A NARROW ESCAPE FROM MY ENEMIES.
During my absence in New York city, Lewis and his confederates were
prophesying that I would never trouble them more, and shaking their heads
quite ominously at the happy riddance. One day, our hired man entered the
house and inquired of my wife, when I was expected home. She told him she
did not know, having received no intelligence from me. He assured her that
a letter had been received by some one in the colony; that he had seen it,
and had heard Mr. Lewis speak of conveying it to her,--but as it did not
come, she gave it up, supposing some mistake had been made. I had,
however, written, naming the time when she might expect me; but no letter
of mine reached her, during my long absence, for which she could not
account. A short time before that specified for my return, a woman, whose
husband was an associate of Mr. Lewis, came to my house, and urged my
wife "to leave word at the village of London, to have Mr. Steward detained
there, should he arrive toward evening, and by no means allow him to start
for the colony after dark." My family had so often been alarmed by such
warnings, and had so frequently been annoyed by the violent threatenings
of Lewis, that they ceased to regard them, and paid little attention, to
this one.
I arrived at London on the day I had appointed for my return, but was
detained there until a late hour; feeling anxious, however, to get home
that night, supposing that I was expected,--I therefore hired a horse to
ride the remaining fifteen miles to the settlement.
The road from London to Wilberforce led through a swamp, known as
"McConnell's Dismal Swamp," and it was indeed, one of the most dreary
places in all that section of country. I am certain that a hundred men
might conceal themselves within a rod of the highway, without being
discovered.
The horse I had engaged, was a high spirited animal, and to that fact, I
doubtless owe my life. The moon shone brightly, and nothing broke the
stillness of the night, as I rode onward, but the clatter of my horse's
hoofs, and an occasional "bow-wow" of some faithful watch-dog.
When I reached the swamp and entered its darkened recesses, the gloom and
stillness was indeed fearful; my horse started at every rustling leaf or
crackling brush, until I attempted to pass a dense thicket, when I was
started by the sharp crack of a rifle, and a bullet whizzed past me, close
to my ear! The frightened horse reared and plunged, and then springing as
if for life, he shot off like an arrow, amid the explosion of fire arms
discharged at me as I rode away. I lost my balance at first, and came near
falling, but recovering it I grasped the rein tightly, while my fiery
steed flew over the ground with lightning speed; nor did I succeed in
controlling him until he had run two miles, which brought me to my own
door.
I found my family well, and very grateful that I had arrived safely after
so fearful an encounter.
When morning came I sent a person out to inquire whether any of the
settlers were out the night previous, and the report was, "Israel Lewis
and two other men were out all night; that they had been seen near the
Dismal Swamp;" moreover, Lewis was seen to come in that morning with his
boots covered with swamp mud,--these the Rev. Mr. Paul's boys cleaned for
him, all of which was evidence that he it was, who had way-laid me with
criminal intent.
I afterwards learned, that those three men left the settlement at dusk,
for the swamp; that they stationed themselves one rod apart, all on one
side of the road, each man with a loaded rifle,--the poorest marksman was
to fire first, and if he did not bring me down, probably the second
would; but Lewis being the best shot of the three, was to reserve his fire
until the last, which they supposed I could not escape. It was quite dark
in the thicket, and my spirited horse plunged in every direction so
furiously, that they could take no aim at me, until he had started to run,
when we were soon beyond their reach.
We had already had so much difficulty in our little colony that we were
getting heartily sick of it. I was well aware that Lewis was thirsting for
revenge; that he wished to do me a great wrong; and yet I was thankful on
his account, as well as on my own, that he had been prevented from
imbruing his hands in the blood of a fellow being.
Had he succeeded in taking my life, as he undoubtedly intended to do, he
would have been arrested immediately, and most likely punished as a
murderer. He had boldly threatened my life, and the colonists were
expecting something of the kind to take place. Had I not arrived at the
colony, it was known at London that I had started for the settlement that
night, and an immediate search would have been instituted; nor could the
wicked deed have brought the least peace to the mind of Lewis or his
companions,
"No peace of mind does that man know,
Who bears a guilty breast;
His conscience drives him to and fro,
And never lets him rest."