The colonel then arose and said he was "reminded of the old maxim, that it 'took a bolder man to confess an error than to face a cannon's mouth,' and while he laid no claim to boldness, he did claim to be able to do what he believed to be right; and since he had heard the law and reason of the case, as laid down by the court, he was free to confess that he had all along been in error, and that the court was in the right." He had, he said, such "an utter detestation for disloyalty, that nothing, he thought, could be too great punishment for a rebel, and he had regarded the taking of their property--no matter when, how, or by whom--as a part of their just punishment; but the reasoning of the court had made it entirely clear to his mind that, while this could be properly done by the government for the general good, it could not be properly done by individuals for their private gain." He, like the doctor, would "turn a short corner on this subject, and from thenceforth use whatever influence he possessed to discourage the taking of abandoned or captured property for private uses. So long as he retained his present headquarters, he would see that nothing was removed from the premises, and, so far as it was possible, he would have returned whatever had been taken away." Thus ended, pleasantly and satisfactorily, what, at one time, threatened to be a very ugly case. Had the doctor and colonel chosen to disregard the request of the court, and insisted upon their right to send the piano to the doctor's home, it would have brought on a direct conflict of authority, necessitated arrests, caused appeals to higher authorities, and created confusion generally; but their respect for the court was such as to overcome all these unhappy consequences. On the afternoon of the same day on which the case was heard, the colonel sent a team to the Provost-Marshal's office; the Marshal went with the driver to the office of the shipping-merchant and directed the delivery of the piano; and before sundown of that day, the piano stood in the exact spot from which it had been taken a few days before. The triumph of reason over error and prejudice was complete. From thenceforth the long-mooted and often discussed question, as to how disloyalty affected the rights of property, was settled in and about Alexandria. There was no further attempt to appropriate abandoned property for private uses. [Illustration: 0241] CHAPTER XV. A NEW WAY TO PAY OLD DEBTS. JUSTICE SHIFTING THE SCENES AND PROMPTING THE ACTORS.