News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1882-04-20
Efforts on behalf of his sons proved I'M

Jacob and Frederick were therefore
taken to the fortress of Chamblee, Just
within Canada, between Lake Cham
plain and the st. Lawrence.
At the post there were about seventy
prisoners, and not a very strong gar
rison; so that the first thing to which
the young Sammons's made up theil
minds was an escape. Finding, how
ever, their fellow captives indisposed tt
do anything for themselves, Jacob ant
Frederick determined to act without the
rest, and accordingly, the first time they
were taken out of the fort together, tc
assist in some common service, they
sprung from the ranks, at concerted
signal, and 'put," as the phrase is IL
the west. The guards started, but less
fleet of foot could not catch them and
though Jacob fell and sprained his
ankle, he managed under cover of the
smoke produced by the gun shots made
at them, to hide himself in clump OF
bushes, which his pursurers did not
think of searching. It had been agreed
previously between the brothers, in case
of separation, they were to meet at a
known spot at 10 o'clock at night.
Jacob, the lame one, mistook the
hour, and having gone to the spot and
not finding his brother there. he left ii
with the intention of getting as far from
the fort as possible before daylight, his
accident making time especially i'm
portant to him. He accordingly pushed
up the western bank of the Sorel River
toward Lake Champlain, intending to
swim just below the lake and then find
his way toward the eastern shore.
Various events, however, occurred to
prevent his doing this; but after run
ming great risk by putting himself in
the power of a tory, whose chief ex-
cellence seems to have been the
possession of a kind and fearless wife,
he was so lucky as to find canoe, of
which he took charge, and in which he
made good Roadway toward home until,
in one of the narrow passes of the
Champlain, the British Notifications,
ON both sides, forced him to leave the
vessel and take to the woods again.
At this time he was without shoes,
food or gun, and had to find his way to
Albany through an unknown wilder
ness along the Vermont shores. For
four days he lived entirely on birch
bark; he then managed to catch few
fish and duck, which he ate raw; thus
he labored on for ten days. His feet,
meantime, had become terribly cut,
and we're bleeding every step, so that
he could hardly crawl, and if he stopped
to rest one moment, swarms of
mosquitoes settled upon him and stung
him into madness.
While thus reduced to the EXTREMIST
misery, making his way the best he
could on his hands and knees, nearly
blind from swelling and Inflammation,
and surrounded by voracious insects,
eager for their prey, he heard the sharp
kissing sound which indicated the
presence of a still more deadly enemy
a rattlesnake. There was no possibility
of escape; closed 10 on every side, unable
to move, he saw the glittering eye of his
scaly pursuer fasten itself upon him
without the power to save himself from
its faDgs. A moment and its sharp
teeth were buried deep into the shudder-
ing flesh, and it had coiled its
venomous form round his leg. Another
and his iack-knife has dispatched the
reptile, laid open the veins in his limb
and cut out the parts which its poison
had penetrated; then, with the instinct
of heroism, turning to account the
most frightful accident of his position,
he cut out the heart which he ate, and
felt strengthened and somewhat re-
For day or two, then, he lay beside
a log in the forest, in a condition which
it would seem few men could survive
worn to a skeleton, his feet torn to
pieces, suffering from terrible wound,
he still managed to collect little dry
fungus, and cooked and ate part of the
rattlesnake, until his strength was en-
tirely exhausted, and he was unable to
get wood to cook the remainder. 1t
seemed now as if death could not be
postponed. He took his knife and tried
to carve an epitaph on the log, and
while thus engaged, he fell asleep aud
dreamed sweet, delicious dream of his
old home, his young wife and infant
child, and finally of his deceased
mother, who appeared dressed in robe
of flowing white, and stretched her
arms toward him with sweet smile and
an indescribable gesture full of grace
and tenderness.
He knew not how long he slept, but
when he arose it was with renewed
strength, and making sandals of his
hat and vest, he proceeded on his way
once more, taking with him the uncon-
sumed portion of the snake as provision.
That night his mother again appeared
to him and pointed in particular direc-
ton, smiling hopefully. Rising with a
strong faith that he was nearly at the
end of his perilous journey, he strug-
gled on until the afternoon, when he
saw for the first time human habita-
ton; it proved to be the house of a
friend, from whence he proceeded to
Albany, and thence to Schenectady.
Here he found his wife and child living
with some relatives, and the meeting
between them may be imagined, but no
pen could describe it. For long time
she had suffered all the horrors of fear
full suspense, and it was not until the
night upon which he had seen his
mother that she obtained a glimpse of
relief. On this occasion she dreamed
that she saw him striving to make his
way through dense wood toward her,
while white hand appeared to be lift
ing aside the thick branches to aid his
progress. When she awoke it was with
the firm belief that they would eventu-
ally be reunited, as the event proved.
Return we now to Frederick, who
suffered even more than his brother.
He had made many efforts, to no
purpose, to find Jacob, who, when he
fell, would not permit Frederick to stop
and help him, and in seeking him had
run many risks. At length he crossed
the Sorel, killed an OK, made some
jerked beef, and for seven days travelled
along the eastern shore of ChampIain
without i'll luck. But on the morning