. Famous adventures and prison escapes of the civil war . , I had a long and horrible hunt over the coldsurface of the cellar walls in my efforts to find theentrance to the tunnel; and in two minutes after Ibegan feeling my way with my hands I had no idea inwhat part of the place was the point where I hadfallen: my bearings were completely lost, and I musthave made the circuit of Rat Hell several times. Atmy entrance the rats seemed to receive me with cheerssufficiently hearty, I thought; but my vain efforts tofind egress seemed to kindle anew their had received large reinforce
. Famous adventures and prison escapes of the civil war . , I had a long and horrible hunt over the coldsurface of the cellar walls in my efforts to find theentrance to the tunnel; and in two minutes after Ibegan feeling my way with my hands I had no idea inwhat part of the place was the point where I hadfallen: my bearings were completely lost, and I musthave made the circuit of Rat Hell several times. Atmy entrance the rats seemed to receive me with cheerssufficiently hearty, I thought; but my vain efforts tofind egress seemed to kindle anew their had received large reinforcements, and mymarch around was now received with deafeningsqueaks. Finally, my exploring hands fell upon a pairof heels which vanished at my touch. Here at last wasthe narrow road to freedom! The heels proved to be 230 ADVENTUEES AND ESCAPES IN THE CIVIL WAK the property of Lieutenant Charles H. Morgan, 21stWisconsin, a Chickamauga prisoner. Just ahead ofhim in the tunnel was Lieutenant William L. Watson,of the same company and regiment. With my cut -7Z v^ FIGHTING THE RATS. hand and bruised shoulder, the passage through thecold, narrow grave was indescribably horrible, andwhen I reached the terminus in the yard I was sickand faint. The passage seemed to me to be a milelong; but the crisp, pure air and the first glimpseof freedom, the sweet sense of being out of doors, andthe realization that I had taken the first step toward COLONEL EOSES TUNNEL AT LIBBY PRISON 231 liberty and home, had a magical effect in my restor-ation. I have related before, in a published reminiscence,^my experience and that of my two companions abovenamed in the journey toward the Union lines, and ourrecapture; but the more important matter relatingto the plot itself has never been published. Thisis the leading motive of this article, and therefore Iwill not intrude the details of my personal experienceinto the narrative. It is enough to say that it wasa chapter of hairbreadth escapes, hunger, cold,
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