He knew it was a crime to sell a free man into slavery. He meant what he said.
The next day Burch returned to Washington, and Goodin put us on a boat to New Orleans. We were on the boat for many days, and it was my job to hand out bread and meat to each slave twice a day.
I became friends with two other slaves. They were free men like me, and their names were Robert and Arthur. Robert had a wife and two children in Cincinnati. Arthur’s family was in Norfolk, and he worked as a builder. He had many friends there. The idea of being someone’s slave was terrible for us. We made an escape plan.
In the daytime we were free to walk about on deck. At night we were pushed below deck and locked up.
‘Let’s try hiding during the day; Arthur said.’They don’t count us when we go below deck for the night. Nobody will notice if we’re missing’
I decide to try it the next evening, so after supper, I hid unger a small boat on deck. In the morning, nobody saw me come out andI joined the others for breakfast. It worked.
Robert’s job was to take food and drink to the captain’s cabin. He learmt where where the captain and his men slept. He knew that there were two guns and a large knife on a table by the door.
The next day, I went over the plan with Arthur and Robert for the last time.
‘Arthur and I will spend tonight under the small boat. In the middle of the night, we’ll wait below deck with the slaves and we’ll let them out. We’ll fight the captain’s men, and either win or die. Then we’ll sail the boat to the North, and we’ll be free;