The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-12-09

of the apartment, levelled his musket
30 as to bar my way, saying as he
did So T. .-a u {. 49, ...ta.
eye carn't pass yere, sir. Ye must
gwo round by the wall" ...-y
This drew my attention to the spot,
and noticed that space, about fifteen
feet square, in the centre of the room, and
directly in front Of the sentinel, had been
recently Ding up with spade. While in
all other places the ground was trodden
to the hardness and color Of granite, this
spot seemed to be soft and had the red
dish-yellow hue of the "sacred soil. u
Another sentry was pacing to and fro on
the other side, so that the place was COM
pletely surrounded! Why were they
guarding It SO closely The reason flashed
upon me, and I said to Turner c.
II say, how many barras hes ye in
thar" 1EN &" .-0Es '.H 81
Enough to blow this shanty To-
he answered, CURLY. n /
I reckon! Putem thar when tibet fel-
Ter Dahlgreen was a-gwine to rescue EN-
the Yankeesa" ..
81 reckenl" l
In this room, seated on the ground, or
leaning idly against tho walls, were about
dozen poor fellows who the Judge told
me were hostages, held for similar num-
Der under sentence of death by the govern
ment. Their detected, homesick look, and
weary listless manner disclosed some OF
the horrors of imprisonment
"Let as 60 on" I said, to the colonel /;
81 have had enough of this" =
"No; you must see the up stairs, o." said
Turner, 1T amt so gloomy up there"
It was not so gloomy, for some little
sunlight did come in through the dingy
windows but the few prisoners in the up.
per rooms had the same sad, disconsolate
look as those in the lower story. q
cit is not hard fare or close quarters
that kills men," said Judge Ould to me
sit is home-siokness, and the strongest
and the bravest succumb to it first"
In the sill of an attic window found a
Mimic ball. Frying it out with my knife,
and holding it up to Turner, said:
$50 he keeps this room fur shootin'-
galley, does her. --@s~-
EYES," he replied, laughing. "The
boys practice once in while on the YAM
KEGS. You see, the rules forbid their COM
ing within three feet of the windows.
Sometimes they do, and then the boys
take pop at them"
"And sometimes hit EN-? Hit many
on emp"
eyes, heap
We passed long hour in the Libby, and
then visited Castle Thunder and the hos
pitfalls for our wounded. l should be glad
to describe what saw in those "institu-
tons" but the limits of my paper for
bid it.
1t was FIVE O'Clock when we babe the
Judge friendly goodbye, and took our
seats in the ambulance. As we did so he
said to US:
have not taken your parole, gentle
men, shall trust to your honor not to
disclose anything you have seen or heard
that might operate against US in military
way"
You may rely upon US, Judge; and
some day give us a chance to return the
courtesy and kindness you have shown to
us. We shall not fol get it
We arrived near the Union lines just as
the sun was going down. Captain Hatch,
VITO had accompanied us, waived his flag
as we halted near grove of frees, and a
young officer rode over to US from the
nearest picket station. We dispatched
him to Gen. Foster for a pair of horses,
and in half an hour entered the Genersl's
tent. He pressed US to remain to dinner,
proposing to kill the fatted calf" for
these my sons were dead and are alive
again, we're lost and are found"
+ We let him kill it, Gt tasted wonderfully
like salt pork, and in half an hour were
on our way to Gen. Buffers headquarters.