Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-11-05
whats up back therey~ came from

"a prezners done give out back heah,
was the reply
"Haltr came a shout from the ad-
vance. Then followed torrent of oaths.
Dotn loud and fierce, as the man WIN
the best lantern made his way back
through the crowd.
Without waiting to see or hear more
Bell and myself started off on line at
right angles to the approaching light.
The wind and rain favored us, as well as
the loud talking of the men at the rear
Of the line and the angry imprecations
of the officer In a minute we came to
another fence, over which we clambered,
and looking back we could see that the
lanterns were still stationary. Of the
points of the compass we had only the
faintest notion, but we inferred from the
position of the train, which was headed
west when we left it, and the direction
taken since that we were travelling ''nigh
bout moth" as Bell put it.
We were in no condition to decide on
plan. If not already missed from the
line. our escape would certainly be de-
/ tected when the prisoners were counted
again. as they invariably were every
time they entered the prison, and then
pursuit would be made. Our one object
was to put as great distance as posi-
BILE between ourselves and Millen in the
few hours left before daylight. With
this understanding, we started off again
after few minutes halt, but all hope of
rapid progress was checked by finding
ourselves in a dense wood with par
ticularly thick and stubborn under
/ growth
Soon the faint glow of the lanterns
died out behind us. and it was only by
keeping our hands extended that we
could make any headway The woods
were as dark as the bottomless pit in the
Mammoth cave, and the opposing trees
compelled SO many detours from what
was intended to be straight line that
we soon lost all idea of direction and
were not at all sure that we were not
drifting back on our own trail. Yet the
4 intense impulse to be moving, the over
\ whelming desire to get out of reach and
our determination to die rather than be
recaptured gave us a fictitious strength
and tireless energy.
At length the woods fell away about
us and the underground was less annoy
ing. We were evidently in clearing,
and the deep baying of dog in the dis
/ tance suggested that we were near a
human habitation. On this trip learned
how deceptive the ears are and how diff
ficult it is to tell of the direction from
which sound comes if we are not expect
ing it from certain quarter, or if the
eyes cannot supplement the hearing.
I'VE uns amt got no use for no dog; we
uns amt lost any" was Bells comment
| as the barking continued. without at all
indicating the direction from which it
came. After some minutes we decided
4 that the dog was off to the left-what
we supposed was the west-so we kept
straight ahead, crossing fenceless field
and coming to another wood, which we
entered at once.
4! BY this time the rain had ceased, but
as we were thoroughly soaked and the
trees still dripped and the undergrowth
kept as ia a oaaetanE shower baths this
did not make much difference The day
light. for which our eyes had been hun
4 gering, at length came, enabling US to
avoid the trees, and revealing 10 each
the lean, anxious face of the other.
Like all the Tennessee mountaineers
whom have met, Bell had much Of the
stoicism, or it may be philosophy, which
we attribute to the Indian In the most
trying situations he never became ex-
cited, though after an actual danger was
over he would become nervous in speak
ing of it, and go back to it again and
again like child who has had an un-
usual experience.
/ AS we stood there in the woods, sad,
hungry, weary and undecided ON every
I thing but one, Bell drew long breath
/ and delivered himself something after
this fashion:
1--WE ms planned an planned an nlan-
ned to git away from the Rebs till hit
seemed ez if we uns mout git heartbroke
Now. thar was that hole in the keer, hit
seemed nothin could be safer'n that; but
along came a cuss an jerked the hull ca
Doodle out. an then it looked doggone
blue fo' we uns. That you uns must
allow
acknowledged the entire accuracy Of
this statement.
"Wa'al, then thar was the rain," con-
tinued Bell: Ito most men that wouldn't
"a looked encouragin, but hits the very
best thing could a. happened TO we uns,
coz hit won't gin the dogs no show" On
my expressing surprise, he explained:
"The wet ground won't hold scent, and
hits been purity much bout like wadin
through crick since we uns lit out; so
thar'll be no dogs out this mawnin. an
hits comfort to think O. that"
understood his allusion to blood
hounds and instinctively looked about
for club. The light on the clouds gave
us the compass points, and told us that
we had been travelling east instead of
north. We pushed on again, and kept
on till the sun began to cast shadows,
and we were brought to halt on the
banks Of a swollen creek that flowed
south to the Ogeechee, as we subsequent
ly learned. We kept up the creek till
we came to phosphate quarry on the
edge of a marsh, and the corduroy road
leading out Of this place told that it had
been recently worked.
While we were debating what to do
next we heard the rumble of wheels in
the distance, accompanied by the crack
ing Of whip and the continued shout
ing which the drivers of army mules and
farm oxen consider so essential to prog
ress. There was no telling by the voice
whether the man was white or black,
for the accent Of the uneducated south
/ ern whites is much like that Of the ne
gro. Indeed, my friend Bell, who had
all the characteristic pride Of the noun
taineer and very naturally looked upon
himself as vastly superior to the slave OF
the cracker, spoke much the same dia-
lect, and with the same intonation and
contempt for the final RS
As the team was approaching us, we
\ drew back into the swampy woods and
waited. Soon we found that there were
two men, for in the intervals of shout
ing at the oxen the driver was address
ing companion in about the lame stem
| torian tones. At length, and to our
great relief, the oxen. drawing a heavy
! two wheeled cart on which were seated
/ two colored men, came in view. The
cart was turned at the opening to the
pit and was loaded with picks, bars and
shovels that had been housed in little
structure near by.