A few days after the conversation between the overseer and mistress, I
was informed by one of the slaves, who was a carpenter, that she had
ordered that I should go to work at the trade with him. This gave me
great joy, as I was very anxious to know what they had decided to do
with me. I went to my new trade with great delight, and soon began to
imagine what a famous carpenter I should make, and what I should say and
do when I had learned the trade. Everything seemed to run smoothly with
me for about two months, when suddenly I was told one morning that I
must go into the field to drop cotton seed, but I did not heed the call,
as mistress was not at home, and I knew she had just put me to the
trade, also that the overseer was trying to get mistress' consent to
have me work out in the field.

The next morning the overseer came into the carpenter's shop and said,
"Did I not order ye into the field, sir?" I answered, "Yes, sir."
"Well, why did ye not go?" I answered, "Mistress has put me here to
learn the trade." He said, "I will give ye trade." So he stripped me and
gave me a severe whipping, and told me that that was the kind of trade I
needed, and said he would give me many of them. The next day I went into
the field, and he put me to drop cotton seed, as I was too small to do
anything else. I would have made further resistance, but mistress was
very far away from home, and I had already learned the lesson that
father and mother could render me no help, so I thought submission to
him the easiest for me.

When I had got through with the cotton seed, in about three weeks, I
went back to the carpenter's shop to work; so he came there and gave me
another severe whipping, and said to me, "Ye want to learn the
carpenter's trade, but I will have ye to the trade of the field." But