One day in my master's shipyard, I saw two Irishmen unloading some stones and I went on board the ship and offered to help. When they found out I was a slave they expressed pity and sympathy. One of them told me I should escape to the North. I pretended that I was uninterested because some white men were known to encourage slaves to escape only to kidnap them and turn them in for the reward. Besides I was too young to run away now. And I also wanted to learn to write because I might have to write my own pass.
Although I felt these men were honest and meant me well, I could not afford to take any chances. However, I remembered their words and advice and longed for the day I could escape to the North and gain my freedom. It was not the fact of being enslaved that bothered me most. It was the thought of being a slave for life that saddened me deepest of all.