The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1881-03-31
and he would rather trust to their
willingness in further

Willingness III IurJ0ef
CONFRONTING THE POSSIBLE DANGERS
before him, so he said: ssBoys, what
shall we do? Will you go ahead with
me until we capture these fellows -
With one prompt and unanimous
response they said resolutely: .sWe
will, if you say sc" "Then so it is.''
he said, without moment hesitancy.
AS PRECAUTIONARY DISGUISE
the detectives were clothed IN gray
stuff made Of blankets, cut out and
hastily stitched together the night
before, SO as to appear somewhat like
the soldiers Of the confederacy in
their homespun garb. Upon reaching
the only house in view, the party sat
down to a meal hastily prepared,
which they had asked for, as they
were hungry as well as tired. They
pretended to be confederates who had
left the army Of northern Virginia
after the fall of Richmond. This
placed them at ease with their host,
and he was asked to procure horses
for them, 50 they could leave the
neighborhood that night. 1t was even
proposed by them that they would
buy horses, or if a party furnishing
them would accompany the fugitives
he would be handsomely paid and
the horses turned over to him as
soon as they were beyond the lines
and no longer liable to recapture. To
the great disappointment Of the
provost marshal and his men, this
inquiry elected the fact that there
was not, and had not been for months,
a horse anywhere in the neighborhood
for a circuit of fifty miles. The guer-
rillas had stolen them, or, the animals
escaping this fate, had been run off
for safety into the union lines by their
owners. Here was
A DILEMMA.
The pursuing force could not 90 for
ward on foot, and horses could not be
obtained, besides which they were
only armed with Colts navy revolvers,
which could not be etfectually used
except at short range. It was felt that
the party ought to be armed with rifles.
AL. these conditions were carefully
weighed. Night was fast setting in,
and prompt action was ecessary, even
if the question of self defense alone
was to be considered. Another house
farther Up the road was observed and
it was resolved to visit this, making a
lsst effort to see if more fortunate re-
suits could not be secured in the matter
Of obtaining transportation. Upon
entering, one of the saddest sights
which had yet met the penetrating
eyes of the detectives broke upon their
view. This was a depot for refugees
which had been used all through the
war for the purpose of sheltering
people who were going through the
lines with the aid OF the last
remnant of means left out Of their
once ample fortunes, now employed to
escape from the deprivations of
tyranny and the annoyances of the fast
sinking confederacy. The windows
| were larkened with old torn blankets
on the inside and boarded up on the
outside, showing many a bullet-hole
made in the skirmishes or personal
encounters with which the history of
the place was afterward learned to
have been pictorialiZed. Crouching
on the bare floor, with an infant in her
arms and two or three children by, who
were kept quiet with the aid of
meagre pieces Of bread given them by
two or three female companions in
misery Of the fugitive mother, was a
pale, thin-faced woman, whose feat
ures told Of
A CONFLICT WITH HUNGER,
exposure and solicitude. She sat on
the edge Of q shabby feather-bed
rolled in a lump and tied by a bed
cord, which, with some few articles
of scant apparel, were all that she had
in the way of remaining comfort from
her once ample possessions and luxu-
rlous home. They were at first fright
ened and almost speeches. at being
discovered. Their male attendant,
who had been guarding them until
they could embark for the Maryland
shore, had been either run off, killed,
or captured by guerrillas who infested
the place as their headquarters. They
knew not what had become of him.
They were alone. The provost
marshall assured them of his protec.
ton. Look-outs were placed at the
doors and short distance from the
house to prevent surprise. BY the
light OF the log fire the apartment,
with its saddened occupants and sus-
picious detectives contrasting them as
they sat about with anxious, guarded
looks, presented a singular scene. The
fleeing family and their friends, who
had been obliged to remain in the
confederacy until everything belong
ing to them had been wrecked, with
almost life included, were struggling
with nearly a superhuman effort to
reach a spot where freedom gave it's
unbranded domain to all. and pro-
lection to the meanest in everything
controlled by civilization, while the
pursuers were about to go behind the
limits to where their lives could be
regarded as safe only as they would
| stoutly contend for them, and would
leave behind them all that was to
give assurance of safety or liberty.
Indeed, as they looked around on
THE BLoOD-sPArTERED WALLS
and doors, it was patent that they
were not safe even then, for the very
/. room in which they were had but
recently been the scene of fend-like
4 butchery, the story of which was told
IN the CORY lines of spurts and daubs
/ of the life. entrants nf Tho y;ot;roo ~,