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Show 216 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. you herself." This letter perplexed and trouhlccl 1ne. Had 1ny child'.· fath er 1nerely placed her there till he 'vas old enough to ·upport her. elf? Or had he given her to hi · cousin, a· a piece of property ? If the last idea was correct, his cou in 1night return to the south at any time, and hold. Ellen as a slave. I tried to put away from me the painfnl thought that su ch a foul wrong could have Leon done to u s. I said to 1ny elf, " Surely there 1nust be so1ne justice in 1nan ; '' then I remembered, with a sigh, ho\v lavery perverted all the natural feelings of the lnll11~Ul heart. It o·nse 1110 a pang to look on 1ny 1 igh t-hcartecl b y. lie believed himself free; and to have hi1n brought under the yoke of slavery, ·would. be n1orc than I could. bear. IIow I longed to have hi1n safely out of the reach of it· power! ( 1 ( • ( Aunt Nancy. 217 AUNT N}~_KCY. I IIAVE n1entjoned my great-aunt, who was a slave in Dr. Flint'::; [;uuily, and \vho had been 1ny rcfuo·c clnrincr t') b the shameful pen;ccuLions I .·u fforccl fro1n hjnl. This aunt bad been n1arried at twenty year: of age; that is, as far as slaves can 1narry. ~he hacl the con.-cnt of her master and 1ni ·tres , aucl a clcrcry1nan pcrfonnccl the ccre1nony. But it \Vas a n1erc foi·1n, ·without any legal value. Her rna. tor or 1nistrcss conlu annul it any day they pleased.. She 1uu1 a.l ways slept on the floor in tho entry, ncar l\Irs. Fliut' · chan1hcr clooe, thn.t .·ho 1night be ·within call. \rhcn she \ra.· 1na.rried, .·he was told she ruight haYe the uf-'e of a snw.ll roo1n in an outhouse. lior n1othcr ancl her hu~band fnrnislwd it. l-Ie was a seafaring 1nnn, and was allo\\-ccl to sleep thoro when he was at ho1ne. 13nt on the wcdc1ing o\-cning, the bride was or<lcrcd to her old post on the entry floor. Mrs. Flint, at that tin1c, h rul no children; tnt she was expecting to be a mother, and if she should want a. drink of water in the night, \Yhat couhl she do "~iLhont her slave 1 ) bring it? ~ 'o n1y aunt \\-a. con1pellcc1 i.o lie at her door, until one 1niunighL she \vas forced to leave, to give prc1nature Lirth to a chihl. In a forLnjght he was required to resnn1e her place on the entry floor, because l\1rs. Flint's l>abe needed her attentions. Rhe kept her station there throu gh summer and winter, until she had giYen prcn1atnre birth to six children ; lD |