along the route we were to travel, who would
be most likely to help us on to that blissful land where we might
enjoy our rights in peace (?) undisturbed by even dreams of
Abolitionists. These names were a great advantage to us, because
always having some one to inquire for, and being recommended from one
influential man to another, it was taken for granted that we were
trustworthy characters, and few questions asked. That night we were
within a few miles of Hillsboro', but so much were we delayed by the
rain, that we began to fear we could not reach our destination in
time. My feet, too, were sore from the gravel and dirt that filled my
shoes in crossing the creeks, and wading through the mud, and already
we were weary and stiff from traveling in the wet. But we resolved to
press on, and, if necessary, to travel in the night, too, rather than
miss our appointment.

Where we stayed that night, I first heard from the lips of a
slave-owner himself of hunting negroes with bloodhounds. Our host said
he had seen some one dodging around the back of his plantation, by the
edge of the woods, just as it was getting dark, and in the morning he
would take his bloodhounds, and go to hunt him up, and if it proved to
be a negro, he would get the reward. He said he had caught great
numbers of them, and seemed to regard it as a highly profitable
business.

We, of course, had to agree with him; but I well remember that the
idea of hunting human beings with bloodhounds, for money, sent a
thrill of horror and detestation through my veins. Not long after, we
found that bloodhounds were not for negroes alone.

The next morning, we continued our journey, and after walking three
miles, found a man who agreed, for an exorbitant price, and for the
good of the Confederacy, to give us conveyance in a wagon for a few
miles. This was a great help to us, and as we trotted briskly along,
we soon came in sight of the Cumberland Mountains.

Never did I behold more beautiful scenery. The rain had for a short
time ceased to fall, and the air was clear. The mountains shone in the
freshest green, and around their tops, just high enough to veil their
loftiest summits, clung a soft, shadowy mist, gradually descending
lower, shrouding one after another of the spurs and high mountain
valleys from view. But the beautiful scene did not long continue. Soon
the mist deepened into cloud, and again the interminable rain began to
fall. To add to our discomforts,