id
not deserve it."

"I do not know that he was, my daughter," answered Mrs. Ford. "John was
taken to jail and locked up until his master should return home. Judy
obtained a permit to enter the jail, and stayed with him in the cold,
damp cell, cheering him with her presence. She could not bear the
thought of being again separated, and determined to accompany him, let
the consequences be what they might. Her husband was taken to a
blacksmith's shop on the next day after his recapture, and a heavy pair
of handcuffs placed upon him, and a chain (having at the end a large
iron ball) was then fastened to his leg to prevent him from running, and
in this condition they started for home. They walked for six days, she
with her infant in her arms, and he, heavily loaded with irons. And she
told me that often her dress was one cake of ice up to her knees, the
snow and rain being frozen on her skirts. Her husband's shoes soon gave
way, and his feet bled profusely at every step. Judy tore off her skirt,
piece by piece, to wrap them in, for she loved him tenderly. But the
anguish of their bodies was nothing in comparison with that of their
minds. Fear for the consequences of the attempt, and regret that it had
not been successful, filled their hearts with grief, and they journeyed
on with no earthly hope to cheer them.

"Just think, my children, what they must have suffered through those
long dreary days, John going back to slavery and misery, and Judy not
knowing what her own fate might be. But she had comforted herself with
the thought that when John's master saw what a condition he was in, he
would relent toward him. But she was sadly mistaken, for he took him,
weary, sick, and suffering, as he was, and whipped him cruelly, and then
left him in an old shed."

[Illustration: HANDCUFFING JUDY'S HUSBAND]

"O mamma!" said little Cornelia, burying her face in her mother's lap,
and sobbing aloud, "Do they do such wicked things?"

"I wish I had hold of him," said Alfred, "wouldn't I give it to him?"

"I should feel very much grieved if I saw you harm him in any way, Ally.
Do you forget what our blessed Saviour said about returning good for
evil?" asked his mother.

"Well, but mother, I am sure it would have been no more than fair just
to give him a good cowhiding, so as it did not kill him."

"No more than he deserved, perhaps, but, my son, you should remember
that Jesus taught us that we should forgive the greatest injuries.