the slaves found out after that how the wood
Josh brought them, was missing.

But poor Josh died at last, away from home; he was sent with some of the
other negroes from Mrs. M.R. Singleton's plantation at Columbia, in the
year 1864, to build fortifications as a defence, under Gen. Wade Hampton
against Gen. Sherman, and while there he was taken sick and died, under
the yoke of slavery, having heard of freedom but not living to enjoy it.

RUNAWAY SLAVES.

My readers, have, no doubt, already heard that there were men in the
South who made it their business in the days of slavery to raise and
train hounds especially to hunt slaves with. Most of the owners hired
such men on condition that they were to capture and return their runaway
slaves, without being bruised and torn by the dogs. The average sums
paid hunters were ten, fifteen and twenty-five dollars for capturing a
slave; very many times, these sums were taken from the overseer's
salary, as they were more or less the cause of slaves running away.

My readers want to know whether the runaway slaves ever returned to the
overseers and their masters without being caught by the hunters.
Sometimes they did and sometimes they never returned. Some stayed their
lifetime; others, who would have returned, fell sick and died in the
woods.

My readers ask, how did the slaves at home know when their fellow
negroes, the runaways, sickened or died in the woods. In general, some
one on the plantation from which they ran away, or confidential friends
on some other plantation, had communication with them, so that if
anything happened to them the slaves at home would find out through such
parties. And sometimes the masters and overseers would find out about
their death, but indirectly, however, because if it was known that any
one on the plantation had dealings with the runaway, he would be
punished, even though the information should be gladly received by the
master and overseer.

Sometimes groups of runaway slaves, of eight, ten and even twenty,
belonging to different owners, got together in the woods, which made it
very difficult and dangerous for slave hunters to capture those whom
they were hired to hunt. In such cases sometimes these runaways killed
both hunters and dogs. The thick forests in which they lived could not
be searched on horseback, neither could man or dog run in them. The only
chances the hunters had of catching runaway slaves were either to rout
them from th