One of our party, who was quite an artist with the pencil, obtained permission to go out and make a sketch of the camp, but his real object was to find out where and how long the tunnel was to be. He made the discovery that by crossing under the street, which was about fifty feet, we would open it into a ditch six feet deep, and by going down that a few yards we would come to a draw, with timber on the opposite side, consequently the tunnel would have to be about seventy-five feet long. The earth was good, solid clay, very hard to dig, but made a good secure tunnel. Our progress was slow, only about four feet a day, and after we had dug about twenty feet a big rain came and the tunnel partly filled with water, but we bailed it out, scattered it over with dry ashes inside, and went to work again. I have seen the guard time and time again come in with picks and shovels and probe the earth right over that hole, but without success. We had dug straight down from the fireplace ten or twelve feet, then began the horizontal part, and for this reason no ordinary probing could possibly detect the tunnel. But that tunnel was not destined to be completed. CHAPTER VII. Five of us have a narrow escape from the train--Friendly negroes--A good old "shakedown." On the afternoon of February 14th we were ordered out, and put aboard the cars, which held seventy-five men each besides the guard. Three men sat in the door with their feet hanging out and others on top. I now determined to make another effort to escape. I happened to have in my possession a long, wide, thin bladed bread knife, which had been given to me by Lieutenant Dingly of Rhode Island, while I was in Libby prison, and while we were in the Marine Hospital at Charleston I had found an old file. I now took the file and made saw teeth in the back of the bread knife. As soon as we got under headway and outside of the city I got down on the floor and, working the point of my knife through one of the cracks, began sawing a hole through which to escape when a good opportunity should present itself. After sawing off two planks I began to saw at the other end, but on getting through the first one, I dropped both plank and knife and again I was without means of finishing my work. I sat down over the hole made by the fallen plank and in that manner kept it covered. Before dark it began to rain, night came on and the darkness became very intense. The train came to a stop and I thought I would test the capacity of the hole to let me through. I found I could squeeze through and I dropped to the ground. I then got from under the car to the opposite side from where the guard sat, but found that we were in a cut about four feet high, on the bank of which was a wood pile which I could not climb. Our car was number three, near the light. I at once took in the situation and got back under the car, where I found six others who had followed me out.