The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1908-05-01

ing" and answering it he inquired
! if was Yankee. | told him no.,
that ] lived with an uncle two miles
! from Selma. and had lost a horse and
wagon. He said that | lied emphasis
ing it with an oath. saw | had a
hard man to deal with, and I called
all my wits to plan an escape. In this
cave was small whisky distillery, |
watched him. and he in turn kept me
in view. | tried to divert attention
by talking about whisky, the cave
and crops. He answered me sullenly,
saving that the Yankees had stolen
everything he, had. | saw a loaded
rife between the barrels, and at first
my fear was, that it would, be used
to kill me, but after while the old
man sent his boys to catch the horses,
las he said to take me to Forest, but
still having fears of the rifle, watch
ed nv opportunity, and with water in
the palm. of my hands. / wet the cap
and powder in the tube. Soon he
told me to 90 with him to the house
for breakfast. before we started. With
a bucket in one hand,~and rifle in
the other. he started and told me to
follow, which | did, about 10 PAGES dis
tant. Though he watched me close, |
knew the rife would not 90 off, and
looking for an opportunity, which soon
offered. 1 dashed into the timber and
after going a ways | hid behind log.
l could hear the trigger click, but the
wet tube saved me. | was hunted all
dav without detection, and at night
made my escape.
Kept the Dog at Bay.
"The night after, with my feet. all
torn and my clothes in an equally bad
condition | saw house at the head of
a .deep ravine, heard the dog howl,
and as | approached man came out
and Kissed the dog on me. | kept
him at bay with a stick, which l
swung backward and forward, and when
opportunity offered, I ran into the ra'.
vine. The dog followed at times run
ming ahead of me, but after con-
test of this kind for half or three
quarters of mile, he gave up the
pursuit.
81 continued my travels at night.
One night. following path near the
road big black dog passed me, and
soon two men came along, and l heard
them say, they are after us in force
Il evaded them. however. l did not
have ANYTHING to eat for several days,
except occasionally a few apples, green
corn. at at times sought to appease
my hunger by eating grass.
zone Sunday | struck a party OF
refugees, from near Knoxville, but they
i said they did not want me to followj
them. / Jagged behind, and after a.
while I met negro. who advised me
to 90 into the brush and not show
myself in the daytime. Afterwards |
net an old man and lady with little
GIRL returning from church. Though
rebels, they expressed sympathy, and
gave me a biscuit, saying they were
afraid to give me more for fear 1T
might iniure me in my almost starved
condition. This was about ten miles
from Memphis, and our outposts were
only couple miles distant. They adj
vised me to go into the brush as
the country was full of guerrilas.
kent on for several smiles until | came
to a bridge, and while looking over the
side at some fish in the water a lady
saw and came to me, said it was not
SAFE TO eNDoSt nNScil. Sho"to ny
where a union soldier had been killed
and buried only a few days before.
'.She offered me shelter in her house,
saying that there was squad of un-
ion men, repairing bridge at Collier
vile. and that they would pass by
about five o'clock. kept on, however,
met negro and he accompanied me
for short distance. Soon we met
negroes returning from church. they
were having dance, and did not want
their master to see me.
Soldiers Pointed Guns At Him.
"At this time I was following the
railroad, and thinking that | heard a
train coming by the side of the road,
and as it passed waived my hat. The
soldiers pointed guns at me, probably
thinking that if anything happened to
the train to shoot me. After going
probably half a mile, the train was