Finally, unable to resist her curiosity longer, she broke in: "What pa't of the No'th do yo' all come from?" "How do you know I am from the North? What makes you think that?" "Jest as soon as I heard yo' all talk," said the woman, "I knew yo' was a Yank. Strange how queer th' Yanks talk." Noel laughed and did not give expression to his own feeling that the dialect that he had heard in the South had impressed him much the same way as his hostess had been impressed by the voices and words of the Northern soldiers. "I reckon," she continued, "that yo' all are one of McClellan's men, though what yo' all are doin' over yere is more than I can understand. Yo' all are not looking fo' my man, Sam, are yo'?" "I assure you that I am not," said Noel promptly. And the young soldier spoke honestly, for of all men Sam Tolliver was the one he least desired to see at the time. "Run away from the army?" inquired the woman. "No." "Well, then, what are yo' all doin' out yere? I see yo' ain't got no coat, but in spite of the dirt I can see that yo' pants is the same as all th' Yankee soldiers wear." "How far is the Northern army from here?" inquired Noel, without answering her question. "That's more than I can say. Sometimes they say it's in one place and then again they say it's in 'nother. If Sam was here he could tell yo'. Sam knows more than any man I ever see." Noel did not explain his suspicions that Sam's knowledge included some things which he knew and some things which he did not know. "I don't suppose you see very much of him now," he said aloud. "Not as much as I used toe," said the woman, "though befo' the war Sam used to go out with houn' dogs and be gone days at a time huntin' rabbits. He was a pow'ful good shot." "He must have kept you pretty well supplied with rabbits," suggested Noel. "Sometimes he did and sometimes he didn't," replied Eliza Jane. "Sometimes the pesky little varmints would get away befo' Sam had a chance toe fire. They seemed toe know that he was a dead-sure shot." Noel's suspicions as to the prowess of the wonderful Sam once more were not voiced. He was content if only the woman would feed him and permit him to depart without further trouble.