Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-06-13


Shs took the candle and led the spay 20
The dining room abore.
Mark had very little idea how long a
time would elapse before It would be
discovered that Souri, was In his place
aud he had escaped. 1t might be few
minutes, It might be half an hour, II
might possibly be not till morning.
though Of this he had little hope. He
believed that within half an hour he
would be pursued. and a. he was well
acquainted with the methods In vogue
In the south at the time he knew he
would be traced by bloodhounds.
He had been about the town enough
to know the direction of the river and
started toward II. During the day he
had thought over what he would do In
case Souri's ruse should be successful,
and made up his mind that any delay In
getting across the river would be fatal.
He was at home In the water, and de-
termined that he would not attempt to
find boat, but would plunge In and
swim for his life. The width Of the
river at Chattanooga was only about
three-quarters Of mile, and Mark did
not regard this q great distance for .
good swimmer. Once across the dogs
would have to pick up the scent on the
other side, and II he should permit the
current to carry him far down the
stream the difficulty in doing so would
be greatly increased.
Though Mark had been In prison but
a few days the transition from duress
to freedom was very grateful. II was q
soft summer evening, and the larger
stars had already begun to shine. Cast
ing glance to the right he saw streak
Of light over Missionary ridge and
knew that before long he would be at o
disadvantage from the rising Of full
moon. He walked briskly whenever
any person was In sight, and when he
that he was unobserved he ran.
When he first left the jailyard his heart
was In his throat. His agitation dimin.
Ished as he proceeded, and In five min.
htes he had come down like one In o
race to concentration Of all his facul.
ties-a gathering Of all his forces for the
struggle between life and death before
him. With these well In hand the
dreaded scene Of the morrow acted as .
tremendous and effective stimulant.
No one of the few people who passed
the strapping negro girl, whose face
was hidden within the blue check sun.
bonnet, dreamed that q Union soldier
was passing; that the scaffold was being
that a messenger with the se-
cret Of one Of the most important moves
any Confederate general had made or
was destined to make during the war
was on his way north in the person Of
the negro woman huruing on toward
the river. And It was fortunate Tor the
flying soldier they did not, or he would
never even have got half o mile from
the jail.
He sped onward, running aud walking
briskly alternately, till he came to .
place where board fence was capped
by narrow strip. He mounted 1t and
walked as far as the fence extended,
perhaps hundred yards, hoping by this
means to throw the dogs of the scent
for q few minutes, and thus gain Q little
time. Then he jumped down and hur.
ried forward. A man passed and called
TO him, but he paid no attention to the
call, and the man stood looking after
him, doubtless suspecting that the girl
was runaway slave.
At last the grateful sight Of the river
met his gaze. 1t cheered him and
seemed to beckon him on to rest upon
Its bosom, or, as an alternative with the
dreadful tragedy Of the morning. to lind
beneath Its surface. Between
the river before him, and the jail, the
dogs and the gibbet, for time his feel
ings Of hope and fear neutralized each
other and left his faculties free to act
with perfect GOODNESS.
He stood for q moment beneath low
clump Of trees on the bank listening
and looking up and down the river, A
boat was passing, and he felt 1t necessary
to wait for It to 20 by. He lost i've
minutes, but 1t seemed half an hour.
Then taking of his dress and shoes and
bonnet he put the dress and the shoes In
the bonnet and tied the strings around
his neck, resting the bundle on his back.
Going down to the margin, and again
o moment to make sure he was
not observed, he waded out a. far ss he
could touch bottom, and then began to
swim.
Asi was midsummer he had expected
to find the water warm. His expecta'
tions were realized to reasonable de-
gree, and he felt that he could remain
in It long while without being chilled.
His plan was to drift down o consider.
able distance. He might DO expected To
swim across as rapidly as he could, and
the current In this case would land
him perhaps u mile below the town.
Those who would follow him with dogs
would doubtless track him to the
river margin, then take the dogs across
and endeayor to pick up the scent some
distance below ON the other side. Mark
had weighed all these circumstances,
and determined to drift down as Tar as
possible. land Mt the mouth OF creek II
be could find one, enter II and swim or
walk up II In the water. thus rendering
II difficult for the dogs to track him.
He SWAN slowly till he reached the
middle Of the river; then, floating with
scarcely any motion Of his hands and
feet, he permitted himself TO drift down
with the current. A favorite way with
him, when Q boy. Of resting In tie
water, had been to host on his back.
Unmindfui Of the wetting he would give
the clothes tied around his neck, hs
turned over and drifted with his arms
spread beside him, his eyes turned
directly to the sky.
II may seem singular that . man who
was being carried from % dreadful q
death should have thought Of anything
else. But Mark did not want to think
of it. He had never been unnerved ex'
cent after his sentence. with an almost
certain execution before him, and felt Il
best to let his mind drift into other
channels. Then danger u not, and waa
not, especially with Mark, to be com.
pared with certain destruction. Tho
soldier on the hsld Of battle q = differ
sat nan fsusa ~ who awaits tAs bal