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Show 54 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. • d. · · 11er own There I \Va · an object of roon1 a JOlnlng · . her cspccw· .1 car· e , thou o·h not of her cspcc1al co1nfort, b • _ £ 1 t llor s 1c spcn 1 'a ny (a "~l cc1Jlc ·s n1g. ht to \v atch ov. er S t. cs I woke HI) and found her hcndmg me. OlUC llll ' . . ~ A·t 0~ her tin1cs ·he ·wlu~pcrcc.l 111 1ny car, as over n1c. lJ • tll OUg1l l· t W.u... ,s her hu ·band who wa. spcak1ng to, n10, anc1 1.1 t cncc1 to }1c(a r what I \\ronld answe.r . I1 f'he startled Inc, on such occasions, she \\·oul·l gltclc ~tcallh- 1.1 ya,\r a)T ,.. ..(..d l <.l the next ll10l'lling ·ho \Yould tell 1110 I had been talking in my Jeep, and a.-k \rho I \V~ talk- . t \.t last 1 bco·an to be fearful for n1y ltfc. It 111 g 0. .1 (. ' ' b • . had been often th L'Catcnc<l ; ancl yon can unagtnc, 1Jct-ter than I can describe, ·what an unpleasant sensation it 111ust produce to wake up in the tlcacl of ni n·!1 t and find a jealous \ron1an bcncling over you.. Tcrnl>le as this experience was, I had fears that 1t \Vould give place to one n1ore terrible. . . . l\Iy 1nistrcss grvw \Yeary of her V1g1ls ; they dHI not "' prove sati:factory. She changed her tactic~. ~he now tried the trick of accnsiug n1y n1ast r of crime, in n1y presence, and gaYc n1y 1Wn1c a.- the author of the accusation. rro 1uy utter astoni ·luncnt, he replied, "I don't bclic-rc it; but if she did acknowledge it, yon tortured her into exposing n1e." Tortured into CX}JO ·. ing hin1! Truly, Satan had. 110 c1ifficnl ty in distinguishing the color of l1is fonl! I under .. :tood his object in 1naking thi · fah·e representation. It \Yas to show 1ne that I gai11ed nothing lJy sevkiug the protection of n1y n1i ·tress; that the power wa:-~ still all in l1is own hancls. I pitied J\Irs. 1"'liut. She was a second wife, 1nany years the junior of her hn:hand; an(l the hoary-lwade<liuiscrcant was enough to try the patience The Jealous Mistrefs . ss of a wiser and better woman. She was con1pletely foiled, and lole\v not ho\v to proccc l. She would gladly have had n1c flogged for n1y s uppo~ d fa1 .-c oath; but, as I have already statcu, the doctor neYcr allowed any one to \Yhip n1c. The old .sinner ~was politic. The application of the la ·h n1ight have led to rCinarks that \Yould ha\'C exposed hin1 in the oy : of his children and grandchildren. IIow often diu 1 rejoice that I lived in a town ·where all the inhabitant· knew each other! If I had been on a rcn1otc plantation, or lost a1non? the n1ultitudc of a cro\vucd city, I should not be a li \"ing \VOn1an at thi day. The secrets of slavery arc concealcLl like those of the Inqni 'ition. l\fy 1naster \Vas, to 1ny kno\vledgc, the father of cl even .·laves. Dut dill the mothers dare to tell who was the father of their children? Did the other slave dare to allude to it, except in whispers an1ong thc1nsclvcs? No, indeed ! They knc\Y too well the tcrrilJlc consequences. ~Iy grandmother could not avoid seeing things which excited her su spicion . She \vas unca 'Y alJout me, and tried various ways to buy n1c ; but the n c\-crchanging an wcr was always repeated: "Linda docs not belong to 1ne. She is 1ny daughter's property, and I haYe no legal right to sell h er.'' 'rho conscientious n1an! IIc \vas too scrupulous to sell Inc ; but he had no scruples \Yhatevcr about co1nn1itting a n1nch greater wrong against the h clplc ·s young girl placed under his guardian hip, as his daughter's properLy. 801netin1es 1ny persecutor \rould a k 1ne \vhethcr I \vould like to be sold. I told hin1 I would rather be old to any bo<ly than to lead such a life as I JiJ. On suuh oeua- |