Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-12-21
THERUNAWAYN NEGRO
HIDING OUT ATTAINED WITH HIM THE
RANK OF A PROFESSION.
A Figure of the Old South-He Was a
Born woodcraftsman and Cave DweIIor,
sad He Climbed the Trees Monkey
Fashion-How He Managed 10 Live.

sad He Climbed the Trees Monkey
Fashion-How He Managed to Live.
Among the many picturesque figures
With which the old south teemed a most
Striking one was the runaway negro Not
HE occasional "hider out'-the one who
sought temporary refuge in the woods to
Escape punishment for something done or
left undone, or for fear of being sold to the
sReculators, nor even when the crop was
grassy and the work hard, but the one
who chung to wild life as instinctively as
m Indian, and who might almost be
termed the professional runaway.
Your genuine runaway was a born
woodcraftsman. The habits of wild ami
mails and ways Of taking them seemed to
be his by intuition. He had no difficulty
IN varying his menu Of pig, lamb and poul-
by with all the rabbits squirrels, opos-
Sums and fish that he wanted. Sometimes
ne carried his dog into the woods with him,
although OF course it greatly increased his
Danger OF being taken. But this was mors
for companionsbip than anything else, for,
single handed, with his snares, traps and
gums, he was more than a match for
Wild game Of All kinds.
Discomforts which would have driven
the amateur back TO the snug chimney
corner of the plantation quarters and a
whipping had no terrOrs for him Like
Me rest Of his race, he cared not a fg for
wet, while cold, the negroes dread, he
knew well how to guard against. The art
Of producing the maximum OF fire with
the minimum Of smoke was his TO perfec-
ton. He knew exactly what kind OF wood
and bark TO select, and how to combine
mem to this end. No matter how hard
the rain, how sodden the wood, all that he
AAked was chunk" or, lacking that, a
coal OF fire, to be as happy RS a king-the
Meal, not the real king. mean. From a
coal which, in unskilled hands, would
scarcely have sufficed to light pipe. he
could, with even the wettest and most inn
possible kind Of fuel, soon call into being
the rarest of roaring fires, while in the
preservation and transportation OF fire he
could have given lessons TO Prometheus
himself.
In the most essential feature of cave
architecture secrecy-he easily surpassed
all imitators. Between two suns, and
aftener than not with only the wornout
stump Of q hoe, the runaway would dig
and conceal a cave which defied detection
from the eyes of lynx At the same time
several cubic yards Of upturned earth had
TO be whisked away and hid under distant
leaves, OF, better still, consigned to the safe
keeping Of some running stream
For several reasons the wornout "old
fields" of the southern states were the ia
vorite site of the cave digger. These dreary
wastes, given over TO gulleys, broom sedge
and scrub pines, being deserted by man
hood in general, were OF course his safest
retreat. The soil having been over ex-
hansted and turned ont, and the sappy'
twisted pines being held worthless for
either rails or fuel, there was no danger OF
the woodman's ak coming that way again
tor many long year. Nor dld the squirrel
or fox hunter nave OFTEN 10 seek or follow
his quarry into TINS terra incognlto-whero
indeed the dense screen oil the low, thick
pines would have confined their vision 70 a
very limited space.
Here this Esau OF the south, whom In
decd every mans hand was against, and
whose hand was against every man, found
an ideal dominion, every feature OF the
surroundings adding TO his sustenance or
safety. The welrdness and virtual barren
moss drove on other men. The deep, water
worn guDeys, barriers TO the ordinary
traveller, whether mounted or on foot, Of
fEed him highway whose firm or gray
ely bottom registered no passing loot
prints 70 be read by curious or hostile eyes
Nowhere did he display more ingenuity
than in contriving means to approach and
depart from his burrow and leave no sign.
As have said, the gully was his favorite
path, though occasionally he had recourse
TO the Indians highway-astrea Some
times be would sever AZ the ground long,
stout grapevine, the other end being Sc
curely interlaced among the tree limbs
many feet above. By grasping this vine he
was able toswing clear of the ground many
feet, or even cross considerable ravine
and drop just at the mouth OF bis cave.
Again, when the pines were thick, be
might climb a tree, and passing from limb
to limb, monkey fashion, slide down tree