“Hold on yit,” he said, as he finished his cup, “the sun’s jes’ gittin’ up. We must change our clothes—here, you put on these, as you ain’t as tall as I am,” and he untied his bundle, and took out an old faded calico dress, a white cap and a large fly bonnet.
“You see,” he said, as he spread out the articles, “we are bound to rig up outlandish, for we can’t help seeing some of the Yanks. Here’s mine,” and he produced an old home-spun suit and a wide-brim wool hat. I now saw the design of his disguises, and giving his hand a warm grasp for his sympathy and assistance, entered into his scheme and began to make ready.
“I can tell you,” said Ben, talking while I was shaving off my beard, “I had a hard time gittin’ these traps. I rode about ten mile last night, and had to steal the bonnet at that, though I stuck a five dollar Confed. on the fence where I grabbed it.”
After half an hour’s preparation I stood as complete an old woman, with specs and muffled chin, as ever sold eggs or peddled cakes. Ben was his old self again, and looked as essentially rustic as when he carried us fishing when we were boys.
“Now we are ready,” said Ben, when we were fully disguised. “Less go; don’t mind what our boys holler at you, it’ll help fool the Yankees better.”
Just outside the tent door were two sorry looking horses, with rope bridles, and a side saddle on one of them; beside them on the ground was a hamper basket, with a cloth tied over it, and another smaller basket full of eggs.
In reply to my regret that our horses looked so poor, Ben said that our own were too good, that the Yankees would dismount us, and that these would be no temptation.
I got up to my seat, and after some instructions from Ben as to how I must hold my basket and how to hide my feet, we started off.
We took a circuitous route around Goldsboro’, and striking the Neuse, kept down the bank of the river ‘till we were near our homes. So well was Ben acquainted with every path through the woods that we did not come in sight of a Yankee during the day, ‘till, just before sunset, we came into the road leading to our house, at its junction with the County road; and here we found three or four soldiers apparently on picket duty. We rode carelessly up and, on being halted, presented our passes, which were examined by one of the men, with the bars of a corporal on his arm.