Year: 1878




swan until the water was too shallow
for swimming; after which, by crawling


on my belly, managed t0aYOiI sinking
and smothering in the mud. 1t was


lalf an hour, however, befOI9 1 stood
upon firm ground again, and then I did
not know which side Of the marsh I had
reached. I was covered with slime,
stiff with cold, and utterly exhausted
by my exerti0ns. OF myself, however
l thought little; 1 was only anxious
about the sleeping battery at BlufftOn,
If the alarm were not given-and unless
some one or other Of our party had sue
! ceeded in getting across with his horse,
{ it could not be-BlufftOn would be
taker completely by surprise; the bate
~ would be captured, and rapid march
would take the enemy 10 the railroad,
either at Grahamville or HardeeviIle,
before any force could be sent to oppose
him. Even if the two men from the
picket post had got out on the other
side knew that they would not go to
BlufftOn, but to buckingham Ferry and
Hunting Island, as l had ordered; and
it was not at all certain the fleet would
pass either Of these points, as it could
sail up other creeks quite as easily, par
ticularly on such tide as that. With
these thoughts in my mind began at
once to bestir myself. 1 was not long
in discovering that 1 was still on the
island, and not on the mainland. Fol
lowing the edge of the water, 1 present.
ly came TO the two men who had been
with the sergeant on picket. One Of
them was stuck in the mud, and the
other was trying to draw him ou5


a pole. Both had lost their horses,
though, as I learned a day or two after
wards, neither Of the animals was
drowned. The sergeant and my guide
had escaped with their steeds, and
found both on the island, little farther
up the shore.


The guide was utterly demOraliZed
with fright or cold, or both; and so 1
took his horse, and ordered him to wait
on the island till moruing, and then
make his way to whatever point he
should find it easiest to reach. The
sergeant and 1 determined to make an
other effort to get 10 camp and give the
alarm.


'Now," said the sergeant, If I get
across, I won't wait for you, but will 60
righton. If yousucceed, don't wait for
me. sno time for ceremony; and it's
better one Of us should drown than the
other should be delayed


spoken like a man anda soldier, ser
geant, " said I. Now for itlT and with
that we again essayed to follow the sub
merged track. About midway the ser
geant's horse went down as before; and,
just as I was about to say something en-
cOuraging to him, my own horse, or the
guides rather, which 1 was riding, fell
head foremost into the salt water,
throwing me completely over his head.


For a moment l was senseIess from a
blow received either from the hoof Of
the sergeant's horse, or by falling against
one of the timbers of the eau -eway.-
When l came to myself was clinging
to the tail of the sergeant's horse, while
the sergeant, as I lresently discovered,
was holding by one of the stirrups.-
How long we were in the water 1 do not
know, but it must have been nearly an
bOtrr Tho r,oO7, bo,,gn e-r-o NJ wound -, n
puTposeless way, not knowing where to
go, until finally he sank exhausted be-
meath the tide. Cool as the night was
the salt water was tepid, as it always is
on the coast, else I should not now be
alive to tell of my adventure on that
Christmas Eve.


We got out at last, and found our
selves on the island again. DespaiTing
nOw-fur without horses it was simply
impossible to get to BlufftOn until long
after the time when our coming would
be Of any uae-we trudged doggedly
across the island, that We might wait
and listen at the waters edge for the
booming of the cannon. Two more Ut
terry wretched young men no Christmas
ever dawned upon.


run back to the other side of the
island, said he to one of his men, "and
see if the feet is still in sight, and see
what tits doing. We must let our horses
blow little, and you can get back by
the time we are ready to start"


The man went, and his cOmTade, hav-
ing nothing better to do, went with him.
Presently one of them returned bring
ing the news that the fleet was making
its way up 4 narrow creek, from which
neither the Buckingham Ferry nor the
Hunting Island pickets could see it;
and as those were the only posts from
which, after seeing it, a man could get
to BlufftOn in time to give the alarm,
both the sergeant and were more than
ever determined to make our way to
camp at ali hazards. Luckily, the road
from Bears Isllnd to Bluffton was the
easiest one in all the country to find,
and the one happened to know best;
so that, even if the sergeant should not
get across the marsh, was confident Of
my ability to go to camp alone.


''See thereI' said the sergeant, halt
ing suddenly. "There's the fleet, and,
bless my soul, it's putting to sea!'


1t was true enough. No attack was
to be made, after all; and we bad spent
the night drowning horses, and nearly
ourselves, for nothing. Why
the fleet had steamed several miles up
the creek before putting to sea, 1 have
never been able to guess; but I distinct
Iy remember that its prank subjected
me 10 a tweIve-mIIe walk that Christ,
mas morning, and dcompelled me to sub
stitute quinine and dOgwOOd-roOt bark
bitters, for egg-nog and a Christmas
dinner.


After a boy is tired out hoeing pota-
toes nothing seems to rest him more
than to dig over Il few square rods of
green sward in search of bait.


The largest number of acres held by