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Show 294 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. children. ~fay he protect and provide for you, is the prayer of your loving old n1othcr." These letters both cheered and saddened rnc. I was always glacl to have tidings fron1 the kind, faithful old friend of rny unhappy youth; but her rncssa.gc · of love made rny heart yearn to sec her before ·he died, and I 1nourncd over the fact that it \V::.t • in1po.;siulo. Son1c n1onths after I returned fron1 rny flight to Now England, I received a letter frorn her, in ·which she wrote, "Dr. Flint is dead. lie has left a eli trc ··eel family. Poor old rnan ! I hope he rnacle his peace ·with God." I rcrncn1bcrcd how he bad clcfrauclcd n1y granJn1othcr of the hard earnings she had loaned; how he had tried to cheat her out of the frceuom her ruisLross had pron1isc<l her, and ho\v he had persecuted her children; and I thought to myself that she 'vas a better Christian than I \vas, if she could entirely forgi vc hirn. I cannot say, with truth, that the news of n1y old master,s death softened rny feelings tovntnls hin1. There arc wrongs \vhich even the grave docs not bury. The n1an \vas odious to n1e \Vbile he lived, and his 1nen1ory is odious no\v. llis departure fron1 this \Vorlcl diJ not d.in1inish 1ny danger. He had threatened rny grandrnothcr that his heirs should hold me in slavery after he \vas gone; that I never should be free so long as a child of his survived. As for ~Irs. Plint, I had seen her in deeper afflictions than I supposed the loss of her husband would be, for she had buried several children; yet I never saw any signs of softening in her heart. rrhe dG'ctor had died in crnbarrassed circurustanccs, and haJ Free at Lafl little to \Vill to his heirs, except such property as he was unable to grasp.. I wa well aware what I had to expect fron1 the fa1n1ly of Flint · and Iny r ' 10ars wore confirmed by a letter from the south, warning 1110 to be on 1ny guard, because ~Irs. Flint openly declared that her daughter could not afford to lose so valuable a slave as I was. I kept close ·watch of the newspapers for arrival. ; but one S.aturclay nigh.t, being rnuch occupied, I forgot to exarn1ne the Even1ng Exprc s as usual. I went down into the parlor for it, early in the n1orning, and found the boy about to kindle a fire with it. I took it fr01n him and cxa1nincd the list of arrivals. Reader, if you have never been a slave, you cannot in1agine the acute sensation of suffering at my heart, when I read the names of Mr. and Mrs. Dodge, at a hotel in Courtland Street. It was a third-rate hotel, and that circumstance convinced me of the truth of what I had heard, that they were short of funds and had need of n1y value, as the.1J valued me; and that was by dollars and cents. I hastened with the paper to :ttfrs. Bruce. Ilcr heart and hand ·were always open to every one in distress, and she always \Varn1ly sympathized with n1ine. It was irnpossible to tell how ncar the cncn1y was. lie n1ight have passed and repassed the house while we were sleeping. He might a.t that rno1ncnt be waiting to pounce upon me if I ventured out of doors. I had never seen the husband of my young mi tress, and therefore I could not distingui. ·h hin1 frorn any other stranger. A carriage was hastily ordered; and, closely veiled, I followed ~Irs. Bruce, taking the baby again ·with n1c iulo exile. ..A.fter various turuings aud cro~~:>- |