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During
this
time
Radburn
was
standing
silently
by
.
His
business
was
,
to
oversee
this
human
,
or
rather
inhuman
stable
,
receiving
slaves
,
feeding
and
whipping
them
,
at
the
rate
of
two
shillings
a
head
per
day
.
Turning
to
him
,
Burch
ordered
the
paddle
and
cat-o
'
-
ninetails
to
be
brought
in
.
He
disappeared
,
and
in
a
few
moments
returned
with
these
instruments
of
torture
.
The
paddle
,
as
it
is
termed
in
slave-beating
parlance
,
or
at
least
the
one
with
which
I
first
became
acquainted
,
and
of
which
I
now
speak
,
was
a
piece
of
hard-wood
board
,
eighteen
or
twenty
inches
long
,
moulded
to
the
shape
of
an
old-fashioned
pudding
stick
,
or
ordinary
oar
.
The
flattened
portion
,
which
was
about
the
size
in
circumference
of
two
open
hands
,
was
bored
with
a
small
auger
in
numerous
places
.
The
cat
was
a
large
rope
of
many
strands
--
the
strands
unraveled
,
and
a
knot
tied
at
the
extremity
of
each
.
As
soon
as
these
formidable
whips
appeared
,
I
was
seized
by
both
of
them
,
and
roughly
divested
of
my
clothing
.
My
feet
,
as
has
been
stated
,
were
fastened
to
the
floor
.
Drawing
me
over
the
bench
,
face
downwards
,
Radburn
placed
his
heavy
foot
upon
the
fetters
,
between
my
wrists
,
holding
them
painfully
to
the
floor
.
With
the
paddle
,
Burch
commenced
beating
me
.
Blow
after
blow
was
inflicted
upon
my
naked
body
.
When
his
unrelenting
arm
grew
tired
,
he
stopped
and
asked
if
I
still
insisted
I
was
a
free
man
.
I
did
insist
upon
it
,
and
then
the
blows
were
renewed
,
faster
and
more
energetically
,
if
possible
,
than
before
.
When
again
tired
,
he
would
repeat
the
same
question
,
and
receiving
the
same
answer
,
continue
his
cruel
labor
.
All
this
time
,
the
incarnate
devil
was
uttering
most
fiendish
oaths
.
At
length
the
paddle
broke
,
leaving
the
useless
handle
in
his
hand
.
Still
I
would
not
yield
.
All
his
brutal
blows
could
not
force
from
my
lips
the
foul
lie
that
I
was
a
slave
.
Casting
madly
on
the
floor
the
handle
of
the
broken
paddle
,
he
seized
the
rope
.
This
was
far
more
painful
than
the
other
.
I
struggled
with
all
my
power
,
but
it
was
in
vain
.
I
prayed
for
mercy
,
but
my
prayer
was
only
answered
with
imprecations
and
with
stripes
.
I
thought
I
must
die
beneath
the
lashes
of
the
accursed
brute
.
Even
now
the
flesh
crawls
upon
my
bones
,
as
I
recall
the
scene
.
I
was
all
on
fire
.
My
sufferings
I
can
compare
to
nothing
else
than
the
burning
agonies
of
hell
!
At
last
I
became
silent
to
his
repeated
questions
.
I
would
make
no
reply
.
In
fact
,
I
was
becoming
almost
unable
to
speak
.
Still
he
plied
the
lash
without
stint
upon
my
poor
body
,
until
it
seemed
that
the
lacerated
flesh
was
stripped
from
my
bones
at
every
stroke
.
A
man
with
a
particle
of
mercy
in
his
soul
would
not
have
beaten
even
a
dog
so
cruelly
.
At
length
Radburn
said
that
it
was
useless
to
whip
me
any
more
--
that
I
would
be
sore
enough
.
Thereupon
,
Burch
desisted
,
saying
,
with
an
admonitory
shake
of
his
fist
in
my
face
,
and
hissing
the
words
through
his
firm-set
teeth
,
that
if
ever
I
dared
to
utter
again
that
I
was
entitled
to
my
freedom
,
that
I
had
been
kidnapped
,
or
any
thing
whatever
of
the
kind
,
the
castigation
I
had
just
received
was
nothing
in
comparison
with
what
would
follow
.
He
swore
that
he
would
either
conquer
or
kill
me
.
With
these
consolatory
words
,
the
fetters
were
taken
from
my
wrists
,
my
feet
still
remaining
fastened
to
the
ring
;
the
shutter
of
the
little
barred
window
,
which
had
been
opened
,
was
again
closed
,
and
going
out
,
locking
the
great
door
behind
them
,
I
was
left
in
darkness
as
before
.
In
an
hour
,
perhaps
two
,
my
heart
leaped
to
my
throat
,
as
the
key
rattled
in
the
door
again
.
I
,
who
had
been
so
lonely
,
and
who
had
longed
so
ardently
to
see
some
one
,
I
cared
not
who
,
now
shuddered
at
the
thought
of
man
's
approach
.
A
human
face
was
fearful
to
me
,
especially
a
white
one
.
Radburn
entered
,
bringing
with
him
,
on
a
tin
plate
,
a
piece
of
shriveled
fried
pork
,
a
slice
of
bread
and
a
cup
of
water
.
He
asked
me
how
I
felt
,
and
remarked
that
I
had
received
a
pretty
severe
flogging
.
He
remonstrated
with
me
against
the
propriety
of
asserting
my
freedom
.
In
rather
a
patronizing
and
confidential
manner
,
he
gave
it
to
me
as
his
advice
,
that
the
less
I
said
on
that
subject
the
better
it
would
be
for
me
.
The
man
evidently
endeavored
to
appear
kind
--
whether
touched
at
the
sight
of
my
sad
condition
,
or
with
the
view
of
silencing
,
on
my
part
,
any
further
expression
of
my
rights
,
it
is
not
necessary
now
to
conjecture
.
He
unlocked
the
fetters
from
my
ankles
,
opened
the
shutters
of
the
little
window
,
and
departed
,
leaving
me
again
alone
.
By
this
time
I
had
become
stiff
and
sore
;
my
body
was
covered
with
blisters
,
and
it
was
with
great
pain
and
difficulty
that
I
could
move
.
From
the
window
I
could
observe
nothing
but
the
roof
resting
on
the
adjacent
wall
.
At
night
I
laid
down
upon
the
damp
,
hard
floor
,
without
any
pillow
or
covering
whatever
.
Punctually
,
twice
a
day
,
Radburn
came
in
,
with
his
pork
,
and
bread
,
and
water
.
I
had
but
little
appetite
,
though
I
was
tormented
with
continual
thirst
.
My
wounds
would
not
permit
me
to
remain
but
a
few
minutes
in
any
one
position
;
so
,
sitting
,
or
standing
,
or
moving
slowly
round
,
I
passed
the
days
and
nights
.
I
was
heart
sick
and
discouraged
.
Thoughts
of
my
family
,
of
my
wife
and
children
,
continually
occupied
my
mind
.
When
sleep
overpowered
me
I
dreamed
of
them
--
dreamed
I
was
again
in
Saratoga
--
that
I
could
see
their
faces
,
and
hear
their
voices
calling
me
.
Awakening
from
the
pleasant
phantasms
of
sleep
to
the
bitter
realities
around
me
,
I
could
but
groan
and
weep
.
Still
my
spirit
was
not
broken
.
I
indulged
the
anticipation
of
escape
,
and
that
speedily
.
It
was
impossible
,
I
reasoned
,
that
men
could
be
so
unjust
as
to
detain
me
as
a
slave
,
when
the
truth
of
my
case
was
known
.
Burch
,
ascertaining
I
was
no
runaway
from
Georgia
,
would
certainly
let
me
go
.
Though
suspicions
of
Brown
and
Hamilton
were
not
unfrequent
,
I
could
not
reconcile
myself
to
the
idea
that
they
were
instrumental
to
my
imprisonment
.
Surely
they
would
seek
me
out
--
they
would
deliver
me
from
thraldom
.
Alas
!
I
had
not
then
learned
the
measure
of
"
man
's
inhumanity
to
man
,
"
nor
to
what
limitless
extent
of
wickedness
he
will
go
for
the
love
of
gain
.
In
the
course
of
several
days
the
outer
door
was
thrown
open
,
allowing
me
the
liberty
of
the
yard
.
There
I
found
three
slaves
--
one
of
them
a
lad
of
ten
years
,
the
others
young
men
of
about
twenty
and
twenty-five
.
I
was
not
long
in
forming
an
acquaintance
,
and
learning
their
names
and
the
particulars
of
their
history
.
The
eldest
was
a
colored
man
named
Clemens
Ray
.
He
had
lived
in
Washington
;
had
driven
a
hack
,
and
worked
in
a
livery
stable
there
for
a
long
time
.
He
was
very
intelligent
,
and
fully
comprehended
his
situation
.
The
thought
of
going
south
overwhelmed
him
with
grief
.
Burch
had
purchased
him
a
few
days
before
,
and
had
placed
him
there
until
such
time
as
he
was
ready
to
send
him
to
the
New-Orleans
market
.
From
him
I
learned
for
the
first
time
that
I
was
in
William
's
Slave
Pen
,
a
place
I
had
never
heard
of
previously
.
He
described
to
me
the
uses
for
which
it
was
designed
.
I
repeated
to
him
the
particulars
of
my
unhappy
story
,
but
he
could
only
give
me
the
consolation
of
his
sympathy
.
He
also
advised
me
to
be
silent
henceforth
on
the
subject
of
my
freedom
;
for
,
knowing
the
character
of
Burch
,
he
assured
me
that
it
would
only
be
attended
with
renewed
whipping
.
The
next
eldest
was
named
John
Williams
.
He
was
raised
in
Virginia
,
not
far
from
Washington
.
Burch
had
taken
him
in
payment
of
a
debt
,
and
he
constantly
entertained
the
hope
that
his
master
would
redeem
him
--
a
hope
that
was
subsequently
realized
.
The
lad
was
a
sprightly
child
,
that
answered
to
the
name
of
Randall
.
Most
of
the
time
he
was
playing
about
the
yard
,
but
occasionally
would
cry
,
calling
for
his
mother
,
and
wondering
when
she
would
come
.
His
mother
's
absence
seemed
to
be
the
great
and
only
grief
in
his
little
heart
.
He
was
too
young
to
realize
his
condition
,
and
when
the
memory
of
his
mother
was
not
in
his
mind
,
he
amused
us
with
his
pleasant
pranks
.
At
night
,
Ray
,
Williams
,
and
the
boy
,
slept
in
the
loft
of
the
shed
,
while
I
was
locked
in
the
cell
.
Finally
we
were
each
provided
with
blankets
,
such
as
are
used
upon
horses
--
the
only
bedding
I
was
allowed
to
have
for
twelve
years
afterwards
.
Ray
and
Williams
asked
me
many
questions
about
New-York
--
how
colored
people
were
treated
there
;
how
they
could
have
homes
and
families
of
their
own
,
with
none
to
disturb
and
oppress
them
;
and
Ray
,
especially
,
sighed
continually
for
freedom
.
