by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER X.
THE ESCAPE.
The discipline in the prison at Elmira was not rigorous. The prisonershad to clean up the cells, halls, and yard, but the rest of their timethey could spend as they liked. Some of those whose friends had moneywere able to live in comparative luxury and to assist those who had nosuch resources; for throughout the War there was never any greatdifficulty in passing letters to and from the South. The line offrontier was enormous and it was only at certain points that hostilitieswere actively carried on, consequently letters and newspapers werefreely passed, and money could be sent in the same way from one part ofthe country to another.
At certain hours of the day hawkers and venders of such articles as werein most demand by the prisoners were allowed to enter the yard and tosell their wares to the Confederates. Spirits were not allowed to becarried in, but tobacco and all kinds of food were permitted to pass.Vincent had at Alexandria written a letter to his mother, and had givenit to a man who represented that he made it his business to forwardletters to an agent at Richmond, being paid for each letter the sum of adollar on its delivery. Vincent, therefore, felt confident that theanxiety that would be felt at home, when they learned that he was amongthe missing at the battle of Antietam, would be relieved.
He was fairly supplied with money. He had, indeed, had several hundreddollars with him at the time he was captured; but these were entirely inConfederate notes, for which he got but half their value in Northernpaper at Alexandria. He himself found the rations supplied in the prisonample, and was able to aid any of his fellow-prisoners in purchasingclothes to replace the rags they wore when captured.
One day Vincent strolled down as usual toward the gate, where, under theeye of the guard, a row of men and women, principally negroes andnegresses, were sitting on the ground with their baskets in front ofthem containing tobacco, pipes, fruit, cakes, needles and thread,buttons, and a variety of other articles in demand, while a number ofprisoners were bargaining and joking with them. Presently his eye fellupon a negro before whom was a great pile of watermelons. He started ashe did so, for he at once recognized the well-known face of Dan. As soonas the negro saw that his master's eye had fallen upon him he beganloudly praising the quality of his fruit.
"Here, massa officer, here bery fine melyons, ripe and sweet; no greentrash; dis un good right through. Five cents each, sah. Bery cheap,dese."
"I expect they cost you nothing, Sambo," one of the Confederate soldierssaid as he bought a melon. "Got a neighbor's patch handy, eh?"
Dan grinned at the joke, and then selecting another from the bottom ofhis pile in the basket, offered it to Vincent.
"Dis fine fruit, sah. Me sure you please with him!"
Vincent took the melon and handed Dan five cents. A momentary glance wasexchanged, and then he walked away and sat down in a quiet corner of theyard and cut open the melon. As he expected, he found a note rolled upin the center. A small piece of the rind had been cut out and the pulpremoved for its reception. The bit of rind had then been carefullyreplaced so that the cut would not be noticed without close inspection.It was from one of his fellow-officers, and was dated the day after hiscapture. He read as follows:
"My Dear Wingfield:
"We are all delighted this afternoon to hear that instead, as we hadbelieved, of your being knocked on the head you are a prisoner among theYanks. Several of us noticed you fall just as we halted at the river,and we all thought that, from the way in which you fell, you had beenshot through the head or heart. However, there was no time to inquire inthat terrific storm of shot and shell. In the morning, when the buryingparties went down, we could find no signs of you, although we knewalmost to a foot where you had fallen.
"We could only conclude at last that you had been carried off in thenight by the Yanks, and as they would hardly take the trouble ofcarrying off a dead body, it occurred to us that you might, after all,be alive. So the colonel went to Lee, who at once sent a trumpeter witha flag down to the river to inquire, and we were all mightily pleased,as you may imagine, when he came back with the news that you were notonly a prisoner, but unwounded, having been only stunned in some way.From the way you fell we suppose a round shot must have grazed yourhead; at least that is the only way we can account for it.
"Your horse came back unhurt to the troop, and will be well cared foruntil you rejoin us, which we hope will not be long. Your boy kept thecamp awake last night with his howlings, and is at present almost out ofhis mind with delight. He tells me he has made up his mind to slipacross the lines and make his way as a runaway to Alexandria, where youwill, of course, be taken in the first place. He says he's got somemoney of yours; but I have insisted on his taking another fifty dollars,which you can repay me when we next meet. As he will not have to askfor work, he may escape the usual lot of runaways, who are generallypounced upon and set to work on the fortifications of Alexandria andWashington.
"He intends to find out what prison you are taken to, and to follow you,with some vague idea of being able to aid you to escape. As he cannotwrite, he has asked me to write this letter to you, telling you what hisidea is. He will give it to you when he finds an opportunity, and hewishes you to give him an answer, making any suggestion that may occurto you as to the best way of his setting about it. He says that he shallmake acquaintances among the negroes North, and will find someone whowill read your note to him and write you an answer. I have told him thatif he is caught at the game he is likely to be inside a prison a bitlonger than you are, even if worse doesn't befall him. However, he makeslight of this, and is bent upon carrying out his plans, and I can onlyhope he will succeed.
"I have just heard that we shall fall back across the Rappahannockto-morrow, and I imagine there will not be much hard fighting againuntil spring, long before which I hope you will be in your place amongus again. We lost twenty-three men and two officers (Ketler and Sumner)yesterday. Good-by, old fellow! I need not say keep up your spirits, forthat you are pretty sure to do.
"Yours truly,"James Sinclair."
After the first start at seeing Dan, Vincent was scarcely surprised, forhe had often thought over what the boy would do, and had fancied thatwhile, if he supposed him dead, he would go straight back to theOrangery, it was quite possible that, should he hear that he was aprisoner, Dan might take it into his head to endeavor to join him. As tohis making his escape, that did not appear to be a very difficultundertaking now that he had a friend outside. The watch kept up was nota very vigilant one, for such numbers of prisoners were taken on bothsides that they were not regarded as of very great importance, andindeed the difficulty lay rather in making across the country to theSouthern border than in escaping from prison; for with a friend outside,with a disguise in readiness, that matter was comparatively easy. Allthat was required for the adventure was a long rope, a sharp file, and adark night.
The chief difficulty that occurred to Vincent arose from the fact thatthere were some twenty other prisoners in the same ward. He could hardlyfile through the bars of the window unnoticed by them, and they wouldnaturally wish to share in his flight; but where one person mightsucceed in evading the vigilance of the guard, it was unlikely in theextreme that twenty would do so, and the alarm once given all would berecaptured. He was spared the trouble of making up his mind as to hisplans, for by the time he had finished his letter the hour that thehucksters were allowed to sell their goods was passed, and the gateswere shut and all was quiet.
After some thought he came to the conclusion that the only plan would beto conceal himself somewhere in the prison just before the hour at whichthey were locked up in their wards. The alarm would be given, for thelist of names was called over before lock-up, and a search would ofcourse be made. Still, if he could find a good place for concealment, itmight succeed, since the search after dark would not be so close andminute as that which would be made next morning. The only disadvantagewould be that the sentries would be specially on the alert, as, unlessthe fugitive had succeeded in some way in pa
ssing out of the gates indisguise, he must still be within the walls, and might attempt to scalethem through the night. This certainty largely increased the danger, andVincent went to bed that night without finally determining what hadbetter be done.
The next morning, while walking in the grounds, he determined the placehe would choose for his concealment if he adopted the plan he hadthought of the evening before. The lower rooms upon one side of thebuilding were inhabited by the governor and officers of the prison, andif he were to spring through an open window unnoticed just as it becamedusk, and hide himself in a cupboard or under a bed there, he would besafe for a time, as, however close the search might be in other parts ofthe building, it would be scarcely suspected, at any rate on the firstalarm, that he had concealed himself in the officers' quarters. Therewould, of course, be the chance of his being detected as he got out ofthe window again at night, but this would not be a great risk. It wasthe vigilance of the sentries that he most feared, and the possibilitythat, as soon as the fact of his being missing was known, a cordon ofguards might be stationed outside the wall in addition to those in theyard. The danger appeared to him to be so great that he was halfinclined to abandon the enterprise. It would certainly be weary work tobe shut up there for perhaps a year while his friends were fighting thebattles of his country; but it would be better after all to put up withthat than to run any extreme risk of being shot.
When he arrived at this conclusion he went upstairs to his room to writea line to Dan. The day was a fine one, and he found that the whole ofthe occupants of the room had gone below. This was an unexpected bit ofgood fortune, and he at once went to the window and examined the bars.They were thick and of new iron, but had been hastily put up. Thebuilding had originally been a large warehouse, and when it had beenconverted into a prison for the Confederate prisoners the bars had beenadded to the windows. Instead, therefore, of being built into solidstone and fastened in by lead, they were merely screwed on to the woodenframework of the windows, and by a strong screw-driver a bar could beremoved in five minutes. This altogether altered the position. He hadonly to wait until the rest of the occupants of the room were asleep andthen to remove the bar and let himself down.
He at once wrote:
"I want twenty yards of strong string, and the same length of rope thatwill bear my weight; also a strong screw-driver. When I have got this Iwill let you know night and hour. Shall want disguise ready to put on."
He folded the note up into a small compass, and at the hour at which Danwould be about to enter he sauntered down to the gate. In a short timethe venders entered, and were soon busy selling their wares. Dan had, asbefore, a basket of melons. Vincent made his way up to him.
"I want another melon," he said, "as good as that you sold me lastnight."
"Dey all de same, sah. First-rate melyons, dese; just melt away in yourmouf like honey."
He held up one of the melons, and Vincent placed in his hands thecoppers in payment. Between two of them he had placed the little note.Dan's hands closed quickly on the coins, and dropping them into hispocket he addressed the next customer, while Vincent sauntered awayagain. This time the melon was a whole one, and Vincent divided it witha couple of other prisoners, for the fruit was too large for one personto consume, being quite as large as a man's head.
The next day another melon was bought, but this time Vincent did notopen it in public. Examining it closely, he perceived that it had beencut through the middle, and no doubt contained a portion of the rope. Hehesitated as to his next step. If he took the melon up to his room hewould be sure to find some men there, and would be naturally called uponto divide the fruit; and yet there was nowhere else he could hide it.For a long time he sat with his back to the wall and the melon besidehim, abusing himself for his folly in not having told Dan to send therope in small lengths that he could hide about him. The place where hehad sat down was one of the quietest in the yard, but men wereconstantly strolling up and down. He determined at last that the onlypossible plan was in the first place to throw his coat over his melon,to tuck it up underneath it, then to get hold of one end of the ball ofrope that it doubtless contained and to endeavor to wind it round hisbody without being observed. It was a risky business, and he wouldgladly have tossed the melon over the wall had he dared to do so; for ifhe were detected, not only would he be punished with much more severeimprisonment, but Dan might be arrested and punished most severely.
Unfortunately the weather was by no means hot, and it would look strangeto take off his coat; besides, if he did so, how could he coil the roperound him without being observed? So that idea was abandoned. He got upand walked to an angle in the wall, and there sat down again, concealingthe melon as well as he could between him and the wall when anyonehappened to come near him. He pulled the halves apart and found, as hehad suspected, it was but a shell, the whole of the fruit having beenscooped out. But he gave an exclamation of pleasure on seeing thatinstead, as he feared, of a large ball of rope being inside, theinterior was filled with neatly made hanks, each containing severalyards of thin but strong rope, together with a hank of strong string.
Unbuttoning his coat, he thrust them in; then he took the melon rind andbroke it into very small pieces and threw them about. He then went up tohis room and thrust the hanks, unobserved, one by one among the strawwhich, covered by an army blanket, constituted his bed. To-morrow, nodoubt, Dan would supply him somehow with a screw-driver. On going downto the gate next day he found that the negro had changed his commodity,and that this time his basket contained very large and fine cucumbers.These were selling briskly, and Vincent saw that Dan was looking roundanxiously, and that an expression of relief came over his face as heperceived him. He had, indeed, but eight or ten cucumbers left.
"Cucumbers to-day, sah? Bery fine cucumbers--first-rate cucumbers dese."
"They look rather over-ripe," Vincent said.
"Not a bit, sah; dey just ripe. Dis bery fine one--ten cents, dis."
"You are putting up your prices, darky, and are making a fortune out ofus," Vincent said as he took the cucumber, which was a very large andstraight one. He had no difficulty with this, as with the melon; a sharptwist broke it in two as he reached the corner he had used the daypreviously. It had been cut in half, one end had been scooped out forthe reception of the handle of the screw-driver and the metal beendriven in to the head in the other half. Hiding it under his jacket, hefelt that he was now prepared for escape.
He now asked himself whether he should go alone or take one or more ofhis comrades into his confidence, and finally determined to give a youngVirginian officer named Geary, with whom he had been specially friendlyduring his imprisonment, and Jackson, a chance of escape. He did notlike the latter, but he thought that, after the reconciliation that hadtaken place between them, it was only right to take him rather than astranger. Drawing them aside, then, he told them that he had arranged amode of escape; it was impossible that all could avail themselves of it,but that they were welcome to accompany him. They thanked him heartilyfor the offer, and, when he explained the manner in which he intended tomake off, agreed to try their fortunes with him.
"I propose," he said, "as soon as we are fairly beyond the prison, weseparate, and each try to gain the frontier as best he can. The factthat three prisoners have escaped will soon be known all over thecountry, and there would be no chance whatever for us if we kepttogether. I will tell my boy to have three disguises ready; and when weonce put aside our uniforms I see no reason why, traveling separately,suspicion should fall upon us; we ought to have no difficulty until atany rate we arrive near the border, and there must be plenty of pointswhere we can cross without going anywhere near the Federal camps."
The others at once agreed that the chances of making their wayseparately were much greater than if together. This being arranged,Vincent passed a note next day to Dan, telling him to have threedisguises in readiness, and to be at the foot of the western wall,halfway along, at twelve o'clock on the first wet night. A st
ring wouldbe thrown over, with a knife fastened to it. He was to pull on thestring till the rope came into his hand, and to hold that tight untilthey were over. Vincent chose this spot because it was equally removedfrom the sentry-boxes at the corners of the yard, and because there wasa stone seat in the yard to which one end of the rope could be attached.
That night was fine, but the next was thick and misty. At nine o'clockall were in bed, and he lay listening to the clocks in the distance. Tenstruck, and eleven, and when he thought it was approaching twelve he gotup and crept to the window. He was joined immediately by the others; thescrew-driver was set to work; and, as he expected, Vincent found notrouble whatever with the screws, which were not yet rusted in the wood,and turned immediately when the powerful screw-driver was applied tothem. When all were out the bar was carefully lifted from its place andlaid upon the floor.
The rope was then put round one of the other bars and drawn through ituntil the two ends came together. These were then dropped to the groundbelow. Geary went first, Jackson followed, and Vincent was soon standingbeside them. Taking one end of the rope, he pulled it until the otherpassed round the bar and fell at their feet. All three were barefooted,and they stole noiselessly across the yard to the seat, which was nearlyopposite their window. Vincent had already fastened his clasp-knife tothe end of the string, and he now threw it over the wall, which wasabout twenty feet high.
He had tied a knot at forty feet from the end, and, standing close tothe wall, he drew in the string until the knot was in his hand. Anothertwo yards, and he knew that the knife was hanging a yard from the groundagainst the wall. He now drew it up and down, hoping that the slightnoise the knife made against the wall might aid Dan in finding it. Intwo or three minutes he felt a jerk, and knew that Dan had got it. Hefastened the end of the string to the rope and waited. The rope wasgradually drawn up; when it neared the end he fastened it to the stoneseat.
"Now," he said, "up you go, Geary."
The order in which they were to ascend had been settled by lot, as Gearyinsisted that Vincent, who had contrived the whole affair, should be thefirst to escape; but Vincent declined to accept the advantage, and thethree had accordingly tossed up for precedence.
Geary was quickly over, and lowered himself on the opposite side. Theothers followed safely, but not without a good deal of scraping againstthe wall, for the smallness of the rope added to the difficulty ofclimbing it. However, the noise was so slight that they had little fearof attracting attention, especially as the sentries would be standing intheir boxes, for the rain was now coming down pretty briskly. As soon asthey were down Vincent seized Dan by the hand.
"My brave boy," he said, "I owe you my freedom, and I shan't forget it.Now, where are the clothes?"
"Here dey are, sah. One is a rough suit, like a working man's, anotheris a black-and-white sort of suit--a check suit; de oder one is foryou--a clargy's suit, sir. You make very nice young minister, for sure."
"All right, Dan!" Vincent said, laughing; "give me the minister's suit."
"Then I will be the countryman," Geary said.
There was a little suppressed laughter as they changed their clothes inthe dark; and then, leaving their uniforms by the wall, they shook handsand started at once in different directions, lest they might come acrosssomeone who would, when the escape was known, remember four men havingpassed him in the dark.
"Now, Dan, what is the next move?" Vincent asked, as they walked off."Have you fixed upon any plan?"
"No special plan, sah, but I have brought a bag; you see I have him inmy hand."
"I suppose that's what you carried the clothes in?"
"No, sir; I carried dem in a bundle. Dis bag has got linen, and boots,and oder tings for you, sah. What I tink am de best way dis. Dar am atrain pass trou here at two o'clock and stop at dis station. Some peoplealways get out. Dar is an hotel just opposite the station, and some ofde passengers most always go there. I thought de best way for you wouldbe to go outside the station. Just when the train come in we walk acrossde road wid the oders and go to hotel. You say you want bedroom foryo'self, and that your sarvant can sleep in de hall. Den in de morningyou get up and breakfast and go off by de fust train."
"But then they may send down to look at the passengers starting, and Ishould be taken at once."
"De train go out at seven o'clock, sah. I don't expect they find thatyou have got away before dat."
"No, Dan. We all turn out at seven, and I shall be missed then; but itwill be some little time before the alarm is given, and they find outhow we got away, and send out search-parties. If the train is anythinglike punctual we shall be off long before they get to the station."
"Besides, sah, dar are not many people knows your face, and it notlikely de bery man dat know you come to the station. Lots of oder placesto search, and dey most sure to tink you go right away--not tink youventure to stop in town 'til the morning."
"That is so, Dan, and I think your plan is a capital one."
Dan's suggestion was carried out, and at seven o'clock next morning theywere standing on the platform among a number of other persons waitingfor the train. Just as the locomotive's whistle was heard the sound of acannon boomed out from the direction of the prison.
"That means some of the prisoners have escaped," one of the porters onthe platform said. "There have been five or six of them got away in thelast two months, but most of them have been caught again before theyhave gone far. You see, to have a chance at all, they have got to getrid of their uniforms, and as we are all Unionists about here that aintan easy job for 'em to manage."
Everyone on the platform joined in the conversation, asking which waythe fugitive would be likely to go, whether there were any cavalry tosend after him, what would be done to him if he were captured, and otherquestions of the same kind, Vincent joining in the talk. It was a reliefto him when the train drew up, and he and Dan took their place in it,traveling, however, in different cars. Once fairly away, Vincent had nofear whatever of being detected, and could travel where he liked, foroutside the prison there were not ten people who knew his facethroughout the Northern States. It would be difficult for him to makehis way down into Virginia from the North, as the whole line of frontierthere was occupied by troops, and patrols were on the watch night andday to prevent persons from going through the lines. He thereforedetermined to go west to St. Louis, and from there work his way downthrough Missouri. After two days' railway traveling they reached St.Louis, a city having a large trade with the South, and containing manysympathizers with the Confederate cause. Vincent, having now no fear ofdetection, went at once to an hotel, and taking up a newspaper, one ofthe first paragraphs that met his eye was headed:
"ESCAPE OF THREE CONFEDERATE OFFICERS FROM ELMIRA.
"Great excitement was caused on Wednesday at Elmira by the discoverythat three Confederate officers had, during the night, effected theirescape from prison. One of the bars of the window of the ward on thefirst floor in which they were, with fifteen other Confederate officers,confined, had been removed; the screws having been taken out by a largescrew-driver which they left behind them. They had lowered themselvesto the yard, and climbed over the wall by means of a rope which wasfound in position in the morning. The rest of the prisoners professed anentire ignorance of the affair, and declared that, until they found thebeds unoccupied in the morning, they knew nothing of the occurrence.
"This is as it may be, but it is certain they must have been aided bytraitors outside the prison, for the rope hung loose on the outside ofthe wall, and must have been held by someone there as they climbed it.The inside end was fastened to a stone seat, and they were thus enabledto slide down it on the other side. Their uniforms were found lying atthe foot of the wall, and their accomplice had doubtless had disguisesready for them. The authorities of the prison are unable to account forthe manner in which the screw-driver and rope were passed in to them, orhow they communicated with their friends outside."
* * *
* *
Then followed the personal description of each of the fugitives, and arequest that all loyal citizens would be on the lookout for them, andwould at once arrest any suspicious character unable to give asatisfactory account of himself. As Vincent sat smoking in the hall ofthe hotel he heard several present discussing the escape of theprisoners.
"It does not matter about them one way or the other," one of thespeakers said. "They seem to be mere boys, and whether they escape ornot will not make any difference to anyone. The serious thing is thatthere must be some traitors among the prison officials, and that nexttime perhaps two or three generals may escape, and that would be areally serious misfortune."
"We need not reckon that out at present," another smoker said. "Wehaven't got three of the rebel generals yet, and as far as things seemto be going on, we may have to wait some time before we have. They arepretty well able to take care of themselves, I reckon."
"They are good men, some of them, I don't deny," the first speakersaid; "but they might as well give up the game. In the spring we shallhave an army big enough to eat them up."
"So I have heard two or three times before. Scott was going to eat themup, McClellan was going to eat them up, then Pope was going to make anend of 'em altogether. Now McClellan is having a try again, but somehowor other the eating up hasn't come off yet. It looks to me rather theother way."
There was an angry growl from two or three of those sitting round, whileothers uttered a cordial "That's so."
"It seems to me, by the way you put it, that you don't wish to see thisbusiness come to an end."
"That's where you are wrong now. I do wish to see it come to an end. Idon't want to see tens of thousands of men losing their lives becauseone portion of these States wants to ride rough-shod over the other. Thesooner the North looks this affair squarely in the face and sees that ithas taken up a bigger job than it can carry through, and agrees to letthose who wish to leave it go if they like, the better for all parties.That's what I think about it."
"I don't call that Union talk," the other said angrily.
"Union or not Union, I mean to talk it, and I want to know who is goingto prevent me?"
The two men rose simultaneously from their chairs, and in a second thecracks of two revolvers sounded. As if they had only been waiting forthe signal, a score of other men leaped up and sprang at each other.They had, as the altercation grew hotter, joined in with exclamations ofanger or approval, and Vincent saw that although the Unionists were themajority, the party of sympathizers with the South was a strong one.Having neither arms nor inclination to join in a broil of this kind hemade his escape into the street the instant hostilities began, andhurried away from the sound of shouts, oaths, the sharp cracks ofpistols, and the breaking of glass. Ten minutes later he returned. Thehotel was shut up, but an angry mob were assembled round the doorshouting, "Down with the rebels! down with the Secessionists!" and werekeeping up a loud knocking at the door. Presently a window upstairsopened, and the proprietor put out his head.
"Gentlemen," he said, "I can assure you that the persons who were thecause of this disturbance all left the hotel by the back way as soon asthe affair was over. I have sent for the police commissioner, and uponhis arrival he will be free to search the house, and to arrest anyoneconcerned in this affair."
The crowd were not satisfied, and renewed their knocking at the door;but two or three minutes later an officer, with a strong body of police,arrived on the spot. In a few words he told the crowd to disperse,promising that the parties concerned in the affair would be arrested andduly dealt with. He then entered the house with four of his men, leavingthe rest to wait. Vincent entered with the constables, saying that hewas staying at the house. The fumes of gunpowder were still floatingabout the hall, three bodies were lying on the floor, and several menwere binding up their wounds. The police officer inquired into theorigin of the broil, and all present concurred in saying that it arosefrom some Secessionists speaking insultingly of the army of the Union.
Search was then made in the hotel, and it was found that eight personswere missing. One of the killed was a well-known citizen of the town; hewas the speaker on the Union side of the argument. The other two werestrangers, and no one could say which side they espoused. All thosepresent declared that they themselves were Union men, and it wassupposed that the eight who were missing were the party who had takenthe other side of the question. The evidence of each was taken down bythe police officer. Vincent was not questioned, as, having entered withthe constables, it was supposed he was not present at the affair.
In the morning Vincent read in the local paper a highly colored accountof the fray. After giving a large number of wholly fictitious details,it went on to say: "The victims were Cyrus D. Jenkins, a much-esteemedcitizen and a prominent Unionist; the other two were guests at thehotel; one had registered as P. J. Moore of Vermont, the other as JamesHarvey of Tennessee. Nothing is as yet known as to the persons whoserooms were unoccupied, and who had doubtless made their escape as soonas the affray was over; but the examination of their effects, which willbe made by the police in the morning, will doubtless furnish a clew bywhich they will be brought to justice."
Having read this, Vincent looked for the news as to the escape fromElmira, being anxious to know whether his companions had been asfortunate as himself in getting clear away. He was startled by readingthe following paragraph: "We are enabled to state that the police havereceived a letter stating that one of the officers who escaped fromElmira prison has adopted the disguise of a minister, and is travelingthrough the country with a black servant. At present the authorities arenot disposed to attach much credit to this letter, and are inclined tobelieve that it has been sent in order to put them on a wrong scent.However, a watch will doubtless be kept by the police throughout thecountry for a person answering to this description." Accustomed to riseearly, Vincent was taking his breakfast almost alone, only two or threeof the other guests having made their appearance. He finished his mealhastily, and went out to Dan, who was lounging in front of the hotel.
"Dan, go upstairs at once, pack the bag, bring it down and go out withit immediately. I will pay the bill. Don't stop to ask questions now."
Vincent then walked up to the desk at the end of the hall, at which aclerk was sitting reading the paper. Sincerely hoping that the man's eyehad not fallen on this paragraph, he asked if his account was made out.As he had fortunately mentioned on the preceding evening that he shouldbe leaving in the morning, the bill was ready; and the clerk, scarcelooking up from the paper, handed it to him. Vincent paid him theamount, saying carelessly, "I think I have plenty of time to catch thetrain for the East?"
The clerk glanced at the clock.
"Yes, it goes at eight, and you have twenty minutes. It's only fiveminutes' walk to the station."