from home. But I found the mule to be
rather troublesome, and was like to betray me by braying, especially
when he would see cattle, horses, or any thing of the kind in the
woods.

The second night from home I camped in a cane break down in the Red
river swamp not a great way off from the road, perhaps not twenty
rods, exposed to wild ferocious beasts which were numerous in that
section of country. On that night about the middle of the night the
mule heard the sound of horses feet on the road, and he commenced
stamping and trying to break away. As the horses seemed to come
nearer, the mule commenced trying to bray, and it was all that I could
do to prevent him from making a loud bray there in the woods, which
would have betrayed me.

I supposed that it was the overseer out with the dogs looking for me,
and I found afterwards that I was not mistaken. As soon as the people
had passed by, I mounted the mule and took him home to prevent his
betraying me. When I got near by home I stripped off the tackling and
turned the mule loose. I then slipt up to the cabin wherein my wife
laid and found her awake, much distressed about me. She informed me
that they were then out looking for me, and that the Deacon was bent
on flogging me nearly to death, and then selling me off from my
family. This was truly heart-rending to my poor wife; the thought of
our being torn apart in a strange land after having been sold away
from all her friends and relations, was more than she could bear.

The Deacon had declared that I should not only suffer for the crime of
attending a prayer meeting without his permission, and for running
away, but for the awful crime of stealing a jackass, which was death
by the law when committed by a negro.

But I well knew that I was regarded as property, and so was the ass;
and I thought if one piece of property took off another, there could
be no law violated in the act; no more sin committed in this than if
one jackass had rode off another.

But after consultation with my wife I concluded to take her and my
little daughter with me and they would be guilty of the same crime
that I was, so far as running away was concerned; and if the Deacon
sold one he might sell us all, and perhaps to the same person.

So we started off with our child that night, and made our way down to
the Red river swamps among the buzzing insects and wild beasts of the
forest. We wandered about in the wilderness for eight or ten days
b