Page:Sketchesinhistory00pett.pdf/170

164 usually laid at the crossing and gone down the river, and two hours after the boat was found capsized among some rocks below the rapids. So the letter to Mr. L—— was burned up and Tice went home. In the back yard of the jail there was a pit where a well had been commenced a long time ago, and abandoned for some cause when about eight feet deep. It was covered over with boards, and a short ladder had been left standing in it. After all was still about the premises, Mrs. Randall carried blankets and old clothes into it, and then went into Oneda’s room. After awhile they went out, walked to the river, sent the skiff adrift and returned, went through the house, and Oneda and Prince went into the pit, after which Mrs. Randall carefully replaced the boards. She kept them well supplied with food for ten davs, and then sent them towards Ohio by an old negro who lived alone just out of town, and was often absent for a week or two without being missed. Thenceforth she was hungry no more, nor did she travel without a guide. The U. G. R. R. took her direct to Canada by way of Cleveland, and by steamboat to Malden. After spending a few months in the Wilberforce Colony, Oneda returned to Ohio for the purpose of attending school. Prince was left in Canada, having become domesticated in a kind family. Oneda graduated at a popular seminary in Ohio, and then went to England, taking with her letters of introduction from the professors of the seminary. When on her way to New York, where she was to embark, she spent a week at our house.

In these brief sketches, no attempt has been made to give more than an outline of a few incidents connected with each case, and of many thousands who escaped