I walked out in the lot, after McGregor turned me out of the chamber, to see what they had done with the horse.  There he lay, as dead as old Messenger himself.  His neck was broken.  And do you think, I looked to see what had tripped him.  I supposed it was one of the boys’ bandy holes.  It was no such thing.  The poor wretch had tangled his hind legs in one of those infernal hoop-wires that Chloe had thrown out in the piece when I gave her her new ones.  Though I did not know it then, those fatal scraps of rusty steel had broken the neck that day of Robert Lee’s army.

That time I made a row about it.  I felt too badly to go into a passion.  But before the women went to bed,—­they were all in the sitting-room together,—­I talked to them like a father.  I did not swear.  I had got over that for a while, in that six weeks on my back.  But I did say the old wires were infernal things, and that the house and premises must be made rid of them.  The aunts laughed,—­though I was so serious,—­and tipped a wink to the girls.  The girls wanted to laugh, but were afraid to.  And then it came out that the aunts had sold their old hoops, tied as tight as they could tie them, in a great mass of rags.  They had made a fortune by the sale,—­I am sorry to say it was in other rags, but the rags they got were new instead of old,—­it was a real Aladdin bargain.  The new rags had blue backs, and were numbered, some as high as fifty dollars.  The rag-man had been in a hurry, and had not known what made the things so heavy.  I frowned at the swindle, but they said all was fair with a pedler,—­and I own I was glad the things were well out of Richmond.  But when I said I thought it was a mean trick, Lizzie and Sarah looked demure, and asked what in the world I would have them do with the old things.  Did I expect them to walk down to the bridge themselves with great parcels to throw into the river, as I had done by Julia’s?  Of course it ended, as such things always do, by my taking the work on my own shoulders.  I told them to tie up all they had in as small a parcel as they could, and bring them to me.

Accordingly, the next day, I found a handsome brown paper parcel, not so very large, considering, and strangely square, considering, which the minxes had put together and left on my office table.  They had a great frolic over it.  They had not spared red tape nor red wax.  Very official it looked, indeed, and on the left-hand corner, in Sarah’s boldest and most contorted hand, was written, “Secret service.”  We had a great laugh over their success.  And, indeed, I should have taken it with me the next time I went down to the Tredegar, but that I happened to dine one evening with young Norton of our gallant little navy, and a very curious thing he told us.

We were talking about the disappointment of the combined land attack.  I did not tell what upset poor Schaff’s horse; indeed, I do not think those navy men knew the details of the disappointment.  O’Brien had told me, in confidence, what I have written down probably for the first time now.  But we were speaking, in a general way, of the disappointment.  Norton finished his cigar rather thoughtfully, and then said:  “Well, fellows, it is not worth while to put in the newspapers, but what do you suppose upset our grand naval attack, the day the Yankee gunboats skittled down the river so handsomely?”