The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1905-11-02
ADVENTURES OF A
YANKEE SPY
Continued from page H.

New Orleans" He took me to an old
building near by, called the Dixie
Works." with lot Of blacksmith CHM
neys which had been partly torn down
by Smith and Grearson's cavalry a few
months before. The boards had been
taken down from one side and we were
standing by q piece Of chimney about
three feet high. with plenty OF loose
brick. picked up a brick and knocked
him down and lit out, thinking 1t pro-
bable that Bill would lie there the re-
mainder Of the night, unless sooner dis
was about q hundred yards away
heard him try to fire his musket. The
first time the hammer came down the
cap did not explode. I heard 1T snap
the second and third time, and think
he must then have put on q fresh cap, as
heard cap burst when I was about q
quarter Of mile away, for had kept
moving: had no idea Of lingering to
see what happened there; but his gun
never fired. My troubles had just be-
gun, as I had to get through the chain
guard that was between the town and
the camps, and then had to get through
the pickets beyond the camps, and all
of that had to be accomplished before
daylight.
Running the Guards.
The first guard line I knew the loca-
ton of, from information picked up in
prison. When / got out on the COM
mons, near the guard line, I would lie
down and wait for a flash Of lightning.
then get up and go little further, lie
down and wait for another flash, and,
presently, / saw little shed at the
main road and a brickkiln q short dis
lance out, and I knew that on account
of the hard rain the guards would like
ly be in those two shelters. / accord
ingly steered myself between them.
About one hour later. out in the woods,
I passed through another line; heard
the men talking; and just at the peep of
day 1t stopped raining, and I came to
another picket line, along a fence, and
discovered, luckily, that every man
seemed to be drawing the load out Of
his gun, and would then snap the cap,
to blow out the powder in order to
clean the guns I stood by tree until
I located enough of them by the ex-
ploding caps to enable me to get
through. / got under the fence, in a
large trench which had washed down
across a field. / crossed the field In
this ditch and landed safely in the
woods outside Of the last pickets.
If had been Is minutes later l
would never have made it through that
last line in safety. on account Of the
daylight. In the next woods caught an
opossnm, and as l had not had any
meat for the past four days, and only
d
opposum was Godsend, as I thought;
but could not stop to cook him until
would get into the canebrakes of
Black River, which was 10 miles from
Canton.
1 struck the headwaters Of q small
stream which / thought must empty
into the river, and by following that
stream I would keep in the timber un-
til / reached the river. This planned
out right, for by 10 a. m. was tramp
ing down the banks Of Black River on
a path which was evidently made by
hunters, cattle and wild animals.
About that time I heard voices, and
betook myself to hole in the ground
where a tree had been blown out by
the roots, and the voices came nearer
and nearer, finally stopping within a
hundred yards Of me, in plain view,
and I could see that they were Con-
federate scouts. just across the river
from me. Presently they blew a horn
and a pack Of hounds gathered around
them, when they started off up the
river. There were five or six of them.
The scouts who captured my friends
had told us of the way they would
borrow the planters hounds for hunt.
and I suppose it was the case with this
party.
A Wasted 'POssum.-
When the party of scouts were out
Of sight / got my heart back and down
into it's proper place and started ii
beating again. l threw my opossum
away, and started down the river.
did not have a knife to carve him, but
intended to roast him feathers and
ALL" but I was afraid to carry him
with me, for fear Of another hunting
party whose hounds might trail me on
account of the opossum. The weather
began to turn cold, and l got in jun
gle, made fire and lay down and
took a nap, SO l would be able to travel
at night. When l started out for my
all-night walk I felt as though there
was a vacant space lurking about my
anatomy in the region of my dread
basket" as it was more than "a hours
since / had my last cornbread.
That night I went out of the cane
brakes and found a levee, constructed
to keep the high water Of the river