Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-29

camp fire Nearer me were the horses, and
at the sight Of them I made up my mind
that one of them should carry ME through
the lines. Cautiously L approached the
nearest one and united him. AS | was lead
ing him off one of the men called out.
Look there, captain; your horse is loose!
l saw L was discovered, and started to run.
The alarm was sounded and it seemed to
me the entire camp had turned out to
catch me. Running close to the side of the
fence, l kept myself well hidden. When
got to the corner L ran right out into the
bay, and amidst a shower of bullets SWAN
far out | remembered a sand bar Just be-
yond the inner channel, and | made for tt s,
confident of escape. Down the shore a dis
lance the block house, where the SEN
tries kept watch. This was the only OBJ
stacle between me and the woods. While
in prison | had heard that far out into the
bay ran wires to warn the sentries when
a prisoner struck them in attempting to
escape And so | went out further. Al
though it was December, the water felt
positively warm to me, and ! did not feel
the least bit fatigued when finally struck
the sand bar It commenced to rain hard.
On shore | could see the lights of the SOL
diers' lanterns as they ran up and down
searching for me.
Aid Received.
Il was now clear of the block house and
started in for shore. 1t was well 1 did, for
when l touched the beach / fell exhausted,
my legs drawn up in agony from cramps
and unable to carry me step further.
How long 1 remained there 1 do not know,
but the sound of voices in the distance
reused me- and | made a supreme effort and
got up. Painfully | made my way into the
woods and wild with joy that L was free
took new courage and actually ran. [ had
been going for an hour, | guess, when L
saw a light in the distance. At first L
thought it was the soldiers coming after
me, but as | got nearer | found it to be a
house. Cautiously l Knocked at the door.
A comedy lady responded. [ told her | was
an escaped prisoner and asked for food and
dry clothing. Cautioning me to be still,
lest the servants overheard me, she called
to her brother and when he came L was in
Vited into the house. He heard my story
and then brought Inc food and clothing,
and bottle of whisky. L drank freely and
it put new life into me. After | had par
taken sumptuously of the food, and had
put on the dry clothes, he pressed a roll of
money into my hand and said, Go, but if
you are caught never tell who assisted you
| promised thousand times that l would
die first and then set out in westerly di-
rection. All night long L travelled. and
when daylight came L slept in the heavy
underground.
Twice l came very near being caught.
The first time, after leaving a small house
where | asked for drink of water and re-
ceived a warning that the soldiers We're af-
ter me to boot, / heard them coming down
the hill ard barely had time to throw my
self over a fence and hide in gully. An
other time was when they passed near me
while l was asleep, the noise they made
rouSing me.
Refuge Found.
"When night came again pushed on and
arrived at a fine house, just the family
was about to take supper 1t was the home
of a man named Hewitt, the father of the
man we met yesterday. Old man Hewitt
was not at home, but his wife permitted me
to stay in the yard until he returned When
he came | was called in and closely ques-
TONED. He gave me nay supper and put a
bed in the dining room, where he proved his
friendship, as he said, by making his son
sleep with me. That night the soldiers sur
rounded the house, looking for Mr.
Hewitt took me out through the cellar and
hid me under a big holly Tree. There | re-
manned all night.
AT the first streaks of dawn I heard
Mr. Hewitt calling me. [ responded and
was placed in charge of the son John, who
was directed to carry me to old man Colds
berrys, who had agreed to row me across
the river for two barrels of corn. l shall
never forget that trip and the loyal devo-
ton OF that boy We skirted Herring
creek for miles, choosing the dense woods
in preference to the highway. AT length
we reached the house OF Goldsberry The
Old man said he was sorry, but the Yankees
had taken all his boats and he could not
get me across the river that day for any
price. On my way to the house 1 had
noticed small dilapidated canoe in the
creek, and l asked If L might take that.
He said certainly, but it was leaky, and,
besides the river was running so high l
could not possibly cross. Leave that to
me- | said, and, hurryng off, L soon re-
turned with the boat 1t was indeed a
poor-looking affair, the identical counter
part OF the one | fixed up yesterday. He
demonstrated with me for my foolhardiness
in crossing the river, and said it was al
most impossible to paddle the six miles
across without sinking. But | wanted to
get out of that country, and, with a warm
goodbye to John and the old man, push
ed out into the stream.
Crossed the River.
"The wind was blowing a gale and the
waves were running high. Once I made up
my wind to return and wait more favor
able opportunity, but as I'turned my head
1 got a glimpse of some soldiers a short
distance up the shore and that settled it.
With renewed vigor 1 welded the paddle,
stopping every little while to bail out the
water, which threatened to swamp me. /
steered for the nearest bit of dear old Vir-
ginia l could see. and landed just the other
side of Ragged Point in little cove.
Before L landed L had thrilling expert
ence. The government patrol boat sighted
me, and, mistaking me for blockade run
ner, gave chase. 1 saw them coming a
mile away, and l worked like a Trojan. AS
the boat came nearer several shots were
fired, but none of them came anywhere
near me. l padded hard to beat the boat
to shallow water and did so. As the canoe
grounded l jumped from it and crawled
over a small embankment shaking my fist
as the patrol boat turned back. How my
heart did quicken as | realized L was once
more in a friendly country. Off l started
in a little while, and, coming to a house,
asked for directions to Richmond.
Return to Richmond.
well, to make a long story short, 1
crossed the Rappahannock river on a cat
tie barge and finally reached Richmond. 1
reported to Gen. Winder and asked for
furlough in order to go home. He listened
to my story of adventure and did not be-
lieve it. He gave orders to have me sent
back to my regiment and L was downcast
AS l sat in the hall waiting for the order
~ to escort me to the guard, familiar
face passed. 1 saluted him, for he was an
officer. He approached and recognized me
as the man he had seen at the Old Capitol
prison. l told him my story and he
promptly corroborated it to Gen. Winder,
who granted me the furlough, and the
next day was home again. ]. E. ].
New Workers and Suicide.
From the New York Press.
According to the annual police report
there We're in 1898 672 cases of suicide in