The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-12-04

lousht, this darned place Is haunt
4 there's such a thing as a place
4slhg haunted The sound stopped,
o''t IN about ten minutes after it he
I'D again. / looked at the pile of
t.otatoes and presently saw some
f4lIg shoot from the ceiling and fall
An then. saw it was brick. and
tqQla distinguish rope tied to it.
sfRpt q little nearer to get a good
iuqk at the thing, but before | could
RmiRc At, il was drawn slowly up,
asN there Was about peck of yams
flFking to It. 1t went up through a
{ SsWhics< had been cut in the floor
(above, and presently came down
again with thump right among the
potatoes. 1t was the most artful ar
rangement you eyer saw. The brick
had about fifty holes drilled in it,
and through each hole a sharpened
teDpenny nail had been run, so that
when the brick fell among the vans
these nails stuck into every one they
tell on. | couldn't help laughing at
the smart dodge those Yankees had
taken to get at the yams. / gently
put my hand forward and caught
hold of the rope. Pretty soon they
began to draw on it. and when it did
not move l heard one fellow say +:
Steady, boys; the bricks hung on
sonnet hing. Pull her steadily with
out Jerking They did pull steadily
and fairly lifted me from the floor.
No jerk easy, boys, easy,' said the
director, and they tugged away.
got pretty red in the face holding to
the rope. l was afraid to let 60, be-
cause thought some of those nails
might strike me in passing. I tho't
of my pocket knife. and hauled it
cut just as they were putting all their
weight on the other end of the rope.
l cut it in two, and the other end
shot back through the hole in the
ceiling, and | could hear a rolling
and tumbling on the floor above,
showing that the sudden giving way
of the rope had had disastrous Ell
feet. | heard another voce say !:
There, now, told you so. You've
broken the rope. We've lost our
brick, and Tomorrow We'll be found
OUT Then another voice called out:
Can't you see it? We might hook
it ap.' Next | saw long neck pro-
truding through the hole and fel>
low Deering down. Then 1 called
out: IF you trouble any more of
these potatoes, I'll shoot That fell
lows head shot back through that
hole just like a terrapin, and it was
as still as death up there. L hated to
tell on them, because it was such a
sharp scheme of foraging on the en-
emy, but had to. When the Off :
GERS went uD the next morning to ex
anime the room, it took long time
to fiud the hole. Those Yankees had
cut hole about Il foot square thro'
the floor, and it was done so neatly
that it took good eyes to discover it.
That was where the officers yams
went to"
There were two characters conne,-
ted with Libby Prison whose where
abouts doubtless many an ex-prisoner
would like to know-"Old Ben" and
"the General" The former was an
old darkey who had the run of the
establishment, and who generally
came by sunrise to waken the priSo-
ners. He made 1t his business to get
some one outside the prison to read
him the dispatches from the seat OF
of war, and these he turned over in
his mind until he managed to work
them up into q graphic description OF
the battle, generally managing to
give the victory to the Union forces.
The keen old fellow had learned that
reports of Union victories elatsd the
prisoners to such an extent that they
became liberal and rewarded him for
his cheering intelligence. He would
come in the room and sing out at the
top of his voice: "Look sharp, dar
Here l is wild de lastes' talogrifick
'spatches from de seat er war" This
signal was enough, and the prisoners
would crowd around tine willy old
darkey while he related "de lates'
'spatches," which often ended with
the gratifying intelligence, "An'
Gineral Lees man dey took N run. "
Old Ben, Though he claimed to be a
Northern sympathizer, was deeply
grieVed when the war ended, as it
closed the Libby and deprived him
of his occupation. After the eYacu-
atien he hung around the old place
for a week or more, and took pride
in showing it to such Union soldiers
as had never seen it before. He was
afterwards engaged with gangs OF
negroes in cleaning bricks in the