The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1890-06-27

discovered it to come from a cabin.
Howard, whose feet were not SO sore as
mine, left me standing near tumbled-
down fence, and coming back after a
few minutes he said:
"The only people in the house are an
old black man and his wife. Come on,
old fellow"
j took his arm, and we advanced bold
ly and into the cabin.
''Bless de good Lori" called the old
man and his wife, as with raised hands
and open mouths they stood watch
ing us.
1--WE are Yankees, uncle; we are es-
Gaping from Libby prison, and you must
help u.s." said Howard, as he closed the
door behind him.
''Good Lor', honey, yeh's in heap
sight ov danjah!' said the old woman,
"foh de Confed sojers hez been slSrim-
agin round har all day fob yeh.'
But you can give us something to
eat and let us rest for awhile?"
"Well do de bes' we kin, mars, but
But praise de Lor', my ole mans a
. skrimager hissef, an he has de knack
of findin' out if dar's any thing lef'
round about" said the old woman, as
she stirred up the fire and brought out
her pans.
me an my ole woman, we amt a
gwine to starve so longs dar's any thing
lef' to confunscate tween har an
Mars Davis house in Richmond"
chuckled the old man, and he at once
became busy helping his wife.
In proof of his success as ''skrimager"
we were soon sitting down to such a
feast of pones and bacon as would have
delighted the heart of Vitellus himself
that's, if he had been blessed with our
appetites. Since that day. at home and
abroad, 1 have partaken of bahquets
where all earth's luxuries, prepared by
artistic cooks, were spread before me in
profusion but never enjoyed them as
j did that delicious meal provided by
the kind-hearted negress in that hum
bile hut.
We ate till we were ashamed of our
selves, and frankly said SO, our tin plate
were kept piled UP till we were satisfied,
till, for the first time, the hunger, that
had been gnawing at our vitals for
months, was appeased. But this did
not exhaust the hospitality of these
good people, for q supply was cooked
'fOh to tote off" with us when we left.
1t did not take much urging on the
old mans part to induce us to sleep for
a few hours on the bed he had prepared
in the sooty loft Of the cabin.
"My ole woman, she'll dry yer clothes,
an I'll fix yer boots or we'll or kin, an
eff dar's any danjah, witch amt a-lookin
fob at dis time oh night, I'll let yeh
KNOW" said the old man.
With this assurance, we took off our
boots and outer clothing and climbed
into the loft, whore we were soon fast
asleep.
II reckon, gemmen, ez how yeh'd
bettah be gittin' up. It's nigh onto bout
half past three" called up the old man.
Howard and / were out of the loft at
once, though 1t seemed to me that had
not been asleep ten minutes. We
found the soles Of our boots fastened on
and our clothes comfortable and dry.
We dressed, and when told the old
people That we had no money to re-
ward them, both declared that they
were ready to do stem times NOAH foh
de Yankees" If they could.
The old woman gave us a basket con-
tanning cooked food, and then offered
up fervent prayer for our deliverance;
and when we were ready to go the old
man volunteered to guide us ''twilo
bout daylight"
The rest and food and our implicit
confidence in our guide made US feel
like new men,. and as we started off
again we felt that we could march with
out fatigue for month-that is, IL our
course lay in the direction of liberty
and Gods land"
The necessity for "slrimagin" must
crave DEVELOPED our guides walking