Three  days  had  scarcely  been  passed  in  camp  near  Washington
when  Shelby  again  was  in  the  field.  A  Federal  force  advancing
from  Fort  Smith  threatened  Lewisville,  where  were  large  factories
for  the  manufacture  of  cotton  and  woolen  goods.  Shelby,  ordered
to  protect  it,  threw  himself  forward  by  extraordinary  marches,  but
the  enemy,  learning  how  it  was  defended  and  by  whose  forces,
turned  short  around  and  returned  in  hot  haste,  when  he  came
back  to  Washington  and  a  triumph.
During  his  absence  many  of  his  warm  admirers  among  the  citi-
zens, foremost  among  whom  were  Captains  Ferguson,  Bouldin,  Han-
nah, Mr.  Block,  Colonel  Eakin,  and  numerous  others,  and  his  no  less
devoted  friends   in  the  army,  made  preparations  for  a  magnificent


240  SHELBY   AND   HIS    MEN;    OR,

supper  to  be  given  in  his  honor.  Everything  that  ingenuity  coukl
suggest  or  cultivated  taste  contrive  was  upon  the  table.  Fair  hands
arranged  great  wreaths  of  flowers  from  the  costly  chandeliers,  and
spread  out  the  elegant  repast  upon  long  tables  decorated  with  sil-
ver and  gold.  Wine  hid  away  for  years  in  dusty  cellars,  sparkled
into  light  and  blushed  rosy  in  the  goblets  pledged  by  woman's  lips.
Music  swelled  out  in  soft  delicious  strains  upon  the  perfumed  air,
and  gray  coats  and  blue  coats,  gauze  dresses  and  home-spun  dresses
mingled  in  and  out  upon  the  silk  and  satin  edges  of  the  throng.
