o four in the
morning.

It was necessary to be careful about the construction of the tunnel, as
it was to be run under a sentry's feet. If there should happen to be a
cave-in and a reb drop down among the toilers, it would be rather
embarrassing. Crane's house was built in the Southern style for all
wooden buildings, resting on supports about two feet in height. Our
objective point was about the centre of his habitation. We could crawl
to the other side, and by getting over a board fence would practically
become "prisoners-at-large."

The ground was favourable for our work, being composed of stiff red
clay. All felt happy and cheerful as the work progressed, and the
monotony of being so closely confined was somewhat relieved. On the
corner of the square in which the jail was located was the city hall. We
could hear the hours and half hours as they were struck, quite plainly,
so we had no trouble about the time of quitting work. It was necessary
for us to have a point to start our measurements from, and after much
discussion, we selected a window-sill in our room directly over the
tunnel-shaft. It was a strange place to locate it, but from that point
every part of the work was measured to an inch. By fastening a wad of
wet paper to a thread we ascertained the exact distance between Crane's
house and the inside of the jail wall. One of us held the thread on the
window-sill while the other kept throwing the wad until it struck the
clapboard. When the sentry walked past our window he gave us the
opportunity, and, by lowering the wad to the ground, we got the height
of the passage-way which the sentry patroled. The shaft was sunk nine
feet, and was considerably lower than the foundation of the building.
Then the tunnel was started, being two feet wide and three feet in
height, the top being arched. For a distance of fourteen feet it was
perfectly level, then it was started on an angle towards the surface of
the ground.

About that time we had to stop operations for a few days. Orders had
been sent by General Beauregard to put Lieutenant-Commander E. P.
Williams and Ensign Benjamin Porter in irons, and hold them as hostages
for a rebel naval lieutenant, who was sentenced to be hanged by the
Federal Government for piracy on Lake Erie. Williams was selected as the
highest in rank, Porter for the reason that he had the most influential
friends. The two officers were shackled together, hands and legs, and
were doomed to be in