masruder was an artlleTyman and has
been a good deal in Europe and having been
much stationed on the Canadian frontier lie
became acquainted with many British officers
particularly those in the 9Th Hussars and
Guards
He had gained much credit from his recent
successes at Galveston and Sabine Pass. in
which he had the temerity TO attack heavily
armed vessels of war with wretched river
steamers manned by Texan cavalrymen
His principal reason for visiting Browns |
vile was to settle about the cotton trade. |
lie had issued an edict that half the value of /
cotton exported must be imported in goods
for the benefit of the country Government
stores. The President had condemned this
order as illegal and despotic.
The officers on Magruder's staff are very
good-lcoking, gentlemanlike set Their
names are: Maj. Pendleton, Mai. Wray.
Capt De Ponte, Capt. Aston, Capt. Turner.
Lieut. Col Mcneil, CAPT Dryer, D.. Benien.
Lieut.. Stanard, Lieut. Yancy, and Mai. Ma
gruder. The latter is nephew to the Gen.
eral, and is particularly good-looking young
fellow. They all live with their chief on an
extremely agreeable footing, and form a very
pleasant society.
AT dinner was put in the post of honor,
which Is always fought for with much acri-
mony-viz, the right of Mrs. -. After
alnner we had numerous songs. Both the
General and his nephew sang; so also did
Capt. Aston, whose corpulent frame, how
ever, was too much for the feeble camp-stool,
which caused his sudden disappearance in
The midst of song with a loud crush
Capt. Dwyer played the fiddle very we'll
and an aged and slightly elevated militia
General bTewcd the punch and made several
: elegant speeches. The latter was rough
laced old hero. and gloried in the name of
AcGuffin
On these festive occasions Gen Magruder
wears red wooden cap, and fills the Presi-
tent's chair with great aptitude.
AWAY from this agreeable party: but at
length effected my exit amidst profusion
Df kind expressions, and laden with heaps OF
letters Of introduction.
April 16.-Now our troubles commenced.
Seated IN Mexican saddles, and mounted on
raw boned mustangs, whose energy had been
> good deal impaired by a months steady
IIafehng on bad food, Mccarthy and left
the hospitable mess-tent about midnight, and
'taried IN search of Mr.. Sargent and his
vehicle. We were under the guidance of
swo Texan rangers.
About daylight we hove in sight of "Los
Ammo" desolate farm house, in the neigh
borhocd of which Mr.. Sargent was supposed
70 be encamped; but nowhere could we find
ANY traces OF him.
We had now reached the confines of a
nreary region, 60 miles in extent, called
Inc sands, IN comparison with which the
prairie and cbaParral were luxurious.
he sand being deep and the wind high.
We could not trace the carriage; but we soon
acc nired certainty that our perfdious Jehu /,
had deeamped, leaving US behind.
We noundered about in the sand. cursinp
our bad luck, eursing Mr. Sargent, and even
The good Magruder, as the indirect cause of ,
'ur Indebtedness. Our situation, indeed.
was sufficiently deplorable We were with ,,
oui food or water in the midst of a desert:
20 were our horses, which were nearly done
np.
Oar bones aehed from the Mexican saddles.
ahd' 10 complete our misery, the two rangers
Began 10 turn FESTIVE ard talk of RETURNING .
with the horses. At this, the climax of our !
| luckily bit upon Mexican J
who gave Us intelligence of our carriage. and
with renewed spirits but very grogyy horses |,
Ne gave chase
But never did Mr. Sargent's mules walk at
soch a pace; and it was a m before we
overlook them. My animal had been twice
On his head, ard Mccarthy was green in the
'ace with fatigue and rage Mr. Sargent re-
cs"ed us Win the greatest affabiLty. and we .
sensible enough not to quarrel with him.
Mccarthy had made MANY allusions
= 10 ne advisabiiity OF shooting him.
we had been nine and a half hou,,s in the |
s&aaie, and were good deal exhausted Opr
'uihy ieAan guides were appeased with ,
bacon. ,sDI,ee mud in, ,n;,, |