Pictured is a safe house on the Underground Railroad.
Last week we left off with Pony Joe traveling down an old dirt road after the bounty hunters had searched his wagon for human cargo. He hadn’t traveled far when he turned off onto a side road and doubled back toward Rev. Charlie’s place. The road was very narrow and eventually developed into a path and then abruptly ended. Pony Joe jumped off the wagon and on foot began to make his way toward an old mine shack. Upon arrival, he walked straight to an old well which was near the shack but in a thicket of dense trees. At the back of the well he found a large rock. He rolled the rock away and there he found his precious cargo. Quickly helping them out of the mine tunnel, Pony Joe quietly led them through the dense woods back to the wagon. He hid his cargo in the wagon and they began to head north to the promise land.
Pony Joe traveled all day and night, taking his time as not to draw attention to himself. One man who had passed him on horseback, turned around and dismounted as he wanted to take another look at the Chestnuts. He seemed friendly and Pony Joe didn’t think he had any suspicions, but still he decided to take a different route then he had planned turning off at the next side road. All was quiet. Only the hoot owl could be heard as he traveled this dark lonely road. Soon the morning light was shining through the trees. Pony Joe was so sleepy he didn’t know if he would be able to stay atop the wagon or not. Before long he could smell water and heard the crashing of the waves on the bank. They had made it to the river. They would stay here in this dense thicket of woods till night fall. Hopefully, they could signal a conductor on the other side for help. For now, they would hide. They had a small bag of food left from Rev. Charlie. Ah, Rev. Charlie, Pony Joe thought. That old fox had so many tricks up his sleeve.
Late that night Pony Joe began to use his signal light to catch the eye of a conductor on the other side of the river as to the location of passengers that required their service. On the other side of the river was Gallipolis, Ohio. Here lived a large group of sympathetic
abolitionists who were willing to risk their lives to help slaves reach freedom on the Underground Railroad. These conductors had many routes that could be used to travel north to freedom. Eventually, a flash of light could be seen coming from the other side. Pony Joe guided his cargo to the edge of the river. Slowly a boat could be seen making its way across the darkness. When the boat came close, Pony Joe whispered a password and helped pull the boat to shore. Whispers were exchanged and hands shook. Pony Joe slapped Big John on the back and instructed him to take care of the others. Big John nodded and with everyone safe inside the boat, it began to move slowly with muffled oars away from the shore.
Pony Joe whispered a prayer and watched as they quickly faded from site and into the night. The next morning Pony Joe took the ferry and headed west back to Adams County to deliver the Chestnuts to Mr. Blythe. He was already pondering his next trip. He hoped it would bring freedom to even more of those who were being held in bondage.
