"Are you the boys that came in from prison two days ago?"
One of our party answered we were. Gasper then said he had just been writing a letter to an old friend in Cincinnati, whose son was supposed to have been killed at Chickamauga, and hearing we had been captured in that battle, he thought he would inquire if we knew any person among the prisoners named Jack Phillips.
"Jack Phillips," repeated Smith, "certainly, I know him."
"Is it possible!" said Gasper.
"He was in the same prison with me, and in the same mess," said Smith.
"He lived in Cincinnati, did he, and belonged to Company —— —— Regiment, Ohio Volunteers?" asked Gasper. (I have forgotten the Company and Regiment to which Phillips belonged.)
"Yes, sir," said Smith, "we are talking of the same Jack Phillips." Smith went on, and described Phillips as to size, height, appearance, and general characteristics.
"Same fellow," said Gasper, "but his captain reports seeing him fall in battle."
"No doubt of that," said Smith, "I have heard Jack tell how he was stunned by a ball grazing his forehead, cutting the skin, and leaving a small scar after healing."
"The captain said Jack's forehead was bleeding when he saw him fall," remarked Gasper.