tance from the road to a secluded spot,--throw myself down on the
flooded ground, and sleep a few minutes; then would awaken, almost
drowned by the pitiless rain, and so sore and benumbed that I could
scarcely stagger to my feet, and plod onward.

Thus that dreary night wore on; it seemed an age of horror, and placed
a shuddering gulf between my present life and the past. But at last
the cold gray of a clouded morning broke through the weeping sky. Day
brought no relief. Every one I saw seemed to be a foe. Still I did not
avoid them. I carefully washed all traces of that terrible night from
my clothes. The wet did not matter, for the rain was still falling
fast enough to account for that.

CHAPTER VII.

Sabbath--Continuous Rain--Press Onward--Observed--Arrested--Curious
Examination--Equivocating for Life--Plans Foiled by Unexpected
News--Plundered--Jail--Terrible Reflections--New and Hopeful
Resolve--Unwelcome Visitors--Vigilance Committee Disappointed--Ordered
to Chattanooga--A Mob--Chained to the Carriage--Escort--The
Journey--Musings--Arrival--Another Mob--Benevolent Gentleman(?)--General
Leadbetter--Andrews.

It was Sabbath morning, but it came not to me with the blessed
calmness and peace that accompany it in my own sweet Ohio. I saw the
people going to church, and longed to go with them, but dared not
encounter the prying eyes that would have greeted a stranger, even if
I had wished thus to loiter on my journey.

But why should I dwell longer on this dreary morning? why linger over
its miseries, deepened by the faintness of the hope that they would
ever cease, and give me again to the comfort and love of home? I
wandered on till about noon, when I was observed by some one on the
watch for strangers. This was just beyond Lafayette, Georgia. A party
of pursuit was at once organized numbering twenty or more. I knew
nothing of my danger, till they were within about fifty yards of me,
when they ordered me to stop.

I put my hand on my pistol, and looked round. The country was level
and open for some distance, and I was too weary to run, even if some
of the party had not been mounted; therefore I made a virtue of
necessity, and stopped, asking what they wanted. They replied that
they wanted to talk with me awhile. Soon they came up, and a little,
conceited man, who had the epaulets of a lieutenant, but whom they
called major, undertook to question me. He was very bland about it,
and apologized hugely for