Reader, you may if you can, imagine what the state of my mind was at this moment.  I shall make no attempt to describe it to you; to my great relief, however, the party rode off, and the labourer after finishing his work went into the house.  Hope seemed now to dawn for me once more; darkness was rapidly approaching, but the moments of twilight seemed much longer than they did the evening before.  At length the sable covering had spread itself over the earth.  About eight o’clock, I ventured to descend from the mow of the barn into the road.  The little dog the while began a furious fit of barking, so much so, that I was sure that with what his master had learned about me, he could not fail to believe I was about his premises.  I quickly crossed the road, and got into an open field opposite.  After stepping lightly about two hundred yards, I halted, and on listening, I heard the door open.  Feeling about on the ground, I picked up two stones, and one in each hand I made off as fast as I could, but I heard nothing more that indicated pursuit, and after going some distance I discharged my encumbrance, as from the reduced state of my bodily strength, I could not afford to carry ballast.

This incident had the effect to start me under great disadvantage to make a good night’s journey, as it threw me at once off the road, and compelled me to encounter at once the tedious and laborious task of beating my way across marshy fields, and to drag through woods and thickets where there were no paths.

After several hours I found my way back to the road, but the hope of making anything like clever speed was out of the question.  All I could do was to keep my legs in motion, and this I continued to do with the utmost difficulty.  The latter part of the night I suffered extremely from cold.  There came a heavy frost; I expected at every moment to fall on the road and perish.  I came to a corn-field covered with heavy shocks of Indian corn that had been cut; I went into this and got an ear, and then crept into one of the shocks; eat as much of it as I could, and thought I would rest a little and start again, but weary nature could not sustain the operation of grinding hard corn for its own nourishment, and I sunk to sleep.

When I awoke, the sun was shining around; I started with alarm, but it was too late to think of seeking any other shelter; I therefore nestled myself down, and concealed myself as best I could from the light of day.  After recovering a little from my fright, I commenced again eating my whole corn.  Grain by grain I worked away at it; when my jaws grew tired, as they often did, I would rest, and then begin afresh.  Thus, although I began an early breakfast, I was nearly the whole of the forenoon before I had done.