“Captain,” I say, “send me at once to General Meade.  I have information of extreme importance to give him.”

“Well, now, my good fellow,” he says, “just give it to me, if you please.”

“I am ready to give you the information,” I say, “but I must make a condition.”  “What is your condition?” he asks, frowning slightly.

“That you will not seek to know who I am, and that you will send me to General Meade at once.”

“It seems to me that you are making two conditions.”

“Well, sir,” I reply, “the first is personal, and ought not to count.  If you object to it, however, I withdraw it.”

“Then, who are you?”

“I decline to say.”

“Well, it makes no difference to me who you are, but I should like to know how I am to rely on what you tell.”

“Captain,” I say, “we are losing valuable time.  Put me on a horse, and send me under guard to General Meade; you ride with me until I tell what I have to tell.”

“That sounds like good sense.  Here, Thomas, get your horse, and another for this man.”

Two minutes pass and we are on the road.  The captain says:  “You see, I am giving you an escort rather than a guard.  You served Thomas; now let him serve you.  What is it you want to tell?”

“Ewell and Hill are at this moment marching around our—­I mean your flank.”

“The devil you say!  Infantry?”

“The whole of Ewell’s corps and the whole of Hill’s—­six divisions.”

“How do you know that?  How am I to know that you are telling me the truth?”

“I am in your hands.  Question me and see if I lie in word or countenance.”

“When did Ewell begin his march?”

“I do not know.”

“When did Hill march?”

“He began to move on the 8th.”

“Where was he before that date?”

“In camp near Orange Court-House.”

“Who commands the divisions of Hill’s corps?”

“Heth, Anderson, and Wilcox.”

“Which division is yours?”

“Please withdraw that question.”

“With great pleasure.  Where did Hill’s corps camp on the night of the 8th?”

“Near the Rapidan, on the south side.”

“Where did Hill camp on the night of the 9th?”

“About two miles this side of Madison Court-House.”

“Where on the 10th?”

“The night of the 10th near Culpeper.”

“And where on the 11th?”

“Last night Hill’s corps was just south, of North Fork; only a few miles from Jeffersonton.”

“And where was Ewell’s corps?”

“I know nothing of Ewell’s corps, except one thing:  it passed Hill’s yesterday afternoon.”

“Going up?”

“No, sir; it went toward our right.”

“Do you know how many divisions are under Ewell?”

“Three.”

“Who commands them?”

“Early, Johnson, and Rodes.”