red the last sentence into my ear, Mansfield came up
to me, and with an oath, said, "Leave here this instant; you have been
the means of my losing one hundred dollars to get this wench back,"--at
the same time kicking me with a heavy pair of boots. As I left her, she
gave one shriek, saying, "God be with you!" It was the last time that I
saw her, and the last word I heard her utter.

I walked on shore. The bell was tolling. The boat was about to start. I
stood with a heavy heart, waiting to see her leave the wharf. As I
thought of my mother, I could but feel that I had lost

"--the glory of my life,
My blessing and my pride!
I half forgot the name of slave,
When she was by my side."

CHAPTER XI.

The love of liberty that had been burning in my bosom, had well nigh
gone out. I felt as though I was ready to die. The boat moved gently
from the wharf, and while she glided down the river, I realized that my
mother was indeed

"Gone,--gone,--sold and gone,
To the rice swamp dank and lone!"

After the boat was out of sight, I returned home; but my thoughts were
so absorbed in what I had witnessed, that I knew not what I was about
half of the time. Night came, but it brought no sleep to my eyes.

In a few days, the boat upon which I was to work being ready, I went on
board to commence. This employment suited me better than living in the
city, and I remained until the close of navigation; though it proved
anything but pleasant. The captain was a drunken, profligate,
hard-hearted creature, not knowing how to treat himself, or any other
person.

The boat, on its second trip, brought down Mr. Walker, the man of whom I
have spoken in a previous chapter, as hiring my time. He had between one
and two hundred slaves, chained and manacled. Among them was a man that
formerly belonged to my old master's brother, Aaron Young. His name was
Solomon. He was a preacher, and belonged to the same church with his
master. I was glad to see the old man. He wept like a child when he told
me how he had been sold from his wife and children.

The boat carried down, while I remained on board, four or five gangs of
slaves. Missouri, though a comparatively new State, is very much engaged
in raising slaves to supply the southern market. In a former chapter, I
have mentioned that I was once in the employ of a slave-trader, or
driver, as he is called at the south. For fear that some may think that
I have misrepres