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_My Escape from Slavery_.
CLOSING INCIDENTS OF "MY LIFE AS A SLAVE"-- REASONS WHY FULL PARTICULARS OF THE MANNER OF MY ESCAPE WILL NOT BE GIVEN--CRAFTINESS AND MALICE OF SLAVEHOLDERS--SUSPICION OF AIDING A SLAVE'S ESCAPE ABOUT AS DANGEROUS AS POSITIVE EVIDENCE--WANT OF WISDOM SHOWN IN PUBLISHING DETAILS OF THE ESCAPE OF THE FUGITIVES--PUBLISHED ACCOUNTS REACH THE MASTERS, NOT THE SLAVES--SLAVEHOLDERS STIMULATED TO GREATER WATCHFULNESS--MY CONDITION--DISCONTENT--SUSPICIONS IMPLIED BY MASTER HUGH'S MANNER, WHEN RECEIVING MY WAGES--HIS OCCASIONAL GENEROSITY!--DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF ESCAPE--EVERY AVENUE GUARDED--PLAN TO OBTAIN MONEY--I AM ALLOWED TO HIRE MY TIME--A GLEAM OF HOPE--ATTENDS CAMP-MEETING, WITHOUT PERMISSION--ANGER OF MASTER HUGH THEREAT--THE RESULT--MY PLANS OF ESCAPE ACCELERATED THERBY--THE DAY FOR MY DEPARTURE FIXED--HARASSED BY DOUBTS AND FEARS--PAINFUL THOUGHTS OF SEPARATION FROM FRIENDS--THE ATTEMPT MADE--ITS SUCCESS.
I will now make the kind reader acquainted with the closing incidents of my "Life as a Slave," having already trenched upon the limit allotted to my "Life as a Freeman." Before, however, proceeding with this narration, it is, perhaps, proper that I should frankly state, in advance, my intention to withhold a part of the( sic) connected with my escape from slavery.

There are reasons for this suppression, which I trust the reader will deem altogether valid.

It may be easily conceived, that a full and complete statement of all facts pertaining to the flight of a bondman, might implicate and embarrass some who may have, wittingly or unwittingly, assisted him; and no one can wish me to involve any man or{249} woman who has befriended me, even in the liability of embarrassment or trouble.
Keen is the scent of the slaveholder; like the fangs of the rattlesnake, his malice retains its poison long; and, although it is now nearly seventeen years since I made my escape, it is well to be careful, in dealing with the circumstances relating to it.

Were I to give but a shadowy outline of the process adopted, with characteristic aptitude, the crafty and malicious among the slaveholders might, possibly, hit upon the track I pursued, and involve some one in suspicion which, in a slave state, is about as bad as positive evidence.