Year: 1868

was nothing--a mouthful of raw meal or
halfcooked beans, that wakened the crav-
ings of a starving stomach to madness.
There were windows ON one side from
which we could see the boats as they
came up laden with boxes for us from the
North. We could read our own names
upon them. We knew too we'll what
treasures of food they contained; but we
never got them, although we could see
the rebs as they opened them and appro-
priated the contents, with coarse, cruel
jeers at our expense. They would en-
courage us to send for food; promise us
upon their word that we should have the
next; then appropriate all that had not
spoiled on the way that, bad enough at
the best, they would mix and crush until
too filthy for brutes, then throw it to us
with insulting jests Oh. they knew
we'll how to goad and harrow u.s.


"You escaped, l am told"


Yes; i was taken with smallpox,
which broke out in that filthy den, and
they were obliged to carry the smallpox
patients to kind of hospital, where we
got little better treatment. As soon as
| got little better, they set me to nurs-
ing the sick, and an awkward nurse 1
made, too. After while, we made
friends with the guards. No soul ever
knew until the war was over that the
guards let us off, for we had given our
word not to betray them, and we would
have died rather than have brought trou-
BILE upon them, we felt SO grateful to
them. There were six of us, and they let
us have our blankets, which doubtless
saved our lives"


"But how came they to be SO compass
sionate?"


"Rebels who had been long in the SER
vice, and knew the Yankees at all, never
willingly did those needlessly ruelthings.
1t took the people back in the country.
who believed all the lies they had heard
about us, to do those; oh, they were
fiendish. Well, we got off, but we had
hard journey before us the ground was
frozen, and we were in the midst of noun
tains that were alive with vindictive
foe They gloried in finding "sulking
Yank )" they hunted us with as much
relish as if we had been game, and they
knew how-they had practiced it ON the
negroes. We never dared move by day
light, unless desperate from hunger, and
we could not travel when the nights were
cloudy; SO we lay shivering, weak with
hunger, counting the minutes to keep
sure we had our senses, until the north
star pointed homeward. We never asked
white man for food but once"


And the negroes2" / could not help
interrupting.


"Oh, they were always friends, always.
They brought us food, told us how to
steer clear Of rebel pickets or hunting
parties out scouting for Yanks. They
knew all the true Union men, and often,
| think, gave us their own dinners. Once
we thought some slaves had betrayed us.
We had been four days without food and
could not find as usual the few roots and
berries which we dare eat, when from our
hiding place in dense thicket we saw
some slaves at work We made sure no
white men were near them, crept near
and told our story. Like all we had met
they listened with marked pity to our sad
story and promised when they were call
ed to dinner to get us something if twas
possible. Dey's drefle spicious of
Yanks but we'se cunning, sah's, we won't
stir up nobody That was enough; We
knew if there was food to pe had we
should get it; so we crept back to our
brush and awaited the weary noon, when
we gladly saw our friends go home to
their dinner. Soon the shouts of men
and the baying of hounds startled us.
"Those negroes have betrayed us" was
our despairing but whispered groan. We
had nothing for it but to lie down COM
pletely covered with our blankets and
await our certain fate. We heard the
rebels as they circled about the thicket,
not daring to drive their horses into it,
and cheered on the hounds we could
not hope that the keen instinct of those
terrible dogs would be at fault; they
dashed into the very spot where we lay,
stopped, smelt all about our blankets and
turned away. Again and again, by shouts
and threats, did the rebs try to make
them scour the thicket they never be-
trayed us by single bark, and at last
their masters called them and galloped
away. We looked at one another then,
we had no words to speak our solemn
sense of Gods care of us in this hopeless
strait. The negroes came back and we