Slave Life in Georgia - African American History

Slave Life in Georgia 47
any description I could give of my sufferings during this time would convey any
thing approaching to a faint idea of them. Let alone that their weight made my
head and neck ache dreadfully, especially when I stooped to my work, at night I
could not lie down to rest, because the horns prevented my stretching myself, or
even curling myself up; so I was obliged to sleep crouching. Of course it was
impossible for me to attempt to remove them, or to get away, though I still held
to my resolution to make another venture as soon as I could see my way of
doing it. Indeed, during those three long months, I thought more of John
Glasgow, and getting off to England, than I had ever done all the time before,
with such a firm purpose. I collected and arranged in my mind all the scraps of
information I had been able to procure from others, or that I had acquired
myself; and concealed, in the trunk of an old tree, a bundle of clothes and a flint
and steel and tinder-horn: for though my case seemed desperate, I clung to hope,
with a tenacity which now surprises me. It was a blessed consolation, and only
for it I must have died.
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CHAPTER X.
I MAKE ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE.
I OWE it to an accidental circumstance that I got rid, at last, of my
uncomfortable head-dress.
After wearing it for about three months, I was set to pack corn into a crib. The
bells and horns, however, prevented me from getting into the crib, so De Cator
took them off, and set them down by the side of the corn-crib, ready for me to
have them on again. It was one Saturday evening, and I had heard there was
going to be a camp-meeting a little way off. To this I determined to go. I had
frequently heard of these meetings, and often longed to attend one of them, but
had never yet done so. Instead of packing the corn, as I was bidden, I took the
opportunity--being now released from my bells and horns--to go to the campmeeting,
where I remained all night. Whilst there I turned over in my mind the
chances I had of escaping, and concluded the favourable time had come for me
to renew my attempt. In order to throw Stevens off his guard,
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24.03.2006