It was
therefore an act of supreme trust on the part of a freeman of color thus
to put in jeopardy his own liberty that another might be free. It was,
however, not infrequently bravely done, and was seldom discovered. I was
not so fortunate as to sufficiently resemble any of my free
acquaintances to answer the description of their papers.

But I had one friend--a sailor--who owned a sailor's protection, which
answered somewhat the purpose of free papers--describing his person, and
certifying to the fact that he was a free American sailor. The
instrument had at its head the American eagle, which gave it the
appearance at once of an authorized document. This protection did not,
when in my hands, describe its bearer very accurately. Indeed, it called
for a man much darker than myself, and close examination of it would
have caused my arrest at the start.

In order to avoid this fatal scrutiny I had arranged with a hackman to
bring my baggage to the train just on the moment of starting, and jumped
upon the car myself when the train was already in motion. Had I gone
into the station and offered to purchase a ticket, I should have been
instantly and carefully examined, and undoubtedly arrested.

In choosing this plan upon which to act, I considered the jostle of the
train, and the natural haste of the conductor, in a train crowded with
passengers, and relied upon my skill and address in playing the sailor
as described in my protection, to do the rest. One element in my favor
was the kind feeling which prevailed in Baltimore, and other seaports at
the time, towards "those who go down to the sea in ships." "Free trade
and sailors' rights" expressed the sentiment of the country just then.

In my clothing I was rigged out in sailor style. I had on a red shirt
and a tarpaulin hat and black cravat, tied in sailor fashion, carelessly
and loosely about my neck. My knowledge of ships and sailor's talk came
much to my assistance, for I knew a ship from stem to stern, and from
keelson to cross-trees, and could talk sailor like an "old salt."

On sped the train, and I was well on the way to Havre de Grace before
the conductor came into the Negro car to collect tickets and examine the
papers of his black passengers. This was a critical moment in the drama.
My whole future depended upon the decision of this conductor. Agitated I
was while this ceremony was proceeding, but still externally, at least,
I was apparently calm and self-posses