Chapter 24: I Make A Bid For Liberty.
I slept heavily when Uncle Moses had gone, making up for my
wakefulness the night before; and next day I was more composed in
mind, and readier to take thought. Ignorant as I was of the
plantation and the country round, I saw that to escape in the night
without a guide would be to court disaster, and a timorous guide
like Uncle Moses, with his fear of the bugaboos, might lead me to
my undoing. Therefore my flight must be contrived by day. The door
of my chamber was opened three times, when the guards brought me
food, and 'twas possible that, with the negro making a diversion
outside, I might seize such an occasion to fell one of the men and
evade the other. But this plan scarce promised success, for the
house was situate in the sugar plantation, and doubtless many
negroes would be at work, and the overseer would be at hand, with
possibly others of the piratical dogs whom Vetch had brought up
from the coast.
There was one period of the day, however, when few people, if any,
would be astir, and that was the middle part from eleven till about
three, when work ceased, everybody seeking shelter from the heat. I
could reckon on my guards being sleepy and sluggish then; and,
moreover, seeing that during several days I had given them no
trouble, they would be quite unprepared for any violent outbreak.
True, my door was always locked, but looking at it, I did not doubt
that if I threw myself upon it with all my strength it would give
way.
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