were called, in charge, and were required to keep them in order,
to wait upon the ladies and children, and serve them at the table.
Tidy was unwearied in her efforts to please. She answered
promptly to every call, and kept her rooms in the neatest manner;
and for her pains she received many a bright coin, which was providently
stored away in a little bag, and concealed beneath her mattress.
Perhaps these conscientious people would not have bestowed
money so freely on their favorite young maid, if they had known
the purpose to which it was to be applied. For they say that slavery
is a Christian institution, a sort of missionary enterprise,
which has been divinely appointed for the good of the colored race;
and of course to get away from it is to run away from God and
the privileges and blessings he is so kind as to give.

Tidy, however, thought differently, as the slaves generally do;
and as she had made up her mind that she should gain greater advantages
in a state of freedom, she determined to persevere in her attempt.
Her accumulations finally became so large, that she thought she
might venture to start on her journey.

She knew, too, that she must have clothes quite different from those she
usually wore. And how was she to get these? Ah, she had had an eye
for a long while to this. She and Amelia were not only of the same age,
but of the same size. Tidy had grown in the last two years
very rapidly, and had now reached a womanly hight and figure.
She had watched the growth of Amelia with the keenest interest.
So far, it had corresponded with her own so exactly that she
could easily wear the clothes made for her young mistress.
In fact, Amelia often dressed Tidy up in her own garments that
she might get a better idea of how they looked upon herself.