“They're used to driving,” said Jack; “there's a lot of'em at Rolla that's just been driven in from Springfield, and don't act as though they were going back again in a hurry.”
“Yes, I've heard so,” replied the stranger; “p'r'aps they don't want to go back there yet awhile.”
The conversation lasted for ten or fifteen minutes, and was as non-committal as possible on both sides. Neither party was willing to admit friendliness for the Union side, as each was fearful of after consequences. The stranger was the first to move on, as he evidently distrusted the youths and wanted to get away from them.
CHAPTER XVI. HINTS FOR CAMPAIGNING—IN A REBEL'S HOUSE—SNUFF-DIPPING.
After they had walked four or five miles the youths began to feel hungry, and at Jack's suggestion they stopped for breakfast at the side of a little brook, which could supply them with that very important ingredient of a traveler's meal, water. Not only did they drink from the brook while devouring the hard biscuit and boiled beef they had brought along, but they bathed their feet in the stream, and carefully dried them before putting on their shoes and stockings.
Very early in their campaigning they had learned the lesson of caring for their feet. An old soldier said to them before they left Booneville:
“Make it a rule to bathe your feet whenever you have a chance, and always dry them carefully before covering them again. Of course there will be times when you must put on wet shoes and stockings and travel in them for miles and miles, but never do it if you can help it. Wet feet cause blisters, rheumatism and all sorts of trouble, and many a man has broken down on a march because his feet were not properly cared for.”
“I should think the officers would look out for their men's feet,” said Jack, when the soldier made the above suggestion.