allowed us to go out under guard and cut timber for cabins, and in
about six weeks we had completed cabins for all, thus being fairly well
housed.

It is needless to say that all the prisoners had the fever of escape,
but the chances were very few. Major McCauley, who lived next door to
me, succeeded in getting away in a manner which will be spoken of later
on.

Our town was soon one of 4000 or 5000 population and built like a
Western boom city, avenues and streets being carefully laid off and
appropriately named. We had lots of fun in naming some of these streets,
and the lots were bought and sold in regulation style. We had a solid
business street and efficient police regulations.

Before he left, my friend, Major McCauley, together with Jack Armstrong,
a captain in a Kansas colored regiment, and several others, including
myself, used to sit under our front porch spinning yarns, devising plans
of escape and cracking the backs of a species of bug with a hard shell,
which used to be prevalent about our quarters in those days. We planned
a good many escapes, but could not hit upon the right method of getting
away.

Colonel Allen and his wife were very nice people, and did what they
could for us, but it was his business to keep us there, and, while many
escaped from the stockade, very few got away.

In policing our enclosure they used a dump cart, which would drive in,
be filled with leaves and other litter lying around and then be taken
to a ravine outside and dumped.

We conceived the idea of using the cart as a means of escape, and
forthwith set about carrying out the scheme. There were some prisoners
among us from a Zouave regiment, and one of them was an innocent-looking
boy. We enlisted his services, and he soon had the confidence of the
cart-driver and was allowed to drive the cart around within the
enclosure while it was being loaded. Selecting a favorable opportunity,
Major McCauley and Captain Armstrong were laid in the cart and covered
with leaves. The major's legs were too long, and, in drawing them within
the limits of space allowed, his knees reared themselves so high that,
when we had covered them as well as we could, there was very little
covering on top. The captain was inclined to be corpulent and was
full-blooded, so that, when the leaves covered him, he breathed heavily,
and a close observer could notice a regular upheaving of the mass of
leaves. We hoped for the best, however, and watched the