He saw that I was suspicious, and he said he was sorry, now that he
had brought us to the end of our voyage, to find I had so little
confidence in him. Ah, if he had ever been a slave he would have
known how difficult it was to trust a white man. He assured us that
we might sleep through the night without fear; that he would take
care we were not left unprotected. Be it said to the honor of this
captain, Southerner as he was, that if Fanny and I had been white
ladies, and our passage lawfully engaged, he could not have treated us
more respectfully. My intelligent friend, Peter, had rightly estimated
the character of the man to whose honor he had intrusted us. The next
morning I was on deck as soon as the day dawned. I called Fanny to see
the sun rise, for the first time in our lives, on free soil; for such
I _then_ believed it to be. We watched the reddening sky, and saw the
great orb come up slowly out of the water, as it seemed. Soon the waves
began to sparkle, and every thing caught the beautiful glow. Before us
lay the city of strangers. We looked at each other, and the eyes of
both were moistened with tears. We had escaped from slavery, and we
supposed ourselves to be safe from the hunters. But we were alone in
the world, and we had left dear ties behind us; ties cruelly sundered
by the demon Slavery.