They never shunned
a man or woman who sought food or shelter on their way to freedom.
The goodness of heart and the guileless spirit of the blacks was not
better understood by any one than Clotelle; and she felt a secret
joy at seeing all the servants in the Greenville hotel negroes.
She saw from their very looks that she had their undivided sympathies.
One of the servants overheard the rebels in a conversation,
in which it was determined to send Clotelle to the county town,
for safe keeping in the jail, the following day; and this fact was
communicated to the unfortunate woman. The slave woman who gave
the information told her that she could escape if she desired.
Having already been robbed of every thing except the apparel upon her
person and some money she had concealed about her, she at once signified
to the black woman her wish to get out of the reach of her persecutors.
The old worn-out clock in the narrow dining hall had struck one;
a cold rain was patting upon the roof, and the women watchers,
one after another, had fallen asleep; and even the snuff-dippers, whose
dirty practice creates a nervousness that keeps them awake longer than
any other class, had yielded to the demands of Morpheus, when Aggy,
the colored servant, stealthily entered the room, beckoned to Clotelle,
and both left in silence.
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