Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-10-29

time he determined to make his way tc
the sea, in the hope Of falling in with
some Of Fosters command or reaching
one of the gunboats then operating along
that coast.
Hard luck still pursued him He was
in the swamps for two weeks, and one
night. overcome by fatigue, he lay down
to sleep on hunmock This was with
in twenty miles of Pocotaligo, then held
by our troops He was putin in his
best licks a-sleepin," for he was right
smart petered out, when he was awak-
ened By loud laugh and '.suthin
! a-proddin of" him. The laugh came from
a body of Confederate scouts, and the
/ prodding was dcne with their bayonets.
Bell told them he was an escaping Yam
! kee, and his captors sent him on to
\ Charleston. where he had been ever
\ since. The prison authorities knew he
was mountain man, "and. doggone
EN-, they made hit all the harder on
that account. but they amt nigh done
with me yet I'm Il gwine to live Jest
I SOS to kinder even things up back there
in the mountains of ole Buncombe. and
the id sneak ez sold me out will larn
hit was bout the worst trade he ever
mixed up in since he was bon. The
Bells amt much on talk, but we 'uns :
got powerful long men'ries and amt
given to fohgittin friends noh foes; no,
not, praise de Good Mastah, if hit takes
fifty thousand million yeahs Now you
uns had bettah watch out
The last sentence was rounded off with
one Of his fluent oaths, and was evident
ly intended for the enemy in Buncombe
county
Tom Bells narration did me great
deal of good, for it was capital story,
full of vim and action. and with all the
thrilling situations of a melodrama.
And then his deliberate way Of telling
it, as if he were weighing his thoughts
or trying to find words in which to ex-
press them, and his quaint phraseology
and not unmusical voice gave an added
charm to the telling.
After he had finished his story and |
had returned the confidence by telling
him mine, asked:
Have You given up all thought Of
escape. Bell:
Given up all thought of hit:" he re-
peated. by the great jumpin jingol
| don't think Of nothin else Wy, |
dream Of hit Hit was hopin that this
id place would give one better show
that made me play dead sick. and got
them uns to send me heah But you see
what hit is-just death and sufferin and
sufferin and death We uns. reckon
has seed lots of men a-lyin, without
breathin. on the field and I'll allow
when we amt downright mad, hits a
mighty touchin sight But. my God, to
see the dead that's took out of heah
every mawnin. hit cuts plum into the
heart. and thars no gittin uster hit. The
heart and the stomach is bound to have
thar own way. and could feel that he
shuddered AS if he were cold
The guards announced. Twelve o'clock
and all's wellf~ before Tom Bell and
thought Of going to sleep it was
daylight. and the flies had been at work
for some time. when we got up and put
on our boots and coats. then rushed to
the window for breath Of air that had
not in it the sickening odor Of that char
mel house.
Five this morning; there were seven
yesterday" replied Muth in answer to
Bells question as to the number Of
deaths. What mattered it? The sooner
it was over the better, for even if at
once attended with the greatest care, it
is doubtful if one in ten of the men on
that floor could have pulled through
As it was, there seemed not the faintest
hope for the strongest Of them. Soon
after this yellow fever was added to the
other horrors of the Charleston prisons.
but Black Jack showed great impartial
ity, for he carried off number Of the
prison officers as well as the Yankees
After being week in the workhouse
| asked to be returned to the jailyard
Bell joining his application with mine.
and this request was granted twenty
minutes after it was made We had a
purpose in wishing to return to the Jail
of course we wanted to get out of that
abominable hospital, but the day before
one Of the guards, man with heart in
him, placed paper on the point Of his
bayonet and pushed it up to the window
where was standing. Inside the paper
there was loaf of white bread and Il
piece Of boiled bacon. which was shared
with the men lying near. The paper
was Of that date, the 10th OF June, and
it contained an item saying that as the
Jail was getting packed uncomfortably
it had been decided to send a lot of the
Yankees on 70 Camp Oglethorpe. at Ma
con, Ga
We were puzzled by another para
graph. which stated that 600 Yankees
were coming on from Macon. and that
the fair grounds were being fixed up so
to accommodate any number of prison
ers Bell and wanted, if any prisoners
We're sent away. to be among the mum
Der, and we made up our minds. if for
wafled to Macon. to escape before
reaching there or to Idle a-tryin"
The third morning after my return
from the poorhouse two officers, accom-
panied by guard of about twenty men,
entered the jailyard. very unusual
proceeding at 8 o'clock in the forenoon.
The prisoners We're assembled-that is,
those who We're tented in the yard-and
were told to. step forward when their
names were called Among the sixty
names were Bells and mine. When the
list was finished we We're told to pack
up, and We're informed that we were GO
ing to be sent on to Macon
AS we had been moving in the lightest
kind of marching order since our cap
ture there was bnt little packing to do,
but every fortunate owner of a blanket
rolled it mp and slung it over his shoul-
der. We were marched ont and down
through the heart of the city TO the sta
ton. On the way we affordeda a great deal
of amusement to some of the white woin-
en- still left in the city They came out
from their shrub5ery surrounded villas
to the street. and in strident voices
made comments on the appearance of
the Lincoln hirelings." We certainly
were what Bell called "a id sorry
loolsin crowsl ANA no yittin round hit
and it is not to lie wondered ut that these
southern DANES contrasted us unfavor-
ably with the good looking officers and
well fed guards who had us in charge
They firmly believed. AS they pointed
out to their children "the wretches who
had come down to spill the best blood of
the south that in dress and appearance
we were a very fair sample of the whole
northern army or course we took no
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