Chapter 6

I BECOME A WANDERER AND FALL INTO LUCK.

I kept closely by his side, and for half an hour we moved along, keeping in the shadow of the houses, until we reached the outskirts of the town.

"Now then," said my companion, speaking for the first time, "put on your shoes."

I did so, and very glad I was to do it. At the same time he reached down and drew off his stockings, and then I saw they had been drawn on over his boots.

Then he took my hand, and we walked along steadily and swiftly for an hour, until the lights of Lancaster had faded in the distance, and not until then did my companion fall into a walk and conversation.

"What did you say you were in for?" he asked.

"For nothing," I answered, promptly.

This seemed to amuse him greatly.

"Of course not," said he, after an outburst of laughter. "I never saw a prisoner in my life who wasn't innocent!"

I attempted to explain, but he wouldn't listen.

"No matter--it's not my business. It was forgery with me--ten years at the least; and I couldn't stand that, you know."

"Certainly not," said I, not knowing what else to say.

Then, by way of turning the conversation, I inquired how he came to be provided with tools to effect his escape.

He looked at me suspiciously for a moment, as if he suspected me of some hidden motive in asking the question, and then, apparently satisfied with the scrutiny, he informed me that his friends had sent him pies every day for two weeks past.

"Pies?" I exclaimed, in open-mouthed wonder.

"Yes, pies," he said, gravely. "Don't you see? Nothing but the crusts. Inside were keys, saws and a jimmy."

"A _jimmy_?"

"Yes--here it is. That came in four pies."

He took from his coat-pocket four pieces of steel, and in an instant fitted them together into a bar about two feet in length.

"Not much to look at, is it?" said he; "but it is a crowbar, chisel, hammer and wrench, all in one. It only took me two nights to cut into your cell."

"And how did you know your way out in the dark?" I asked.

"Because I came in that way, and I always keep my eyes open. Hello!"

"What's the matter?" I asked, in some alarm, as he came to a sudden halt.

"Nothing much," he answered; "only that I must leave you here. I don't know where you are going, and I don't propose to let you know where I am going. Besides, it is much harder to follow two than one, and there is no use of us both being captured."

"Captured?" I repeated, in dismay. "Do you think the officers will follow us?"

"Do I think so? I know they will."

I was so terrified that my teeth chattered, at this announcement, and he noticed it.

"Don't get too scared, young one," he added, consolingly. "They won't look for you half as much as they will for me. If you travel right straight on, and keep out of their clutches for a week, you'll be safe."

"But I haven't done anything," I said, tremblingly.

"Oh, yes you have," said he, with a laugh. "You have broken jail, and that means a year at least, if you're caught."

I was so overwhelmed at this dread piece of news that I could only lean up against a convenient fence and stare at him.

"Come, come!" he cried, impatiently, "brace up! They haven't got you yet. If you go straight through this cornfield you will strike a road that will take you to Columbia. Good-by!"

Before I had time to reply, he had plunged into the woods on the right of the road, and I was left alone.

I was terribly alarmed, and lost no time in making my way through the cornfield; and when I found the road, I sped along it at a rapid gait. Fear lent me wings, and I fancied every bush an officer.

It was a warm but pleasant night, and the moon was just rising. I calculated that it must be about midnight, and I determined that I would put many a mile between me and Lancaster before daybreak.

So I set off at a dog-trot, and I kept it up until I saw the sun rising over the eastern hills.

By that time I must have gone about twenty miles, and I was completely tired out, and very glad to crawl into the shelter of some neighboring woods and lie down to rest.

Before I knew it I was asleep, and I did not awake until late in the afternoon.

I was stiff and sore, and at the same time ravenously hungry. The first two ailments wore away as I started again on my journey, but the latter increased until I determined to brave anything rather than suffer any longer.

The first house I came to was a small yellow frame, close to the road, with a yellow dog chained on the porch, and a woman frying ham in the kitchen.

"Please, ma'am," said I.

"G'way!" said she. "Here, Tige!"

"Please, ma'am--"

"G'way, I say! We don't want no tramps hookin' everything they kin lay their hands on!"

"Please, ma'am," I persisted, mildly, "I am not a tramp. I want something to eat"--the woman started to unchain the dog--"for which I am willing to pay."

"Come right in," said the woman, with a broad smile. "I declare I couldn't have the heart to turn anybody away hungry. Tramps bother a person so that I get kinder suspicious, but I could see right away you were different from the general run."

While she was talking she was busily engaged in setting the table with fried ham, potatoes, bread and butter and coffee, and I lost no time in falling to. I paid a quarter for it when I had finished, and got away as quickly as possible, as I feared the arrival of some of the men folks, who might have their suspicions aroused.

All that night I traveled on and slept in the woods again. Not to enter into particulars, it is sufficient to say that I kept this up for a week, until I found myself in the vicinity of Williamsport, and by that time I judged myself to be reasonably safe.

So I boldly entered that city in broad daylight, had a bath and my hair cut, a complete change of underclothing, and enjoyed a day of rest.

When I started out again, the next morning, I had recovered my usual spirits, and took to the road, determined to keep going as long as my money and strength held out. I had twenty-five dollars of the former and an unlimited supply of the latter.

All that day I tramped on steadily enough, buying both my dinner and supper for trifling sums; and, when night came on, I thought it would be just as well to camp in the woods again.

For that purpose I left the road, and, plunging into the forest on my left, I soon came to a secluded spot, near a ravine or gully, and there I made myself a bed of dry leaves.

On this I lay down, and was fast drifting into the Land of Nod, when I was aroused by a sound something like the rattling of tinware.

I promptly sat up and listened. Again I heard the rattling, and as it evidently come from the ravine, I arose and began an investigation.

Peering over the edge of the gully, I saw at the bottom, about fifteen feet below, a bright light, and the rattling sound again smote my ears.

By this time my curiosity was excited to the utmost, and, catching hold of a small sapling, I leaned far over the edge to observe the why and wherefor. As I did so, I felt the sapling giving away, and I made a desperate attempt to recover myself.

It was no use. Down went the sapling into the ravine and I along with it.