The National tribune., 1904-03-17

4 to the other side I misunderstanding
nor seeing netting suspicious. iber.
i ated the horses and sent them back, Q
signal for Jones to come. A distant clock
toiled ont 10 as we started through the
I dida't know what moment We would be
challenged. We went on and on. The
/ woods were black. We crossed q small
stream, and ahead could see skylight
through the branches. The ground in
front inclined rather abruptly. We halted.
Jones had jerked my coat; his eyes and
ears were quicker than mine. A dark OBJ
Ject, silhouetted against the sky q hun
4 dred yards ahead, moved. crept forward.
1t was picket. There was another field.
unfenced, beyond the woods. To the right
| saw another sentinel-the line ran east
and west: | determined to get through
beyond the second picket, because the
field at that point was apparently broken
UP with stumps and blackberry bushes.
We went back to the creek and followed
it west, then we crept forward, silently,
up the hill. All was black behind as, and
We were not against a sky line, as they
were. They met directly in front Of us,
| and chatted for q few moments about
| commonplace things. We could hear them
distinctly. One OF them had been to a
/ wedding the night before; he told the other
about the bride, an old maid with cork
screw curls, who had been ''hitched up"
to boy young enough to be her SON The
pickets parted and returned. / counted
enough to make seven minutes during the
| interval. At their next separation we
| crept forward on hands and knees and hid
1 in the bushes about 10 yards outside Of the
| picket line. l heayed a sigh Of relief
that was dead easy. / was almost jubi-
liant, but when I thought of the country
we must yet traverse to reach Meade
| army-a country alive with rebels, my
! spirits sank again.
We got away easily by slipping noise
lessly from bush to bush, and went down
the Hill into a thick, tall underground
bordering another stream. We saw camp
fires half mile to the right. We struck
out toward the southeast, walking rapidly.
We had gone, l judged, three miles.
when we heard the beat of horses feet
on road to our left. The sky was
| nearly overcast now, and it was becoming
! pitch dark. We could only see large OBJ
| jects. l wondered which way the road
| ran. The clanking Of the horses feet
| sounded nearer; was sure we would come
to it without changing our course, and my
| conclusion was right. The road was not
50 yards in front Of as: We had struck its
| smooth surface unexpectedly. We took a
few steps back and lay down in the weeds.
| We could hear the grating Of wheels, and
presently voices. A buggy with two men
| in it was coming from town; as they
L
saying.
II tell you, Bill, man wat kin walk
| through brick wall with basket on one
arm an overgrown kid on 'tother de-
sarves credit. Yes, sir, he deserves
credit; an, Yank er no Yank, I'd lack ter
The other spoke up angrily: "How In
the name o. jeff kin he git away? They
got his coat, an the dogs'll have i'm fore
morning, il they git tn dogs in time. I'd
lack to be thar when they ketch 'im-the
dam Yank: I'd help to blow him an all
the rest of the Yanks ter the devil in q
minute. il had half chanct."
| why don't yer go to tn front,
where"
We heard no more and the sound OF the
buggy, was soon lost.
Here was a pretty how-d'y-do. I won
dered how long it would take for the blood
hounds to run us down. There was no
road and ran on, through fields and
woods. We came to wide, shallow
stream, and waded for some distance,
thinking to break the scent We made a
good deal of noise splashing the water,
and | concluded it would be wise to aban-
| don it.
| Lightning flashed Id the west. and dis
bling, scratching our hands and faces and
| tearing our clothes on the briars. Jones
| was very tired, he sank down exhausted
| We halted for five minutes or more. The
thunder rumbled and rumbled- nearer
and nearer the storm approached.
Listen9 Distant baying Of the dogsr Is
true this time. They have the dogs after
| us! 1t was the dread sound / had been
| listening for. Ny blood ran cold; my
heart paused then leaped and jerked err
ratically:: put Jones on my back and
stumbled on. faint and weak. The light
ming ceased, and 1t commenced to rain.
"Haltv'
| / had not been cautious. I dropped In
my tracks and lay still The report of
rife rang out, and bullet whistled above
my head. I had run into a rebel outpost.
I heard 4 man call to another:
er ernother razorbackY'
| We backed of. I with my kcife IN my
hand. The rain came down In torrents,
hindering and yet helping us-helping us
by killing any sound we should make.
| We made for strip OF woods, to the
left, expecting the pickets to follow, but
they didn't. | cared very little one way
or the other I was utterly disheartened.
Poor Plain John Jones-how admired
him. He was tired-ready to drop-yet
he declared he was good for another run.
He wasn't discouraged-at least he
didn't show it. He said we'd get through
all right yet. We took some rails and set
them up against q tree for shelter. We
| crept under and waited until the down
pour ceased. We could hear the dogs,
| they were nearer. but the rain had made
their voices faint. Jones said: "You have
a knife and have a club: can't we beat
of few. dogs" I thought he was the
bravest chap / ever knew.
We got a good rest while the downpour
continued, although we were wet and nm.
comfortable. When the rain finally ceased
| the stars shone brightly again. The deep
baying of the hounds could be distinctly
heard. We had lost Is or 20 minutes-no.
not lost; we had rested and were somewhat
revitalized. I thought 1t would take the
hounds at least that long to find our trail
beyond the creek, and l hoped the rain
had obliterated our scent for some miles
beyond, and would cause further delay.
| We must now find the picket line and
get through. / climbed a small tree. but
could see no campfres, nor lights through
| the woods ahead. Two miles In the rear
small lights fickered dimly-lanterns car
ried by the posse in pursuit. The dogs
| were more quiet now. I descended and
| we continued due east. We were soon
out of the narrow woods and In a clover
L Ella -