There he saw a sentinel,
who was placed on guard over a pile of apples. He soon convinced
himself that this man was indifferent to his movements, and, watching
his opportunity, when the man's back was turned, he slipped beyond the
orchard, into a dense swamp, covered with a thick undergrowth of
saplings and bushes. Here there was a huge prostrate log twenty feet
in length, curtained with a dense tangle of green briar.
"Lifting up this covering I crept in, close by the log, and rested
comfortably, defended from the northeast storm which soon commenced."
He heard the boat's crew making inquiries for him but no one
discovered his hiding-place. One of them declared that he was safe
enough, and would never live to go a mile. In the middle of the night
he left his hiding place, and fell into a road which he pursued some
distance. When he heard approaching footsteps he would creep off the
path, roll himself up into a ball to look like a bush, and remain
perfectly still until the coast was clear. He now felt that a
wonderful Providence was watching over him. His forethought in
returning for his overcoat was the means of saving his life, as he
would undoubtedly have perished from exposure without it. Next night
he hid in a high stack of hay, suffering greatly. When the storm was
over he left this hiding place, and entered a deep hollow in the woods
near by, where he felt secure from observation.
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