A DREARY NIGHT IN THE WOODS--CRITICAL SITUATION THE NEXT DAY.
Almost immediately on entering the wood, I not only found myself embosomed
in the darkness of the night, but I also found myself entangled in a thick
forest of undergrowth, which had been quite thoroughly wetted by the
afternoon rain.
I penetrated through the wood, thick and thin, and more or less wet, to
the distance I should think of three miles. By this time my clothes were
all thoroughly soaked through, and I felt once more a gloom and
wretchedness; the recollection of which makes me shudder at this distant
day. My young friends in this highly favoured Christian country,
surrounded with all the comforts of home and parental care, visited by
pastors and Sabbath-school teachers, think of the dreary condition of the
blacksmith boy in the dark wood that night; and then consider that
thousands of his brethren have had to undergo much greater hardships in
their flight from slavery.
I was now out of the hands of those who had so cruelly teased me during
the day; but a number of fearful thoughts rushed into my mind to alarm me.
It was dark and cloudy, so that I could not see the _north star_. How do I
know what ravenous beasts are in this wood? How do I know what precipices
may be within its bounds? I cannot rest in this wood to-morrow, for it
will be searched by those men from whom I have escaped; but how shall I
regain the road? How shall I know when I am on the right road again?
These are some of the thoughts that filled my mind with gloom and alarm.
At a venture I struck an angle northward in search of the road. After
several hours of zigzag and laborious travel, dragging through briars,
thorns and running vines, I emerged from the wood and found myself wading
marshy ground and over ditches.
I can form no correct idea of the distance I travelled, but I came to a
road, I should think about three o'clock in the morning. It so happened
that I came out near where there was a fork in the road of three prongs.
Now arose a serious query--which is the right prong for me? I was reminded
by the circumstance of a superstitious proverb among the slaves, that "the
left-hand turning was unlucky," but as I had never been in the habit of
placing faith in this or any similar superstition, I am not aware that it
had the least weight upon my mind, as I had the same difficulty with
reference to the right-hand turning. After a few moments parley with
myself, I took the central prong of the road and pushed on with all my
speed.
It had not cleared off, but a fresh wind had sprung up; it was chilly and
searching. This with my wet clothing made me very uncomfortable; my nerves
began to quiver before the searching wind. The barking of mastiffs, the
crowing of fowls, and the distant rattling of market waggons, warned me
that the day was approaching.
My British reader must remember that in the region where I was, we know
nothing of the long hours of twilight you enjoy here. With us the day is
measured more by the immediate presence of the sun, and the night by the
prevalence of actual darkness.
The day dawned upon me when I was near a small house and barn, situate
close to the road side. The barn was too near the road, and too small to
afford secure shelter for the day; but as I cast my eye around by the dim
light, I could see no wood, and no larger barn. It seemed to be an open
country to a wide extent. The sun was travelling so rapidly from his
eastern chamber, that ten or fifteen minutes would spread broad daylight
over my track. Whether _my_ deed was evil, _you_ may judge, but I freely
confess that I did _then_ prefer darkness rather than light; I therefore
took to the mow of the little barn at a great risk, as the events of the
day will show. It so happened that the barn was filled with corn fodder,
newly cured and lately gotten in. You are aware that however quietly one
may crawl into such a bed, he is compelled to make much more noise than if
it were a feather-bed; and also considerably more than if it were hay or
straw. Besides inflicting upon my own excited imagination the belief that
I made noise enough to be heard by the inmates of the house who were
likely to be rising at the time, I had the misfortune to attract the
notice of a little house-dog, such as we call in that part of the world a
"fice," on account of its being not only the smallest species of the
canine race, but also, because it is the most saucy, noisy, and teasing
of all dogs. This little creature commenced a fierce barking. I had at
once great fears that the mischievous little thing would betray me; I
fully apprehended that as soon as the man of the house arose, he would
come and make search in the barn. It now being entirely daylight, it was
too late to retreat from this shelter, even if I could have found another;
I, therefore, bedded myself down into the fodder as best I could, and
entered upon the annoyances of the day, with the frail hope to sustain my
mind.
It was Thursday morning; the clouds that had veiled the sky during the
latter part of the previous day and the previous night were gone. It was
not until about an hour after the sun rose that I heard any out-door
movements about the house. As soon as I heard those movements, I was
satisfied there was but one man about the house, and that he was preparing
to go some distance to work for the day. This was fortunate for me; the
busy movements about the yard, and especially the active preparations in
the house for breakfast, silenced my unwelcome little annoyer, the fice,
until after the man had gone, when he commenced afresh, and continued with
occasional intermissions through the day. He made regular sallies from the
house to the barn, and after smelling about, would fly back to the house,
barking furiously; thus he strove most skilfully throughout the entire day
to raise an alarm. There seemed to be no one about the house but one or
two small children and the mother, after the man was gone. About ten
o'clock my attention was gravely directed to another trial: how I could
pass the day without food. The reader will remember it is Thursday, and
the only regular meal I have taken since Sunday, was yesterday, in the
midst of great agitation, about four o'clock; that since that I have
performed my arduous night's travel. At one moment, I had nearly concluded
to go and present myself at the door, and ask the woman of the house to
have compassion and give me food; but then I feared the consequences might
be fatal, and I resolved to suffer the day out. The wind sprang up fresh
and cool; the barn being small and the crevices large, my wet clothes were
dried by it, and chilled me through and through.
I cannot now, with pen or tongue, give a correct idea of the feeling of
wretchedness I experienced; every nerve in my system quivered, so that not
a particle of my flesh was at rest. In this way I passed the day till
about the middle of the afternoon, when there seemed to be an unusual stir
about the public road, which passed close by the barn. Men seemed to be
passing in parties on horseback, and talking anxiously. From a word which
I now and then overheard, I had not a shadow of doubt that they were in
search of me. One I heard say, "I ought to catch such a fellow, the only
liberty he should have for one fortnight, would be ten feet of rope."
Another I heard say, "I reckon he is in that wood now." Another said, "Who
would have thought that rascal was so 'cute?" All this while the little
fice was mingling his voice with those of the horsemen, and the noise of
the horses' feet. I listened and trembled.
Just before the setting of the sun, the labouring man of the house
returned, and commenced his evening duties about the house and barn;
chopping wood, getting up his cow, feeding his pigs, &c, attended by the
little brute, who continued barking at short intervals. He came several
times into the barn below. While matters were passing thus, I heard the
approach of horses again, and as they came up nearer, I was led to believe
that all I had heard pass, were returning in one party. They passed the
barn and halted at the house, when I recognised the voice of my old
captor; addressing the labourer, he asked, "Have you seen a runaway nigger
pass here to-day?"
LABOURER.--"No; I have not been at home since early this morning. Where
did he come from?"
CAPTOR.--"I caught him down below here yesterday morning. I had him all
day, and just at night he fooled me and got away. A party of us have been
after him all day; we have been up to the line, but can't hear or see
anything of him. I heard this morning where he came from. He is a
blacksmith, and a stiff reward is out for him, two hundred dollars."
LAB.--"He is worth looking for."
CAP.--"I reckon so. If I get my clutches on him again, I'll mosey[A] him
down to ---- before I eat or sleep."
[Footnote A: An expression which signifies to drive in a hurry.]
Reader, you may if you can, imagine what the state of my mind was at this
moment. I shall make no attempt to describe it to you; to my great relief,
however, the party rode off, and the labourer after finishing his work
went into the house. Hope seemed now to dawn for me once more; darkness
was rapidly approaching, but the moments of twilight seemed much longer
than they did the evening before. At length the sable covering had spread
itself over the earth. About eight o'clock, I ventured to descend from the
mow of the barn into the road. The little dog the while began a furious
fit of barking, so much so, that I was sure that with what his master had
learned about me, he could not fail to believe I was about his premises. I
quickly crossed the road, and got into an open field opposite. After
stepping lightly about two hundred yards, I halted, and on listening, I
heard the door open. Feeling about on the ground, I picked up two stones,
and one in each hand I made off as fast as I could, but I heard nothing
more that indicated pursuit, and after going some distance I discharged my
encumbrance, as from the reduced state of my bodily strength, I could not
afford to carry ballast.
This incident had the effect to start me under great disadvantage to make
a good night's journey, as it threw me at once off the road, and compelled
me to encounter at once the tedious and laborious task of beating my way
across marshy fields, and to drag through woods and thickets where there
were no paths.
After several hours I found my way back to the road, but the hope of
making anything like clever speed was out of the question. All I could do
was to keep my legs in motion, and this I continued to do with the utmost
difficulty. The latter part of the night I suffered extremely from cold.
There came a heavy frost; I expected at every moment to fall on the road
and perish. I came to a corn-field covered with heavy shocks of Indian
corn that had been cut; I went into this and got an ear, and then crept
into one of the shocks; eat as much of it as I could, and thought I would
rest a little and start again, but weary nature could not sustain the
operation of grinding hard corn for its own nourishment, and I sunk to
sleep.
When I awoke, the sun was shining around; I started with alarm, but it
was too late to think of seeking any other shelter; I therefore nestled
myself down, and concealed myself as best I could from the light of day.
After recovering a little from my fright, I commenced again eating my
whole corn. Grain by grain I worked away at it; when my jaws grew tired,
as they often did, I would rest, and then begin afresh. Thus, although I
began an early breakfast, I was nearly the whole of the forenoon before I
had done.
Nothing of importance occurred during the day, until about the middle of
the afternoon, when I was thrown into a panic by the appearance of a party
of gunners, who passed near me with their dogs. After shooting one or two
birds, however, and passing within a few rods of my frail covering, they
went on, and left me once more in hope. Friday night came without any
other incident worth naming. As I sallied out, I felt evident benefit from
the ear of corn I had nibbled away. My strength was considerably renewed;
though I was far from being nourished, I felt that my life was at least
safe from death by hunger. Thus encouraged, I set out with better speed
than I had made since Sunday and Monday night. I had a presentiment, too,
that I must be near free soil. I had not yet the least idea where I should
find a home or a friend, still my spirits were so highly elated, that I
took the whole of the road to myself; I ran, hopped, skipped, jumped,
clapped my hands, and talked to myself. But to the old slaveholder I had
left, I said, "Ah! ha! old fellow, I told you I'd fix you."
After an hour or two of such freaks of joy, a gloom would come over me in
connexion with these questions, "But where are you going? What are you
going to do? What will you do with freedom without father, mother,
sisters, and brothers? What will you say when you are asked where you were
born? You know nothing of the world; how will you explain the fact of your
ignorance?"
These questions made me feel deeply the magnitude of the difficulties yet
before me.
Saturday morning dawned upon me; and although my strength seemed yet
considerably fresh, I began to feel a hunger somewhat more destructive and
pinching, if possible, than I had before. I resolved, at all risk, to
continue my travel by day-light, and to ask information of the first
person I met.
The events of the next chapter will shew what fortune followed this
resolve.