se would not allow me to think for
one moment of remaining there for the night--the time had come for another
effort--but there were two serious difficulties. One was, that I must
either deceive or dispatch this boy who is watching me with intense
vigilance. I am glad to say, that the latter did not for a moment
seriously enter my mind. To deceive him effectually, I left my coat and
went to the back door, from which my course would be direct to the wood.
When I got to the door, I found that the barn, to which the waggon, must
soon come, lay just to the right, and overlooking the path I must take to
the wood. In front of me lay a garden surrounded by a picket fence, to the
left of me was a small gate, and that by passing through that gate would
throw me into an open field, and give me clear running to the wood; but on
looking through the gate, I saw that my captor, being with the team, would
see me if I attempted to start before he moved from the position he then
occupied. To add to my difficulty the horses had baulked; while waiting
for the decisive moment, the boy came to the door and asked me why I did
not come in. I told him I felt unwell, and wished him to be so kind as to
hand me a glass of water; expecting while he was gone to get it, the team
would clear, so that I could start. While he was gone, another attempt was
made to start the team but failed; he came with the water and I quickly
used it up by gargling my throat and by drinking a part. I asked him to
serve me by giving me another glass: he gave me a look of close scrutiny,
but went in for the water. I heard him fill the glass, and start to return
with it; when the hind end of the waggon cleared the corner of the house,
which stood in a range with the fence along which I was to pass in getting
to the wood. As I passed out the gate, I "squared my main yard," and laid
my course up the line of fence, I cast a last glance over my right
shoulder, and saw the boy just perch his head above the garden picket to
look after me; I heard at the same time great confusion with the team, the
rain having made the ground slippery, and the horses having to cross the
road with a slant and rise to get into the barn, it required great effort
after they started to prevent their baulking. I felt some assurance that
although the boy might give the alarm, my captor could not leave the team
until it was in the barn. I heard the horses' feet on the barn-floor, just
as I leaped the fence