The
Horse Knew the Way Home
This
is a story about Red before he became our cook.
Early
in our life at San Quentin there was an escape that is worthy of
note. A prisoner, who worked on the prison farm had much more freedom
than the others as the livestock had to be cared for at different hours.
One
foggy day this man decided to Go Over the Hill. In the dense fog he
had no trouble doing this without being observed by the guards in the
nearby posts. On his way toward San Rafael he came upon a farm house
and no one was at home at the time. He found some clothes and
exchanged them for his striped convict uniform, and also found a
little money.
He
knew that his absence from the prison farm would not be discovered
for some time, and with his newly acquired clothes and some money in
his pocket he felt reasonably secure. He entered the first saloon he
came to in San Rafael and started drinking. He continued with the
drinks and was getting pretty intoxicated. He thought he had better
get farther away from San Quentin and began walking north toward
Petaluma. Soon darkness overtook him, but he kept going. After a
while he came to a farm. It was dark and the occupants had obviously
retired for the night. He entered the barn and there was a horse and
a buggy. He hitched up the horse to the buggy and drove away. He came
to a roadhouse saloon and stopped for more drinks until his money ran
out. He took to the horse and buggy and started out again; driving
all night, in the dark and the fog, hoping to get farther away from
San Quentin.
After
daylight he came to a farm and drove into the barnyard. Here he met
the farmer and offered to sell him the horse and buggy. The man
looked them over and said he was interested and the price was right,
but he did not have the cash. He suggested that the man come into the
house and have breakfast and then they would drive to town to get the
money from the bank. This was agreeable, so after breakfast they
drove into town. On reaching town the farmer drove to the sheriff's
office instead of the bank and turned the man over to the sheriff as
a horse thief. It was soon discovered that he was also a fugitive
from San Quentin.
He
had driven the horse and buggy over strange roads all night in the
dark and fog and drove into the farmyard where he had stolen the
horse and buggy the night before. In his condition he had made a
circle, coming back to where he started from, and tried to make a
sale to the real owner. The horse knew the way home.
When
Red told the story to us he said he was "flabbergasted!"
Author:
William J. Duffy, Jr.
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