Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 May 1886 — The Double Escape. [ARTICLE]

The Double Escape.

BY CAPTAIN JAMES MOUNTFORD.

One evening the services of spies was the subject of conversation; and, between a pause in the argument, the Colonel remarked: ■ “I think the majority of the so-called spies who suffered were perfectly innocent of any such intention. 1 had a narrow escape myself.” “We are listening for the story, uncle,” cried his niece; “you must be very cautious in your speech, or you will be forced into the relation of a story. ” The Colonel smiled. “An old man is seldom unwilling to relate his adventures,” he said, “and I am not of the number of those who are.” Everyone was becomingly attentive, and, after a short silence, the Colonel continued as follows: , “Major B and I had been schoolfellows; later in life we were friends. At the commencement of hostilities we joined opposite factions. He was a Tennessean; I had imbibed the politics of ‘old’ Massachusetts, mid our difference of opinion was very natural. “Neveitheless, our friendship did not change, and when my duty brought me within twenty miles of his plantation, he invited me to pay him a visit. “The change from the hard fare of the camp to the company and table of my friend was a pleasure I was not likely to refuse. “The Union troops were at that time victorious, and although the command to which Major B was attached had their quarters quite near, I anticipated no danger. “Attiring myself in plain clothes, I started upon my visit, reaching the Major’s residence at noon. “I was made very welcome, and passed a pleasant day. But I could not fail to see that my friend was preoccupied and very grave, which was unusual with him, his merry disposition being well known. “After nightfall, when we were seated in the Major’s private room, engaged with cigars and talk, I hinted that he seemed uncommonly serious. “ Tam serious, Frank,’ he said, with a grave smile, ‘and I believe I should tell you why.’ “I thought he should, and as I requested his confidence, he said that all his fear was for me. “ ‘lndeed!’ cried I, ‘I am very comfortable just at present. How joyful all my comrades would be were they in the same situation. ’ “ ‘I doubt it,’ was the Major’s reply. ‘We have advanced our lines, and you are now within them. I received the news soon after you came. Your danger is heightened by the fact that spies have been doing considerable damage lately.’ “ ‘And I’m liable to be shot if caught, eh?’ “ ‘I am afraid so.’ “The subject was dropped for the time. It was merely a suspicion, and might not be fulfilled. We became very lively as the evening Waned; but our conviviality was suddenly dashed by the entrance of a servant. “The black’s eyes were almost starting from his head, and he informed us, in an excited whisper, that a posse of soldiers were approaching the house. “This news was confirmed by the sound of men and horses in the yard without. “ ‘Come into my bed chamber,’ cried the Major, leaping to his feet. ‘lf there is any danger it will allow us time to prepare for it.’ “He hurried me into another apartment, and, locking me inside, went to review his visitors. “In five minutes he returned, his face expressive of the utmost concern. “ ‘lt’s Captain Trock,’ he said, ‘with a company of soldiers. He’s my enemy, and would like nothing better than to bring me into trouble. He told my wife he was in search of a spy, who had been seen .in the neighborhood. He certainly suspects you to be in the house.’ “This speech disturbed me not a little. To be executed as a spy was, even in idea, simply horrible. ‘l’ll have to run for it,’ I said.

“ ‘Yes, but you are liable to be captured, and then nothing is gained. Here’s my uniform,’ and he threw the articles upon the floor. ‘Dress yourself immediately and -slip out of the window.’ “I have thought since that this was not very sound advice. Should Ibe discovered in the enemy’s lines, and attired in their color’s, I would be almost beyond pardon. “As it was, I was allowed no time to think, and quickly began to metamorphose myself. I was hastened by the sound of loud voices, raised to a suspicious tone, without; and, a moment later, I slipped through the window. “If he thought about it at all, the Major doubtless supposed that I would remain skulking near the house until the foes had left the premises; but I was driven away by seeing a soldier approaching just as I reached the ground. “He did not observe me, and stealing around to the front of the house, I reached the road, and started away upon the run toward the Union lines. “I hurried along for something like a mile, and began to regain my confidence. There was no moon, but the numerous stars gave sufficient light to warn me of the presence of foes should they appear, and also, unfortunately, to discover me to them. “Major B had said the Confederates tad advanced their lines, and I expected every moment to be challenged. “Still I must proceed. The danger beMbd wa* just da great, and far more certain.

“Suddenly I heard the sound of horses in the wood on tne right hand. I guessed that the foes were there, and leaving the open road in haste, passed among the trees upon the left. “I stole along for some distance, and began to think I was to make a clean escape. But fate was against me, and when I saw two soldiers standing beneath a tree directly upon a line with myself, and not over a dozen feet away, I gave myself up for ‘one of the lost.’ “But they did not seem to have observed me, and, halting immediately, I hoped darkness would screen me from their eyes. “Five minutes I stood there, motionless. The fellows were talking together in semidrunken tones, and I saw a bottle pass between them. “This seemed favorable to me, so far; but my hopes were soon blown aside. “One of the men saw me, and promptly directed the other s attention in the same direction. “Whether it was the liquor they had taken, I have no means of knowing; but they made no attempt to approach, but stood consulting in low tones. “I could not understand it; but even this was better than a downright discovery, and I stood still, straining my sense of hearing to catch their words.

“I heard the word ‘Major' pass between them several times, and thinking they took me for the gentleman whose clothes I wore, I was about to walk in without noticing them, when one of the rascals shouted an oath, and, raising his rifle, discharged it at my head. “I felt a stinging sensation immediately above my left ear, and my brain whirled. I must have thought myself dead, for I .fell forward at full length, my face downward. “I recovered my senses almost instantly, and as the rascals were running toward me, I lay perfectly quiet. “ ‘You've killed him, Hank;’ said one, in a shrill whisper. “He stood over mt*, but did not attempt to touch my person. “ ‘Blank him!' growled the other, ‘I don’t keer if I hev. I remember how he thrashed me t’other day.’ “ ‘For killing the old woman’s cow?’ “‘Yes’ [another blank]; ‘and if shooting a cow is to git a man thrashed I don’t want to stay here no more.’ “ ‘What are you goin' to do? Yon didn't speak to him 'fore you tired, and everybody knows you hate him. You'll be shot yourself.’ “ ‘So will you.’ “ ‘I didn't do the shooting.' “ ‘No; but you stood by, and didn’t stop me.’ “The rascals argued in this strain for some time, and it was at last decided that they should spoil the body, and desert to the opposite side. “I was well pleased with this decision, you may imagine, and scarcely breathed while the rogues rifled my pockets. But I was not yet clear, for they concluded to hide the body, otherwise it would be found too soon, and they should be stopped. “I imagined at one time that they would attempt to cut me in pieces, that I might be more easily concealed, ami was hesitating about discovering myself. “Had I done so, instant death would have been the result; for the fellows would then be commended, as I had no business where I was. They had already deprived me of my weapons, and defense was out of the question. “But, luckily for me, they at last raised me between them, and carried their supposed victim off through the woods, to a point further from the camp. “Beaching, what they considered a convenient point, I was dropped upon the ground, and my murderers began to pile rubbish, brushwood, and, at last, logs upon me.

“I was in no enviable position. It is not the ill-fortune of every man to be present at bis own butrial; for such I soon discovered it to be. “Fear incited the fellows to great labor, and w'hen they bad satisfied themselves that I was concealed past discovery, so much weight had been piled upon me that it was impossible that I should release myself. “Besides I felt that I should be suffocated; a great log, heavy with water, lay upon my breast, and every limb was weighted down as close as though I had been in my grave. “At last the men were leaving, and the horror of being left to perish helplessly alone came upon me. With an effort I essayed to call them back; but my voice was nearly pressed out of my lungs, and they returned not. “The extreme horror or tne next hour"is scarcely to be told. I felt myself slowly, but inevitably, dying. Nothing, it seemed, could interpose to save my life. The only persons who could know my situation were far away by this time. “I endearvored to compose my mind, and die like a stoic, but miserably failed. We all must die, I told myself; why this fastidiousness as to the manner ? This horrible pain cannot continue always; and then I thought of my wife and children, who would look in vain for my return. “I bore all the pains of the most terrible death; but relief came at last. Overstretched nature could sustain no more, and I fainted. “How long I remained unconscious I know not, and it matters little. I wakened at last, and found a number of men around me. “Major B was Kneeling at my side, a bottle of liquor in his hand, which, as I opened my eyes with a groan, he held to my lips. “As I revived, my friend helped me up, and, looking around, I found myself in the midst of Confederate soldiers. “ ‘What is it, Major?’ I asked, weakly, for I was still thinking. ‘How came I here?’ “ ‘Don’t you know, old fellow,’ he responded, looking compassionately in my face. ‘I found you under the brush heap there. The scoundrels thought they had murdered you.’ “One of the officers standing near coughed slightly. “The Major understood its meaning, for, with a glance at the gentleman he turned again to me, saying, in e troubled tone; “ ‘You are not out of trouble yet. That’s Captain Trock. He discovered that you had been at my residence, and trailed you afterward. You owe him your life indirectly, but he seems determined to resume the gift.’ “All this was given in a whisper, while the men stood suspiciously by. “ ‘I don’t understand you,’ I returned. “ ‘Trock captured one of the would-be assassins, and forced a confession from him. He is—— ’ “At that instant the Captain, who was

too impatient to withhold longer, touched my arm. “ ‘You must to the commandant,* he said, harshly. “The soldiers closed in around me (<>nd the Major was included in the circle, and seemed to fully share me ignomony), and w'e marched slowly off through the wood. “I felt considerably relieved to breathe again in the clear air, but still my danger was nearly as great. “Captain Trock was a sour, haughty man, and there was no sign of a relenting disposition in his countenance. “My friend told me in whispers as we walked along that he had been drawn into a dispute with the Captain, in which the latter’s vanity had been joined, and that since that time he had pursued him with great vindictiveness. “I ni Y fric’Rd's disposition too well to imagine that he would receive an affront from any man unless powerless himself. This considered, I thought his case, as well as my own, desperate. “We soon reached the commandant’s tent, and, although it was late, an immediate examination was resolved upon. “The commandant was a rigid-looking man of fifty, and he questioned me in a tone which decided my fate. It would be unnecessary to repeat everything that was said and done, but the substance was, that I had been found within the lines (at the Major’s residence ); that my friend had first concealed, and then furnished me with a a disguise as a means of escape. “Captain Trock expressed his belief that I had bet n skulking in the neighborhood for several days; and one of the men who had fired upon me (the other did not appear) declared that his companion had taken papers from my pocket which the person who searched my pockets bore away 'with him. “M hen the fellow whom Trock had captured a short distance from the camp was asked why he was deserting, he returned that he and his companion, after the shooting, had mistaken me for the Major, and being frightened,, they had fled. “This was sufficient evidence for a military court, and notwithstanding strenuous denial, I was sentenced to be shot at daybreak. The Major was to have another examination. “I observed a triumphant sneer upon Captain Track's face as we were led from the tent. He was probably amply satisfied with his revenge. ““We were conducted to a tent bordering upon the roadway, and placing our guards, Captain Trock retired. “Although I was expected to die at sunrise, my fatigue was so overpowering that, had not the Major been with me, I should have fallen asleep when left alone. “But my friend suffered the greatest anguish; to be disgraced in this, manner he declared unbearable. He was of an eager, ambitious disposition, and many were the resolutions he formed to avenge himself upon the Captain. “The night passed, as nights always will, no matter how uncomfortable our situation may be; and when the guard entered the tent in the morning they found me sleeping. “I was quickly aroused, and taking leave of ,my friend, who protested my innocence with tears in his eyes, I marched from the tent.

“Long Buffeting seems to blunt our senses at times, at least such was my ease at present. .1 felt sullenly desperate, and ready for any undertaking, however hazardous. “I found a file of soldiers drawn up in front of the tent, and Captain Trock, dismounted from his horse, which stood alone at a little distance to the left, waiting for my appearance. “As I saw the horse, the idea of attemptting a desperate flight occurred to me. “Nothing worse than death can happen, thought I, and recklessly determined to execute my plan. “I complained of faintness-, and seemed unable to stand. One of the two guards, more compassionate, perhaps, than usual, started to procure a glass of water. “The tile of soldiers stood twenty feet distant down the road. The Captain stood at their head, his glances fastened upon me. “But the steed, which had the greatest interest for me at that moment, had strayed quite near me, and was quietly picking the damp grass at the roadside. “Everything seemed favorable, and, suddenly calling every faculty into play, I sprang upon my guard, knocked him down, and a second later was in the saddle. • “My sudden onset frightened the horse, and he scarcely needed the incentive which I applied with my heel to send him flying down the road at breakneck speed. “1 heard the Captain give command to fire; then came the crash of musketry, and the balls whistled all around me. My greatest fear was for the horse; but the soldiers seemed to have fired high, for no bullets reached their mark. “My mount was high-mettled, and before the soldiers could reach their horses, I was a considerable distance in advance. “I was not pursued far, and two hours later reached my proper camp, where the resolve entered my mind, as I threw myself from the steed who had served me so well, that never again would I pay a visit within the Confederate lines. * * < * * ■ ♦ “The Major’s innocence appeared,” said the Colonel, after a pause, “but he had lost caste, and upon receiving a slight wound, a few months after my escape, he left the army. “Brit before doing so, he had punished Captain Trock for his perjury, by running him through in a duel.”