of anger, he would take up a chair, and throw it at a servant; and in
his more rational moments, when he wished to chastise one, he would tie
them up in the smoke-house, and whip them; after which, he would cause
a fire to be made of tobacco stems, and smoke them. This he called
"_Virginia play_."

I complained to my master of the treatment which I received from Major
Freeland; but it made no difference. He cared nothing about it, so long
as he received the money for my labor. After living with Major Freeland
five or six months, I ran away, and went into the woods back of the
city; and when night came on, I made my way to my master's farm, but was
afraid to be seen, knowing that if Mr. Haskell, the overseer, should
discover me, I should be again carried back to Major Freeland; so I kept
in the woods. One day, while in the woods, I heard the barking and
howling of dogs, and in a short time they came so near, that I knew them
to be the blood-hounds of Major Benjamin O'Fallon. He kept five or six,
to hunt runaway slaves with.

As soon as I was convinced that it was them, I knew there was no chance
of escape. I took refuge in the top of a tree, and the hounds were soon
at its base, and there remained until the hunters came up in a half or
three quarters of an hour afterwards. There were two men with the dogs,
who, as soon as they came up, ordered me to descend. I came down, was
tied, and taken to St. Louis jail. Major Freeland soon made his
appearance, and took me out, and ordered me to follow him, which I did.
After we returned home, I was tied up in the smoke-house, and was very
severely whipped. After the Major had flogged me to his satisfaction, he
sent out his son Robert, a young man eighteen or twenty years of age, to
see that I was well smoked. He made a fire of tobacco stems, which soon
set me to coughing and sneezing. This, Robert told me, was the way his