Part 12 (1/2)

I held my life in small estimation, if it was to be worn out under the doh since the death ofme frequent allowances of ue apprehensions that I , but I do not think she ever suspected that I would hazard the untried undertaking of atte to makecould shake it I only waited for a proper season of the year to coerous journey As I must of necessity procure ard to the time at which I took it up

I furnished myself with a fire-box, as it is called, that is, a tin case containing flints, steel and tinder--this I considered indispensable I took the great coat that iven me, and with a coarse needle and thread quilted a scabbard of old cloth in one side of it, in which I could putof linen that heldI filled with thethe corn after it was parched in the woods where I worked at theof the corn, I carried on in a small conical cabin that I had built in the woods The boots that ave hborhood, and followed the business of a cobbler

Before the first of August I had all my preparations completed, and had matured them with so much secrecy, that no one in the country, white or black, suspected n I only waited for the corn to be ripe, and fit to be roasted, which time I had fixed as the period of ress of the corn daily, and on the eighth of August I perceived, on exa rown, that by roasting them, a man could easily subsist himself; and as I knew that this corn had been planted later than the most of the corn in the country, I resolved to take leave of the plantation and its tenants, for ever, on the next day

I had a faithful dog, called Trueman, and this poor animal had been my constant co cowardice or infidelity, but once, and that hen the panther followed us fro withdepended on secrecy and silence, I thought it safest to abandon e inof the ninth I went to work as usual, carryinguntil about one o'clock in the day I now sat down and tookthe contents ofwith a rope to a sht I should be better without the gun than with it; tiedof meal on my shoulders, and then turned to take a last farewell of , that stood by the tree to which he was bound, looking wistfully aton his hind feet and placing his fore paws on h my heart, as if he had said, ”My master, do not leave , as nearly as I could, a North course all the afternoon Night overtook me before I reached any watercourse, or any other object worthy of being noticed; and I lay down and slept soundly, without kindling a fire or eating any thing I ake before day, and as soon as there was light enough to enable me to see ht o'clock, when I came to a river, which I knew must be the Appalachie I sat down on the bank of the river, openedof meal, and made my breakfast of a part of its contents I usedthe h I had in my pocket three Spanish dollars; but in , as I was resolved not to showmy breakfast, I prepared to cross the river, which was here about a hundred yards wide, with a sluggish and deep current

The in of the river tee the river with a pole, I found the stream too deep to be waded, and I therefore prepared to swim it For this purpose I stripped myself, and boundofmy knapsack close up to my head I threw myself into the river

In my youth I had learned to swim in the Patuxent, and have seldom met with any person as ht line from the place of my entrance into the Appalachie, to the opposite side, and when I had reached it, stepped on the in of the land, and turned round to view the place froe; but my eye was arrested by an object nearer to me than the opposite shore Within twenty feet ofthe river, a large alligator wasin full pursuit of me, with his nose just above the surface, in the position that creature takes when he gives chase to his intended prey in the water The alligator can swi ducks on the water; and had I been ten seconds longer in the river, I should have been dragged to the bottoained the shore, my pursuer turned, made two or three circles in the water close by me, and then disappeared

I received this aders that Iain took to the woods, and bore a little to the east of north; it now being ain the line of the roads by which I had come to the South I traveled all day in the woods; but a short ti in the forest, which I took to be cleared fields, but upon a closer exa no fences or other enclosures around it, I advanced into it and found it to be an open savannah, with a sh it At the lower side of the open space were the remains of an old beaver dam, the central part of which had been broken away by the current of the streain of this fores, and numerous stumps of small trees, that had been cut down for the food or fortifications of this industrious little nation, which had fled at the approach of the white e in the deepest solitudes of the forest, fro late, and I believed I must now be near the settleht, beside this old beaver da of rew in the place

This night I slept but little; for it seemed as if all the owls in the country had asserandcommenced soon after dark, and continued until the dawn of day In all parts of the southern country, the owls are very nuins of strearounds hich the waters are universally bordered; but since I had been in the country, although I had passed hts in the woods at all seasons of the year, I had never before heard so cla a chorus of nocturnalI arose fro a continual lookout for plantations, and listening attentively to every noise that I heard in the trees, or ast the canebrakes

When the sun had been up two or three hours, I saw an appearance of blue sky at a distance through the trees, which proved that the forest had been rereat distance from me; and, as I cautiously advanced, I heard the voices of people in loud conversation Sitting down areat numbers, I soon perceived that the people whose conversation I heard, were co nearer to me I now heard the sound of horses' feet, and immediately afterwards saothrough the woods, andon a line that led them pastthat these men were equipped as hunters, I re their conversation When they cauish their words, they were talking of the best place to take a stand for the purpose of seeing the deer; from which I inferred that they had sentthe deer with dogs After they had passed that point of their way that was nearest toto recede froro had run away the day before yesterday, in Morgan county; to which his coative The first then said he had seen an advertisement at the store, which offered a hundred dollars reward for the runahose name was Charles

The conversation of these horsemen was now interrupted by the cry of hounds, at a distance in the woods, and heightening the speed of their horses, they were soon out of

Inforh which I was traveling, was of the highest value to e of the fact, that ht was known to the white people, who resided round about and before ilant, and to concert with hest moment

The first resolution that I took was, that I would travel nodeer, and knowing that the hunters were under the necessity of being as silent as possible in the woods, I saw at a glance that they would be at least as likely to discover me in the forest, before I could see them, as I should be to see thery, but exceedingly loath toofconfident that there was a plantation within a few rods of ht find a corn-field upon it, fro ears Fearful to stand upright, I crept along through the low ground, where I then was, at ti a better view of things about h fence, and beyond this saw cotton, tall and flourishi+ng, but no sign of corn I crept up close to the fence, where I found the trunk of a large tree, that had been felled in clearing the field

Standing upon this, and looking over the plantation, I saw the tassels of corn, at the distance of half ain a field which was bordered on one side by the wood, in which I stood

It was now nine or ten o'clock in the ht before, I crept into the bushes, great nurew in and about the top of the fallen tree, and, hungry as I was, fell asleep When I awoke, it appeared to me from the position of the sun, which I had carefully noted before I lay down, to be about one or two o'clock As this was the time of the day when the heat is most oppressive, and when every one was aina circuitous route at some distance from the fields, reached the fence opposite the corn-field, without havingcautiously exa aroundall quiet, I ventured to cross the fence and pluck froood ears of corn, hich I stole back to the thicket in safety This corn was of no use to erous to kindle fire by night as by day, the light at one tiht betray me to those who I kneere ever ready to pursue and arrest h stone walls,” says the proverb, and an empty stomach is a petitioner, whose solicitations cannot be refused, if there is anything to satisfy theained the woods in safety, I ventured to go as far as the side of a swamp, which I knew to be at the distance of two or three hundred yards, by the appearance of the timber When in the swaain attehborhood of a plantation in the daytime

When in the swahted it with the aid of my tinder-box, flint, and steel This was the first fire that I kindled on my journey, and I was careful to burn none but dry wood, to prevent the formation of smoke Here I roasted my corn, and ate as much of it as I could After my dinner I lay down and slept for three or four hours When I awoke, the sun was scarcely visible through the tree-tops It was evening, and prudence required me to leave the swamp before dark, lest I should not be able to find e of the swa down of the sun, and noted the stars as they appeared in the heavens I had long since learned to distinguish the north-star froht; and the seven pointers were fauides I had to direct ht had set in, I co as nearly due east as I could

I took this course for the purpose of getting down the country as far as the road leading fro the route by which I had co it ht, than to atteuided only by the stars I traveled all night, keeping the north-star onreat distance from the houses I think I traveled at least twenty-fiveany road that appeared so wide, or so much beaten as that which I had traveled when I cah a peach orchard, laden with fine ripe fruit, hich I filleda corn-field, I pulled a supply of roasting-ears, hich and e wood, into which I traveled more than a h whortleberry bushes, I encamped for the day I made my breakfast upon roasted corn and peaches, and then lay down and slept, unmolested, until after twelve o'clock, when I awoke and rose up for the purpose of taking a better view of my quarters; but I was scarcely on my feet, when I was attacked by a swar on the limb of a tree, within twenty or thirty feet ofpeace with round, and this attitude I quickly took, not however before I had been stung by several of h the air aboutthis spot until after sundown, and after they had retired to rest for the night I now co a handful of dry leaves, approached the nest, which was full as large as a half bushel, and thrusting the leaves into the hole at the bottoh which its tenants passed in and out, secured the whole garrison prisoners in their own citadel I now cut off the branch upon which the nest hung, and threith its contents intofire, over which I roasted a supply of corn forsoon after nightfall, I traveled until about one o'clock in the , as nearly as I could estimate the time by the appearance of the stars, when I came upon a road which, from its width and beaten appearance, see for a day or two near this road, I at last found ht of the home of my late master's friend, spoken of in our journey to Savannah I was desperately hungry, and the idea swayedfor food

It seeentleman was too benevolent a man to arrest and send me back to my cruel mistress; and yet how could I expect, or even hope, that a cotton planter would see a runaway slave on his pre to seize a runaway slave, when he has him in his power, is held to be one of the most dishonorable acts to which a southern planter can subject himself Nor should the people of the North be surprised at this Slaves are regarded, in the South, as the most precious of all earthly possessions; and, at the same time, as a precarious and hazardous kind of property, in the enjoyment of which the master is not safe The planters may well be compared to the inhabitants of a national frontier, which is exposed to the inroads of hostile invading tribes Where all are in like danger, and subject to like fears, it is expected that all will be governed by like sentiments, and act upon like principles

I stood and looked at the house of this good planter for more than an hour after the sun had risen, and saw all the movements which usually take place on a cotton plantation in thebefore the sun was up, the overseer had proceeded to the field at the head of the hands; the black woone to the coith their pails; and the smoke ascended froreat house were opened, or any of theladies opened the door, and stood in the freshness of theair These were soon joined by a brother; and at last I saw the gentleman himself leave the house and walk towards the stables, that stood at some distance from the house on my left I think even now that it was a foolish resolution that eentle one's self in the way of a lion who is known soht destroy; but I resolved to go and meet this planter at his stables, and tell hi from the woods, I crossed the fields unperceived by the people at the house, and going directly to the stables, presentedat a fine horse in one of the yards At first he did not know me, and asked me whose man I was I then asked him if he did not remember me; and named the time when I had been at his house I then told at once that I was a runaway: that my master was dead, and myto show the scars on ive a full account of the entleman stood and looked ata word, and then said, ”I will not betray you, but you must not stay here It must not be known that you were on this plantation, and that I saw and conversed with you However, as I suppose you are hungry, you et your breakfast with my house servants”

He then set off for the house, and I followed, but turning into the kitchen, as he ordered ood breakfast of cold meat, warm bread, and as much new buttermilk as I chose to drink

Before I sat down to breakfast, the lady of the house caave me a dram of peach brandy I drank this brandy, and was very thankful for it; but I aood; and that this part of the kindness of this etherave me a dollar that he said hison the table beforeat least ten pounds, wrapped up in a cloth On delivering these things, the black man told me that his master desired me to quit his premises as soon as I had finished my breakfast