ney 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 to 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 that city, and I must confess that
my mind was more upon the sidewalk that first gave me shelter than upon the
reception, 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. If the people who gave the money to
provide that building could appreciate the influence the sight of it had
upon me, as well as upon thousands of other youths, they would feel all the
more encouraged to make such gifts. It seemed to me to be the largest and
most beautiful building I had ever seen. The sight of it seemed to give me
new life. I felt that a new kind of existence had now begun--that life
would now have a new meaning. I felt that I had reached the promised land,
and I resolved to let no obstacle prevent me from putting forth the highest
effort to fit myself to accomplish the most good in the world.

As soon as possible after reaching the grounds of the Hampton Institute, I
presented myself before the head teacher for assignment to a class. Having
been so long without proper food, a bath, and change