ried to get into her lap to comfort her.

'You needn't be afraid of anything; we are friends here, poor woman.
Tell me where you come from and what you want,' said the lady.

'I came from the other side of the river,' said Eliza.

'When?' said the gentleman, very much astonished.

'To-night.'

'How did you come?'

'I crossed on the ice.'

'Crossed on the ice!' exclaimed every one.

'Yes,' said Eliza slowly, 'I did. God helped me, and I crossed on the
ice. They were close behind me--right behind, and there was no other
way.'

'Law, missis,' said the old servant, 'the ice is all in broken up
blocks, a-swinging up and down in the water.'

'I know it is. I know it,' said Eliza wildly. 'But I did it. I would'nt
have thought I could--I didn't think I could get over, but I didn't
care. I could but die if I didn't. And God helped me.'

'Were you a slave?' said the gentleman.

'Yes, sir.'

'Was your master unkind to you?'

'No, sir.'

'Was your mistress unkind to you?'

'No, sir--no. My mistress was always good to me.'

'What could make you leave a good home, then, and run away, and go
through such danger?'

'They wanted to take my boy away from me--to sell him--to sell him down
south, ma'am. To go all alone--a baby that had never been away from his
mother in his life. I couldn't bear it. I took him, and ran away in the
night. They chased me, they were coming down close behind me, and I
heard 'em. I jumped right on to the ice. How I got across I don't know.
The first I knew, a man was helping me up the bank.'

It was such a sad story, that the tears came into the eyes of everyone
who heard her tell it.

[Illustration]

'Where do you mean to go to, poor woman?' asked the lady.

'To Canada, if I only knew where that was. Is it very far off, is
Canada'? said Eliza, looking up in a simple, trusting way, to the kind
lady's face.

'Poor woman,' said she again.

'Is it a great way off?' asked Eliza.

'Yes,' said the lady of the house sadly, 'it is far away. But we will
try to help you to get there.' Eliza wanted to go to Canada, because it
belonged to the British. They did not allow any one to be made a slave
there. George, too, was going to try to reach Canada.

'Wife,' said the gentleman, when they had gone back again into their
own sitting-room, 'we must get that poor woman away to-night. She is not
safe here. I know some good people, far in the country, who will take
care of her.'

So this kind