“With this understanding we returned, instructing Joseph Dent to stay as long as might become necessary, in order to learn all that he could as to the design of these people. After getting our supplies in the wagon we returned home. On arriving we found all feeling very joyful over the fact that Col. Anderson would be home in the course of a week. He had so written to me. Aunt Sarah had opened and read the letter. Little Mary was so delighted that she ran out and tried to tell us all that her father had written. She would talk and stammer and draw a long breath, and then commence again, and repeat until I had to tell her to rest and begin slowly. When we got in we heard all. The two children were delighted at the prospect of seeing Aunt Martha almost as much as seeing the Colonel and his brave wife. Peter and I had to keep quiet about our program with Joseph Dent, and therefore discussed other matters. During the evening Peter concluded that he would not attempt returning to his regiment until Col. Tom should arrive, so that he could arrange about the command and take some word back to Col. Rice. (I said not one word about Tom's commission as Brigadier, but continued the suggestion that Col. Rice could not think of doing otherwise than turning over the command to Col. Anderson.) Just then the post-boy came again with a letter. I opened it and found it to be from my son Jackson, at St. Paul, Minn., (where he resided and was engaged in railroad building,) stating that he considered it his duty to enter the service of his country. Being young and healthy, he said, no patriot in this crisis, blessed with good health, could afford to remain out of the army; that the day would come when the question would be asked of all such persons, 'Why did you not go to the war and fight for your country?' Poor boy, if he were living now he would ask himself the queston: 'Why did I go; for what did I peril my life?' Yes! yes! “Well, I kept this from my wife, Aunt Sarah, for the time. She was so worried about our family that I thought best to wait for a day or so, inasmuch as she did not see me get the letter. A couple of days passed and Joseph Dent came to our house. After seeing and speaking to Jennie about the farm and her interest generally, and telling Aunt Sarah about Ham's scare and joking him somewhat, he spoke to Peter and myself, and said that he wanted to see us alone.