246

LIFE OX THE MISSISSIPPI.

me to hell or victory !' I heard him say that from tbe pilot-house;
and then he galloped in, at the head of his troops. Old General
Pillow, with his white hair, mounted on a white horse, sailed in, too,
leading his troops as lively as a boy. By and by the Federals chased
the rebels back, and here they came ! tearing along, everybody for

HIS MAIDEN BATTLE,
himself and Devil
take the hindmost!
and down under the
bank they scrambled,
and took shelter. I
was sitting with my
legs hanging out of
the pilot-house win-
dow. All at once I
noticed a whizzing
sound passing my ear.
Judged it was a
bullet. I didn't stop
to think about any-
thing, I just tilted
over backwards and
landed on the floor,
and staid there.
The balls came boom-
ing around. Three
cannon-balls went
through the chimney;
one ball took off the
corner of the pilot-
house ; shells were
screaming and burst-
ing all around.
Mighty warm times—I wished I hadn't come. I lay there on the
pilot-house floor, while the shots came faster and faster. I crept in
behind the big stove, in the middle of the pilot-house. Presently a
Tmnfe-ball came through the stove, and just grazed my head, and cut
my itat, I judged it was time to go away from there. The captain