CHAPTER XIII.
Three fugitives arrived at our station about 8 o’clock one night in January, 18—. They came in a sleigh, covered with robes and blankets so that no person was to be seen. The load had the appearance of a load of grain protected from the snow on a stormy day. They had been pushed forward from Painesville, Ohio, in a very secret way, changing conductors every day, or at midnight, as was the case sometimes; the conductor who brought them to our place had started in the afternoon, and had driven twenty miles through the drifting snow. As the night was dark and the road toward Black Rock not well beaten, we thought we might venture to wait until five o’clock in the morning before we sent them forward. They had been obliged to deviate from the most direct line two or three times, being closely chased by an experienced hunter who had “bought them running,” or at his own risk. Our detectives had misled the fellow, and although we hoped he had become discouraged and gone home, we determined to be careful, and it was well we did.
Rev. Mr. Frink was in our village that evening on a visit to his brother who lived there. Mr. Frink kept a station on the U. G. R. R., in Chautauqua Co., therefore I invited him to have a talk with the fugitives, and also to give us the benefit of his counsel about getting them
