p.

[written upside down] you will of course read the account of my remarkable doings to friend Carpenter and he will have to excuse you from work a week or two while you read it [/written upside down]

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but on the contrary I did want to see one rebel and have the satisfaction of discharging my pistols in his direction I am inclined to think however, that I should not have been so well pleased had we met ten instead of one; But the adventure was not to end just here; The first glace after we had arrived at the look out revealed the scamps about a half mile from us down the pike - thirty or forty in number but they were going from us but a glance to our left through the thicket revealed a solitary horseman watching our movements he was not ten rods from us --- ---- and was dismounted but the ground was such that we could not approach him so we sent him the best we had from our colts navy but either we were poor marksmen or the distance was too great he made his escape We remained here a short time but as no new developments were likely to be made and the enemy had left the road about a mile from us we picked out way to our left to an eminence where we could over look the country for miles arround and down at our feet not over a mile from us we discovered a rebel camp of cavalry five hundred strong and saw the squad that had been up to see us enter this camp and turn out their horses - with this we retraced out steps - and rock on to the house to bid adieu to the ladies; when we returned I was the first to enter the