Hereafter, kind reader, when you see a dead "hoss", don't turn up your nose at him, but regard him thoroughly, as the foundation for a large fortune in a single year. He may, individually, be a nuisance, but 'there is that within which passeth show'--$100,000.00 a year." Horses, supplies, good fighting men and pickets were important to the Confederates. So were spies. Mosby was aided greatly by two young ladies who resided in Fairfax. One was Laura Ratcliffe and the other was Antonia Ford. [Illustration] X. SPIES Little is known of Laura Ratcliffe's activities but she was often called "Mosby's pet" and was the heroine subject of many poems dedicated to her by Mosby and J. E. B. Stuart. She was devotedly attached to the Confederate cause and sought every opportunity to become possessed of the secrets and movements of the Union Forces. She is reported to have been a maiden lady of great intelligence and high accomplishments and was very well spoken of by people who knew her. She resided near Fairfax during the entire war, communicating with Mosby whenever he came through this section, and it is a mystery that she succeeded in eluding the vigilance of Union Scouts. Not so fortunate was her contemporary, Antonia Ford, who spent many months in Old Capitol Prison, as the result of a raid made on her home after Mosby's successful capture of Stoughton. Union officers felt so strongly that she had had a part in this affair that her home was ordered searched and they found a commission from J. E. B. Stuart which read as follows: "TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: KNOW YE: That reposing special confidence in the patriotism, fidelity and ability of Antonia J. Ford, I, James E. B. Stuart, by virtue of the power vested in me as brigadier general in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America, do hereby appoint and commission her my honorary aide-de-camp, to rank as such from this date. She will be obeyed, respected and admired by all true lovers of a ---- nature. Given under my hand and seal at the headquarters of the Cavalry Brigade at Camp Beverly the 7th October, A. D., 1861, and the first year of our independence. (signet ring seal) (signed) J. E. B. Stuart (X true copy) (signed) L. L. Lomax" Antonia was an attractive, young, dark-haired lady, charming to talk with, witty, and well received in both Washington and Virginia Society. Extracts from a pamphlet written by Alice M. Coates read: "In the advance of Federal Troops to Bull Run, some of the Federal officers stopped overnight with Mr. Ford at Fairfax. His daughter, Antonia, a heroic young lady of 22 intensely loyal to the South, listened at the keyhole and heard the plans proposed. Next morning she asked for a pass to visit a sick aunt, a few miles South, which was granted. She immediately reported these plans to the Southern troops."