ose thick forests or attack them when they came out in the
opening to seek food.

Of course the runaways were mostly armed, and when attacked in the
forests they would fight. My readers ask, how had they obtained arms and
what were those arms, since slaves were not allowed to have deadly
weapons? Some had large knives made by their fellow negroes who were
blacksmiths, others stole guns from white men who were accustomed to lay
them carelessly around when they were out hunting game. The runaways who
stole the guns were kept in powder and shot by some of the other slaves
at home, who bought such from poor white men who kept little country
stores in the different parts of the South.

The runaway slaves generally had fathers, brothers, cousins, or
confidential friends who met them at certain appointed places, and
brought them such things as were needed. The most they wanted from their
fellow negroes at home was salt and a little corn flour; for they lived
principally on beef and swine meat, taken either from their own masters
or some other's stock.

My readers ask, did not some of the slaves at home betray their fellow
negroes, the runaways, to the white man? I answer, they did; but often
such were well spotted, and if the runaway slaves got a chance at them
while in the woods would mob or kill them. On the other hand when they
met those whom they could trust, instead of injuring them, they
exchanged beef and swine meat with them for bread, corn flour, and salt,
such as they needed in the woods.

THE RUNAWAY SLAVES IN THE HOUSE.

Instead of going into the woods, sometimes runaway slaves lived right
around the overseer's and master's houses for months. A slave, named
Isom, ran away from Thomas Clarkson, his master's son, who was the
overseer. Mr. Clarkson was satisfied, as he said, that the unaccustomed
runaway, whom he thought was in the woods could not stay from home long,
but finding that he stayed longer than expected, Mr. Clarkson hired a
slave hunter with his dogs to hunt him.

The hunter came early to the plantation and took breakfast with Mr.
Clarkson on the day they began to hunt for the runaway slave. While
sitting at breakfast, Mr. Clarkson said to the hunter, "My father
brought up that boy as a house servant, and petted him so that it takes
all the salt in the country to cure him. Father had too much religion to
keep his negroes straight; but I don't believe in that. I think a negro
ought to be overhaule