The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-12-25

| badly indeed. Afte- several years Of clos
student life. in rather feeble health, tn
| continual tudging day after day wthol
| food or rest, or even the stimuoiis y d Ut
was a severe tax upon unframed mu>y.e>
| and uniformed character. Yet To this fact
due. | presume, iay escape thus far III
looks and actions being too boyish an
'vcrdant to arouse suspicion. Repeated
during the morning | met cavalry patrols
and twice or ottcner had TO pass dlrectl
through camps OF one Or more regiments
stretched along on both sides Of the road
with groups Of curious gaZers at ever,
bivouac yet escaped whereas even wei
known citizens of the vicinity dare not z,
out Of view of their homes for fear Of arrest
My lnvariable response to questions from the
soldiers was-''Oh, I'm just up f.om Wash
''ington. coming home from school
Thought could foot it, for | suppose you
know they want all TIE horses down there
now to haul artillery to defend the city
And by the way Is ut there some danger OF
THE Rebs slipping over to gobble up tel-
low between hele and Fredrick ?" Tsu-
ally the reply was a laughing one oh
',YOU need Mt lDoL SO ScGredt We're guard
ing the river: every foot of it and no d
"Rebel dare poke up his head when we re
about We'll, that 5 all right but YOU
need to keep sharp eye nowadays -
and thus we would pass.
About IL a. ~, the little village of
Jamestown Gf L mistake not became visi-
bic, and at the same moment the sweet mel
low chimes of church bells came echong
over the hills in the crisp morning air. The
sound startled me like an c'nctric shock
had forgotten that 1t ", sunday Thus
quickly doth War overturn the settled habits
and teachings of peace. However, | was
not as yet trained to play the soldier, since
could not muster courage to enter the vii
lage, and confront the citizens walking to
church, knowing that they must wonder
why this gault youngster, barefoOted
though ia costly dress, should be staggering
through their streets with rusty carpet bag
over his shoulder, on the quiet Sabbath
morning, Singulary enough, this boyish
timidity IN causing me to turn aside from
the House Of Worship threw me into a train
of circumstances see ning'y little less than
Proyldentlal.
SAMBO, SALVATOR.
Taking a by-road to skirt the village, and
finding it leading In the direction of the Po-
tomac one or two miles distant. | determin-
ed in my desperation to follow it down with
in sight Of the Yankee pickets, to see for
myself how matters stood. Presently |
overlook an Old darkey, loaded with liquor,
literally, inside and out The trusted
house-servant of neighboring planter, he
had been to town after the weekly sup
plies to wit: a three-gallon jug III bag,
an Cd in canteen swu = around his neck,
and several long-necked bottles for
marster in his capacious pockets. One
OF more additional quarts carried int InaIly,
might be inferred from his gait. and ex
ceeding loquacity. In response to Il casual
inquiry where he lived, he launched into
verbal map of the entire locality, inter
spersed with much funny gos>i p OF men and
things, pouring it out III maullin monotone
Ike the glrgllng OF an emptylng jug. "a he
trotted along behind me. At first annoyed,
| soon saw the wisdom of encouraging the
old slave garrulity, since it gave me con-
siderable information relative to the FEEDER
ais. The whole region, he said. was filed
with small camps ,iin-ul Stone army
being at Seneca Mills. and '.jin-ul Bank
army at Point o Rocks. or thereabouts.
His ideas Of course were greatly exaggerated,
but there could be no question as to the diff
ficlltv of the situation. The Federals h al
the small boats belonging to the citizens: SO
that not a skiff or canoe could be seen along
the entire river line.
DODGING THROUGH THE FOREST.
As last resort, and knowing the old slave
must know if there were any secret ford, or
boat. | displayed the varied contents of my
yalise, Including many glittering trlnkets
such as school boys are apt to pick up,
promised him the whole lot, when he should
show me some means OF escape. 1t was
easy to see his eyes were dazzed by the Of
fer. but the gloating expression changed to
despair as he declared, - fore de good