Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-11-26

gents, them guns amt meant foh orna-
ment by no manner O means. You uns
knows enough not to crowd into fight
but if nothin else will sarve the purpose
and keep you uns free, then give EN- the
last in the shop, that's all"
Sleigh gave us minute directions about
the roads as far as the Tallulah river in
the northern part Of Habersham county,
where, he assured us, we should find his
folks and a welcome. The two men ac-
companied us about half mile out en-
the Walnut hill road, then advised us to
''cut dirt, and we parted.
1t was about o'clock when we start
ed, and we knew that if we We're missed
pursuit would be made at once We
fully realized what capture under the
circumstances meant, and we confirmed,
with strong hand clasp, the resolution
'sto die a fightin, but not to be took
We were hurrying on at double
quick, but had not gone a mile from the
court house when we heard yelling away
to the rear. We listened for few min
utes; then came the pounding Of gallop-
ing hoofs. Sleigh had informed us that
there were no pickets out, and the furi-
Gus pace at which the horsemen were
coming told that they were out on an
\ important mission, and it was natural
that we should associate it with our
selves.
TO the right Of the road there was a
wood, and into this we plunged and con-
cealed ourselves behind the trees till the
four troopers had gone past. Sleigh's
\ advice was to '.stick as close to the roads
as you uns can, fo' the country's pouah-
full rough" AS the horses swept by we
\ could hear one of the men shouting out
\ something about "a needle in bundle
Of hay" and this confirmed our suspi-
cions. AS soon as they had passed we
returned to the road and hurried on in
the same direction, halting every half
mile or SO, while Bell placed his ear to
the ground to listen.
In about an hour the soldiers came
back at walk, while we concealed our
selves as before. This time all doubts
as to their mission were set at rest by
the remarks which they shouted out as
if all hands were deaf: THAT Bells one
Of the damnedest scoundrels in the coun-
try" ''Ought to We strung 'em both up
atonce." 'Only think Of letting 'em walk
right out as if they owned the place"
II can respect a soldier, but d-n spyw
The fact that we could have emptied
the four saddles without aerious risk to
ourselves gave us a great deal of conf
dence, and my respect for the good sense
of the man who had furnished us the
carbines rose accordingly. 1t was now
very certain that an alarm would be
sent out at once, and that every man
with gun and southern sympathies in
Hart and the adjoining counties would
! join in the chase to hunt us down. We
already knew the ground we could cover
on a forced march, and now we deter
mined to exceed all our former efforts.
/ We did not walk, we trotted; and from
about II o'clock at night till daylight
the next morning we must have aver
aged five miles an hour, and this over
roads rocky, hilly and cut into ruts.
AS soon as it was light we left the
main road and followed path that ran
in the same general direction. Bell,
who could read a trail like an Indian,
said there had been pack mules over this
route within forty-eight hours. The
country was densely wooded, and springs
and clear streams were abundant in the
valleys, but we Travelled till noon with
out seeing a house or human being.
Soon after noon, as we were making our
way along brawling stream which the
trail crossed at a dozen points, we were
brought to sudden halt by a hoarse
shout from the front:
"Hello, thar Whar's you uns
gwinef'
We could not see the man, but there
was that in his voice that indicated he
was in no amiable mood and that he was
quite prepared to dispute our advance.
.tWe uns is gwine home, if you uns
amt got no objections, 2 replied Bell.
"Whar is yer home?'
"Crost the Blue Ridge"
"Then why in blazes don't you uns
stick to the roads that leads to the
Ridge?' asked the man, and through the
jungle in front | caught the CLEAN Of a
rifle barrel.
''Is thar any law against we uns
gwine any way we uns likesY asked
Bell, and he fired off volley Of oaths,
which We're returned with interest.
The man told us that he was not alone,
and that if we took another step for
ward he would fire. '.You uns," he
continued, sis out nosin fob the tax in
kind, but hit amt no go. We uns hez
give the last, and not one more ID
drop goes out of these var hills unless
hits paid fob. Go back and tell the
quar'masters that 81 Kyle and his crowd
hez got thar backs up. We uns hez
allowed not to still no more fob the Con
fed'racy, onless the Confed'racy she
comes har with the cash, and lots Of hit.
Now 60 back, fo' you uns looks like
mighty pore critters, ez hit wouldn't be
no credet to shoot"
1t was evident the man was running a
still back in the hills, and that he took
us to be Confederates out collecting the
tax in kind. Bell repeated the old story
and gave the reason for our being off the
road, and he offered to lay down our
arms and let the man and his friends
come out and search us. In conclusion
he said:
stSim Sleigh mebbe you uns hez
heard Of him-told us back thar at
Gainesville to take to the woods, SOS not
to be picked up, and he said if we uns
could strike his folks up on the Tallulah
in old Habersham, they'd do the squal
thing and help we uns on
Sim Sleigh, who had SO befriended us
the night before, was still our guardian
angel. He was evidently prominent
character in these hills, for the man in
front, with less anger in his voice, called
out:
"Sho! Do you uns know Sim Sleigh?
He was assured that we did, and that
we esteemed the acquaintance to be Q
very high honor. Following this we
could hear talking in low tones beyond
The angle Of bush covered rocks in front
After few minutes Of earnest discus
sion the man said:
'Wa'al, we uns hez allowed you un:
may be all right. But if so be yor unE
amt squar, then may the good Lor ha
massy on yer souls. Now, come on"
We advanced, and beyond the angle
we came face to face with two lanI