At daylight I furnished Mr. Foster with money, and sent him on upon the same road with directions to proceed as far as Mr. McLeod’s tavern, distance forty miles, and in case of hearing nothing of him, to discontinue the pursuit and return. At the same time I returned to Kingston myself, where I was informed towards evening, that a man, who answered his description had crossed the ferry over Bellisle Bay the evening before in great haste, stating that he was going on an express to Fredericton, and must be there by ten o’clock the next morning. This, compared with Mr. Lyon’s story, the reader will recollect, of having seen Smith’s _ghost_ or apparition the same evening in the twilight, confirmed the opinion that we had now got upon the direction of our runaway. And when we remember further, that the _apparition_ was passing without _touching the ground_, we will have some idea of the rapidity with which our self-released hero was scudding along as he carried his neck from the halter. It was now Sunday evening, and he had twenty-four hours of a start, leaving little hopes of his being overtaken by me. As my only alternative, I forwarded advertisements, and proposed a reward of twenty dollars for his apprehension and re-commitment to custody; but with very little prospect of success knowing that he was escaping for his life, and would succeed in getting out of the country before he would be overtaken.
Monday morning, the 26th instant, Mr. Moses Foster returned from his route, and by this time many unfavorable reports concerning the prisoner’s escape had begun to be circulated. The Court at which he was to receive his trial was now to meet on the Tuesday following, and a jury summoned from different parts of the county for the express purpose of trying the horse-stealer.
My whole time and attention were now required to make the necessary preparations for the Court, and I felt myself not a little chagrined on reflecting on the circumstances in which I was placed. This feeling became heightened to a painful degree when I came to understand, by Mr. E. Jones, that the villain, instead of escaping for his life, and getting out of my reach with all possible haste, had only travelled about ten miles the first night, and was seen lying on some straw before the barn of Mr. Robert Bailes, the next morning, on the road to Gagetown, having lain there till 12 o’clock in the day. But Smith did not lie on his bed of straw for rest merely; even there he was projecting fresh schemes of villainy, waiting for an opportunity to carry away some booty from the house of Mr. Bailes; and so it happened that he did not miss his aim, for Mr. and Mrs. Bailes had occasion to leave the house to go some distance, leaving the door unlocked, when the robber entered, broke open a trunk and carried off a silver watch, eight dollars in money, a pair of new velvet pantaloons, and a pocket-book, with several other articles. He then walked leisurely on his way, stopping at the next house and at all the houses that were contiguous to the road, so that he did not make more than three or four miles before dark.