Oakland; thence by the cars to somewhere near Sykesville, on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Here, the day began to break, and he would
not trust farther to the short-sightedness of Federal officials; so he
looked out for a soft place in a snowdrift, and leapt out, alighting
without injury. The same reasons that made reticence useless in Hoyle's
case apply here: to both men Republican justice has done its worst long
ago. My new guide's name was Shipley. He was lying _perdu_ in Baltimore
when I first heard of him, so there was no difficulty in arranging an
interview. After some hesitation, and not a little negotiation, Shipley
agreed to pilot me through by one route or another. He was to ride my
second horse, and keep the animal as a remuneration for his services, so
soon as we should be fairly within Confederate lines. He would not
promise to start before the expiration of a full week, as the clothes
and other necessaries which he had come specially to obtain could not be
got ready sooner. This new arrangement involved two changes which did
not please me, viz., the elimination of poor Alick from the party, and
the shifting of my saddle-bags from the roan on to Falcon, for the guide
stipulated that each should carry his own baggage. Symonds, however, was
very urgent that I should close with the conditions at once; he had the
highest opinion of Shipley's talents and trustworthiness, and insisted
that such a chance should not be let slip. He promised that Alick, if
possible, should be provided with a mount, so as to be still enabled to
accompany us. _I_ could not, of course, be expected to increase my
already double risk in horse-flesh.

So we struck hands on the bargain, and I resigned myself pretty
contentedly to another delay. The days passed rapidly, as they always
did in Baltimore on most afternoons. I rode Falcon out for exercise and
"schooling." He soon became very clever at the only obstacles you
encounter in crossing this country--timber fences, and small brooks with
steep broken banks; though, to the last, he always would hang a little
in taking off, he never dreamt of refusing.

Before the week was quite out, Alick came down from Symonds', bringing
tidings of our late companions, the two Marylanders. They had succeeded
in crossing by a horse-ferry at Shepherdstown--a small village not far
from Sharpsburg, and about seven miles from the battle-field of
Antietam. The letter was written from the south bank of the