WASHINGTON, D. C.,
October 12, 1855.
MR. WM. STILL:— As
YOU PicK UP ALL THE news THAT IS STIRRING, I CONTRIBUTE A FEw scRAPS TO YOUR
sTOCK, GOING TO sHow THAT THE POOR SLAVE-HOLDERS THEIR TBOUBLES AS WELL AS OTHER
PEOPLE.
FoUR HEAVY LOSSES ON
onE SMALL scRAP cUT FRom A sINGLE NUMBER oF THE “SUN!” How vExaTIOUS! How
PRovoKING! ON THE OTHER HAND, THINK oF THE POOR, TIMID, BREATHLESS, FLYING
CHILD of FIFTEEN! FIVE HUNDRED
DOLLARS REWARD! OH, POOR sucCoR! To
wHoM IN ALL THIS WIDE LAND oF FREEDOM sHALL sHE FLEE AND FIND SAFETY? ALAS! —
ALAS! — THE LAW PoINTs To No one!
Is SHE STILL RUNNING
wiTH BLEEDING FEET?* OR HIDEs SHE IN soME coLD CAVE, To REST AND STARVE? “$500
REWARD.” YouRs, FOR THE WEAK AND THE POOR. PERISH
THE REWARD.
J. B.
_______________
* At the time this letter was written, she was then under Mr.
B.'s protection in Washington, and had to be so kept for six weeks. His
question, therefore, “is she still running with bleeding feet,” etc., was
simply a precautionary step to blind any who might perchance investigate the
matter.
SOURCES: William Still, The Underground
Railroad: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters &c., p. 181-2
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