ttle after
four o'clock to go over and call at her brother's; that just before
five, when she was to meet me, she and Mary proposed to go out for a
walk; that the whole family watched her constantly, and so her brother's
wife told the servant woman to get on her things and go with them.
"You, may be sure," she, added, "that the woman will arouse the whole
neighborhood, and that they will all be after us." I needed no further
hint to push on. We were going toward Water Gap, as Boston Yankee had
advised, and when we were about eight miles on the way, I deemed it
prudent to drive into the woods and to wait till night before going on.
We drove in just off the road, and tied our horse. We were effectually
concealed; our pursuers, if there were any, would be sure to go by us,
and meantime we could talk over our plans for the future. Sarah told me
that when Mary came to the house the night before, she was not at all
surprised to see her, as she occasionally came up from Easton to
make them a little visit, and to stay all night; that she went to the
summer-house with Mary to sit down and talk, and almost immediately saw
the ring on Mary's finger; that when she saw it she at once recognized
it, and asked her: "O! Mary, where did you get that ring?" "Keep
quiet," said Mary: "don't talk loud, or some one may hear you; don't
be agitated; your lover is near, and has sent me to tell you." It was
joyful news to Sarah, and how readily she had acquiesced in my plan for
an elopement was manifest in the fact that she was then by my side.
We bad not been in the woods an hour when, as I anticipated, we heard
our pursuers, we did not know how many there were, drive rapidly by.
"Now we can go on, I suppose," said Sarah. "Oh no, my dear," I replied,
"now is just the time to wait quietly here;" and wait we did till eight
o'clock, when our pursuers, having gone on a few miles, and having seen
or learned nothing of the fugitives, came by again "on the back track."
They must have thought we had turned off into some other road. I waited
a while longer to let our friend's get a little nearer home and further
away from us, and then took the road again toward Water Gap.
We reached Water Gap at midnight, had some supper and fed the horse. We
rested awhile, and then drove leisurely on nine miles further, where we
waited till daylight and crossed the river. We were in no great hurry
now; we were comparatively safe from pursuit. We soon came to a public
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