| _ . · | _ - - .-│ │ │ - . WILLIAM L. CLEMENTS LIBRARY The University of Michigan 2-S-2S-2S--> º, -ºººººººº… - J E M M Y AND H IS MOTHER, 3 Jult for Chilürth. ( ANI) ºut); ºr, tº slºt (bit ºf fitnuthy. C IN C IN N A T L : AMERICAN REFORM TRACT AND BOOK SOCIETY. 1858. stºreotyped by C. F. oºpriscony, as CINCINNATI, OHIO. LITTLE JEMMY AND HIS MOTHER. C H A P T E R I. SUSAN’s LovE FOR JEMMY. JEMMY was a happy little slave boy, Do not be surprised because I tell you he was happy, for he was too young to know what a dreadful thing it is to be a slave. He had never been bought or sold; and he had always lived at one place. - His mother was owned by a wealthy planter in Kentucky, who kept her for a house servant, and treated her, gen- erally, very kindly; but she was not happy, for she knew when her little boy was old enough to work he would be (5) 6 LITTLE J EMMY taken away from her, and perhaps be sold and carried away where she could never see him again. Poor Susan, for that was her name, used to lie awake at night, and think about her precious child, and wonder how she would feel to have him taken away from her, and who would put him to bed, and who would be sorry for him if his master should whip him, and who would take care of him if he was sick; and then she would weep, and weep, and weep over him, sometimes until the sun rose in the morning, and would wish that she could die, and her little boy could die too, that they would not have to be slaves. The poor, poor slave mother | No one had ever told her there was a God, and that it was sinful to have such thoughts. No one had ever taught her to pray: and there was no one that she knew of who could help her out of her trouble. AND His Moth ER. 7 - The slaves who worked in the field thought she was a great deal better off than they were; and so she was, so far as work was concerned, but she felt that it would be just as easy for her to go out and work under a hard overseer, as it would be to have her boy go; and she knew that he would have to go as soon as he was a little older; and would have to be driven and whipped if he did not do as much work as he was told to do, and that no one would care whether he was tired or not; and if he should cry, as children are apt to do sometimes, she knew that no one would pity him, or say a word of comfort to him. These thoughts of course made her feel very miserable. She used to go about her work with tears in her eyes; and whenever she heard little Jemmy playing and singing about the house, or in the yard, it would seem as though 8 LITTLE JEMMY - her heart would break to think she must part with him. Her mistress used often to find her crying, and she would give her a new dress, or a new hat or apron for Jem- my, to pacify her, for she knew well enough what made her feel so bad; but such presents did poor Susan no good, so long as the dreadful thought haunted her that they would in a short time take away her dear, dear child. She knew that they often sold bright-look- - AND HIS MOTHER. 9 ing little children, when they were no more than two years old, and she used to be afraid whenever strangers came to the house, for fear they would see her little boy and want to buy him. At length her mistress became angry with her, and told her to be more cheer- ful, or they would sell her to one of those Southern Slave-drivers who treat their slaves very badly, and work them very hard. So she tried to hide her feelings all she could, but she found it very hard to do so. My dear children, when you hear any one say that the slaveholders treat their slaves well, when they are good and obedient, you kindly ask them if they would think they were well treated if they had all they needed to eat and to wear, but were obliged to see their chil- dren one after another sold away from them, or put to work near them, where they could never help them if they saw 10 LITTLE JEMMY them tired and sick, and knew that they themselves would be sold to any one who would give a trifling sum for them, when they were too aged to do hard work. Ask them if they could be happy and cheerful with such thoughts in their mind. And if they finally acknowledge that they do feel sorry for the poor slaves, ask them if they are doing any thing for them—if they ever send any thing for the comfort of the poor crea- tures who are fortunate enough to get away from the Slave States, and who have to flee to Canada, where the cli- mate is cold, and where they suffer much because they are not used to cold wea- ther; though they consider such suffer- ing very small when they can feel that they shall never be bought or sold again, or separated from parents and brothers and sisters, and know that when they labor hard they can receive the pay for it and build their own houses and call AND IIIS MOTHER. 11 them theirs, and have their own things without fear of any one taking them away from them. Talk to your school-mates about these things, and tell them when you are old enough to vote, you shall vote for no man that thinks such a wicked thing as slavery is right, for fear he will be wicked about other things, and wrong the people who put him in office. I suppose you think you are young now, and can not do much, but you must re- member that it will be but a few years before you will be the only ones there are to do, for your fathers and your mothers will be buried and gone; and you should be thinking now what you will do when you are grown up, for the good of the world and the praise of God, and your own happiness after death; for that you know depends upon what you do while in this world. If we do not try to do good while we live, we 12 LITTLE JEMMY have no reason to suppose we shall be happy hereafter. - - But let us go back again to poor Su- san. She found it impossible to appear cheerful, and she was very much dis- tressed, and knew not what to do. If she had known how to pray, or to whom to pray, she would have found some relief for her troubled mind; but, alas! every thing looked dark to her. AND HIS MOTHER. 13 CHAPTE R II. THE ESCAPE. SUSAN felt that life would be dreary without her child, and she did not be- lieve she should see him again after death unless they both died together, so she kept wishing and wishing that they might die. She thought sometimes she would go away with her child into the garret, or some lonely place, and stay until they starved to death, and then she supposed they would be buried in one coffin, and so they would not be separated. But God put better thoughts in her mind, and did not let her do such a dreadful thing. She finally concluded she would try and get away from those who pretended to own her as they did their houses and lands, and claimed the 14 LITTLE J EMMY right to buy and sell her. She had heard about slaves running away, and going north to be free, and she knew, too, when they were caught and brought back they were severely whipped, some- times so severely that they died. But yet she thought she had rather run the risk of being caught, than to stay there and be separated from her child. It did not take her long to get ready after she had made up her mind to go, for she had no friends to bid “good by." She did not dare to tell any one she was going, for fear her master and mistress would hear of it, and would watch her so that she could not get away. She started one dark, windy night, when she thought but few would be out. She had gathered up a few things for little Jemmy, and tied them up in a pocket handkerchief, and taking him of his bed where he was fast asleep, she went as quietly as possible out of the AND HIS MOTHER. 15 house and through the yard into the road. After she had gone a short dis- tance she put her little boy down, and stopped to rest. The little follow was wide awake by this time, and clinging hold of his mother's clothes, began to cry. Poor Susan quieted him as well as she could, and told him little stories, until at last he began to laugh and hop along by her side. You know I have told you he was a happy little boy, and I think he was not so much afraid of the dark as some children are; which, by the way, is a very foolish kind of fear, and very wrong too, for children who are taught to trust in God. For He could let you get hurt just as well in the daytime as in the night, and it is distrusting His goodness and care to be always afraid, and is very dis- pleasing to Him. There is no doubt but God often punishes His children, by sending trouble upon them, when 16 LITTLE JEMMY they manifest such a want of trust in Him. I can not tell you how sad poor Su- san felt after she had got out of sight of her old home, for she did not know what she could do if she should get where she would be free, or whether any one would give her work and pay her for it, but she thought she would rather die of cold and hunger than to have her child sold away from her. So she walked on as fast as she could to- ward that wonderful North she had heard of, where loving mothers rock their little ones to sleep, night after night, without fear of any strange men coming and taking them away. How thankful we should be for the great blessings of liberty which we en- joy, and how earnestly we should try and do something for the poor oppressed ones, if it is only to make some one else pity them, which would be something. AND HIS MOTHER. 17 When we are in trouble, it is a great comfort to know that others are sorry for us. Perhaps you are wondering where lit- tie Jemmy's father was, and why he didn't go with them. Poor Susan did not know much about her husband, for he lived upon another plantation, and was sold a few months after they were married, and taken farther South, so that little Jemmy never saw his father and did not know any thing about him. You would not know how to spare your dear father, and you expect to live with him until you grow up; but if you ever have naughty feelings when he bids you do what you do not want to do, or when he refuses you sorºething you de- sire, remember those who have no fa- thers, or whose fathers are slaves, and can not get little presents for their chil- dren to make them happy. After Susan and her little boy had 2 - 18 JEMMY AND HIS MOTHER. gone a mile or two, she heard wheels approaching. She crept close up to the fence, and crouching down by a little bush, she spread the dark-colored shawl she had on over Jemmy, and telling him to be quiet, she bent down her head and waited for the vehicle to pass. For- tunately, it passed without their being observed, but it frightened her so that she thought it best to get over the fence and go through the fields. She found it more difficult getting along there with her child, for he began to grow very weary, and did not want to go any far- ther, but she gave him a cake, for she had put a few in her bundle for him. and so encouraged him along until day began to break, and then she began to look for a place to hide through the day, for she knew it would not be safe to travel except in the might. They came, at last, to a little thicket of trees and bushes, and, tired and almost SUSAN AND JEMMY HIDING. 20 LITTLE JEMMY discouraged, the poor slave mother sat down to rest. “Oh what a weary, weary life this is,” she murmured to herself, as she took her little boy in her arms and looked around to see where she could lay him down when he fell asleep. Poor, poor Susan, if she had only trusted in God, and prayed to Him to give her strength and courage, how comforting it would have been to her. But she had never prayed in her life. The people with whom she lived were not religious people; they seldom went to church, and never sent their slaves, so that she was very ignorant about her Maker and the duties we owe Him. Perhaps you wonder if any of the slaveholders are religious, and if they dare to pray God to bless them while they are doing so wickedly by their fel- low-men. Yes, many of them make professions of piety, and go to church, and let their slaves go too. But we will AND HIS MOTHER. 21 not judge them, for we are warned in the Bible against judging the sins of others. God will take care of them, and if it is best for them to be punished, He will surely do it. God brings about punish- ments in very unexpected ways, some- times so that it is impossible to escape them. Susan laid little Jemmy down upon the grass after he had gone to sleep in her arms, and then looked around and found some berries for her breakfast, for she would not eat any of the cakes she had taken for Jemmy. She then lay down beside her little boy, but it was a long, long time before she could get to sleep, and when she did, she dreamed strange dreams. She dreamed about lying in a damp bed, and about snakes crawling around her and Jemmy, and then again about dogs chasing them, so that when she awoke, towards moon, she did not feel much refreshed from her 22 LITTLE JEMMY sleep, and she began wearily again to pick berries and to look after nuts. We should think it was rather hard fare to live upon nuts and berries, even for a single day, but that was the least of poor Susan's trouble. She thought if she could only be free, she could live on almost any thing. Little Jemmy did not awake until late in the afternoon, for he was very tired from the long walk. His mother gave him another cake and some of the berries she had gathered, and then picked flowers to amuse him until it was dark again. Susan had found so much trouble in getting along through the fields, she thought she would venture to go in the road again, as she thought she was so far away from her master's home, that no one would know her. But she had not gone so far as she imagined, though it no doubt seemed a great way to her; AND HIS MOTHER. 23 for she had only gone four miles. She had to walk very slow on little Jemmy's account, and sat down often to let him rest. The stars came out bright that night, and she was glad, for she wanted to see the north star, so as to be sure she was keeping in a northerly direction. It was not so lonely as it was the night before, and they proceeded faster, so that before daylight they came in sight of the Ohio river. 24 LITTLE JEMMY CHAPTER III. THE RETURN. AND now what a wonder was opened to poor Susan's eyes. She had heard tell about the Ohio river, and knew that it was about ten miles from where she lived, but she had a very indistinct idea as to what it was. She had seen small streams, and supposed it was something like those, so you can imagine her sur- prise when she saw so much water, and wondered how she was going to cross it. There was a ferry-boat there, but she did not know what it was, and would not have dared to go upon it if she had. She now sat down and wept bitterly, and felt very much like taking her child in her arms and throwing herself into the deep water, where she would sink to rise AND HIS MOTHER. 25 no more. But little Jemmy, who was delighted with the wonderful sight, put his arms around her neck, and wiped the tears off her face with his little hands. º When Susan saw Jemmy smiling and so pretty, she could not think of doing him any harm, neither could she think of drowning herself and leaving him there alone; so, after thinking a long time, she concluded to go back and try and learn something more about the way the slaves escaped to the north. 26 LITTLE JEMMY But what should she tell her mistress? Where should she tell her she had been so long? After another half hour of sad thinking, she made up her mind to go back and tell her mistress that she went out into the swamp to pick berries and got lost, and could not find her way out! Poor ignorant slave. She did not know that telling an untruth was sin- ning against a just and good God, or that any but earthly beings would know of it. Susan had never been in the habit of telling wrong stories, because her mis- tress had told her she must not, and she had always tried to do as she was told. This was the first time she had ever undertaken to deceive any one, and she did not feel exactly satisfied with herself. And this proves that God has given us all a knowledge of right and wrong, though education makes that knowledge AND HIS MOTHER. 27 much clearer, and makes us, too, more responsible for the wrong we do. Susan did not find much trouble in getting back again; she met but one or two vehicles on the road, as it was a rather unfrequented one; but when she reached the house she felt bad enough. Oh, how could she give up the hope of being free and keeping her child, and yet she greatly feared she should never dare to undertake again to get away. 28 LITTLE JEMMY C HAPTER IV. NEW VIEWS-PROGRESS IN KNOWLEDGE. AND now we shall see how wisely God orders all things that take place in this world. After Susan had returned, her mistress gave her a new dress, and some old playthings for Jemmy, that her children had become tired of. Among the playthings she gave to Jemmy, were some old books—several picture books, an old spelling-book, and a part of an old Testament. Susan looked them over, and the idea came into her mind that perhaps she could learn to read, and possibly she might, some time or other, read of something that would enlighten her as to how she could get to the land of freedom she so longed to see. AND HIS MOTHER. 29 Now was not that a very wise thought for a poor ignorant slave And do you not think a kind and merciful God put the thought into her mind? We have every reason to believe that the Spirit of God speaks comforting words to many a worried mind, and thus soothes many aching hearts. Susan carefully laid away the old books, and waited for an opportunity to get some one to show her a little about them. There was a young lady in the family, a governess, who taught her mistress' children, and she had often spoken very kindly to Susan and her little boy, and Susan thought, perhaps, if she should ask her, she would help her to learn to read. Only think, my dear children, what advantages you have, and how you ought to prize them. You have teachers pro- vided for you, and every inducement to learn; and when you feel indolent again - 30 LITTLE JEMMY and want to skip over your lessons with- out learning them well, you must think how many there are that would like to be in your place, and have such kind friends to teach them. I have known some Sabbath School scholars, bright little girls and boys too, who would idle away their time through the week, and then go into their class on Sunday with- out having learned the shortlesson given to them the Sabbath before. And this is very, very wrong. I think if such children were slaves a little while, and had no one to instruct them, they would never want to neglect their les- sons again, for there is no little boy or girl that would like the idea of growing up ignorant. - - It was a long time before Susan found an opportunity to speak to Miss Harris, the governess, and when she did, she was afraid to tell her what she wanted. Susan was putting the school-room in AND HIS MOTHER. 31 order one morning, when Miss Harris came in Little Jemmy was with her as usual, and Miss Harris stepped up to him, and patting his little curly head, said, “I guess you are a nice little fel- low.” Then she turned round to speak to his mother, and saw her tears falling thick and fast, though she was bending down her head and trying to conceal them. - troubled her, but poor Susan still felt afraid to tell her. At last, seeing that 32 LITTLE JEMMY Miss Harris appeared so very kind, she ventured to tell her what it was that made her feel so sad. They talked a long time, until the children came in and they were obliged to stop. Susan opened her heart fully to the kind lady, and even ventured to tell her how she had tried to run away, and how much she wanted to get where she could always keep her child with her, and feel as if he were her own. She was greatly delighted when Miss Harris told her that she would instruct her all she could in her spare moments. You may be sure the school-room had good care taken of it after that, and almost every day Miss Harris found an opportunity to talk with Susan, and teach her how to read, and to under- stand what she read. She was very happy in doing it when she thought of pleasing her heavenly Father in this way. She was very glad, too, to see AND HIS MOTHER. 33 how quick and bright Susan's mind was, and how greatly she was delighted when she found herself really learning to read. Susan became very industrious and attentive to her work, and very cheer- ful too, for now she had such happy thoughts in her mind she could not help being cheerful. Her mistress noticed the change in her, and praised her very much, and gave her a good many new things, until the poor slave began to think it would not be right to go away and leave her; but when she looked at her little boy, and thought that he would probably outlive her present mas- ter and mistress, even if they should never sell him, and then perhaps he would have a cruel master, and when she remembered an old slave they had sold not many months ago, because he was of but little use to them, she felt it would be more wrong to stay than it would be to go away where she and - 3 34 LITTLE JEMMY her child would be free. So she worked away as fast as she could for them, and learned all she could from Miss Harris, who was pious, and did not forget to tell her about God and Christ and the duties she owed her Heavenly Father, and the comfort she might obtain by trusting in him and asking his guidance in what she did. When Susan had learned to pray, and began to understand what a wise Being her Heavenly Father was, she felt that it was all right that she failed in getting away from slavery, and was obliged to come back again, for she thought if she had succeeded in getting away then she should have been so overjoyed, that she should never have cared for any greater happiness, and perhaps would have lived in freedom and died a slave to sin, which she now saw would have been far worse than to live in slavery here, and to die and go home to heaven AND HIS MOTHER. 35 So she felt glad that God had sent her back again, and she determined never to undertake any thing again without asking His assistance and guidance. 36 LITTLE JEMMY. CHAP T E R. V. - susAN's SECOND ESCAPE. IT was some time after this, that Susan, thinking she had found a way to escape, and what route to take, deter- mined to try again. She had carefully saved all the little money given to her in presents. She had heard, too, that there were good people on the way who would help her. All this encouraged her to start, and find a land of liberty for herself and child. It was a long and perilous journey for her, but she reached Canada at last in safety. Do you never wish, my dear children, that the slaves were not obliged to go so far North to find safety from their pur- suers? It is very cold there, and being unaccustomed to a cold climate, they often suffer very much. I saw a colored AND His Moth ER. 37 man from there not many months ago, and I observed that he coughed very badly. I felt very sorry for him, and asked him if the fugitives did not suffer from the coldness of the climate in Canada. “Yes, madam,” said he, “some keep taking cold after cold, until at last their lungs become affected beyond cure, and they die with consumption. But,” he added, smiling very pleasantly, “we don't mind that when we are free." I have seen another man who lives there, a very good man, and if he was only white, he would be called a very smart man, for he never had any educa- tion except what he has picked up here and there as he had opportunity, but he can talk to a house full of people until the tears come into their eyes, and no one dares to move for fear he will make a noise and will not hear every word he is telling them. - His escape from slavery was very re- 38 LITTLE JEMMY markable, and I would tell you about it but that he wants to have it all written in a book that he can sell and get money to buy his little daughter, who is still in bondage. He was caught and taken back and put into jail, the first attempt he made to get away, but he trusted in God, and he told me that he felt sure that God would release him, and he did not cease to pray, and his prayer was heard, and he was enabled the second time to elude his pursuers and reach Canada in safety. He has labored hard, and has now a good home, which proves the saying of slaveholders, that their slaves cannot take care of themselves, very untrue. There is no doubt, many slaveholders honestly believe that their slaves could not take care of themselves if they were to give them their freedom; and we must have charity for them, and pray that they may be convinced of this greater- ror. It is always safer to have too much AND HIS MOTHER. 39 charity than too little; and those who hold the slaves in bondage are certainly to be pitied as well as the poor slaves. Some of them are to be pitied for the great punishment that awaits them, and many of them are to be pitied because they cannot see they are doing wrong. They have been brought up to believe that slavery is just and necessary, and early impressions are very difficult to get rid of; so, see to it, my little friends, that your early impressions are such that you will not need to get rid of them when you are grown up, that “they may grow with your growth and strengthen with your strength” until they become mighty, and cast an influ- ence all around. There is scarcely a sentence you utter but that influences some one for either good or evil. Think always more than you speak, and be sure that what you say is right. Yo have all either brothers, or sisters, . 40 JEMMY AND HIS MOTHER. playmates, and you must not let them learn any thing bad from you. And now let me ask, if you have ever done any thing for the poor slave? Have you ever prayed for him or his unwise master, that God would soften his heart to let the bondman go free? And do you ever wish that we might have better rulers– Christian men, who would not allow these things to be? The little girls must talk to their little brothers, and the brothers must talk to other boys of their age, about these matters, and you must form societies among yourselves when you go to school, at recess and at noon-time, and you must pass resolutions condemning such great wickedness; then you will be growing with good impressions upon your minds, and will be prepared to act when you are men and women, to act in the fear of God and for the good of all who may feel your influence. LITTLE LUCY; OR, THE KENTUCKY SILAWE GIRL. - “I’ve got it!” shouted little Arthur Morton, as he came bounding in from school one day. “Here is my report, that shows I’ve not missed a question, or got a black mark for any thing for two weeks; and now, aunty, for a story; for you know that you promised when I got this, you would spend two hours telling me stories.” “Very true, Arthur, so I did,” said the good aunty, “and I am right glad you have been so good a boy. But I hope the promise of the story was not all that induced you to do your best * 41 42 LITTLE LUCY; OR, “Oh no, because I found out a good while ago, that the more I tried to be good, the happier I grew, and the easier it grew, too, to learn my lesson, and always be in season; but of course, aunty, I could not help thinking about the fine stories every day that I got no black marks. There could’nt have been harm in that, could there 2" “To be sure not; I only wanted to know what had been your highest mo- tive; and am more than ever pleased to think you are learning to prize an approving conscience, and to do right simply because or for the sake of right; and now, as you have fairly earned a story, or several of them, I will be very happy to commence the two hours' talk whenever you are ready. But tell me first what it shall be about . Some- thing somebody has written, or a true story of what has really happened " “Oh, something true, aunty, and I THE SLAVE GIRL. 43 do want to hear what you told cousin Ben the other day, that made him say he should lay up all the money he could get, to free little colored boys and girls with. He was going to tell me the story, only he said you could tell it so much better, that I finally chose to wait for it.” “I think it must have been about little Lucy, whom I saw once on my way to New Orleans.” - “Yes, that is it, I know,” said Ar- thur, and he drew his chair close up in front of aunty's sofa, where he could watch the expression of her face as she told the following true story: Just imagine yourself on board one of those enormous Mississippi river steamers, that carry not only hundreds of passengers, but all articles of mer- chandise, from a Jew's harp to barrels of pork, and of live animals, from a chicken to the largest oxen. You 44 LITTLE LUCY, OR, would like to see in reality one of those steamers loaded for the Southern market, though you would be sorry for the poor animals, herded so close that they cannot have any comfort—pigs, sheep, lambs, oxen, and horses, in their different pens on the lower deck. The middle deck is empty, but the upper one is usually covered with long coops filled with hens, chickens, geese, ducks, pigeons, doves, and turkeys. When I first heard these little creatures eating their breakfast above my head, I could not imagine what the noise was they made such a tapping picking up the corn. They are so crowded together, that sometimes several die in a day, and then again, some of those that are only tied by the legs to the outside of the coops and cages, now and then break their fastenings, and fly or fall off into the river. It was sad enough to see them struggle and drown in the _ THE SLAVE GIRL. 45 cold muddy water. If you will look upon the map, Arthur, some time, you can find the town of Paducah on the north-western boundary of Kentucky, a place at which our boat stopped late one evening. It was a clear frosty night, and the moon and stars shone almost as bright as suns in the dark sky, and gave a magic bec uty to almost every thing beneath them. Your uncle came to my state-room for me to go out upon deck to look at the town. It was a lovely landscape, though I am not sure it would have appeared so charm- ing at midday. Nothing could exceed its serenity and beauty then, as it stretched out before us in the bright moonlight—the town seemingly cradled among the gentler slopes, as I said to brother, “as quiet and still as a sleep- ing child,” that the stars themselves were watching with twinkling pleasure. “That,” said he, “is just a piece of 46 LITTLE LUCY; OR, nonsense; for to me those stars seem to blaze with indignation quite as mani- festly as to you they twinkle with plea- sure, and with far more reason, for I cannot forget that this is slave soil, every inch of it a cradle of tyranny and oppression, and the very beauty of those residences suggests the human miseries which have both directly and indirectly been involved in their con- struction.” I was unwilling that my enjoyment should be marred by any such reflec- tions, and had turned our conversation to a happier subject, when the air was suddenly rent by the most piercing, dis- tracting shrieks I had ever heard. One after another they followed, unearthly and wild, as though the agony and de- spair of twenty souls might have been concentrated in that one. Neither of us could speak for a few moments, so fear- ful and startling were those terrible THE SLAVE GIRL. 47 shrieks, that seemed likely never to stop. They came from the shore near the bow of the boat, but the huge wheel-houses hid the cause from our sight, and the length of the boat pre- vented us from hearing any sounds that could give a clue to the mystery. Still they continued – what could it mean? We knew it could be no slave-whipping, else we should hear the crack of the terrible whip; but we could not even guess a torture that should wring from any human being shrieks like those. After some little time, they stopped as suddenly as they began, and all was still as before, save the noise of the boat as it was preparing to leave the wharf. Then we heard a different sort of cry just beneath our feet—a poor little lamb, in its careless capers in the moon- light, had fallen overboard into the river. Its little white head was all we could see above the black freezing 48 LITTLE LUCY; OR, water, and its piteous bleatings made me shiver in sympathy. We knew it must drown, too, for we could hear by its gurgling cry that the pitiless water was filling its little throat, and that each answer it made to its mother's calls was less and less loud. We tried to save it by a lasso, but the swinging about of the boat prevented our success, and drew the poor thing entirely under the water. You may think it strange, but the excitement of the last incident had thrust from my mind the one that went before it, and the boat had not gone far on its way when I returned to my state-room, all unmindful of human sorrow, and little dreaming that there were beings only a few feet beneath me who would gladly have shared the poor lamb's fate, or that there were heart- aches there which, if made apparent by a sound proportioned to their intensity, would have brought upon their feet the THE SLAVE GIRL. 49 many sleepers within the boat, and made it seem like a floating volcano. The next morning, as I was passing through the lower cabin, I saw, sitting on a rug before the grate, a little girl about a dozen years old apparently. “Just my age,” interrupted Arthur. Yes, but she was not so large as you though, and was withal very slender looking. I never saw such a picture of distress in a child. She sat staring into the fire as though she saw in its bright flames what no one else could see, her hands clenched convulsively upon her sides, and even her little toes, which appeared from under her blue checked frock, were curled up tight as her fin- gers, and every few minutes her little body shook with convulsive sobs, that were evidently the remains of a tempest of passion. On the floor beside her was a tempting breakfast of chicken, ham and eggs, rolls and coffee; but she gave 4 50 LITTLE LUCY; OR, no signs of caring for it. Neither did she notice me, though I stood quite close to her. After watching the poor creature a few moments I said, “Good morning, Netty dear, how do you do this morning?” She looked up at this with the most hopeless expression im- aginable, and answered, “Please, missis, my name ain't Netty, its Lucy; an' I ain’t well at all dis yer morning.” “I am sorry if you are sick; what is the matter º’ I asked. “Oh, my head hurts me—I nebber was a well chile, nebber. Granny says as how I'se giben her more trouble dan all de res’ de chil’en she eber had. Sometimes I'se a little better, but now Tse wus again. Specs I hurted mysef a-cryin' so las' night—did missus heal me? De Cappan said I'd scar all de people to death der was on de boat.” “No, I didn't hear you,” I answered, “I have never heard any crying on the THE SLAVE GIRL. 51 boat; what time was it, and what made you cry?” “Oh, twasn't on de boat at all—'twas back dar at Paducket.” “Why, that could not have been you who screamed so at the wharf where the boat stopped " “Oh yes, ’twas, missus. You see dey wouldn't nudder let me come wid mam- my, nor take me back to granny, and so I couldn’t do nothin' but scream.” “Where is your granny?" “Oh, she's back dar to massa Tom's house—yer see massa Tom got broke de oder day, an had to sell most all his folks; dat is, de young hands an de little folks, but he said he wouldn't sell de ole uns, what his fader had on de place afore him, no-how; an yer see, missus, granny's one o de ole uns, and - stays dar yet; but mammy's mong de young hands, and Ise 'mong de little uns, an so we'se done got sold ſº 52 LITTLE LUCY, OR, And here the poor child clenched tightly again her little thin fingers that had been gradually loosened during our talk, and turning her face toward the fire, commenced rocking her body to and fro, and talking as if to herself. “Oh, I wish Tse wid poor granny again; she hain't got no more sick chil’n to take care on now, an I hasn't got no- body to take care o' me, no more neber.” “Where is your mammy " I asked. “Oh, she's forrard dar 'mong dose people, dat missus can see,” she answer- ed, pointing to a group which I had not noticed at the other end of the cabin;–such a group as I hope never to see again—men and women of diſ. ferent ages and appearances, some of tº whom had just been sold from all they loved in the world, to a new master who was again to sell them to another, and probably to a more severe bondage than they had ever known—while others THE SLAVE GIRL. 53 among them had been bought by dif- ferent individuals then on the boat, who had been up into the country to buy fresh hands for the next cotton crop, to supply the places of those who had died during the harvesting of the last. “Dat aris mammy,” continued Lucy, “dat ar one dat sits by de man dat takes on so—an dat's Sam. Dey're de only two what's come from massa Tom's place; an he don't like, nudder, to go away from aunt Sukey, an’ Johnny, an’ little Snowball; nor to go down de river at all; an' I specs he'd a drownded hisself in de riber las' night, if dey hadn't tied him so he couldn't. The poor man sat upon the floor, his head bowed upon his knees, with his hands clasped over his neck, silent as a statue, but his whole appearance bespeaking the most hopeless grief. Mrs. Stowe had not then told us Northerners what a horror the poor negroes have of being sold down the 54 LITTLE LUCY, OR, river, and so I supposed that all his grief was occasioned by the separation from his wife and little ones, and I felt that to be a sufficient cause for it. I could not endure to look at them, but went on talking with the child. “I thought you said, Lucy, that they wouldn't let you and your mammy go together " “An' so dey wouldn't,” she answer- ed., “for when de massa buyed mammy in Paducah, he wouldn't tink o' me at all, cause he said as how Tse a DOOT little sick good-for-nothin lookin' ting, and aint of no account nohow; an arter all, said he hadn't got no more money dan jus’ enuff to buy mammy; but I cried so, he wasn't goin’ for to take her nudder, but de Oder massa said he'd sell me for fifty dollars if dey took us togedder, so massa said he'd come aboard de boat to try an' borrow de money. But de Cappan was out dar, an’ told him he'd lend de money if I’d * THE Si. AWE GIRL- 55 stop cryin, an’ let go o' mammy,” an’so dey took me, an here I'se be missus!" “Well, Lucy, now I think you had better eat your breakfast; it will soon be entirely cold, if it is not so already. “No, missus, I aint a-goin' for to eat no more,” she said determinedly. “Why not?” “‘Cause dey want to hab me eat, an say I'll die if I don't!" “Why, child, you don’t want to starve yourself. I hope l’ “Not zac'ly, missus, but I hopes I'll die anyhow afore dey has time to take me from mammy agin ; an' if I don't eat, specs I shall, an den I'll be glad.” “Which would you like best, Lucy, to be free and go and live with me, or go with mammy and be a slave?” “I’d radder go back to granny dam to go wid eider ob yees—an yer see, missus, 'taint of no kind o' use a freein a little sick nigger chile like I’ll be, anyhow, cause I'se agwine for to die 56 LITTLE LUCY ; OR, one o’ dese yer days, an’ be buried up in de groun', an’ go an’ lib wid de Lord, an den I’ll be done free for saptain. Ebrybody 'll be free an equal when deyºse dead! Didn't missus know dat?” she said, her face lighting up with something of hope and triumph. “Yes,” I replied, “if we have first been freed from sin by Christ, and unless we have been, I fear none of us will go to live with the Lord.” * Why, how’s dat,” she said, aston- ished ; “ what's bein freed from sinº “Free from the power of our own willful, selfish spirits, made willing to submit to God’s will concerning us, and to obey all His commands; to bear pa- tiently and cheerfully all that happens to us. Now, Lucy, are you sure you do all this White people don't expect, when they are unwilling to live, and try to starve themselves, that the Lord will take them to live with him; and 1 am afraid he looks into the hearts of THE SLAVE GIRL. 57 little colored children, and wants to see a good spirit in them, just as he does into the hearts of white children, be- cause we suppose they are of equal value in His sight before their bodies are buried in the ground. The heart of a colored child may be free from sin while the body is a slave, and the heart of a white child may be a slave to sin, while its body is free; all hearts must have good spirits in them if they would be taken to live with the Lord when the body is dead.” “Nobody neber told me dat afore ; but what can I do, missus?” she said, sorrowfully; “white ladies what neber knowed nottin' at all 'bout sickness an” trouble, don’t know how hard 'tis for us colored people to be good an' wan' to lib, when we se done sold, an down de riber too! But granny said the Lord knowed.” “Well, Lucy, I will tell you, that first you must try to eat your breakfast, and be thankful it is so nice—try to 58 LITTLE LUCY; OR, think how much better your condition is than it would be if God had not put it into the heart of the man to buy you with your mammy. Ask God every day to forgive your wicked wishes, to help you to be patient and cheerful, and to help you to comfort your poor mammy and to make her happier; and ask Him to make you fit to live with Him when you die, and He certainly will hear you, and make you willing to wait here till He call you to a home where you never will be sold again.” The poor child stretched out her hand slowly toward the food, but let it fall listlessly by the plate, and though big tears rolled over her little swollen cheeks as I told her of our Savior's love for her, and of His readiness and pleas- ure in helping her to do all her little duties, it was evident that they were not so bitter as those she had shed during the past few days. Presently a happier expression came over her face, THE SHAVE GIRL. 59 and she looked up almost with a smile as she said, “Oh, I'll try for sartin. And does missus tink He'll call me afore long?” “I hope so,” I answered, “ and that He will make you happier till he does.” Then after persuading her to commence her breakfast, I left her with a promise to talk with her again the next day. So on the following morning I went down and found the little thing evi- dently watching for me, and I had no sooner opened the door than she com- menced a sort of pirouetting first upon one foot and then upon the other, look- ing at me intently at the same time, as much as to say, “Do you see how I try to be happy?” When I inquired how she felt, she said, “I’se 'sidable better dis yer morning, tank yer, missus.” Then, as if afraid that I had not no- ticed the pranks she was really too weak to keep up, continued, “an I'se a-tryin' to be happy; but mammy took on mighty bad las' night in de night 'bout 60 LITTLE LUCY; OR, Dinah an little Dickey, an all de res' on 'em, cause as how we're a-goin' furder and furder way from 'em, and neber 'll see none on 'em no more, an she don't know whar dey all is.” The mother came forward while we were talking, and with a very gracious courtesy commenced saying she was much obliged to me for talking to Lucy as I had the previous day, and hoped I would excuse all her bad ways, because she had always been a sick little thing, and lived with her granny, who let her have her own way: and when she went up to the hall to stay, massa Tom al- ways petted her, and would never have her ruled by the servants, or crossed any way, “cause as how (to use her own words) he sot such a heap by her.” The poor woman was suffering badly from asthma, with which she had al- ways been so troubled as never to have done much hard work, being only called upon to sew a little, or help in the THE SLAVE GIRL. 61 kitchen, at the hall, when there was extra work to be done. She declared * massa Tom” to be the best kind of a master, and said he made the man who bought her promise that she should not be sold for anything but a house serv- ant, and also that none of the people should be sold down the river. But spite of all that, she had been bought by a cotton planter on Red river, where she would be compelled to work in the field early and late, in the dews and fog and rain, which would probably soon kill her. But worse than all, she said the man had broken another promise, not to separate the families to go in different directions, but that the mem- bers of one family should be sold in the same county, or, if possible, in the same town or neighborhood; and now he had scarcely any two members of the same family to go the same way. When I asked her iſ she had other children 62 LITTLE LUCY; OR, than Lucy, she answered, “Oh yes, in- deed, missus, only three weeks ago I had a home, a husband, and eight chil. dren, and didn't spect no kind o' trou. ble, cause massa Tom was always so good; but all sorts o' trouble comes soon enough arter de officer what come wid de writins, an massa Tom couldn't help us bein’ sold, an now I’m goin' down de riber; home, husband, and chillen all gone different ways, all but dis yer poor little sick thing, an de good Lor only knows what'll become o' her when I’m gone, as I soon shall be;” —and the poor woman covered her face with her hands, and bursting into a violent fit of weeping, walked hastily away to the other end of the cabin, I am sorry I cannot tell you, Arthur, what became of the poor things after; but that night they were taken off the boat at the mouth of Red river, and I was thankful that it was while I slept, THE SLAVE GIRL. 63 for I wouldn’t like to have seen them grieve at bidding good-by to their dear friends going further down the river. “That's a right sad story, aunty,” said Arthur; “and I can’t help think- ing that they are both dead before this.” “They probably died long ago,” said aunty; but the saddest part of the story is, that it is less than what might be told of what passes every day in a slave country.” “Oh aunty, can it be so?” “Yes, Arthur, I have no doubt that those foul, muddy Mississippi waters bear down on their surface, every day, even worse evidences than this of that more foul and filthy system of slavery, in the shape of manacled limbs, bruised backs, and broken hearts; parents mourning for children, and children for parents, who loved each other as you love your home and parents—brothers and sisters grieving for each other, and 64 LITTLE LUCY. husbands and wives who are as much one in the sight of our Heavenly Father as are your father and mother, Arthur !” “Well, I cannot bear to think of it, aunty.” “But I want you to think of it, at least till you sicken and hate it as every Christian ought, so that when you are a man you will resist its ag- gressions with your whole soul.” “I hate it now, aunty,” and he con- tinued to say what I hope all boys and girls who read this will join him in say- ing; “I’ll pray that I may continue to hate the whole thing with all my might, and I’ll give thanks, too, every day, that I was not born a colored child, to be sold away from all I love and be taken down the Mississippi river.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - º - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - º - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - J. 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