“The night, at length, approached, in which he determined to put his plan into execution.  But what if he should fail?—­it might be the last of his earthly existence.

“About dark, the sentinels were stationed, as usual, round the house.  They were four in number.

“Before midnight, all was still.  Officers and soldiers were asleep.  Crosby rose, and holding his chains, so that they should not clink, crept softly to the window, which he raised.  Fast did his heart beat, while doing this—­but faster still as he slid to the ground, beneath the willow tree.

“A sentinel was at no great distance.  For a moment, he stopped—­ arrested by the noise—­he even turned—­listened—­looked—­but all was now silent there—­and thinking himself mistaken, he sung aloud ’All’s well,’ and onward he marched, still farther from the place of Crosby’s concealment.

“Now, thought he, is the moment—­the only moment, perhaps, which I shall have; creeping on his hands and feet, he reached the grave yard, a stone’s throw from the church, and here behind a tombstone, succeeded in loosing his chains.

“When this was done, he watched the moment to make his escape.  A thick swamp, he knew, was at no great distance; but the darkness of the night made haste dangerous.  Yet in rapidity lay his only hope.

“He prepared, therefore, to run the hazard.  And seizing the moment, when the sentinel had turned in an opposite direction, he bounded forth and fled—­a ball passed him before he had reached many rods,—­ and now another—­and still another—­yet a merciful providence protected him; and, before the garrison could be roused, he was wallowing deep in the mud of a swamp;—­but he was safe—­quite safe from pursuers.”

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VI.

GEN.  P. TELLS ABOUT CROSBY’S VISIT TO A MOUNTAIN CAVE—­HOW HE WAS AGAIN TAKEN PRISONER—­AND THE MANNER IN WHICH HE ESCAPED.

Gen. P.  “The escape of Crosby was a hair-breadth one, and well did he know it.  He felt himself indeed safe from his pursuers, but his situation was no comfortable one—­up to his knees in mud, and without a shelter for the night.

“He determined, therefore, to grope his way through the swamp; and, if possible, to reach the dwelling of Mr. ——­ before morning.  This he found a difficult task.  Bushes and briers and quagmires impeded his course; and several times he was on the point of giving up the effort, and waiting till day light.  By slow degrees, however, he went forward—­sometimes, indeed, sinking unexpectedly deep into the mud; or, when he thought himself firm on a bog—­sliding away, and coming down upon all fours.  At length it was his good fortune, to emerge from the thicket, in an hour or so from which, he knocked at the door of the gentleman to whom he had been referred by the committee of safety.

“Mr. ——­ had been informed, that he might be expected that night, and was accordingly still up.  A good supper was in readiness for him, and heartily did the gentleman congratulate him on his escape.