NARRATIVE OF TWO FUGITIVES FROM VIRGINIA.
The settlers in Wilberforce, were in general, industrious and thrifty
farmers: they cleared their land, sowed grain, planted orchards, raised
cattle, and in short, showed to the world that they were in no way
inferior to the white population, when given an equal chance with them. In
proof of this let me say, that it was uniformly the practice of persons
traveling from London to Goderich, to remain in our settlement over night,
in preference to going on to find entertainment among their own class of
people. And we believe that the whites are bound to admit, that the
experiment of the Wilberforce colony proves that the colored man can not
only take care of himself, but is capable of improvement; as industrious
and intelligent as themselves, when the yoke is taken from off their
necks, and a chance given them to exercise their abilities. True, many of
them had just escaped from cruel task-masters; ignorant of almost every
thing but the lash,--but the air of freedom so invigorated and put new
life into their weary bodies, that they soon became intelligent and
thrifty.
Among the settlers might be gathered many a thrilling narrative, of
suffering and hair-breadth escapes from the slave-land,--one of which I
will tell as 'twas told to me.
In a small rude cabin, belonging to one of the large plantations in
Virginia, sat at a late hour of the night, an afflicted slave-man and his
devoted wife, sad and weeping. At length the husband repeated what he
before had been saying:
"I tell you, wife, we must flee from this place, without delay. Oh, I
cannot endure the idea of seeing you sold for the Southern market, to say
nothing of myself; and we shall most likely be separated, which I can't
bear! Oh, Rosa, the thought distracts me,--I can't bear it!"
"Are you sure," said Rosa, "that master thinks of such a frightful doom
for us?"
"Oh yes, I know it; I heard master to-day making a bargain with the slave
dealer that has been hanging about here so long; and when it was finished,
I heard him reading over the list, and our names, wife, are the first on
it."
"Oh, dear!" sobbed the wife, "we shall certainly be retaken and whipped
to death; or else we shall starve in the wilderness! Oh, it is very hard
to be compelled to leave all our friends and the old plantation where we
were born!"
"Yes; it is both hard and unjust," said Joe, and an indignant frown
contracted his brow,--"here is our birth-place, and here, for forty years
have I toiled early and late to enrich my master; and you, my poor wife, a
few years less; and now we are to be sold, separated, and all without a
choice of our own. We must go, Rosa. If we die, let us die together!"
"It shall be as you say, Joe," she replied, "but it frightens me to think
of the hardships of the way, and the danger of being recaptured."
"Courage, wife: no fate can be worse than the one designed for us; and we
have no time to lose. Tomorrow night, then, we must make the first effort
to gain our liberty, and leave all that is dear to us except each other!"
And they retired to rest, but not to sleep.
The following night was very dark; and as soon as all was quiet on the
plantation, they stole out of their cabin and stealthily crept over the
ground until they reached the highway; and then, guided only by the north
star, they made their way to the nearest woods. So fearful had they been
of being suspected, that they took no provision of any kind with them. All
night they plunged forward through the tangled thicket and under-brush,
surrounded by thick darkness, glancing now and then upward to their only
light,
"Star of the North! though night winds drift the fleecy
drapery of the sky,
Between thy lamp and thee, I lift, yea, lift with hope
my sleepless eye."
When day dawned they threw their weary bodies on the ground, famished
and thirsty, and waited for the darkness to again conceal them while they
pursued their journey. The second day of their flight, the pain of hunger
became almost beyond endurance. They found a few roots which relieved them
a little; but frequently they lost their way, and becoming bewildered,
knew not which way to go; they pushed on, however, determined to keep as
far from their pursuers as possible. Their shoes were soon worn out; but
bare-footed, bare-headed, and famishing with hunger, they pressed forward,
until the fourth day, when they found themselves too weak to proceed
farther. Hope, the anchor of the soul, had failed them! They were starving
in a dense forest! No track or path could they find, and even had they
seen a human being, they would have been more terrified than at the sight
of a wild beast!
Poor Rosa, could go no farther--her strength was all gone--and as her
emaciated husband laid her on the cold earth, he exclaimed, "Oh, dear God!
_must_ we, after all our efforts, starve in this dark wilderness! Beside
his fainting wife, he finally stretched himself, sheltered only by a few
bushes, and tried to compose himself to die! but resting a few moments
revived him, and he aroused himself, to make one more effort for life!
Stay you here, wife, and I will try once more to find the highway; it
cannot be far from here; and if I am taken, I will submit to my fate
without a struggle; we can but die." So saying, he left her, and began to
reconnoitre the country around them. Much sooner than he expected
he emerged from the wood, and not far distant he saw a house in the
direction from whence he came; being, however, as most of the slaves are,
superstitious, he thought it would be a bad omen to turn backward, and so
continued to look about him. It seemed, he said, that some unseen power
held him, for though starving as he was, he could not take a step in that
direction; and at last as he turned around, to his great joy, he saw
another dwelling a little way off, and toward that he hastened his now
lightened footsteps. With a palpitating heart, he approached the door and
knocked cautiously. The man of the house opened it, and as soon as he saw
him, he said, "You are a fugitive slave, but be not alarmed, come in; no
harm shall befall you here; I shall not inquire from whence you came; it
is enough for me to know that you are a human being in distress; consider
me your friend, and let me know your wants."
"Bread! Oh, for a morsel of bread!" said the famished creature, while his
hitherto wild and sunken eyes, began to distil grateful tears. The "good
Samaritan" stepped to another apartment and brought him a piece of bread,
which he expected to see him devour at once, but instead, he looked at
it wistfully, literally devouring it with his eyes; turned it over and
over, and at last stammered out, "my good master, without a piece of bread
for my poor starving wife, I can never swallow this, tempting as it is."
"Poor man," said his benefactor, "can it be that you have a wife with you,
wretched as yourself?" He brought out a loaf of bread, some cheese and
meat, and while the fugitive was preparing to return, the kind gentleman
said, "I am glad you came to me; had you called at the house you first
saw, you would have been betrayed, and immediately arrested. You must
remember," he continued, "that you are young and valuable slaves, and that
your master will make every effort in his power to find you, especially
since he has made a sale of you. To-day and to-night, remain in the woods,
and the next morning you may come to me, if all is quiet; should I see
danger approaching you, I will warn you of it by the crack my rifle. Go
now, to your poor wife, and listen for the signal of danger; if you hear
none, come to me at the appointed time." He returned, and after feeding
his helpless Rosa, she revived, and soon felt quite comfortable and
grateful.
When the morning came for them to leave their retreat, they listened
intently, but hearing nothing, Joe started for the residence of his
friend. He had been gone but a short time, when his wife, who lay in
the bushes, thought she heard the tramp of horses,--she crept nearer
the highway, and peeping through the bush--Oh, horror! what was her
consternation and sickening fear, to find herself gazing upon the
well-known features of her old master, and two of his neighbors, all armed
to the teeth! Her heart seemed to stand still, and the blood to chill in
her veins. Had she been discovered she would have been an easy prey, for
she declared that she could not move a step. In the meantime her husband
had got about half way to the residence of his preserver, when his quick
ear detected the sound made by the feet of horses, and as he stopped to
listen more intently, the sharp crack of a rifle sent him bounding back to
his concealment in the forest.
The party of horsemen rode on to the dwelling of the kind hearted
gentleman, and inquired whether he had seen any fugitive slaves pass that
way.
"I saw," said he, "a man and woman passing rapidly along the road, but do
not know whether they were fugitives, as I did not see their faces." The
human blood-hound, thanked the gentleman for the information, and
immediately set out in pursuit; but, just as the informant had intended,
in a direction _opposite_ to that the slaves had taken. That night, Joe
and Rosa visited the house of their benefactor, where they were supplied
with clothing and as much food as they could carry; and next day they went
on their way rejoicing. They settled in Cincinnati, where they lived
happily, until the mob drove them with others, to the Wilberforce
settlement, where they are in no danger of the auction block, or of a
Southern market; and are as much devoted to each other as ever.