“'Yes, Marfa, dat's so. I tole dem all de time dat you knows de bes'. Don't I, Massa Daniel?'
“'Oh, yes, Ham,' I said. 'You always speak well of Martha, and what she knows.'
“'Deed I do, Marfa; dat's so; I does, all de time.'
“'Dat's all right den, Ham. I forgib you all what you do, so you jes' git out in de kitchen; dar's whar you blong. Dese folks spile you ef dey don't mind deyselves.
“The family, or a considerable portion of them, again being together, we naturally drifted in our conversation as to the war, it being uppermost in everybody's mind at that time; so I found an opportunity to tell Col. Anderson and Peter all about my trip, what had occurred, and what I had promised to do. Peter said that I would have to be very cautious, and that the first thing was to understand whether or not the Postmaster here could be trusted. Should he allow it to be known that I was frequently communicating with the President, the enemies at Allentown would manage in some way to discover my communications, and thereby my life would be in danger.
“I knew the Postmaster, however, and that he could be trusted; so that part of the matter was settled.
“Colonel Anderson suggested that there should be no haste in settling the arrangements; that it was of such importance that a little reflection would do no harm; so we laid the matter over for the present.”
“Uncle Daniel,” said Col. Bush, “we who were in the army felt the influence of the Knights of the Golden Circle. There was one time during the war when we would have hundreds of desertions in a night; nor could we stop it for a considerable length of time. We finally discovered that the people opposed to the war were engaged in every possible way in influencing the relatives of the soldiers. They would sometimes get their wives to write about their sufferings, sickness in their families, and in every way that it could be done they were rendered dissatisfied.”
“Yes,” said Maj. Clymer, “that is true in every respect. Part of my command deserted, and I have found since the war that they were induced to do so by these very influences.”
“The situation at that time was very critical,” said Dr. Adams. “I remember well when mobs were organized and when soldiers were shot down on the road in this vicinity while returning to their commands after being home on a leave of absence.