"I do behave. He ought to be insulted. You are going down to hunt up the Yankees, are you?" she continued, addressing me. "You are a _pretty_ object to be engaged in hunting up _Yankees_. The sight of _one pair of blue breeches_ would make _six such spared monuments of God's mercy as you are get up and leave_." At the table the impudent thing would watch me, and whenever she could get my eye, she would make faces at me, which she carried to such an extreme that her mother slapped her ears to make her be still. Whether the whole family were loyal, or only the daughter, or whether the daughter was secesh, and tried only to draw out my true character, the reader alone must judge; my duties were such that I dare not trust any of them. I reached Clifton without being disturbed. On the arrival of the troops to within two miles of Lawrenceburg, I was sent ahead to that place, with instructions to go out on the military road toward Florence, and see if Johnson was coming. I had an escort of fourteen men from the 11th Illinois Cavalry. When we had gone three miles on the military road, we came suddenly upon a dwarfish looking man, mounted on a horse, who was wonderfully frightened at our unexpected meeting. "How far have you come on this military road?" I inquired of him. "I have come from Florence." "Did you see any of Bill Johnson's cavalry on the road?" "No, sir; there is no cavalry on the road. Roddy's cavalry is at Florence; there is none this side of there." "Look here, you are lying to me," I said, eying him closely. "A'n't there any cavalry camped at Shoal Creek?" "No, sir; if there is I did not see them." "_You are lying to me sure._ Johnson's cavalry is at Shoal Creek, not more than a mile and a half from here, and you could not pass without seeing it. You belong to the cavalry, and have been sent out to see if the Yankees are coming with the cattle." "No, indeed, I don't belong to them," he persisted; "I am no soldier, and did not see any soldiers along the road. I am a weaver by trade, and do not belong to the army." "Well, go with us; we'll find out whether you are a soldier or not." His fright now turned into terror. We went about a mile, when we met Johnson's cavalry coming up, and were obliged to turn back. As we turned, one of the cavalry, with a single stroke of his saber, severed the weaver's head from his body, and left him for his comrades to take care of. I have no doubt whatever but that he was a scout for Johnson, and that he calculated his being a dwarf would clear all suspicion of his belonging to the army. I reported the approach of Johnson to General Leggett, who threw out a brigade of infantry in line of battle, and prevented an attack upon the cattle.