Twelve Years a Slave
gave me strength, and I exerted it to the utmost. Every few moments I
could hear the yelpings of the dogs. They were gaining upon me. Every
howl was nearer and nearer. Each moment I expected they would spring
upon my back--expected to feel their long teeth sinking into my flesh.
There were so many of them, I knew they would tear me to pieces, that
they would worry me, at once, to death. I gasped for breath--gasped
forth a half-uttered, choking prayer to the Almighty to save me--to
give me strength to reach some wide, deep bayou where I could throw
them off the track, or sink into its waters. Presently I reached
a thick palmetto bottom. As I fled through them they made a loud
rustling noise, not loud enough, however, to drown the voices of the
dogs.
Continuing my course due south, as nearly as I can judge, I came at
length to water just over shoe. The hounds at that moment could not
have been five rods behind me. I could hear them crashing and plunging
through the palmettoes, their loud, eager yells making the whole swamp
clamorous with the sound. Hope revived a little as I reached the
water. If it were only deeper, they might lose the scent, and thus
disconcerted, afford me the opportunity of evading them. Luckily, it
grew deeper the farther I proceeded--now over my ankles--now half-way
to my knees--now sinking a moment to my waist, and then emerging
presently into more shallow places. The dogs had not gained upon me
since I struck the water. Evidently they were confused. Now their
savage intonations grew more and more distant, assuring me that I was
leaving them. Finally I stopped to listen, but the long howl came
booming on the air again, telling me I was not yet safe. From bog to
bog, where I had stepped, they could still keep upon the track, though
impeded by the water. At length, to my great joy, I came to a wide
bayou, and plunging in, had soon stemmed its sluggish current to
the other side. There, certainly, the dogs would be confounded--the
current carrying down the stream all traces of that slight, mysterious
scent, which enables the quick-smelling hound to follow in the track
of the fugitive.
After crossing this bayou the water became so deep I could not run. I
was now in what I afterwards learned was the "Great Pacoudrie Swamp."
It was filled with immense trees--the sycamore, the gum, the cotton
wood and cypress, and extends, I am informed, to the shore of the
Calcasieu river. For thirty or forty miles it is without inhabitants,
save wild beasts--the bear, the wild-cat, the tiger, and great slimy
reptiles, that are crawling through it everywhere. Long before I
reached the bayou, in fact, from the time I struck the water until I
emerged from the swamp on my return, these reptiles surrounded me. I
saw hundreds of moccasin snakes. Every log and bog--every trunk of a
fallen tree, over which I was compelled to step or climb, was alive
with them. They crawled away at my approach, but sometimes in my
haste, I almost placed my hand or foot upon them. They are poisonous
serpents--their bite more fatal than the rattlesnake's. Besides, I had
lost one shoe, the sole having come entirely off, leaving the upper
only dangling to my ankle.
I saw also many alligators, great and small, lying in the water, or
on pieces of floodwood. The noise I made usually startled them,
when they moved off and plunged into the deepest places. Sometimes,
however, I would come directly upon a monster before observing it. In
such cases, I would start back, run a short way round, and in that
manner shun them. Straight forward, they will run a short distance
rapidly, but do not possess the power of turning. In a crooked race,
there is no difficulty in evading them.
About two o'clock in the afternoon, I heard the last of the hounds.
Probably they did not cross the bayou. Wet and weary, but relieved
from the sense of instant peril, I continued on, more cautious and
afraid, however, of the snakes and alligators than I had been in the
earlier portion of my flight. Now, before stepping into a muddy pool,
I would strike the water with a stick. If the waters moved, I would go
around it, if not, would venture through.
At length the sun went down, and gradually night's trailing mantle
shrouded the great swamp in darkness. Still I staggered on, fearing
every instant I should feel the dreadful sting of the moccasin, or
be crushed within the jaws of some disturbed alligator. The dread of
them now almost equaled the fear of the pursuing hounds. The moon
arose after a time, its mild light creeping through the overspreading
branches, loaded with long, pendent moss. I kept traveling forwards
until after midnight, hoping all the while that I would soon emerge
into some less desolate and dangerous region. But the water grew
deeper and the walking more difficult than ever. I perceived it
would be impossible to proceed much farther, and knew not, moreover,
what hands I might fall into, should I succeed in reaching a human
habitation. Not provided with a pass, any white man would be at
liberty to arrest me, and place me in prison until such time as my
master should "prove property, pay charges, and take me away." I was
an estray, and if so unfortunate as to meet a law-abiding citizen of
Louisiana, he would deem it his duty to his neighbor, perhaps, to put
me forthwith in the pound. Really, it was difficult to determine which
I had most reason to fear--dogs, alligators or men!
After midnight, however, I came to a halt. Imagination cannot picture
the dreariness of the scene. The swamp was resonant with the quacking
of innumerable ducks! Since the foundation of the earth, in all
probability, a human footstep had never before so far penetrated the
recesses of the swamp. It was not silent now--silent to a degree that
rendered it oppressive,--as it was when the sun was shining in the
heavens. My midnight intrusion had awakened the feathered tribes,
which seemed to throng the morass in hundreds of thousands, and their
garrulous throats poured forth such multitudinous sounds--there was
such a fluttering of wings--such sullen plunges in the water all
around me--that I was affrighted and appalled. All the fowls of
the air, and all the creeping things of the earth appeared to have
assembled together in that particular place, for the purpose of
filling it with clamor and confusion. Not by human dwellings--not in
crowded cities alone, are the sights and sounds of life. The wildest
places of the earth are full of them. Even in the heart of that dismal
swamp, God had provided a refuge and a dwelling place for millions of
living things.
The moon had now risen above the trees, when I resolved upon a new
project. Thus far I had endeavored to travel as nearly south as
possible. Turning about I proceeded in a north-west direction, my
object being to strike the Pine Woods in the vicinity of Master
Ford's. Once within the shadow of his protection, I felt I would be
comparatively safe.
My clothes were in tatters, my hands, face, and body covered with
scratches, received from the sharp knots of fallen trees, and in
climbing over piles of brush and floodwood. My bare foot was full of
thorns. I was besmeared with muck and mud, and the green slime that
had collected on the surface of the dead water, in which I had been
immersed to the neck many times during the day and night. Hour after
hour, and tiresome indeed had they become, I continued to plod along
on my north-west course. The water began to grow less deep, and the
ground more firm under my feet. At last I reached the Pacoudrie, the
same wide bayou I had swam while "outward bound." I swam it again, and
shortly after thought I heard a cock crow, but the sound was faint,
and it might have been a mockery of the ear. The water receded from
my advancing footsteps--now I had left the bogs behind me--now I was
on dry land that gradually ascended to the plain, and I knew I was
somewhere in the "Great Pine Woods."
Just at day-break I came to an opening--a sort of small
plantation--but one I had never seen before. In the edge of the woods
I came upon two men, a slave and his young master, engaged in catching
wild hogs. The white man I knew would demand my pass, and not able
to give him one, would take me into possession. I was too wearied to
run again, and too desperate to be taken, and therefore adopted a
ruse that proved entirely successful. Assuming a fierce expression, I
walked directly towards him, looking him steadily in the face. As I
approached, he moved backwards with an air of alarm. It was plain he
was much affrighted--that he looked upon me as some infernal goblin,
just arisen from the bowels of the swamp!
"Where does William Ford live?" I demanded, in no gentle tone.
"He lives seven miles from here," was the reply.
"Which is the way to his place?" I again demanded, trying to look more
fiercely than ever.
"Do you see those pine trees yonder?" he asked, pointing to two, a
mile distant, that rose far above their fellows, like a couple of tall
sentinels, overlooking the broad expanse of forest.
"I see them," was the answer.
"At the feet of those pine trees," he continued, "runs the Texas road.
Turn to the left, and it will lead you to William Ford's."
Without farther parley, I hastened forward, happy as he was, no doubt,
to place the widest possible distance between us. Striking the Texas
road, I turned to the left hand, as directed, and soon passed a great
fire, where a pile of logs were burning. I went to it, thinking I
would dry my clothes; but the gray light of the morning was fast
breaking away,--some passing white man might observe me; besides, the
heat overpowered me with the desire of sleep: so, lingering no longer,
I continued my travels, and finally, about eight o'clock, reached the
house of Master Ford.
The slaves were all absent from the quarters, at their work. Stepping
on to the piazza, I knocked at the door, which was soon opened by
Mistress Ford. My appearance was so changed--I was in such a wobegone
and forlorn condition, she did not know me. Inquiring if Master Ford
was at home, that good man made his appearance, before the question
could be answered. I told him of my flight, and all the particulars
connected with it. He listened attentively, and when I had concluded,
spoke to me kindly and sympathetically, and taking me to the kitchen,
called John, and ordered him to prepare me food. I had tasted nothing
since daylight the previous morning.
When John had set the meal before me, the madam came out with a bowl
of milk, and many little delicious dainties, such as rarely please the
palate of a slave. I was hungry, and I was weary, but neither food nor
rest afforded half the pleasure as did the blessed voices speaking
kindness and consolation. It was the oil and the wine which the Good
Samaritan in the "Great Pine Woods" was ready to pour into the wounded
spirit of the slave, who came to him, stripped of his raiment and
half-dead.
They left me in the cabin, that I might rest. Blessed be sleep! It
visiteth all alike, descending as the dews of heaven on the bond and
free. Soon it nestled to my bosom, driving away the troubles that
oppressed it, and bearing me to that shadowy region, where I saw again
the faces, and listened to the voices of my children, who, alas, for
aught I knew in my waking hours, had fallen into the arms of that
_other_ sleep, from which they _never_ would arouse.
CHAPTER XI.
THE MISTRESS' GARDEN--THE CRIMSON AND GOLDEN FRUIT--ORANGE AND
POMEGRANATE TREES--RETURN TO BAYOU BOEUF--MASTER FORD'S REMARKS ON
THE WAY--THE MEETING WITH TIBEATS--HIS ACCOUNT OF THE CHASE--FORD
CENSURES HIS BRUTALITY--ARRIVAL AT THE PLANTATION--ASTONISHMENT OF
THE SLAVES ON SEEING ME--THE ANTICIPATED FLOGGING--KENTUCKY JOHN--MR.