ying over the coals.

"Without troubling him to answer any questions, I opened the mouth of my
haversack and poured into it the dripping contents of the skillet. I
next observed that the ashes on the hearth had a suspiciously fat
appearance, and, taking the tongs, began raking among them. My
suspicions were verified, for two plump-looking hoe-cakes came to light,
which were also deposited in the haversack.

"Looking around still farther I saw what I had not observed before,
_Dinah's black head_, as she peered out from among the bed-clothes,
rolling two of the most astonished white eyes that ever asked the
question, 'What's you g'wine to do next?' Not seeing any practical way
in which I could answer her mute question, I said to Sambo, 'Call the
dogs into the house.' This he did hastily. I then asked, 'Uncle, what
road must _this rebel_ take for Tinker Creek?' 'De right han' one, out
dar', I reckon,' he answered. Again bidding him keep the hounds in the
house till morning, I rushed out to the road and joined my companion. We
made lively tracks for about three miles, after which we took it more
leisurely, stopping to rest and refresh ourselves at every stream that
crossed the road."

The winter was by this time fairly upon them, and sleeping in the open
air by no means a pleasant experience. They therefore made long marches,
and by the aid of an occasional friendly push from their negro allies at
length arrived in the vicinity of Point Comfort. This was on the seventh
of December, and the twelfth day of their pilgrimage. After being
somewhat alarmed by the proximity of a pack of dogs, with which some
boys were hunting, they escaped discovery, and securing another negro
for a guide, they on the same night found themselves upon the banks of
the Savannah River.

[Illustration: The Escape--crossing The Savannah At Midnight.]

A colored man's cabin, as usual, sheltered them during the day, and
their host and his dusky neighbors (many of whom flocked around to see
the Yankees, as was their custom) proving to be fishermen well
acquainted with the river, our friends prevailed upon one of their
number to undertake the task of carrying them across. The first
difficulty that presented itself was, where to find a boat; but their
host remembered, he said, a place upon one of the tributaries of the
Savannah where one lay, not exactly in good sailing trim it is true, for
the authorities had ordered the destruction of boats along all