I was lonesome and afraid. I hated being inside that house and wanted to be back home with my mother and father. Eventually she told her husband that I was too clumsy and slow and no help to her at all. He then put me to work watching the trap lines he set for muskrats. I was cold by the river but I didn't mind because I could breathe cool clean air and didn't have to listen to that noisy weaving loom cluttering all day long. As I walked the length of his traps, I saw the free flying birds and occasionally small boats. I soon learned that when I stood still by the river, I could see the muskrats swim and dive. I saw where they dug their burrows and watched them build with mud and straw. I hated to see the muskrats trapped. Because they were no longer free to swim and dive.
One morning I woke up hot and feeling sick. Miss Cook thought I was just faking it like she thought so many slaves did to keep from doing work. So I had to go wade in the river to check the traps anyway. When I got back to the house I was shaking all over. I was really sick. Somehow my mother heard about it and asked Master Brodas to send for me to come home. Since he was fond of my mother, he went along with her request.