nd of each week, and to board and clothe myself, and buy my own calking
tools. A failure in any of these particulars would put an end to my
privilege. This was a hard bargain. The wear and tear of clothing,
the losing and breaking of tools, and the expense of board, made it
necessary for me to earn at least six dollars per week, to keep even
with the world. All who are acquainted with calking, know how uncertain
and irregular that employment is. It can be done to advantage only in
dry weather, for it is useless to put wet oakum into a seam. Rain or
shine, however, work or no work, at the end of each week the money must
be forthcoming.

Master Hugh seemed to be very much pleased, for a time, with this
arrangement; and well he might be, for it was decidedly in his favor.
It relieved him of all anxiety concerning me. His money was sure. He had
armed my love of liberty with a lash and a driver, far more efficient
than any I had before known; and, while he derived all the benefits of
slaveholding by the arrangement, without its evils, I endured all the
evils of being a slave, and yet suffered all the care and anxiety of
a responsible freeman. "Nevertheless," thought I, "it is a valuable
privilege another step in my career toward freedom." It was something
even to be permitted to stagger under the disadvantages of liberty, and
I was determined to hold on to the newly gained footing, by all proper
industry. I was ready to work by night as well as by day; and being
in the enjoyment of excellent health, I was able not only to meet my
current expenses, but also to lay by a small sum at the end of each
week. All went on thus, from the month of May till August; then--for
reasons which will become apparent as I proceed--my much valued liberty
was wrested from me.

During the week previous to this (to me) calamitous event, I had made
arrangements with a few young friends, to accompany them, on Saturday
night, to a camp-meeting, held about twelve miles from Baltimore. On
the evening of our intended start for{255} the camp-ground, something
occurred in the ship yard where I was at work, which detained me
unusually late, and compelled me either to disappoint my young friends,
or to neglect carrying my weekly dues to Master Hugh. Knowing that I had
the money, and could hand it to him on another day, I decided to go to
camp-meeting, and to pay him the three dollars, for the past week, on my
return. Once on the camp-ground, I was induced