ondition to prove that two
other negroes had left Columbia with him, and the fugitives therefore
feeling that _he_ was safe, concealed themselves among the brush and
awaited events. Ben shortly passed their place of hiding, in custody,
_en route_ to the Reserve, and our friends were not a little amused,
despite their danger, to hear Ben's vigorous denunciation of "dem two
cowardly niggas," who had taken to their heels!

A few moments only elapsed before they were made aware, by certain
unmistakable tokens, that they were in dangerous proximity to the
Confederate encampment, and although nearly famished, for they had eaten
nothing since morning, it was deemed safest to lie _perdu_; so, thanking
the good Providence which had sped them thus far on their journey, they
lay down and slept.

The enemy's camp, which upon closer inspection, turned out to be simply
the resting-place of a local patrol, unconnected with any regular
command, broke up early in the morning, and Glazier and his companion
once more had a clear road. Although hungry from long fasting, they ran
swiftly over the swampy ground, and felt so elated to find themselves
again in a state of freedom, that they laughed and joked like boys
released from school, and pushed on until the verge of an extensive
morass was reached and passed, and they found themselves in a section of
country well wooded and watered, the alternate hills and vales
presenting a pleasing variety to the eye.

[Illustration: Pursuit Of Knowledge Under Difficulties.]

There was here also a public road, but it would have been dangerous to
travel thereon, and they therefore strode on beneath the trees and
umbrageous undergrowth of the wood. Having had no breakfast,
"blueberries" were not precisely the diet they would have selected for
dinner, but as _necessitas non habet leges_, they quietly munched their
berries, and we may hope felt grateful that matters were no worse. After
a while they made a sudden detour, crossing the high-road, and by so
doing, again broke the trail. Next they came to a clearing, but the
sight of a planter leaning against a fence, soon sent them back to the
friendly shelter of the wood. Late in the afternoon they came to a large
plantation on the border of which was a copse, in which they lay down
and watched for the opportunity of communicating with some of the house
slaves. At the expiration of about an hour, a lady, probably the
mistress of the estate, passed within