60       
               �The Last Man in Beaufort.�
the scene of action.  In doing this we went to
the only hotel in the place, and Babcock, calling
at an adjacent store, introduced me to a little
old man who had once attained considerable
notoriety as the only white inhabitant of Beau-
fort, when the Union troops took the place, when
he was represented as too drunk to fly.  This
story, however, Babcock contradicted as I think
it was very probably false, as the old man hap-
pened to be a native of Masachusetts and might
have remained trusting to this fact for his safety.
He was, my informant said, very much fright-
ened and the sensational reporters � Mort Thom-
son among the rest � either mistook his condition
or lied about it.  After unsuccessfully trying
the door of Col. Morrow�s quarters and visiting
a drunken quartermaster who was very abusive
of Gen. Hunter�s colored brigade, �the 1[st] South
Carolina Volunteers� and of a clerical volun-
tary correspondent of the Tribune, who had
written a letter respecting them, we returned
to the quarters of Col. Christ, where ensured
much wearisome talk, which with the heat
and musquitoes tired me out; though it was
not till 7 1/2 A.M. that I got to sleep, on
a sofa in the room, while the rest were still
talking.