Part 12 (1/2)

Here I was, right where I wished to be, and in a very short ti darkeys, to learn that they had lain down to rest until the ti fast asleep They reproached thelect, and ere soon on our way to the river bank, with a plentiful supply of food

They asked me how I had found them, and I truthfully replied that I did not know, at which they rolled their eyes and looked ataround the cabins in the hope of finding someone awake, and heard Sam tell Taylor to roll over This satisfied them, but it has never satisfied me, for, while I heard the voice almost as soon as I halted, I could have passed the cabin in the short interval had I kept on, and in such event I could not have heard what I did

My going directly to the cabins may be attributed to the instinct which so to the rear of the farther cabins first to an accident of direction, but I never could account, on any theory of chance or instinct, for the coincidence of my halt at the proper place at the only instant in which I could have heard the call of Sam to Taylor

We reached Rummel and Miller in so short a time after my departure froed to find the darkeys so quickly I postponed explanation until later, and we proceeded to business

The negroes had cooked us a goodly a meat and a pone of corn bread, but the meat was only such as they could procure in a hurry, and consisted of the livers, lights, noses and such portions of the animal as would not be used by the planter and his fa high water, behind a tree, and e got it down and afloat it looked like a sieve We caulked it as best we could with leaves and so was a failure, and none of us cared to risk it

Sa the river lower down and then going across the country, but this offer we declined, because of the alht with a runaway negro Sa that he had a rifle and seven rounds of aht if we had to, but we positively refused to take hiry Theus directions to follow the river down stream until we found a cabin in a certain spot, which he described, and we set off in high glee, Taylor further inforht with the owners of the cabin, and that ould find a willing and able ferry, and we hastened on our way; but, e came to the spot where Taylor had told us ould find a path to the cabin, we found that a large force of cavalry had recently been caular path were coround and thein all directions, while an immense quantity of corn shucks were strewn all about the place

We made a circuit of the caht be the one reat hen it became a blind lead, and ere soon lost in the canebrake The cane made it too dark to proceed farther, and ent into careat bend of the river, and a little feeling around showed us a number of cavalry horses turned loose We therefore kept quiet, in a part of the bottom where the cane was so thick that we once heard aable to see hiht there if we had had hold of her tail”

After a while we stole out to where we could see without being seen, and discovered a tent and big fire not far ahile in the distance was a band ofaith an escort of rebel cavalry Around the tent and fire were a lot of men and cavalry horses, and we concluded to adjourn

After a long search through the cane we found a road and started off, keeping a sharp lookout

We had gone but a short distance down the road e almost ran into another cavalry camp, and we had to s our hearts to keep them in their proper position, while we hastily executed a flankaround theain went on our way in peace for a time, but soon had another scare

It was now nearly evening, and as we reached the river bank we heard so It was a close shave, as we barely had time to conceal ourselves before they came out of the woods on the opposite side of the road and started for the camp we had just passed

As soon as they had disappeared we started to follow the river bank, and as we proceeded down streaht and the river on our left, we had not gone far when so into the brush for conceals had passed They turned into the wood not far fro down a tree in which they had located a coon

The tree was soon felled, and then occurred a lively skirs, clubs and coon, in which the coon finally got the worst of it

When the battle was over and the coon-hunters had gone, we crawled out of our hiding place and started down the river again

In less than a mile, and about 12 o'clock, we came upon another lot of soldiers, camped in the road on the river bank and apparently sound asleep, our evidence of the latter fact being the un from them

The situation was rather on the critical order, but it was light enough for us to see any ht flank, and were soon around the on our ould have felt quite happy had Miller been less et that we had not as yet crossed the river, and it was i side of a strea in the tih fence was built along the road in front of it Just as we had gotten fairly started away from the tialloping in our direction caused us toand a slide down the steep river bank We slid

The horsemen reined up in front of the far the slippery bank, and we heard him call out some inmate of the house and ask the way to Rondo, where, it seeer to result fro with undesirable people was considerable, and we had quite a scare on account of our narrowthis fast rider, but we soon becalad of the forced tumble over the river bank

As soon as ere recovered from our scare and momentary confusion we found that our slide down the bank had landed us within easy reach of a canoe, the very thing one down the bank with more momentum either the canoe or the water under it would have stopped our descent

This discovery seeood oation proved the canoe to be a poor affair, but we concluded that we could cross two at a ti pace with theot over all right, and Miller landed, Ru back for me Both Miller and myself noalked down stream, as the canoe made as much distance that way as across, and when Rummel had finally picked me up and landed me we met Miller at least a mile down strea this operation Miller and I had to keep close to the river in order that we ht of each other or the canoe, and, by thus being unable to choose the best places for a convenient walk, ere pretty well scratched by the briers and other impedio