-and who, consequently, was a half-brother of the
youthful mother. Slavery sometimes created singular relationships.

"As the story ran, all the people, including the narrator and her
baby, when 'ole mas'r' died were 'leveled' on by the Sheriff's
man. She did not quite understand the meaning of it all, but it
was doubtless a case of bankruptcy.

"'Young mas'r,' she said, 'tole' her she had to run away, taking
the baby of course. 'Oh, yes," she said very emphatically, 'I
never would have left Kentuck without Thomas Jefferson'--meaning
her little boy. 'Young mas'r,' according to her account, arranged
the whole proceeding, telling her what course to take by night,
where to stop and conceal herself by day, and what signal to give
when she reached the 'big river.'

"When the Ohio had been crossed her young master met her,
evidently to the great delight of the poor creature. He gave her
some money, and told her that when she reached her destination he
would send her some 'mo.' After putting her in charge of some kind
people, evidently representatives of the underground line, they
had parted, according to her description of the incident, in an
affecting way. 'He kissed me and I cried,' was her simple
statement. Notwithstanding the boasted superiority of one race
over another, human nature seems to be very much the same, whether
we read it in a white face or in a black one.

"The little girlish mother was very much alarmed for the safety of
her boy and herself when we began our journey, wanting to get out
and conceal herself whenever we heard any one on the road. After
several detentions from that cause, the weary creature stretched
herself upon the hay beside her sleeping infant and almost
immediately fell into a heavy slumber. She could stand the strain
no longer. I drew the buffalo-robe over the two sleepers, and
there they rested in blissful unconsciousness until the journey
was ended.

"Half-way between the termini of my route was a village in which
lived a constable who was suspected of being in the employ of the
slave-owners. It was thought advisable that I should avoid that
village by taking a roundabout road. That I did, although it added
an extra half to my trip. The result was that the sun was just
peeping over the eastern hills, as I reached a set of bars showing
an entrance into a pasture lot on one side of the highway.
Removing th