| OCR Text |
Show Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. 0 Linda isn't this a bad \vorld? Every I love you. ' ' · 11 1 1· d Cross and unhappy. I \VlSh Htc creel bo y SCCU1S SO " when poor f:a t1 1 0r (l 1. ,u,. . '' I tolcl hirn that every body ~as not cross, or :ln-tl t those who luul pleasant hon1cs, ancl lnud happy ; lU l • • • , l . , ' f n·o ne1s , anu,,. "'l vho were not a(raH1 to lo. ' c t lCtn,. '' cru 1 n t we \vho \Yerc slavc-el llltlrcn, \\rlthout 1appy. u ' father or n1othcr, could not expect to l:e happy. \V e llHlSt be good; perhaps that \VOUld Ol'lllg l.l.' COlllent-ll1Cllt. , "y cs " he said, " I try to be goocl ; but whnt · the usc ? T' hey arc all the tin1c troubl '1 ng rnc. " rrl 1011 l lC proccc<lcu to relate his afternoon's difficulty \vith young 1nastcr Nicholas. It scmn~cl that ~he l.n·ot:lCr of 111astcr Nicholas hacl pleascu hnnsclf \vrth n1along up stories about \Villimn. ~faster Nichola. saicl he shoul<l be fioggcc1, and he would do it. \\ hereupon he went to ·work; unt \Villian1 fought braYely, a.nd Lhc young n1a ... Lcr, finding he was getting the better of him, undertook to tic hi: hand: bcbincl hin1. lle f(lilc(l in that likewise. By dint of kicking and. ft ·ting, \Villiam ca1ne out of the ·kinnish none the \\ror ·c for a few scratches. lie continued. to c1i ·cour o on his young 1nastcr's 1rwanness; how he whipped the litlle boys, but \ra" a perfect coward when a tu.-~lc ensued. between hitn and ·white boys of his own size. On such occasions he ahn1.ys took to his legs. \Villian1 hac1 other charges to n1akc against hirn. One \vas his rubbing up pennies with quick. ilver, and pas.-ing thmn off for quarters of a dollar on an olc1 nltUl \Yho l .. cpt a, fruit stall. "\Yilli:uu was often scnL Lo buy fruiL, anu he carnc~ Lly iuquireu • The Slave who Dared to Feel like a Man. 31 of n1c what he ought to do under such circtunstanccs . I tolc1 hi111 it \\ras certainly ·wrong to <lccciYc the ol<l man,anu that it \Vas hi duty to tell hin1 of Lhc inlposition practi ·eel hy his young nut 'tcr. I a.'surcu l 1in1 Lhc old n1an woulu not be slow to con1pr bend the ·whole, and there the nutttcr \vonld end. \Yillian1 thought it 1night with the olJ. 1nan, but not \Vi Lh hint. lie said he <1 id not 1nincl the :1nart of the whip, but he did not like the idee~; of being \Vhippcd. \Yhilc I adyj eel hin1 to 1 c good and forgiYing I \Vas uot unconsciou of the bean1 in 1ny own eye. It wa,s the Ycry knowlc<lgc or ll1Y own shortcon1ings that urgcu 1110 to retain, if pos. iblc, sornc sparks of n1y brother's God-given na.Lnrc. I bad not lived fourteen years in slavery for notlrin g. I had fcl t, con, ancl heard enough, to read the character ·, ancl que ·tion the 1notivcs, of those around 1110. The \Yar of n1y life had begun ; ancl thouo·h one of God's n1o. t po,vcrlc. · crca- j turcs, I resol vcd never to be conquered. AJas, for 1110! lf Llwrc wa,· one pure, sunny spot for n1 , I hrlicvc<l iL to be in Bcnja1nin' · heart, and in another' ~, 1vhon1 1 loved with all the ardor of a girl' fir t lO\'C. ~fy owner knew of it, and sought in every \Yay to render me n1iscrahlc. lie did not rc ort to corpornJ pnni ·hmcnt, but to all the petty, tyrannical \Yay: that lnnnan ingenuity could clcvj sc. I rcn1Cn1bcr the fir t tin1c I wa puni ·hod. It \vas in the 1nonth of :U..,chrnary. l\Iy granchnoth r had taken 1ny oh1 .·hoc , and replaced thc1n \Yith a nc\V pair. I nccdccl Lh01n; for cvcral ind1e. of snow had fallen, and it still continued to fall. "\Yhen 1 walked |
