d do, and he held both to strict
account. When he pleased, he would work himself, like a very Turk,
making everything fly before him. It was, however, scarcely necessary
for Mr. Covey to be really present in the field, to have his work go on
industriously. He had the faculty of making us feel that he was always
present. By a series of adroitly managed surprises, which he practiced,
I was prepared to expect him at any moment. His plan was, never to
approach the spot where his hands were at work, in an open, manly and
direct manner. No thief was ever more artful in his devices than this
man Covey. He would creep and crawl, in ditches and gullies; hide behind
stumps and bushes, and practice so much of the cunning of the serpent,
that Bill Smith and I--between ourselves--never called him by any other
name than _"the snake."_ We fancied that in his eyes and his gait we
could see a snakish resemblance. One half of his proficiency in the
art of Negro breaking, consisted, I should think, in this species of
cunning. We were never secure. He could see or hear us nearly all the
time. He was, to us, behind every stump, tree, bush and fence on the
plantation. He carried this kind of trickery so far, that he would
sometimes mount his horse, and make believe he was going to St.
Michael's; and, in thirty minutes afterward, you might find his horse
tied in the woods, and the snake-like Covey lying flat in the ditch,
with his head lifted above its edge, or in a fence corner, watching
every movement of the slaves! I have known him walk up to us and give us
special orders, as to our work, in advance, as if he were leaving home
with a view to being absent several days; and before he got half way
to the{168} house, he would avail himself of our inattention to his
movements, to turn short on his heels, conceal himself behind a fence
corner or a tree, and watch us until the going down of the sun. Mean and
contemptible as is all this, it is in keeping with the character which
the life of a slaveholder is calculated to produce. There is no earthly
inducement, in the slave's condition, to incite him to labor faithfully.
The fear of punishment is the sole motive for any sort of industry, with
him. Knowing this fact, as the slaveholder does, and judging the slave
by himself, he naturally concludes the slave will be idle whenever the
cause for this fear is absent. Hence, all sorts of petty deceptions are
practiced, to inspire this fear.

But, with M