The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-01-19

and woman on the top of the bluff. Scarcely
had | discovered them when a stone thrown.
no doubt by the man. as large as he could con-
venientIv hold, struck the water not foot
from the boat, barely missing it, Had it struck
in the beat it would have gone through the
bottom like shot, and stopped my trip oy
water An instant's thought satisfied me that
| had not been seen. which was confirmed i'm
mediately by the voice of the woman saying:
What a splash !" Giving several vigorous
shoves with the paddle. was soon out of reach
of any more "dornicks" should the notion
take the stranger to make another splash
There were plenty of bayous which L fol.
lowed the confguration of until felt certain
that the distance to the White House could not
be over four miles. when the sweetest music
that ever struck mortal ears was plainly borne
to mine. 1t was the shrili, and at the same
time. hoarse whistle of a steamer. l was max
ing good progress when the sound first came to
my ears, but when | heard it and knew, as
did. that Badly Smith must have arrived at
the White House, new vigor was impaired to
my muscles, aud the cockle-shell was in fairly
few.
Before going over a mile from where l was
when the first whistle sounded five or six more
were heard, which did not cause me to lessen
my eyertions. At last the whistling became
almost continuous. | knew that there was
large house on the south side of the river. one
mile above the White House. called Ethan.
When | got there / concluded to land and
sneak around to the negro quarters and wake
one of them, and get him to guide ME through
the fields to the landing. Crossing the river
and running my boat ashore, stepped out and
listened a moment. and could hear no NOISE OF
any kind, except the cries OF insects. Follow
ing path that was plainly 10 be seen by the
white sand where the grass had been troddcn
out by constant use, / passed around to the
oF4 I,o aud pN an
of one of the quarters. Immediately came
coarse. low growl from a dog that was some
where outside, whether fastened or loose L
could not tell. got no response to my first rap,
and tried it again. This time louder growl,
and one that very plainly showed me the dog
was large one, came from the same direction as
the frs. After thinking the matter over
moment it struck me that the most sensible
thing to do would be to go back TO the river
and resume the boat, cross to the north
bank, and escape being fired at by our own
pickets. which imagined would be close to
the shore Immediately below Ethan. l had
nearly reached tie shore when startled voice
rang out. Halt! Who goes there"
Who are you? said |.
"Who are your" said the challenger.
Do you belong to the Union armv?" said !.
What the answer was don't remember but
/ do know that it was such as convinced me
was parleyine with Northern man, and said,
" 1t is all right; | can tell you are Union SOL
der
Without saying whether this was true or not.
he insisted on knowing who l was, and told
my mission While the sentry and myself had
been trying to ascertain each others status
men had been rising from the ground all around
me; three or four rose within yard of me,
and when | declared that j was carrying dis
patches from Gen. Grant one man, who had
risen from the ground within two feet of me,
said. Il will take this" and put his hand on
the paddle which / was holding, with the blade
resting on the ground. 1t looked to him in the
darkness like gun. They huddled around
me, and wanted to know bow | got there.
answered that / had come down the river;
which did not satisfy them at all.
How did you come here, right where you
are standing now?
"As / told you before, | came down the
river in boat and landed at the foot of this
path; came up this path, and went TO the rear
OF the house yonder TO see if could find negro
to guide me through the fields to the landing.
When / knocked on the door. / heard dog in
the yard growl the more knocked the worse
be growled. / did not know how many john
MES might be around, for they always
prowling around just on the outskirts of any
of our forces In 1862 when we landed here
under Mcclellan, two three pickets were
found the next morning with their Threats cut,
within a mile of this place. Knowing their
nocturnal habits. and having lively desire to
keep my hide whole, l concluded to go back to
my boat and resume by journey by water"
1t took some time TO make them believe that
l had passed through them and they had not
heard me, but 1t was more astonishing to think
/ had not heard anything of them. ! took
them down to the boat aud got the dispatches,
which were rolled up in my coat in the bow.
When they saw the boat they began to believe
me. The Lieutenant in charge said he would
have to keep me until morning. There was not
a match in the party and there was no way of
verifying my story until daylight-JUDsoN
KNIGHT, Washington, d. c.
ITO be continued