Placing the jug and tumbler side by side on the veranda, in full view from the road, I remounted, just as the Rebels reached the corner of our quarter-lot. "We have pressing engagements in Natchez," said Colburn. "So we have," I replied; "I had nearly forgotten them. Let us lose no time in meeting them." As we rode off, some of the foremost Rebels espied us and quickened their pace.

"The Rebels are coming down the road," was the next bulletin from the front. We sprang upon our horses and rode a hundred yards along the front of our "quarter-lot," to a point where we could look up the road toward Waterproof. There they were, sure enough, thirty or more mounted men, advancing at a slow trot.