The Fugitive Blacksmith | Page 9

son to lay on
thirty-nine lashes, which he did, making the keen end of the cowhide
lap around and strike him in the tenderest part of his side, till the blood
sped out, as if a lance had been used.
While my master's son was thus engaged, the sufferer's little daughter,
a child six years of age, stood at the door, weeping in agony for the fate
of her father. I heard the old man articulating in a low tone of voice; I
listened at the intervals between the stripes, and lo! he was praying!
When the last lash was laid on, he was let down; and leaving him to put
on his clothes, they passed out of the door, and drove the man's
weeping child away! I was mending a hinge to one of the barn doors; I
saw and heard what I have stated. Six months after, this same man's
eldest daughter, a girl fifteen years old, was sold to slave-traders, where
he never saw her more.
This poor slave and his wife were both Methodists, so was the wife of
the young master who flogged him. My old master was an
Episcopalian.

These are only a few of the instances which came under my own notice
during my childhood and youth on our plantations; as to those which
occurred on other plantations in the neighbourhood, I could state any
number.
I have stated that my master was watching the movements of our
family very closely. Sometime after the difficulties began, we found
that he also had a confidential slave assisting him in the business. This
wretched fellow, who was nearly white, and of Irish descent, informed
our master of the movements of each member of the family by day and
by night, and on Sundays. This stirred the spirit of my mother, who
spoke to our fellow-slave, and told him he ought to be ashamed to be
engaged in such low business.
Master hearing of this, called my father, mother, and myself before him,
and accused us of an attempt to resist and intimidate his "confidential
servant." Finding that only my mother had spoken to him, he swore that
if she ever spoke another word to him, he would flog her.
I knew my mother's spirit and my master's temper as well. Our social
state was now perfectly intolerable. We were on the eve of a general
fracas. This last scene occurred on Tuesday; and on Saturday evening
following, without counsel or advice from any one, I determined to fly.

CHAPTER II
.
THE FLIGHT.
It was the Sabbath: the holy day which God in his infinite wisdom gave
for the rest of both man and beast. In the state of Maryland, the slaves
generally have the Sabbath, except in those districts where the evil
weed, tobacco, is cultivated; and then, when it is the season for setting
the plant, they are liable to be robbed of this only rest.
It was in the month of November, somewhat past the middle of the
month. It was a bright day, and all was quiet. Most of the slaves were
resting about their quarters; others had leave to visit their friends on
other plantations, and were absent. The evening previous I had
arranged my little bundle of clothing, and had secreted it at some
distance from the house. I had spent most of the forenoon in my
workshop, engaged in deep and solemn thought.

It is impossible for me now to recollect all the perplexing thoughts that
passed through my mind during that forenoon; it was a day of
heartaching to me. But I distinctly remember the two great difficulties
that stood in the way of my flight: I had a father and mother whom I
dearly loved,--I had also six sisters and four brothers on the plantation.
The question was, shall I hide my purpose from them? moreover, how
will my flight affect them when I am gone? Will they not be suspected?
Will not the whole family be sold off as a disaffected family, as is
generally the case when one of its members flies? But a still more
trying question was, how can I expect to succeed, I have no knowledge
of distance or direction. I know that Pennsylvania is a free state, but I
know not where its soil begins, or where that of Maryland ends? Indeed,
at this time there was no safety in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or New
York, for a fugitive, except in lurking-places, or under the care of
judicious friends, who could be entrusted not only with liberty, but also
with life itself.
With such difficulties before my mind, the day had rapidly worn away;
and it was just past noon. One of my perplexing questions I had
settled--I had resolved to