And
having escaped from that fearful bondage she now spent her life in
trying to free others.
Again and again, in spite of the danger in being caught, she
ventured into the Southern States to bring back a band of runaway
slaves. And she was so clever and so full of resource that she
always brought them safely away. More than once when she saw she
was being tracked, she put herself and her little company into
a train, taking tickets for them southwards. For she knew that no
one would suspect them to be runaway slaves if they were traveling
south. Then, when their track was covered, and danger of pursuit
over, they all turned north again.
Harriet was both brave and clever, and when the Civil War broke
out, she served as a scout for the Northern Army, earning the praise
of those who employed her. She lived to be very old, and died not
many years ago, happy to know that all her countrymen were free.
But although many slaves tried to run away, all slaves were not
unhappy. When they had a kind master they were well taken care of,
and lived in far greater comfort that if they had been free. In the
more northerly of the slave states, such as Virginia, the slaves
were generally household servants, and were treated in the most
affectionate manner. It was farther south in the cotton growing
districts, where slaves worked in gangs under the whip of the
overseer who was often brutal, that the real misery was.
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