Every one in the
magistrate's office was tired out with it, I especially, and so I
took a favorable opportunity to leave the premises. I bolted for the
door, ran down stairs into the street, and was well out of town
before the astonished magistrate, stunned constable, and amazed
spectators realized that I had gone.
Whether they than set out in pursuit of me I never knew, I only know
they did not catch me. I ran till I came to the house of a farmer
whom I had been attending for some ailment, and hurriedly narrating
the situation, I offered him one hundred dollars if he would secrete
me till the hue and cry was over and I could safely get away. I
think he would have done it from good will, but the hundred dollar
bill I offered him made the matter sure. He put my money into his
pocket, and he put me into a dark closet, not more than five feet
square, and locked me in.
I stayed in that man's house, never going out of doors, for more
than three weeks, and did my best to board out my hundred dollars.
The day after my flight the whole neighborhood was searched, that
is, the woods, roads, and adjacent villages. They never thought of
looking in a house, particularly in a house so near the town; and,
as I heard from my protector, they telegraphed and advertised far
and near for me.
I anticipated all this, and for this very reason I remained quietly
where I was, in an unsuspected house, and with my dark closet to
retire to whenever any one came in; and gossiping neighbors coming
in almost every hour, kept me in that hole nearly half the time.
Pages:
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83