Betsey, and loved her very much. She used to lead me about by the hand,
and call me her little nigger. This was the happiest period of my life;
for I was too young to understand rightly my condition as a slave, and too
thoughtless and full of spirits to look forward to the days of toil and
sorrow.

My mother was a household slave in the same family. I was under her own
care, and my little brothers and sisters were my play-fellows and
companions. My mother had several fine children after she came to Mrs.
Williams,--three girls and two boys. The tasks given out to us children
were light, and we used to play together with Miss Betsey, with as much
freedom almost as if she had been our sister.

My master, however, was a very harsh, selfish man; and we always dreaded
his return from sea. His wife was herself much afraid of him; and, during
his stay at home, seldom dared to shew her usual kindness to the slaves.
He often left her, in the most distressed circumstances, to reside in
other female society, at some place in the West Indies of which I have
forgot the name. My poor mistress bore his ill-treatment with great
patience, and all her slaves loved and pitied her. I was truly attached to
her, and, next to my own mother, loved her better than any creature in the
world. My obedience to her commands was cheerfully given: it sprung
solely from the affection I felt for her, and not from fear of the power
which the white people's law had given her over me.

I had scarcely reached my twelfth year when my mistress became too poor to
keep so many of us at home; and she hired me out to Mrs. Pruden, a lady
who lived about five miles off, in the adjoining parish, in a large house
near the sea. I cried bitterly at parting with my dear mistress and Miss
Betsey, and when I kissed my mother and brothers and sisters, I thought my