Part 16 (1/2)

There was nothing in the forer that could intimidate me, if the road on which I had to encounter it led me to freedom That season of the year th arrived The corn in the fields was so far grown as to be fit for roasting; the peaches were beginning to ripen, and the sweet potatoes were large enough to be eaten; but notwithstanding all this; the difficulties that surrounded ined by any one who has never been a slave in the lower country of Georgia

In the first place I was aled shi+rt of tow cloth, and a pair of old trowsers of the saht with me from ho, until I had finished the labor assigned me, and then I was locked up in a sht

This cabin was really a prison, and had been built for the purpose of confining such of the slaves of this estate as were tried in the evening, and sentenced to be whipped in the s, hewn square, and dovetailed together at the corners It had noin it; but as the logs did not fit very close together, there was never any want of air in this jail, in which I had been locked up every night since my trial before the court

On Sundays I was pero to work in the fields, with the other people orked on that day, if I chose so to do; but at this tiro, as instructed to give immediate information if I attempted to leave the field To escape on Sunday was i out ofpine plank

Fortune at length did for reatest efforts, for htly prison was a large stock lock, and had been clumsily fitted on the door, so that the end of the lock pressed against the door-case, and made it difficult to shut the door even in dry weather When the weather was damp, and the ollen with moisture, it was not easy to close the door at all

Late in the month of September the weather became cloudy, and much rain fell The clouds continued to obscure the heavens for four or five days

One evening, when I was ordered to my house as it was called, the overseer followed h it was very dark When I was in the house, he pushed the door after th The violence of the effort caused the door to pass within the case at the top, for one or two feet, and this held it so fast that he could not again pull it open

Supposing, in the extreme darkness, that the door was shut, he turned the key; and the bolt of the lock passing on the outside of the staple intended to receive it, completely deceived him He then withdrew the key, and went away Soon after he was gone, I went to the door, and feeling with my hands, ascertained that it was not shut An opportunity now presented itself forable to be so far fro, that none could soon overtake ht be ascertained Waiting quietly, until every one about the quarter had ceased to be heard, I applied one ofpush, forced it open

The world was now all before me, but the darkness was so profound, as to obscure froest objects, even a house, at the distance of a few yards But dark as it was, necessity co only the great road that led to Milledgeville, ast the various roads of this country, I set off at a brisk walk on this public highway, assured that no one could apprehend ht

It was only about seven eville, and when I reached that town several lights were burning in the s of the houses; but keeping on directly through the village, I neither saw nor heard any person in it, and after gaining the open country, my first care was to find some secure place where shelter could be found for the next day; but no appearance of thick woods was to be seen for several miles, and two or three hours nitude was found to answer , when I took refuge in a thick and dis to reht, and then look out for a secret place to conceal ht was so extremely dark, it had not rained any, but soon after an to fall in floods, rather than in showers, which ht at length appeared, but brought with it very little -place was, lay in the midst of a well-peopled country, and was surrounded on all sides by cotton and corn fields, so close to me that the open spaces of the cleared land could be seen froerous to move, lest some one should see er was consu place in the sithin view of the road; and, soon after sunrise, although it continued to rain fast, nu the road by the way that had led me to the swamp There was little doubt on my mind that these people were in search of me, and the sequel proved that hout this day, and the fear of being apprehended by those who came in pursuit ofevening, when I ventured to leave the thicket, and return to the high road, the bearing of which it was impossible for me to ascertain, on account of the dense clouds that obscured the heavens

All that could be done in my situation, was to take care not to follow that end of the road which had led eville, and walking at a quick pace, every effort was ht fro, for which that sill be always meoing down of the sun; and the darkness of this second night was not so great as that of the first had been This circue of the final success that awaitedEvents proved that I was no prophet; for the diht was the cause of the sad misfortune that awaited me

In a former part of this volume, the reader is made acquainted with the deep interest that is taken by all the planters, far and wide, around the plantation fro away Twenty years had wrought no change in favor of the fugitive; nor had the feuds and dissentions that agitate and distract the communities of white men, produced any relaxation in the friendshi+p that they profess to feel, and really do feel, for each other, on a question of so much importance to them all

More than twenty ht; and it , when, as I was passing a part of the road that led through a dense pine grove, where the trees on either side grew close to the wheel tracks, five or six men suddenly rushed upon me from both sides of the road, and with loud cries of ”Kill hie, seizedcord, which rapped round my arms and body, so as to confine my hands below ed, about two miles to a kind of tavern or public house, that stood by the side of the road; where ht, by at least twenty of their co for me on the other roads of this part of the country Those who had taken me were loudly applauded by their fellows; and the whole party passed thecards at this house At breakfast tie cake of corn bread and some sourmy master arrived at the tavern, in coers to me My master, when he came into my presence, looked ataway this tiive for ive four hundred dollars for me Other bids followed, until hty dollars, for which I was stricken off, by ave his note for e of me as his property

CHAPTER XX

The name of my new master was Jones, a planter, as only a visiter in this part of the country; his residence being about fifty miles down the country The next day, my new master set off withme entirely unshackled I was resolved, that as my owner treated me with so much liberality, the trust he reposed in me should not be broken until after we had reached his ho away, and atteia, never abandoned h which we passed, on our journey, was not rich The soil was sandy, light, and, in e The tih, was almost exclusively pine; but round intervened, in which um, and all the other trees common to such land in the South, abounded

No improvement in the condition of the slaves on the plantations, was here perceptible; but it appeared to ood clothes, ast the slaves on the various plantations that we passed, than had existed twenty years before

Everywhere, the overseers still kept up the sa whip, that has been elsewhere described; and everywhere, the slaves proved, by the husky appearance of their skins, and the dry, sunburnt aspect of their hair, that they were strangers to animal food

On the second day of our journey, in the evening, we arrived at the residence of hty miles from Savannah The plantation, which had now beco only about three hundred acres of cleared land, and having on it about thirty working slaves of all classes

It was now the verycotton, and, at the end of twenty years froain had a daily task assigned me, with the promise of half a cent a pound for all the cotton I should pick, beyondcotton, like every other occupation requiring active th, and I was not now able to pick so much in a day as I was once able to do

My master seemed to be a man ardently bent on the acquisition of wealth, and came into the field, where ere at work, ale, with the overseer, because he did not get more work done