HUMANITY OF MR. WHITE..

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at fifty dollars, he had given the prisoners over a hundred dollars' worth of provisions, when a Rebel surgeon stopped him. "Have n't you paid up that everlasting fifty dollars yet?” "Doctor," said White, producing his pass-book, "I's an honest man, I is; and if you say I can't put in no more on this yer score, you jest write your name hyer."

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The surgeon declining to assume the responsibility, White managed to take in to the prisoners, on the same imaginary account, milk and eggs to the amount of fifty dollars more. "I told you there were only twenty-one Union men in Richmond," said Mr. W. “I meant white Union men. Some of the colored people were as ready to give their means and risk their lives for the cause as anybody. One poor negro woman, who did washing for Confederate officers, spent her earnings to buy flour and bake bread, which she got in to the prisoners through a hole under the jail-yard fence; knowing all the while she 'd be shot, if caught at it."

Mr. Wassisted over twenty Union prisoners to escape. Among other adventures, he related to me the following:

"From our windows we could look right over into the prison-yard adjoining us here. Every day we could see the dead carried out. In the evening they carried out those who had died since morning, and every morning they carried out those that had died over night. Once we counted seventeen dead men lying together in the yard, all stripped of their clothes, ready for burial; so terrible was the mortality in these prisons. The dead-house was in a corner of the yard. A negro woman occupied another house outside of the guardline, and close to my garden fence."

He took me to visit the premises. We entered by a heavy wooden gate from the street, and stood within the silent enclosure. It was a clear, beautiful evening, and the moon light lay white and peaceful upon the gable of the ware house that had served as a prison, upon the old buildings and fences, and upon the ground the weary feet of the sick prisoners had trodden, and where the outstretched corpses had lain.

"Every day some of the prisoners would be marched down to the medical department, a few blocks below, to be examined. A colored girl who lived with us, used to go out with bread hid under her apron, and slip it into their hands, if she had a chance, as she met them coming back. One morning she brought home a note, which one of them, Capt. —, had given her. It was a letter of thanks to his unknown benefactors.' Miss H-, who was visiting us at the time, proposed to answer it. It was much less dangerous for her to do so, than it would have been for me, for I was a suspected man; I had already been six months in a Rebel prison. But if she was discovered writing to a Yankee, her family would be prepared to express great surprise and indignation at the circumstance, and denounce it as a love affair.'" (The H- -s are one of the Union families of Richmond; and Miss H. was a young girl of nerve and spirit.)

"In this way we got into communication with the Captain. It was n't long, of course, before he made proposals to Miss H; not of the usual sort, however, but of a kind we expected. He and another of the prisoners, a surgeon, had resolved to attempt an escape, and they wanted our assistance. After several notes on the subject had passed, through the hands of the colored girl, some through a crack in the fence, everything was arranged for a certain evening. "Citizens' clothes were all ready for them; and I obtained a promise from G-, a good Union man, to conceal them in his house until they could be got away. To avoid the very thing that happened, he was not to tell his wife; but she sus pected mischief, for it's hard for a man to hide what he feels, when he knows his life is at stake, and she gave him no peace until he let her into the secret. She declared that the men should never be brought into their house.

"We've just got shet of one boarder,' says she, meaning a prisoner they had harbored, and I never 'll have another.' "I could n't blame her much; for we were trifling with our lives. But G felt terribly about it. He came down to let me know. It was the very evening the men were to come

out, and too late to get word to them. If their plans succeeded, they would be sure to come out; and what was to be done with them? They would not be safe with me an hour. My house would be the first one searched. G— went off, for he could do nothing. Then, as it grew dark, we were expecting them every moment. There was nobody here but Miss H-, my wife, and myself. The colored girl was in the kitchen. It was dangerous to make any unusual movements, for the Rebel guard in the street was marching past every three minutes, and looking in. We sat quietly talking on indifferent subjects, with such sensations inside as nobody knows anything about who has n't been through such a scene. My clothes were wet through with perspiration. Every time after the guard had passed, we held our breath, untiltramp, tramp! he came round again.

"At last in came the colored girl, rushing from the kitchen, in great fright, and gasped out in a hoarse whisper, — Lord Jesus, master! two Yankees done come right into our backyard!'

"We have nothing to do with the Yankees,' I said; 'go about your work, and let 'em alone.' And still we sat there, and talked, or pretended to read, while once more— tramp, tramp, tramp the guard marched by the windows."

"But there was a guard inside the prison-yard; how then had the Yankees managed to get out?"

"I'm coming to that now. I told you the dead were borne out every morning and evening. That evening there was an extra body. It was the Yankee Doctor. He had bribed the prisoners, who carried out the dead, to carry him out. The dead-house was outside of the guard. They laid him with the corpses, and returned to the prison. Poor fellows! there were four of them; they were sent to Andersonville for their share in the transaction, and there every one of them died.

"A little while after, as some prisoners were going in from the yard, they got into a fight near the door. The guard ran to interfere; and the Captain, who was waiting for this

very chance, for the scuffle was got up by his friends es pressly for his benefit, - darted into the negro woman's house, and ran up-stairs. From a window he jumped down into my garden. In the mean time the Doctor came to life, crawled out from among the dead men, pushed a board from the back side of the dead-house, climbed the fence, and joined his friend the Captain, under our kitchen windows.

"Not a move was made by any of us. We kept on chatting, yawning, or pretending to read the newspaper; and all the while the guard in the street was going his rounds and peeping in. Everything- the freedom of these men, and my life was hanging by a cobweb. One mistake, a single false step, would ruin us. But everything had been preärranged. They found the clothes ready for them, and we were waiting only to give them time to disguise themselves. So far, it could not be proved that I had anything to do with the business, but the time was coming for me to take it into my own hands.

"I showed you the alley running from the street to my back-yard, and now you'll see why I took you around there. The Captain and the Doctor after getting on their disguise, were to keep watch by the corner of the house at the end of the alley, and wait for the signal, — a gentleman going out of the house with a lady on his arm and a white handkerchief in his hand. They were to come out of the alley immediately, and follow at a respectful distance.

"Having given them plenty of time, - not very many minutes, however, though they seemed hours to us, Miss Hput on her bonnet, and I took my hat; I watched my opportunity, and just as the guard had passed, gave her my arm, and set out to escort her home. As we went out, I had occasion to use my handkerchief, which I flirted, and put back into my pocket. We did n't look behind us once, but walked on, never knowing whether our men were following or not, until, after we had passed several corners, Miss H- ventured to peep over her shoulder. Sure enough, there were two men coming along after us.

"We walked past Jeff Davis's house, and stopped at her father's door. There I took leave of her, and walked on alone. I had made up my mind what to do. G having failed us, I must try R- -; an odd old man, but true as steel. It was a long walk to his house, and it was late when I got there. I hid my men in a barn, and knocked at the

door.

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dow.

Anything the matter?' says Mrs. R——, from the win

"I want to speak with Mr. R-— a moment,' I said. I saw she was frightened, when she found out who I was; but she made haste to let me in. Serious as my business was, I could n't help laughing when I found R-—. - He sleeps on a mattress, his wife sleeps on feathers; and both occupy the same bed. They compromise their difference of taste in this way: they double up the feather-bed for Mrs. R; that gives her a double portion, and makes room for RR- on the mattress. She sleeps on a mountain in the foreground; he, in the valley behind her.

"W,' says he, looking up over the mountain, there's mischief ahead! You would n't be coming here at this hour if there was n't. Is it a Castle Thunder case?'

“No,' I said, quietly as I could, for he was very much agitated.

"I'm afraid of Castle Thunder!' says he. I'm afraid of you! If it is n't a Castle Thunder case, I demand to know what it is.'

"It's a halter case,' I said. And then I told him. He got up and pulled on his clothes. I took out fifty dollars in Rebel money, and offered him, for the feeding of the men till they could be got away.

"You can't get any of that stuff on to me!' says he. 'I'm afraid of it. We shall all lose our lives, this time, I'm sure. Why did you bring 'em here? '

"But though fully convinced he was to die for it, he finally consented to take in the fugitives. So I delivered them into his hands; but my work did n't end there. They were nine