Page:A hairdresser's experience in high life.djvu/41

Rh a woman tied to a tree, being severely whipped by a person much younger than herself. This aroused me, and I determined to find out what offense she had given. It so happened, in a day or two one of this neighbor's servants came over on an errand to the doctor's. I asked her why this woman had been whipped; she told me she had failed to perform her duties before going out to work. I asked her what were her duties; she said she had the marketing and washing to do from four o'clock till it was time to go to work; sometimes she failed, and then she was whipped; again, at times, she would be so tired she would hardly be able to do her day's work after working so long in the morning; but the money she must bring home with her, come from where it might. During my stay in Memphis, I witnessed many such cases, some even worse than this.

The time had now come when my lady and gentleman were to go to Alabama; they expected me to go along, but by the advice of the uncle I did not go. Both the lady and gentleman treated me well, yet they were disappointed—I did not go with them.

Having heard a great deal of New Orleans, I wanted to go there, and to judge for myself of its perfections and imperfections; so I went on board the steamer Champion. When she landed at New Orleans, I staid on board, and did not go off but once in a while to look around me. In a few days the boat was bound upward for Cincinnati.

There was a great crowd of passengers, among the rest, a Colonel C., with a large family, from Steubenville, Ohio. On my way up I engaged myself with Mrs. C. as nurse; went to Steubenville and staid