woods, where I met a black man of the name of Geordie, whom I knew,
belonging to Rogers, and who had left two months before me, and he said he
had been in those woods five weeks. His appearance was shocking, and from
his long suffering and hardships he was difficult to know; and, as he was
hungry, I divided with him my leg of mutton and bread and butter, and I
was telling him how unwise it was to remain so long in one place, when we
were suddenly aroused by the well-known sounds of the hounds. In my fear
and surprise I was attempting for a tree, but was unable to mount before
they were upon me. In this emergency I called out the name of one of the
dogs, who was more familiar with me than the others, called Fly, and hit
my knee to attract her attention and it had the desired effect. She came
fondling towards me, accompanied by another called Jovial. I pulled out my
knife and cut the throat of Fly, upon which Jovial made an attempt to lay
hold of me and I caught him by the throat, which caused me to lose my
knife, but I held him fast by the windpipe, forcing my thumbs with as much
force as possible, and anxiously wishing for my knife to be in hands. I
made a powerful effort to fling him as far away as possible, and regained
my knife; but when I had thrown him there he lay, throttled to death. Not
so, Fly, who weltered in blood, and rolled about howling terribly, but not
killed. The other two hounds caught Geordie, and killed him. After this
terrible escape I went to a barn, and was looking through a hole and saw
two men come to where Geordie's body lay, when a knot of people gathered
round, and about ten or eleven o'clock he was buried. I shortly went to
sleep among the hay, and slept so soundly that it was the morning after
before I was awoke by a boy coming to get hay for the horses, and the
prong of the fork caught me by the thigh, which caused me to jump up and
stare at the boy, and he at me, when he dropped the fork and ran away. As
soon as I recovered, I slipped down the hay-rack, and met six men and the
boy, who demanded who I was and what I was doing there. Not knowing what
to say, I stood speechless for a long time, and thought my hopes of
freedom were now at an end. They again repeated their question, but I made
no reply. I was then taken before a magistrate, when I was accused of
being in the barn for some unlawful purpose; and as I made no answer to
any questions put to me, they concluded I was dumb. When I remem