Saturday, April 25th. Left Shreveport at 4 o’clock a. m. in a hack; had a fine pair of horses, and the day being cloudy, had quite a pleasant ride; got a good breakfast at Mr. Allen’s; reached the Widow Gamble’s about 1 o’clock. This is the most beautiful place I have seen since I left home; every tree has either a rose or a honeysuckle clambering over it, all fragrant and blooming; there is a Cherokee rose hedge all round the farm. This place is within six miles of poor Burney Means’ home; he has gone to his rest, and my thoughts were all day of him and our dear old college days. We were fellow students in the South Carolina college; he was my closest and most confidential friend and his smiling face is photographed on my heart forever; I cannot yet fully realize that I shall never see him again.
Reached Mansfield about dark; a neat little village full of pretty girls.
