The effort was so exhausting that he had to go down to the spring, take a deep drink of cold water, and bathe his forehead. But his determination was unabated, and before the sun went down he had produced the following: "i talk mi pen in hand 2 inform U that ive reseeved the SOX U so kindly cent, & i thank U 1,000 times 4 them. They are boss sox & no mistake. They are the bossest sox that ever wuz nit. The man is a lire who sez they aint. He dassent tel Me so. U are a boss nitter. Even Misses Clinkun can't hold a candle 2 U. "The sox fit me 2 a t, but that is becaws they are nit so wel, & stretch."134 "I wish I knowed some more real strong words to praise her knitting," said Shorty, reading over the laboriously-written lines. "But after I have said they're boss what more is there to say? I spose I ought to say something about her health next. That's polite." And he wrote: "ime in fair helth, except my feet are" locoed, & i weigh 156 pounds, & hope U are injoying the saim blessing." "I expect I ought to praise her socks a little more," said he, and wrote: "The SOX are jest boss. They outrank anything in the Army of the Cumberland." After this effort he was compelled to take a long rest. Then he communed with himself: "When a man's writin' to a lady, and especially an educated lady, he should always throw in a little poetry. It touches her." There was another period of intense thought, and then he wrote: "Dan Elliott is my name, & single is my station, Injianny is mi dwelling place, & Christ is mi salvation." "Now," he said triumphantly, "that's neat and effective. It tells her a whole lot about me, and makes her think I know Shakspere by heart. Wonder if I can't think o' some more? Hum—hum. Yes, here goes: "The rose is red, the vilet's blue; ime 4 the Union, so are U." Shorty was so tickled over this happy conceit that he fairly hugged himself, and had to read it over135 several times to admire its beauty. But it left him too exhausted for any further mental labor than to close up with: "No moar at present, from yours til death. "Dan Elliott, "Co. Q, 200th injianny Volunteer Infantry." He folded up the missive, put it into an envelope, carefully directed to Miss Jerusha Ellen Briggs, Bad Ax, Wis., and after depositing it in the box at the Chaplain's tent, plodded homeward, feeling more tired than after a day's digging on the fortifications. Yet his fatigue was illuminated by the shimmering light of a fascinating hope. CHAPTER X. TRADING WITH THE REBS THE BOYS HAVE SOME FRIENDLY COMMERCE WITH THE REBEL PICKETS. THE 200th Ind. Volunteer Infantry had been pushed out to watch the crossings of Duck River and the movements of the rebels on the south bank of that narrow stream. The rebels, who had fallen into the incurable habit of objecting to everything that the "Yankees" did, seemed to have especial and vindictive repugnance to being watched.