s I, "we's all pore mortal creeters
made uf clay, no tellin' who'll be took away fus', who'll be lef'
behin';" an' my good missus will know what I mean.' So I's come an' sed
it. But min' you, Miss Jemimy, min' you now, I'm 'tirely willin' to work
fur you an' my little marster all my days--'d ruther do it. But sich a
thing might happen dat you two might be took away fus', an' yo' ol'
nigger lef' behin'. Den I'd a leetle ruther be free. I don't know, arter
all, but freedom's a bery good thing to hab eben ef we hain't got
l'arnin' to match it. Dat is, ef we kin hab it an' not let it make fools
uf us--set us a-thinkin' we's got nuthin' to do but lay in de shade an'
kick up our heels. A nigger needn't make sich a show uf his freedom as
de red varmint uf his ruffle shirt an' blue coat; jes' tie it up in a
snug little bundle to tote along wid him an' let folks know he has it,
an' dat'll be 'nuff fur any use. So I's thinkin' I'll come an' say:
'Miss Jemimy,' ses I, 'bein' as you want so much to do it, w'y den, ef
you please, jes' write it down on a piece uf paper how, in case you an'
my little marster might be took away fus', you wants yo' ol' nigger to
hab his freedom.' Den I'll sew it up in my b'ar-skin cap, to keep it
till de time comes, ef de time mus' come, so I kin say to de fus' white
man who comes 'long a-claimin' me, 'I yi, my larky,' pullin' out my
free-papers. But, min' you now, Miss Jemimy, I don't want you to be
a-thinkin' dat I'll be a-hopin' fur de time to come so I kin go rippin'
an' tearin' 'bout de country, like some no-'count, raggetty, dirty free
niggers I's seed afore now, who, beca'se dey could do what dey pleased,
didn't please to do nuthin'. 'T ain't so. I's sed it afore, an' I'll say
it ag'in, I'll do what I kin fur my good missus an' my sweet little
marster--all a pore nigger kin fur white folks in dat way, an' won't
neber stop a-doin' it; an' I mean to keep my word."

And right willingly did Miss Jemimy according to her faithful servant's
wishes, writing it down on a "piece of paper," clear and full, not
forgetting to take such steps as should make the document good and valid
in the eyes of the law. Then, having wrapped it up carefully in a piece
of buckskin made water-proof and sweat-proof by bear's-grease rubbed
in, Burl, with an awl and two wax-ends, sewed it up securely in the
crown of his bear-skin cap. And, as the poor fellow was never left
behind, there it remained for the rest of his days, with