The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1892-01-27

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:
1.-THE only people in the house are an
old black man and his wife. Come on,
old fellow"
took his arm, and we advanced bold
ly and into the cabin.
''Bless de good Lor'!'' called the old
man and HE ''ife- s-,..iti- .s.is,vo uuIIos
and open mouths they stood watch
ing us.
1--WE are Yankees, uncle; We are es-
Gaping from Libby prison, and you must
help us" said Howard, as he closed the
door behind him.
''Good Lor', honey, yeh's in heap
sight ov danjahl" said the old woman,
''foh de Confed sojers hcz been skrim-
agin' round har all day fob yeh."
"But you can give us something to
eat and let us rest for awhile?"
"We'll do dc bes' we kin, mars, but
dar amt much left atween de two sides.
But praise de Lor', my ole mans
skrimager hissef, an he has de knack
of fndin' out II dar's any thing lef'
round about" said the old woman, as
she stirred mp tho fire and brought out
her pans.
me an my ole woman, we amt
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 "slxrimager"
We were soon sitting down to such
feast of PONIES 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, / have partaken Of banquets
where all earth's luxuries, prepared by
artistic cooks, were spread before me in
profusion; but never enjoyed them as
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 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 ez we'll ez kin, an
Of dar's any danjah, WITCH amt a-lookin
fob at dis time OBJ night, I'll let yeh
know" said tho old man.
With this assurance, we took off our
boots and outer clothing and climbed
into the loft, where we were soon fast
asleep. Mg s
81 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 thatI 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 fob
de Yankees" If they could.
The old woman gave us basket con-
tanning cooked food, and then offered
up feryent prayer for our deliverance;
and when we were ready to. go the old
man volunteered to guido us "twile
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, II our
course lay in the direction OF liberty
and Gods land"
The necessity for "skrimagin" must
have developed our guides walking
powers, for he led US on at pace that
was surprising in a man Of his years.
just as the day was breaking he
knocked at the door Of log-cabin on
the edge Of dense wood, and in re-
spouse to who's dar2' in q woman's
voice from within, he replied:
ssUncle Jake, an he hez two Yanks
wild him."