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Show Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. w·a.s a J··l llg1 e or cha.. ins · The moon had juRt ,l 'isen, an. d cast a·n uucer· t·(. lin licb rht throuoo ·h the. bar. .· , oi the Wlll· dow. \V 0 knelt down and took BcnJannn s cohl hands · , \\ 0 did not peak. Sobs \vcrc hoanl, and 111 QUI · . Be nJ·a llll·l l ' S li})S were unsealed ; . fo. r Ius 1nothcr was weep1· ng 0 11 his neck · Ilow vrvully docs 1110n1ory bring back that sad night! l\fothcr and ~on talked together. ITo asked her pardon for t~w suffcr1n? he had caused her. She said she had notluug to forg1vc; sbc could not ularne his desire for frcodonL lie tolJ her that when he was captured, he broke a\vay, HllU \VaS about casting hirn-.elf into the ri.Ycr, wh~n though~s of lt~r , ca1ne over hirn, and he do 1sted. She asked 1f he d1d not also think of God. I fancied. I saw his face grow fierce in the n1ooulight. lie answered, " No, I eli d. no! think of hiln. When a n1an is hunteu like a wild beast he forgets there is a God, a he a YOn. lie forget every thing in his struggle to get ucyond. the reach of the lJloodhounds." "Don't talk so, Bcnja1nin," ~aid she. "Put your tru t in God. Be lnuniJlc, rny child, auu your lllU tor will iorgivc you." "Forgive 1110 for 1oltat, rnothcr? For not lcttillfl hin1 treat 1110 like a dog? No! I \vill never h tunhlc myself to hin1. I have worked for hirn for nothing all1ny life, and I run rcpaicl with stripes and iinpri!'IOJl· n1cnt. IIcrc I will stay till I die, or till ho sells me." 'rho poor nwther f-ihuclclcrod at hi· \vords. 1 think he felt it; for when he next ·poke, his voice 1ra caln1cr. '~Don't fret about rnc, n1oLhcr. 1 ain't \rorth it," said he. '~I wish I had so1no of your goodnc"s. You bear every thing patiently, just as though you thought it was all right. I wish I could." The Slave who Dared to Feel like a Man. 37 She told hin1 he had not alway· been f-iO ; once, she wa like hi1n; but when sore trouble carne upon her, and she had no ann to lean upon, she learned to call on God, and he lightened her burdens. She besought hin1 to do likewise. \V c over taicl our time, and wore obliged to hurry fro1n tho jail. Bcnjatniu hacl Leon i1nprisoncu three \Vcek ·, when n1y grauchnothcr \vent to intcrcc<lc for hin1 with hjs master. lie 1va · in11novablc. Ile ~aid. JJenjan1in sl1oul<l serve as au cxan1plc to the rest of his .·lave:; he should be kept in jail till he was nbdnccl, or be sold if he got lJnt one dollar for hi1n. 1Iowcvcr, he aftorwarcls relcn ted ju son1c degree. The chaiHs \Vcrc taken off, and \VC \Verc allo\vccl to Yisit hi1n. .As his food was of the coarsest kind, \VO carried hin1 as often as po ·ible a wann suppor, accon1panicd with so1nc little luxury for the jailer. Three ruonths elapsed, and there \Vas no proRpcct of release or of a purchaser. One <lay he \vas heard. to sing and laugh. 'rhis piece of inclccon.lnl \Va-.' told to his n1astcr, aud the over ocr was ordered to rc-chain him. ITo 1va · no\v confined in an apartn1cnt with other priso11crs, ·who ·were covered with filthy rag . Benja.1nin \Va chained ncar thcin, and \va,' ·oon covered with vcnnin. lie \vorkcu at his chains till he succeeded in getting out of thc1n. IIc passed thorn through tho bars of the \vinJo,v, ·with a rcq ucst that they should be taken to his 1na tor, and he ~hould uo infonnccl that he \v~v covcrc<.l \\'ith vcrn1in. This audacity \vas punishcu ·with heavier chains, ancl prohibition of our visits. |