gentleman continued his conversation in another direction.

He said that indispensable business called him to Albany, where he must go
immediately, but assured me that he would return in March following; then
I must come to him and he would see that I had what justly belonged to
me--my freedom from Slavery. He advised me to return to Bath and go on
with my work as usual until March, but to say nothing of my intentions and
prospects. I returned according to his directions, with a heart so light,
that I could not realize that my bonds were not yet broken, nor the yoke
removed from off my neck. I was already free in spirit, and I silently
exulted in the bright prospect of liberty.

Could my master have felt what it was to be relieved of such a crushing
weight, as the one which was but partially lifted from my mind, he would
have been a happier man than he had been for a long time.

I went cheerfully back to my labor, and worked with alacrity, impatient
only for March to come; and as the time drew near I began to consider what
kind of an excuse I could make to get away. I could think of none, but I
determined to go without one, rather than to remain.

Just before the time appointed for me to meet Mr. Moore, a slave girl
named Milly, came secretly to Bath. She had been one of Capt. Helm's
slaves, and he had a while before sold her to a man who lived some
distance west of the village. Milly had now taken the matter into her own
hands. She had left her master to take care of himself, and was in short,
"running away," determined as myself, that she would be a slave no longer;
resolved on death, or freedom from the power of the slaveholder.

The time I had set for my departure was so near at hand, that I concluded