The herald., 1893-02-12
llVA,YNEGRO
flpiNG ouTsATTAlnEpW WITH HIM THE
RaNkSoE, A PROGRESSION.

3iIplNG cuTsArTAlnEpW WITH HIM THE
RsNkNoEs A PROGRESSION.
AsFigure of the Old South--Ffe was q
NBorn Woodcraftslnap and Cave 11welior,
and He Climbed the Trees monkey
Fashion-How He Managed to Live.
Among the. many picturesque figures
with which the old south teened most
etrlklng one was the runaway negro. Not
the occasional "hider out,'--the one who
sought temporary refuge in theswoods to
escape punishment for something done or
left updone or for fear'of being sold bothe
spectators, nor even when the crop was
grassy and the work hard. hut the one
who olnngite avid life as instfnctively as
an Indian, and who ndght almost be
tert1ed the professional runaway
Your genuine runaway WAS a born
woodcfaftsman. The habits of wild ami
mails and ways. of taking them seemed to
be his by intuitton. He had no difficulty
In varylngihis Inenuof. pig, lamb apd poul-
try with all the rabbits, squirrels opos-
sums and fish that heiwauted. Sometimes
ihe carried his dog intothe woods with him,
salthough of course it greatly increased his
danger fah8ing taken. But this was more
sfor oonpanionship than .anSt thing else, for,
single handed, with bis snares, traps and
y"gnms,. he was more than a match for
wild game Of all kinds.
eMsconiforts which would have driven
the amateur back toSthc snug chimney
Eoorner Of the plantation tquarters and a
whipping had no terrors for him. Like
the rest Of his race. be cared not a fig for
wet, while cold, the negro's dread, he
IL tfr,fr o,.1 -
of producing the ,snaximsirn of fire with
the minimum OF smoke was his to perfec
Itiun. He knew exactly what kind of wood
and bark to soIect, and how to combine
them to this end. No matter how hard
the rain, how sodden the wood all that he
asked was a Chunk" or, lacking that,
coal Of Ere. to be as happy as king--the
ideal, not the real king, moan. From a
cosi which, in unskilled hands, wosiid
scArceay have suf1lced to light a,pipe, he
cp%sh, with oven the wettest and most I'M
possible kind Of fuel,isoon call into being
the raresb Of roaming fires, while In the
preservation. and transportation, Of fire he
could have given lessons to Prometheus
himself.
l. Ip the most essential feature of cave
erchiteoture-secrecy--he easily surpassed
all imitators. Between two suns, and
oftener than not with only the wornout
stump Of aShoe the runaway would dig
and conceaISa cave which defied detection
from the eyes Of a lynx. At the same time
several cubic yards Of upturned earth had
to be whisked away and hid under distant
leaves, or, better still. consigned to the safe
keeping of some running stream.
For several reasons the wornout Nold
Gelds" Of the sou therp states were the fa-
voritesite of thecaved digger. ThesedIcary
wastes, given over TO gulieys, broom sedge
and scrub pines, being deserted by man-
hood in general. were OF course his, safest
retreat. The soil having been over ex-
hausted and 'fAdrned out, 1" and the sappy,
twisted piRes being held worthless for
either rails or fuel, there was no danger of
the woodnaan's az coming that way again
tor many along year. Nor did the squirrel
Or fox hunter have often to seek or follow
Ills quarry into thisttorra incognito--where in
Indeed the dense screen Of the low, thick
pines would have confined their vision to
very limited space.
Here this Esal,of the south, whom in
deed every mans hand was against, and
SURROUNDINGS aud1ng,t5 ms sJisteia,scs- s-'o1 Of
safety. The ,weirdness and virtual barren.
moss drove off other men. The deep, water
worn gulleys, barriers to- the ordinary
traveller, whether mounted or on foot, Of
Tered him highway whose firm or gray
euy bottom registered no passing foot
pTin@ to be read by curioussor hostile eyes.
Nowhere did hesdisplay mere ingenuity
than ir contriving means toapproach and,
depart from his bnfrow and leave no sign.
AS heve saidsthe gully. w'sA his favorfte
path, though occasionally he had recourse
" the Indians highways stream. Some
times be would sever at theiground a long,
stout grapevine, the other end being Sc
eurely interlaced among the tree limbs
many feet above By grasping thissyine he
was abletoswing clear of, Che ground many
feet, OF even cross O considerable ravina
and drop just at the mouth of his cave
Again, when the pines were thick, he
might climb tree, and passing from limb
tolilnb. monkey fashion, slide down tres
trunk aC'the proper spot. Still another,
which could sometimes be practiced, was
to mount stray OK, and forcing him to
the proper place spring off. One very orig.
fnar old darlry, little dreaming that history.
was repeating itself-with variation-is
said to have fashioned to his shoes an old
pair Of horseshoes, reversed, knowing that
no runaway hunter would ever think to
notice horse, track. 4
Amid the swamps the malaria proof
negro found little difficulty, if so minded,
In passing a lifetime 'hid OUT But up |
among the hills of the central portion,
where there were no retreats impenetxable
to all but the initiated, where the farm.
houses were close together and compare
lively little land uncleared, it took no lit |
tle skill and cunning to play the runaway
successfully for any considerable period
xet Johnson's surrender brought in more |
thpn one ragged, "varnintlike'' creature,
who had spent perhaps the better part of a
long life in this manner. There were even
women runaways, and sometimes very sue
cesdful ones. A few children were born in
the woods. l knew Of one instance in
which the closeoft the war brought up a con-
Siderable family Of whose existence the le.
gal owner knew nothing David Lodge in
Kate ffsid's Washington.
Tidcioss Sea.
For practical purposes the Mediterra.