"Sounds well, eh, Hector?" Colonel Talbot said.
"Most excellent, Leonidas."
They went to the door with Happy Tom, and again Caesar saluted respectfully.
"You are welcome, Caesar," said Colonel Talbot. "I am commander here. What has your kind master sent us?"
Caesar bowed low before the two colonels and then proceeded to unload his horse. The young officers had come crowding to the door, but Happy Tom received the first package, which was wrapped in sacking.
"An old Virginia ham, nut-fed and sugar-cured!" he exclaimed. "Yes, it's real! By all the stars and the sun and the moon, too, it's real, because I'm pinching it! I thought I'd never see another such ham again!"
"And here's a dressed turkey, a twenty-pounder at least!" said Harry. "Ah, you noble bird! What better fate could you find than a tomb in the stomachs of brave Confederate soldiers!"
"And another turkey!" said Dalton.
"And a bag of nuts!" said Sherburne.
"And, as I live, two bottles of claret!" said St. Claire.