"To what regiment do these troopers belong?"
"I don't know certainly, but I reckon it was a Kentucky regiment."
"How happened you to capture half a company, and not the whole of it?"
"Well, you see, Major, the Kentucky regiment had better horses than our Tennessee regiment, and they worried us a heap. We were retreating, for we had been flanked by a force four times as big as ours, and this regiment pursued us. Our regiment turned on them, and whipped them soundly. My company was fighting this platoon, and we surrounded them, and made them prisoners."
"Was that Kentucky regiment of cavalry full?" asked the major, with a frown on his brow.
"It was, Major, for I counted the ten companies," returned the captain without wincing. "This platoon fought like wildcats; but my men stood up to the work like heroes, as they are; and when we had surrounded them, they could not help themselves, and we drove them before us to the camp."
"I have no doubt that you will be promoted to the rank of brigadier-general for your meritorious service; but my information differs somewhat from yours, for I have learned that the only Kentucky cavalry on the field was four companies of the First, four others being on detached duty on the Millersville Road."
"But you see, Major, my informant may have given me incorrect reports," stammered the captain.
"Who was your informant, Captain? You counted the companies of the Kentucky regiment yourself."
"I may have been"—