The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1873-12-02

we drew up at an untenanted loghouse,
half way between two villages. Here we
were to stop for the night There was
clean straw on the floor, and one of the
guards went away to a farmhouse and pur-
chased supply of bread and % bite of
meat all around. Joe gave them lively
sailor song before we stretched out, and
never slept better than during that night.
We were on the road again at daylight, and
the march of. the first day will do to de-
scribe the march of the next seven. The
prisoners were in better spirits as the days
went by, and even got so that they spoke
cheerfully of the future. The country was
sometimes quite we'll cultivated, but gener-
ally it was composed of a sterile soil, rock,
hill and forest. The villages were further
apart after the third day, and we logged
along sometimes for three hours without
meeting any one.
81 have gone as far as mean to ~ whis-
pered Joe, as the eighth day was drawing
to close. "We must give them the slip
tonight p ......i.ya. q
He explained that while crossing Lake
Ladago on the steamer he had found and
secreted large nail. We had been care
fully searched before leaving Cronsdadt,
and every article removed from our pock-
cts, and this search had not been followed
by a second. The sailor had therefore
retained possession of the nail, and he had
of .,rxlE INof
this explanation of his as to make it posi-
BILE to free himself from his irons. He ex-
amined mine closely as we walked along,
and he thought he could bend up the hook
unclasped. Everything would depend on
the disposition made of us that night. He
requested me to secure piece of flint stone,
if / could do it without exciting suspicion {;
and just before dark, under pretence Of
stumbling while crossing broken ground,
picked up and secreted thin piece of
stone, as large as my hand and as tough as
iron.
The journey ended at dark. 1t was a
VAIN pleasant evening, and the chain were
unit in asking that we might camp on the
ground, instead of being taken into farm
er's cowshed, as was proposed. The SOL
diers had experienced no trouble with us,
and after some hesitation, granted the re-
quest. Thus far on the journey two of
them had stood guard by turns, so that
they had run no risks, and lost but little
sleep. AS we sat in circle on the ground
round a tree, the ends of the chain were
brought together and locked, and the SOL
diers thought they had struck brilliant
idea.
Joe ratified off a couple of songs, and
then braced my back against stone and
spread my feet apart, and he hugged up to
me as close as he could, and went right to
work at the irons. We were four feet
from any of the other prisoners, ard the
guards were twenty feet away, sitting to-
gether. Men never combine more caution,
ingenuity and persistency, than when
working for freedom. With the nail and
the piece Of stone Joe worked deftly and
vigorously, while held the chain in such
a position that the other prisoners could
not take the alarm. The poor wretches
had not the remotest idea of escape; even
had they been free from the chain, doubt
if they would have had the courage to
creep away. The word "Siberia" is
enough to unnerve any Russian, and few
gangs will ever think of escape after being
once started on the road.
The guards could not tell from our posi-
ton who slept and who remained awake.
Two of them stretched out for sleep, and
the other two kept watch, maintaining a
muttered conversation, which allowed Joe
to work with more vigor than he would
otherwise have dared to use. He got his
irons off in about an hour, and then COM
menced on mine. Either because the
blacksmith had made poorer job of it, or
used inferior material, the rivet through
my irons soon yielded to his efforts, and
by midnight we were both clear of the
chain. The prisoners had all been asleep
for hours, but the guards were awake and
alert. The night was pretty dark, but
could make out their forms, and our irons
had not been off five minutes when one of
them rose up and walked around the cir
Gle, to see that we were all right. He
made no discovery to excite suspicion, and
when he sat down again Joe whispered to
me:
"Ill go first If have good luck, fol-
low me if we are discovered, leap up, and
we'll run away together -
My heart never beat faster or louder
tbau xrhap tha Gallon cono,,anoad ..,ouI....s.