liberty. Their case had been in litigation for some time; but, although
they had a very good case,--the lawyer whom they employed (Mr. Bradley,
one of the most distinguished members of the bar of the district)
testified, in the course of one of my trials, that he believed them to
be legally free,--yet, as their money was nearly exhausted, and as there
seemed to be no end to the law's delay and the pertinacity of the woman
who claimed them, it was deemed best by their friends that they should
get away if they could, lest she might seize them unawares, and sell
them to some trader. In speaking of this case, the person with whom I
communicated at Washington informed me that there were also quite a
number of others who wished to avail themselves of this opportunity of
escaping, and that the number of passengers was likely to be larger than
had at first been calculated upon. To which I replied, that I did not
stand about the number; that all who were on board before eleven o'clock
I should take,--the others would have to remain behind.

Saturday evening, at supper, I let English a little into the secret of
what I intended. I told him that the sort of ship-timber we were going
to take would prove very easy to load and unload; that a number of
colored people wished to take passage with us down the bay, and that, as
Sayres and myself would be away the greater part of the evening, all he
had to do was, as fast as they came on board, to lift up the hatch and
let them pass into the hold, shutting the hatch down upon them. The
vessel, which we had moved down the river since unloading the wood, lay
at a rather lonely place, called White-house Wharf, from a
whitish-colored building which stood upon it. The high bank of the
river, under which a road passed, afforded a cover to the wharf, and
there were only a few scattered buildings in the vicinity. Towards the
town there stretched a wide extent of open fields. Anxious, as might
naturally be expected, as to the result, I kept in the vicinity to watch