There he would be fed and cared for until night came again.
Then the password would be given to him, and directions how to
reach the next underground station. And, with the pole star for
his guide, he would set out.
Arriving at the house in the dusk of early morning, before any one
was astir he would knock softly at the door.
"Who's there?" would be asked.
Then the runaway would give the password in answer. Perhaps it
would be "William Penn," or "a friend of friends," or sometimes
the signal would be the hoot of an owl. And hearing it the master
of the underground station would rise and let the "passenger" in.
Sometimes the slavers would come alone, sometimes in twos and threes
or even more. As many as seventeen were hidden one day at one of
the stations.
Thousands of slaves were in this way helped to escape every year.
It was a dangerous employment for the station-masters, and many
were found out and fined. They paid the fines, they did not care
for that; and went on helping the poor slaves.
Most of the people connected with the underground railroad were
white, but some were coloured. One of the most daring of these was
Harriet Tubman. She helped so many of her countrymen to escape that
they called her "Moses" because she had led them out of the land
of bondage. She was nearly white, but had been a slave herself.
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