The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1888-06-01

I'LL WAS coming Ol dIiu ~ N"S SCu
ting cold, when n evening | escaped.
1t was unexpected. had gravltated
into a water carrier, and had gone,
Just about dusk, to q spring near the
outskirts OF the camp. AS l neared it
the guard at that point passed me
and said as he passed: "Jim, I'm
glad you're mere. I've been feeling
sick" Then it flashed on me that he
mistOok me in the glOam for the relief
guard; it was a chance that might
never come again. | dropped my
bucket and quickly walked away.
Now, this vas my position: l was
in a wood in q strange, thlnly settled
country that ! did not know. | had
convict stripes on my back, and not
a cent or a weapon IN my pocket, and
l knew that my absence was sure to
be discovered in less than an hour,
when the roll would be called. They
were long chances, but death, it SEEM
ed to me, would be preferable to re-
capture and punishment. The thing
was to put as much space as possible
| between myself and the camp before
the alarm, and l plunged ahead, tax
ing a so~utheasterly direction from the
stars. | chose the thick OF the wood
rather than the open, for from the
time | passed the guard the blood.
hounds had Dever been out OF
my mind an instant, and l knew that
the trees would seriously embaTrass
the riders who followed the pack. 1t
is generally supposed that blood
hounds track and tree fug!tives Tor
hours before the pursuing party comes
up, but as a matter Of fact, the riders
always aim to be right on the TANKS
OF the dogs. There was a good deal
OF underbrush and it was hard pro-
gress, but excitement kept me.up, and
| never paused until / reached a clear
ing a good six miles away, where l
threw myself down and listened. The
wind vas still yet, the night was full
OF the interminable stir of the woods,
the iutter Of leaves, the swapping OF
twigs, and the scamper Of some belat-
ed squirrel, and in every sound l
hear the faint, far baying OF the
hounds. Stories l had heard in camp
OF the savage beasts swarming over
poor wretches and tearing them open
as they fought, came back to me, and
every revolving detail leaped into hor-
rid piCturing in my mind until my
scalp began to creep and sweat start
ed all over me like water. 1t had
grown very dark, but dived into the
Y IDS again, thrusting my hands in
front OF me to keep the branches out
of my eyes.
l kept on pretty steadily all night,
and when morning dawned it found
me on the fringes of the wood belt,
with a sparsely grown undulating
country stretching for unknown
miles before me. There vas a thicket
near by; l crept into it and painted
there for q while; ! was dead tired.
and my feet we're swollen so that my
shoes seemed bursting; but I could
not sleep for the haunting thought OF
those dogs yelping along my trail and
getting nearer and nearer. l made a
club from the limb of a tree, and drag
ged myself on. 1t would be tedious to
reheaIse the experiences OF that day
and the nextin detail. was weaken
ed by punishment and bad TODD, and
fatigue began to tell terribly upon me.
l slept in uneasy snatches, waking
with q start, and took extraordinary
pains to break my trail, swinging from
branches of trees and jumping from
stumps. My brain was so ~distraught
and preyed upon that often | stopped
stock still with the agonizing convic-
ton that the hounds were right be-
hind me, and at times / could make
sure / saw them crashing through the
underbrush. On the second day,
when / was half famished, / managed
by great good luck to knock overarab-
bit, and ate some of it raw, carrying
the rest with me. On the third day I
had as yet seen no house, but struck
iuto a disused road, which made me
hopeful that there was some habita-
tions near. / had determined to
throw myself on the mercy OF the
first man | met.
It must have been about noon,
while | was passing through a we'll
wooded strip, that ] heard q mounful
note that made my heart stand still.
1t was no hallunciation this time, but
the unmistakable wall oil bloodhounds
that / had heard often enough from
their kennel in the camp. As / stood
there, terror.stricken and thrilling,
the baying sounded again, now right
at hand, and an instant later. three
dogs appeared over a little rise and
made straight at me. There was no
tree near that was large enough to
bear me-, so / gripped my bludgeon
and prepared to fight. But when the
dogs came within a dozen feet tney
stopped and began to wag their tails.
They were hounds from the camp
they wore the Lone Star collar--but
It was plain they wanted to be friends
evenswith such a poor wretch as /.
Then / noticed that the brutes were
starved and trembling, and / threw
them hall my rabbit. BY the time
they devoured it ! was patting their
heads and they were licking my
hands.
MY theory was then and Is
now, that early In the chase
the rest oil the hounds took
the wrong trail, and these three alone
stuck to the right ono, Their famish-
ed condition lent itself to this conclu-
sion, and at any rate, / never saw OF
heard Of the rest OF the pack or any ol
the guards. But soon found that
bloodhounds are not to be despised
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