After they had walked four or five miles the youths began to feel hungry, and at Jack's suggestion they stopped for breakfast at the side of a little brook, which could supply them with that very important ingredient of a traveler's meal, water. Not only did they drink from the brook while devouring the hard biscuit and boiled beef they had brought along, but they bathed their feet in the stream, and carefully dried them before putting on their shoes and stockings.

Very early in their campaigning they had learned the lesson of caring for their feet. An old soldier said to them before they left Booneville:

“Make it a rule to bathe your feet whenever you have a chance, and always dry them carefully before covering them again. Of course there will be times when you must put on wet shoes and stockings and travel in them for miles and miles, but never do it if you can help it. Wet feet cause blisters, rheumatism and all sorts of trouble, and many a man has broken down on a march because his feet were not properly cared for.”

“I should think the officers would look out for their men's feet,” said Jack, when the soldier made the above suggestion.

“So anybody would think, very naturally,” was the reply; “but the fact is, a good many of the officers do nothing of the kind. They are either above that sort of thing or else they give general directions to the men, and then let them take care of themselves. A good infantry captain will see to it that his men take care of their feet, just as a good cavalry captain looks out for the shoeing of his horses and tries every way he can to keep them from getting sore backs.

“And remember another thing,” he continued; “at night always take off your boots or shoes, and sleep with your feet bare or only with stockings on. Your rest with your feet free does twice as much good as the same amount of rest with them confined in the leather you have worn all day. This is the rule with all old travelers. Of course there are times, when you are close to the enemy and a surprise may be looked for at any moment, when you must make an exception to the rule; but don't make the exception if it can be avoided.”

Jack was skeptical on this point, and determined to try for himself. So he slept one night with his boots on and the next with them off, and found it just as the old soldier had told him. He candidly admitted his mistake, and said that for the future he should n't be so confident about his own opinions when they did n't coincide with those of persons older and more experienced than himself.

“One thing more bear in mind,” said their informant, “and that is about sleeping around a campfire.”

“What is that?”

“When you sleep near a fire always lie with your feet to it if you can. If you turn your head toward it you will quite likely have a headache in the morning, and, anyway, you won't sleep well. The brain should be kept cool while we are sleeping, and the feet warm. We cover our feet at night when we sleep in beds, but leave our heads exposed. Follow the same plan in camp, and if you have warmth anywhere have it at the feet.

“When you sleep in a tent have your head where you can get the greatest amount of pure air to breathe. The Indians understand this, and when they sleep in their circular wigwams or lodges they have their feet toward the center and their heads nearest the circumference.”

These simple directions were of great use to Jack and Harry in their subsequent campaigning, and should be remembered by any of the young readers of this story. Other hints came to them from time to time, which we may introduce hereafter.

After breakfast they continued their journey. Half a mile or so farther on they came to a house, where they asked the way to the next village, to make sure that they were on the right road. A woman and two tow-headed children were the sole possessors of the establishment, and they eyed the young travelers with an air of suspicion. After answering the question, the woman asked where they were from.

“We've come from the other side of the Missouri,” answered Jack, “and are going down to see some of our friends.”

“I know where you're going,” said the woman. “You don't look old enough for soldiers, but you're going South. Did you see any Yanks at Rolla?”

“Yes, lots of'em,” said Harry; “and't wasn't easy to get away from there.”

“Yes, yes, that's what they say,” responded the woman, fully convinced by Harry's answer that her suspicions were correct. And then she added, “Wonder 'f I could get to Rolla and get some snuff?”

The boys were non-committal on this point, but thought she would have no trouble if she went straight to the provost-marsha's office when she entered the village, and told what she wanted.

“And I want a little tea and coffee, too,” she added; “and then some salt and other things for the house.” Harry told her she might get a pound or so of each, but he was sure the officers would n't let anybody come through the lines with more than that. “That's what they told us at Rolla,” he added, “and so we did n't try to bring anything along,”—a statement which was literally true.

She promised to follow their directions, and then grew confidential. She told them her husband was down on the St. Francis river, where General Hardee was getting up an army to drive the Yanks out of Rolla and all that part of the state. “He's in Colonel Jones's regiment,” said she; “and if you see him, tell him we're getting on all right and hope they 'll be along soon, as we're getting mighty short of things to eat.”

Jack gravely made a mental note of the name of the man by pronouncing it several times, and promised to hunt him up as soon as they got where Colonel Jones's regiment was. The woman then invited the youths to stay and have something to eat. As they had just breakfasted they declined the invitation, but accepted the offer of some milk. One of the children brought it from the springhouse, and the young adventurers drank freely and with a good relish. They had a conscientious twinge in so doing, but swallowed the twinge along with the milk, and after thanking the kind-hearted woman for her hospitality continued on their way.

“Funny she should want snuff before anything else,” said Jack, as soon as they were out of earshot of the house.

“Nothing so very funny about that,” replied Harry. “Don't you know how they use it?”

“I've heard something about it, but don't know exactly.”

“I picked it up the other day,” Harry explained, “and this is how it is: They call it 'snuff-dipping' in the South,” he continued, “and it is very much the fashion among the middle and lower-class whites down in the cotton states, but not much in Missouri as yet. They take a little stick and chew the end until it's soft like a brush; then they dip this moist brush in snuff and rub it on the gums and around the mouth generally, and in this way they use up a good deal of snuff in the course of a year. It is said to produce a pleasant sort of mild intoxication, and after using it a little while a woman gets as much addicted to snuff-dipping as a man does to chewing tobacco or smoking. It's the same sort of vice, and I can't say I blame the women much, when all the men around them are chewing or smoking tobacco.”

“Do they all use it?” queried Jack; “I mean do the young women dip snuff the same as the older ones?”

“I did n't think to ask that question,” Harry responded; “but the man who told me said the women who dipped snuff mostly did it 'on the sly,' at any rate in the beginning of it. Probably they get bolder about it in time, just as boys do when they learn to smoke. After a while they get accustomed to snuff, and don't get the excitement out of it that they want, and then they take to smoking pipes just like men.”

Later observation convinced Jack that Harry had been correctly informed. The further they went in the South the more they found the use of tobacco prevailing among the women, and in several instances they found little concealment practiced in the custom of snuff-dipping. At one house where they called a middle-aged woman held her snuff-stick in her mouth all the time she was talking with them, just as a man might hold a cigar there, and an older woman sat by the fireplace smoking a corn-cob pipe with the utmost indifference to the presence of the young visitors.

They did not stop again until early in the afternoon, when they called at a house and asked if they could have dinner. There was a man about the premises, in addition to the woman and the usual complement of tow-headed children. He promptly said they hadn't much to offer, but the boys should be welcome. He had nothing but hog and hominy, and he reckoned that was all they would find anywhere on the road.

Jack took the lead as spokesman, and assured him that hog and hominy was good enough for anybody, and was all they wanted; and he further said that cold hog was just as good for them as hot, and if there was any cold in the house it would make them a first-rate dinner.

This avowal of democratic principles smoothed the way at once, and in a little while dinner was ready. Fried bacon and cornbread constituted the repast, which was washed down with milk, the boys intimating that they preferred it to any other beverage, partly for the reason that it was nutritious and partly because of the general scarcity of tea and coffee through all the war-stricken region. The host was not inclined to be talkative on the topics that were just then the most absorbing, probably for the reason that he did n't know exactly who and what his visitors might be, and preferred to remain neutral. Many men in Missouri tried to adopt this course, but sooner or later most of them were drawn into the war on one side or the other; neutrality was next to impossible where a man was able to bear arms or contribute in any way to the contest which involved the existence or the destruction of the nation.

When the meal was over Jack asked how much they owed for it. The man said he did n't want anything, but if they had fifty cents to spare for the children it might come handy. Accordingly Jack gave twenty-five cents to one of the children, Harry gave the same amount to another, and everything was satisfactory.

Just as they arose from the table there was the sound of hoofs outside, which drew everybody to the door. The hearts of the youths beat a little faster than usual when they saw eight or ten horsemen riding up to the house and ranging themselves in front of it.