st about the time when I reached extreme
physical exhaustion, I came upon a portion of a street where the board
sidewalk was considerably elevated. I waited for a few minutes, till
I was sure that no passers-by could see me, and then crept under the
sidewalk and lay for the night upon the ground, with my satchel of
clothing for a pillow. Nearly all night I could hear the tramp of feet
over my head. The next morning I found myself somewhat refreshed, but
I was extremely hungry, because it had been a long time since I had
had sufficient food. As soon as it became light enough for me to see my
surroundings I noticed that I was near a large ship, and that this ship
seemed to be unloading a cargo of pig iron. I went at once to the vessel
and asked the captain to permit me to help unload the vessel in order
to get money for food. The captain, a white man, who seemed to be
kind-hearted, consented. I worked long enough to earn money for my
breakfast, and it seems to me, as I remember it now, to have been about
the best breakfast that I have ever eaten.

My work pleased the captain so well that he told me if I desired I could
continue working for a small amount per day. This I was very glad to do.
I continued working on this vessel for a number of days. After buying
food with the small wages I received there was not much left to add on
the amount I must get to pay my way to Hampton. In order to economize
in every way possible, so as to be sure to reach Hampton in a reasonable
time, I continued to sleep under the same sidewalk that gave me shelter
the first night I was in Richmond. Many years after that the coloured
citizens of Richmond very kindly tendered me a reception at which there
must have been two thousand people present. This reception was held not
far from the spot where I slept the first night I spent in the city, and
I must confess that my mind was more upon the sidewalk that first gave
me shelter than upon the recognition, agreeable and cordial as it was.

When I had saved what I considered enough money with which to reach
Hampton, I thanked the captain of the vessel for his kindness, and
started again. Without any unusual occurrence I reached Hampton, with a
surplus of exactly fifty cents with which to begin my education. To me
it had been a long, eventful journey; but the first sight of the large,
three-story, brick school building seemed to have rewarded me for all
that I had undergone in order to reach the place.