ered the first office I came to. The official
requested me to be seated. The following is the substance of the
conversation between us, as near as I can remember. I told him I had
heard that Governor Johnston, of Pennsylvania, had requested his
government to send me back. At this he came forward, held forth his
hand, and said, "Is this William Parker?"

I took his hand, and assured him I was the man. When he started to come,
I thought he was intending to seize me, and I prepared myself to knock
him down. His genial, sympathetic manner it was that convinced me he
meant well.

He made me sit down, and said,--"Yes, they want you back again. Will you
go?"

"I will not be taken back alive," said I. "I ran away from my master to
be free,--I have run from the United States to be free. I am now going
to stop running."

"Are you a fugitive from labor?" he asked.

I told him I was.

"Why," he answered, "they say you are a fugitive from justice." He then
asked me where my master lived.

I told him, "In Anne Arundel County, Maryland."

"Is there such a county in Maryland?" he asked.

"There is," I answered.

He took down a map, examined it, and said, "You are right."

I then told him the name of the farm, and my master's name. Further
questions bearing upon the country towns near, the nearest river, etc.,
followed, all of which I answered to his satisfaction.

"How does it happen," he then asked, "that you lived in Pennsylvania so
long, and no person knew you were a fugitive from labor?"

"I do not get other people to keep my secrets, sir," I replied. "My
brother and family only knew that I had been a slave."

He then assured me that I would not, in his opinion, have to go back.
Many coming in at this time on business, I was told to call again at
three o'clock, which I did. The person in the office, a clerk, told me
to take no further trouble about it, until that day four weeks. "But you
are as free a man as I am," said he. When I told the news to Pinckney
and Johnson, they were greatly relieved in mind.

I ate breakfast with the greatest relish, got a letter written to a
friend in Chester County for my wife, and set about arrangements to
settle at or near Toronto.

We tried hard to get work, but the task was difficult. I think three
weeks elapsed before we got work that could be called work. Sometimes we
would secure a small job, worth two or three shillings, and sometimes a
smaller one, worth not more than on