. Capturing a locomotive: a history of secret service in the late war . found silence, and amid the mighty forests ofthat region. I can never forget the beauty of nature associatedwith so much of peril. But there were other hours of very prosaic toil. Once wehad to force our way on hands and knees through a mass of briersa quarter of a mile wide. Several times we hunted persimmonsby moonlight,—Hawkins shaking them otf, while I crawled onhands and knees feeli7ig for them. Many adventures similar tothose already narrated were encountered. Near a ford of theSequatchie River we found a quilted ski
. Capturing a locomotive: a history of secret service in the late war . found silence, and amid the mighty forests ofthat region. I can never forget the beauty of nature associatedwith so much of peril. But there were other hours of very prosaic toil. Once wehad to force our way on hands and knees through a mass of briersa quarter of a mile wide. Several times we hunted persimmonsby moonlight,—Hawkins shaking them otf, while I crawled onhands and knees feeli7ig for them. Many adventures similar tothose already narrated were encountered. Near a ford of theSequatchie River we found a quilted skirt hanging out, which weappropriated, tore in two, and, making a hole in the middle ofeach piece for our heads, found ourselves possessed of passableundershirts, which we needed sorely, as it was now colder thanever. The ford was waded with our clothes taken off and tiedon our heads. For two days more we travelled and rested alternately in themountains, hungry, wet with the rain that now began to fall,and as solitary as if we were the only inhabitants of the DORSET AND HAWKINS IN THE CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS. Page 272. ROMANTIC ESCAPES. 273 Near sundown of the second day we heard some wood-choppersfar below us. We were so weak that we repeatedly fell as we de-scended the mountain-side. Hunger was so extreme that we re-solved to try for food from them, using the best story we couldframe. We told them we were Confederate soldiers, who hadbeen left in a hospital, from which we had run away, and werenow trying to get to our regiments ; also that we were withoutmoney, and wanted food. They refused to do anything for us;said that soldiers had already eaten them nearly out. This re-ception encouraged us. To test them further we talked of ourcause, its justice, certainty of success, etc. They did not pretendto agree with vis, and, finally, told us that we were in what hadbeen called Lincoln District, because only two votes were castthere for secession. The conversation led them t
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