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Show ) 172 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. fnl to n1y i1nagination th ::tn the ·white n1cn in that cotnnntniiy cnlled civilized. This tin1c Peter took a quantity of tobacco to burn to keep off the lnOs(lttitos. J t producell the desired cflcct on thcn1, l>nL p·ave 1110 nausea. a11Ll ::;cvcre headache. At clark we r eturned to the Yc-.:scl. l had lJ en .:o side during the d~ly, that Peter dvclarcu l ~h onld go hon1o that 11ight, i.f the d cYil hitnsclr \Ya on patrol. They tolu 1nc a place of conccaln1en L lta<l been proYi 'led for n1c at n1y grandInoihcr' . I could not inutginc how it \Ya.· po ~::iblc to hiuo nl:J in h er h ou:c, CYcry noolr and corner of \vhich \ras known to the Flint f<1lnily. They tolu Inc to \vait and reo. \Vo ·were rowed a:horc, and \vent bolclly through the street ·, to n1y granchnothcr's. I ·wore n1y sailor's clothes, and had blackened 1ny face \vith charcoal. I pa · ·c<l several people \vhoin I knew. The father of n1y children can1c so n car that I brn ·hcJ. again ·t his ann; but he had no idea. \vho it wa . " Yon n1n. 't 1nakc the 1nost of this \valk;' aiel 1ny friend Peter, ~' for you n1ay not lun-c another Yory soon." I thought hi.· voice sounded sad. It \Vas kind of hin1 to conceal fron1 n1e \Vhat a disnutl hole \vas to be my hon1e for a long, long tirne. • ... The Loophole of Retreat. 173 TIIB LOOPIIOLID O'Dl RETllEA .. T. A SMALL .-hcd had h en ad<l d to n1y g ranc1tnothcr's house year ago. 8on1 \ Loanl: \vere laid aero.-: the joi t at the top, and hctw eu th sc boards and the roof was a very . 1nall garret, never occupied hy any thing but rats and n1icc. I t \vas a pent roof, coY red. with nothing but hinglc:, accor<liug to the southern en ton1 for uch building,. The garret was on 1y nine[! et long and even \vjdc. The highest part was three feet hio·h, and sloped do\vn abruptly to the loos hoard floor. There \Va, no adn1is. ·ion for either ]i~)·ht or air. :My uncle Philip, \vho \Yas a cn,rpenLcr, had r 'ry .. kilfn1ly nuHle a conceal d trap-door, which co1nn1nni<;a.ted with the torcromn. Ilc had be n doing thi · while I was waiting in the \V~Unp . rrhc storerOOtll Opened upon a p1ar.za. To thi. h ole I \vas conYeyed a :oon as I entered. the house. The air \VU stiflinrr; the darkno. s total. A bed had been . preacl on the floor. I could 'leep ()_uitc con1fortably on one side; but the .·lope wa o 'lH.luen that I conld not turn on the other without l1itting the roof. The rat. and 1nicc ran over 1ny bed ; bnt I \va.. · ·weary, and I slept ·u ch sleep a the wretched 1nay, \vh cn a tcn1pc t has pa ·sed over then1. :Morning canlO. I knew it only uy the llOiscs I h eard ; for in n1y .-nw.ll den clay and ni ght were all the ·an1e. I . uf'ferc<l f'or n i r even 1norc than for light. But I was not co1uf'ortl0~ ·. I heard the voices of n1y chihlren. 15 ,. |