Page:Father Henson's story of his own life.djvu/34

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EARLY EMPLOYMENT.—SLAVE-LIFE.—FOOD, LODGING, CLOTHING.—AMUSEMENTS.—GLEAMS OF SUNSHINE.—MY KNIGHT-ERRANTRY.—BECOME AN OVERSEER AND GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT.

My earliest employments were, to carry buckets of water to the men at work, and to hold a horse-plough, used for weeding between the rows of corn. As I grew older and taller, I was entrusted with the care of master's saddle-horse. Then a hoe was put into my hands, and I was soon required to do the day's work of a man; and it was not long before I could do it, at least as well as my associates in misery.

The every-day life of a slave on one of our southern plantations, however frequently it may have been described, is generally little