The captain, in his excitement, had
drawn a pistol and was cocking it. Terrence at this moment escaped.
With a yell, the old gentleman dropped the candle, which lay on the
floor, the thin blaze ascending upward and dimly lighting the scene. At
his yell, there suddenly rushed into the cellar half a dozen stout men,
armed with guns and pistols, and the supposed burglars were arrested.
Next morning, Captain Bones and his chief officer were snugly reposing
in the county jail, while Terrence, Fernando and Job set out across the
country for Augusta. From this point they took passage in a swift
coaster for New York. At New York they separated, Terrence going to
Philadelphia, Job to Baltimore, and Fernando to his home in Ohio.
His journey was long and tedious. At the close of a hot day in autumn,
1811, the old stage coach came in sight of the dear old home. The past
four years seemed like a terrible dream. The old familiar spot, where
every tree and flower was endeared by sacred remembrances, was never
half so precious as now. His gray-haired father and sorrowful mother,
who had long given him up for dead, wept over him and thanked God that
he had returned to again bless their home. Friends, relatives and
neighbors, hearing of the sudden return of Fernando, all gathered on
that evening, and the youth told the sad story of his impressment and
slavery.
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