That officer immediately and with great dignity went to the Federal commander and said: “I desire under the terms of the cartel to surrender this officer to you for such punishment as a court-martial of your army may see fit to inflict. He has violated the cartel.” “What has he done?” asked the Federal officer. “He has taken possession of property left upon the field, contrary to the terms of the truce.” “Would you mind telling me,” asked the Federal officer, “the exact nature and extent of his offence?” A little explanation followed, the Confederate commander remaining stern and uncompromising in his determination to deliver the man for punishment, asking no favors or mercies for him, and offering no apologies for that which he deemed a breach of honor. When the Federal officer had learned the exact facts of the situation, he made the usual military salute and said to the Confederate commander: “I thank you. You have been very honorable and very punctilious, but the officer’s fault has been merely one of inadvertence. I beg to return him to you with the assurance that we have no desire to punish so brave a man as he must be, in order to hold his commission in your army, for an act that involved no intention of wrong.” Here were two brave men--two gentlemen--met. Naturally they understood each other. OLD JONES AND THE HUCKSTER It is a fixed principle of military law that no person is allowed to sell supplies within the lines of a camp without permission of the commandant. It is also a fixed principle of military law that he must sell only at prices approved by the commandant. I shall never forget how I first learned of these military rules. We were at Camp Onward and old Jones had just become our colonel. One day a farmer came to the camp with a heavily laden wagon. It was in the summer of 1861, when food in Northern Virginia was abundant, and when our money was as good as anybody’s. Our farmer had among his supplies, dressed turkeys, suckling pigs, lamb, mutton, watermelons, cantaloupes, string beans, Lima beans, green peas, and in brief almost all those things that we read about on the bill of fare of a swagger hotel, kept on the “American Plan.” He had butter also, and lard. He had eggplants and pumpkins, and a great many other things. We were a rather hungry lot, and were strongly inclined to buy of him. But this farmer had evidently made up his mind to get comfortably rich off that single wagon load of provisions. Two years later we should not have been surprised at his prices, but at that time we were appalled. Nevertheless, some of us were buying with the recklessness of men who do not know at what hour a bullet may draw a red line below all accounts.