Smith for a year; when, feeling
unsafe in that relation, I accompanied him to New York whither he was
going to purchase goods, and was there regularly and formally made a
freeman, and there my manumission was recorded. I returned to my family in
Raleigh and endeavored to do by them as a freeman should. I had known what
it was to be a slave, and I knew what it was to be free.
[Footnote A: _Legally_, my money belonged to my mistress; and she could
have taken it and refused to grant me my freedom. But she was a very kind
woman for a slave owner; and she would under the circumstances, scorn to
do such a thing. I have known of slaves, however, served in this way.]
But I am going too rapidly over my story. When the money was paid to my
mistress and the conveyance fairly made to Mr. Smith, I felt that I was
free. And a queer and a joyous feeling it is to one who has been a slave.
I cannot describe it, only it seemed as though I was in heaven. I used to
lie awake whole nights thinking of it. And oh, the strange thoughts that
passed through my soul, like so many rivers of light; deep and rich were
their waves as they rolled;--these were more to me than sleep, more than
soft slumber after long months of watching over the decaying, fading frame
of a friend, and the loved one laid to rest in the dust.
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