The National tribune., 1910-04-28

struck out for the high ground. and
reached n lane full of briars which led
to plantation buildings.
Keitch Cwho was dressed in about
the same style as myself and l went
UP to the house and hammered on the
door. 1t was some time before we
could arouse anyone. Finally window
in the second story opened, and a head
popped out, inquiring: who is dar,
and what do you want2" We had our
story made up. and told him that we
were a part of Jackson's cavalry, and
/ that we wanted to slip by the Yankee
pickets.
The old "secesh" told us that there
were no Yanks anywhere around that
he knew of. We went along the road,
and for fear of meeting the rebels
Keitch and L acted as advance guard,
each with revolver in hand, belonging
/ to the Lieutenant.
We marched in this way until we
thought we must be somewhere near
fernando, where we had concluded our
forces would encamp, and We halted
and lay down in a thicket for a nap.
1t was very dark, and we thought it
must be nearly day. The Lieutenant
and / went to the road to start right.
and when VIE started back to where we
had left the boys we could not find
them. We dare not call very loud for
! fear of the rebels. The sun rose in a
dense fog, so that we could not tell
what course to take.
About o'clock the fog cleared away,
/ and we took our course but were OBJ
/ lged to keep in the woods to avoid be-
/ ing seen. One time we came to n
plantation where there was a fence
Overgrown with brush that reached
from one wood to the other. We kept
the fence between us and the buildings
and ventured across, We found some
alderberries, which we ate, and they
tasted pretty good for we were hungry,
not having had anything to eat since
the morning before.
! About 2 o'clock in the afternoon we
came to a large spring in the woods
and a Well-beaten path leading some
where. After quenching our thirst the
Lieutenant requested me to follow this
path and find something to eat, while
he, being in full uniform, would hide in
/ the brush close by. followed the path,
. and soon came to a log cabin surround
ed by a low rail fence. An old man was
/ taking a nap under a big oak in the
yard, but the barking dogs awoke him
I He looked at me with suspicion.
soon found that he was a bitter old
/ 'seceSh." ! personated our prisoner
! (Corgan), and told him a very pitiful
story about my belonging to a certain
! mississippi regiment, naming the Col
onel and the General in command of
the Confederate forces at Grenada,
where l had been taken prisoner by
! the -- "Yanks," and as ] had near
I ~ new suit of gray on they stripped me
and had given me what I had on; that
/ ] had escaped from them the night be-
fore, and was tired hungry and discour-
aged.
When he found that was a hungry
rebel he told his girls to get me up a
meal while his wife got me pair of
the old mans pants. AS he was a cor
pulent man and I was quite slim, they
weren't exactly a fit, but better than
none. They had no shoes. but gave me
| a straw hat. After a hearty dinner of
cornbread, ham and what purported to
be coffee the old lady thoughtfully put
up some cornbread and ham in a paper
and some coffee in bottle for my
lunch on the way. All this consumed
about two hours of precious time.
A Successful Impersonation.
The old man took me to the road,
where he got down on his knees to
mark out the route for me with a stick
On looking down the road, not five rods
away, stood the Lieutenant, who had
become alarmed at my long absence.
but as luck would have it the old mans
back was turned toward him. / made
a motion, and he lodged back into the
woods ! bade the old rebel farewell
and Joined the Lieutenant
4 We kept seesawing thru the woods
slept part of the night, kept this up the
next day, and at dusk we ventured TO
cross a large cornfield. In coming down
4 a hill, almost before we knew it, we
Il were upon a man and his little girl in a
.lmelon patch. We saw each other at