PILED and free niggers. If I had my way I
would sell every d----d rascal of 'em way down South, where the devil
would be whipped out on 'em."

This man's fierce manner made my master feel rather nervous, and
therefore he thought the less he said the better; so he walked off
without making any reply. In a few minutes we were landed at
Washington, where we took a conveyance and hurried off to the train for
Baltimore.

We left our cottage on Wednesday morning, the 21st of December, 1848,
and arrived at Baltimore, Saturday evening, the 24th (Christmas Eve).
Baltimore was the last slave port of any note at which we stopped.

On arriving there we felt more anxious than ever, because we knew not
what that last dark night would bring forth. It is true we were near
the goal, but our poor hearts were still as if tossed at sea; and, as
there was another great and dangerous bar to pass, we were afraid our
liberties would be wrecked, and, like the ill-fated Royal Charter, go
down for ever just off the place we longed to reach.

They are particularly watchful at Baltimore to prevent slaves from
escaping into Pennsylvania, which is a free State. After I had seen my
master into one of the best carriages, and was just about to step into
mine, an officer, a full-blooded Yankee of the lower order, saw me. He
came quickly up, and, tapping me on the shoulder, said in his
unmistakable native twang, together with no little display of his
authority, "Where are you going, boy?" "To Philadelphia, sir," I humbly
replied. "Well, what are you going there for?" "I am travelling with
my master, who is in the next carriage, sir." "Well, I calculate you
had better get him out; and be mighty quick about it, because the train
will soon be starting. It is against my rules to let any man take a
slave past here, unless he can satisfy them in the office that he has a
right to take him along."

The officer then passed on and left me standing upon the platform, with
my anxious heart apparently palpitating in the throat. At first I
scarcely knew which way to turn. But it soon occurred to me that the
good God, who had been with us thus far, would not forsake us at the
eleventh hour. So with renewed hope I stepped into my master's
carriage, to inform him of the difficulty. I found him sitting at the
farther end, quite alone. As soon as he looked up and saw me, he
smiled. I also tried to wear a cheerful countenance, in order to break
the shock