At this, my operative, who had taken little part in the conversation, except as an attentive listener, now arose and laughingly said: "Gentlemen, I guess we are all of one mind on this subject, let's adjourn down below and interview the bar-keeper; I don't profess to be a judge of military matters, but when it comes to a good article of whisky, I claim to be posted."
The party, numbering near a dozen gentlemen about him, good-humoredly took the interruption and laughingly followed the detective, who now led the way to the bar-room.
They filled glasses all around and Curtis proposed the rather ambiguous toast, "May the right prevail, and death and confusion, attend its enemies"—ambiguous in that it as much represented his real sentiments as it also met the approval of his secession friends.
After the party had drank, they separated, agreeing to meet later in the evening; Curtis was himself starting for a stroll about the town, when the stranger, who had last joined the party on the veranda approached him and said: "I have just drank the toast you proposed, and judging from it and your conversation up stairs, I take you to be, at least, a friend to the South, if indeed you are not a Southern man. I should like much to have your company for a short stroll about the city; my name," he added, "is Leroy, and I hail from Baltimore."
"I shall be glad to accompany you, Mr. Leroy," said my operative, heartily: "I was just thinking of going for a walk alone, but I assure you I shall be only too glad to have a companion. And since you have so kindly told me your name, I may as well tell you, that mine is George Curtis, and I am from Washington. But before we start," he added, "let us have a fresh cigar."
He then ordered the cigars and they started for their walk.
They had not proceeded far, before his new companion revealed the fact, that he also was in the contraband trade, and singularly enough, was on his way to Richmond on precisely the same business my operative had represented himself as engaged. Of course, Curtis reciprocated the confidence of his new-found friend, and with such results, that he not only returned from his walk much better posted on how to get goods through to Richmond, but actually returned a partner in an enterprize to furnish their goods in large quantities to the Confederate government, provided they could succeed in making satisfactory arrangements with Mr. Benjamin, the Secretary of War. They returned to the hotel, where they had a long talk, completing their plans. It was arranged that my operative should leave his horse at Petersburg, and in the morning, they would proceed on their way to Richmond by rail.
On the following morning he arose early, and after breakfast, proceeded to call on General Hill at his quarters and obtained his pass, also the letters he was to carry for him to parties in Richmond. They then took a train for the rebel capital, and by noon found themselves in that city.
The day following his arrival, in company with Leroy, he called on Mr. Benjamin and succeeded in closing contracts to furnish large quantities of their goods to his government, and at prices that were highly satisfactory to Mr. Leroy, who jovially remarked, as they left the Secretary's presence, that if they only had good luck, their fortunes were made. Curtis, however, felt highly gratified over the result of the interview, more from the reflection of the aid it would give him in prosecuting the real object of his visit, than from any financial benefit he expected to derive from it. He had received a pass from the Secretary that would enable him to pass in and out of Richmond at his pleasure, a most important privilege, and one that really removed all practical hindrances, and left him free to more fully accomplish his work.
He had not been in the city a week before he discovered that through some source, the rebels had almost daily news from the front, concerning the movements and plans of the Union troops. This he now determined to ferret out, and the next day, he in a careless manner, inquired of his friend Leroy, how it was, they obtained news so promptly from the front.