ve
adopted the name of "Friday," and been known as the servant of some
Robinson Crusoe, than to have taken his name. So I was not only hunting
for my liberty, but also hunting for a name; though I regarded the
latter as of little consequence, if I could but gain the former.
Travelling along the road, I would sometimes speak to myself, sounding
my name over, by way of getting used to it, before I should arrive among
civilized human beings. On the fifth or sixth day, it rained very fast,
and it froze about as fast as it fell, so that my clothes were one glare
of ice. I travelled on at night until I became so chilled and
benumbed--the wind blowing into my face--that I found it impossible to
go any further, and accordingly took shelter in a barn, where I was
obliged to walk about to keep from freezing.

I have ever looked upon that night as the most eventful part of my
escape from slavery. Nothing but the providence of God, and that old
barn, saved me from freezing to death. I received a very severe cold,
which settled upon my lungs, and from time to time my feet had been
frost-bitten, so that it was with difficulty I could walk. In this
situation I travelled two days, when I found that I must seek shelter
somewhere, or die.

The thought of death was nothing frightful to me, compared with that of
being caught, and again carried back into slavery. Nothing but the
prospect of enjoying liberty could have induced me to undergo such
trials, for

"Behind I left the whips and chains,
Before me were sweet Freedom's plains!"

This, and this alone, cheered me onward. But I at last resolved to seek
protection from the inclemency of the weather, and therefore I secured
myself behind some logs and brush, intending to wait there until some
one should pass by; for I thought it probable that I might see some
colored person, or, if not, some one who was not a slaveholder; for I
had an idea that I should know a slaveholder as far as I could see him.

CHAPTER XIV.

The first person that passed was a man in a buggy-wagon. He looked too
genteel for me to hail him. Very soon, another passed by on horseback. I
attempted speaking to him, but fear made my voice fail me. As he passed,
I left my hiding-place, and was approaching the road, when I observed an
old man walking towards me, leading a white horse. He had on a
broad-brimmed hat and a very long coat, and was evidently walking for
exercise. As soon as I saw him, and obs