“They say you stole a lot of hogs!” tittered the landlady.
Mr. Scoggins turned red.
“Oho, is there another thief in this hon’able body?” sneered James “Mileage.”
“That’s all a lie, M’am, ’bout them hogs. I didn’ steal ’em. I just pressed ’em from a Secessiner.”
“Jes so,” said James ‘Mileage’, “but they say you were a deserter at the time, and not exactly in the service of your country.”
“Ye can’t pay no ’tention ter rebel lies ergin Union men!” explained Scoggins, eating faster.
“Yes, that’s so,” said James ‘Mileage’, “but there’s another funny thing in the paper about you.”
“What’s that?” cried Scoggins with new alarm.
“That Mr. Scoggins met Sherman’s army with loud talk about lovin’ the Union, but that a mean Yankee officer gave him a cussin’ fur not fightin’ on one side or the other, took all that bacon he had stolen, hung him up by the heels, gave him thirty lashes and left him hanging in the air.”
“It’s a lie! It’s a lie!” bellowed Scoggins.